Posts Tagged ‘first time buyer’

This weeks Photo Friday takes us 25 storeys above Toronto in the Lanterra built building know as Murano!  The Murano is made up of two towers (35 and 45 storeys respectively) that rise up from a two story podium along Bay St (north of College).  The developer was inspired by the “glass making” island off of Venice, aptly named: Murano! Architect Peter Clews definitely made the historic connection of island apparent with the fusion of glass cladding around both buildings!

The cladding allows for some of the most desirable sweeping views of the City. In the above picture (looking North East) you can see Casa and X condos emerging in the skyline! The North towers lobby is also quite significant with it’s two way fireplace, sitting area, library and travertine floors.  All of these elements are tied together by a beautiful blue and gold glass sculpture that greats residents and guests as the enter the building…just like the ones found in the art galleries of Venice.

I came up with the name “Business as Usual” for this photo because the breath taking views of Toronto are what I usually see on a daily basis!  If you’d like to buy a place with similar sights…give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

Looking for the 530 St. Clair sales centre? Try across the street!  The old sales centre on the North side of St. Clair has closed down to allow for demolition of the remaining structures.  The new sales centre is now located in the old TD Canada Trust building on the South side of St. Clair (521 St. Clair Ave West, next to Shoppers Drug Mart).

It’s been a little less than a year since sales started at 530 and already construction is starting to begin!  On my last visit to the sales centre, several units were still available for those wanting live at 530. The building is scheduled to be built by Fall 2012.  For those looking to move it a bit sooner, 500 St. Clair is fully complete and selling on the resale market! Whether your plans are long term or short, if you’d like to live in either of these great condos…give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

Leave it up to the good folks at ART Condos to come up with this smart purchasing incentive!  Not only is parking available for every suite purchaser…it’s also available with a SMART Car!  As mentioned in their latest blog post:

“Any purchaser who buys a unit at ART has the option of buying a car parking space for a fee of $3o,000. We are giving another option however. Instead of purchasing a space for $30,000, you can pay the same amount to get HALF a space, and a brand spanking new Smart Car.”

I like this idea for a few reasons…For starters, if you’re currently paying lease payments on your car, chances are you’ll qualify for less when applying for a mortgage.  Under this incentive, you can get rid of the clunker, qualify for more condo AND get a new car out of it!  Toronto isn’t getting any smaller so as traffic becomes even more busy, you can zoom around in this compact car while reducing you carbon footprint (compared to bigger cars). Most first time purchasers often debate between buying a new car or putting the amount towards the down payment of a place… with ART Condos latest incentive, you can do both!

ART Condos will be an excellent addition to the West Queen West area, and if you’d like to be apart of it send me an email or give me a call…I’d love to help!

In an effort to bring even more content on a consistent basis, I’m pleased to announce PHOTO FRIDAYYY!

I’ll be posting a new photo every Friday from my Savel And The City PhotoBlog.  With the photoblog I post a daily photo from my travels around the City.  It’s typically just a picture with very little description.  With Photo Friday I’ll be picking my favorite shot from the blog and describing the image further!

For my inaugural Photo Friday post I picked a picture that I took a few weeks back from the newly completed Maple Leaf Square!  Taken from 40+ stories above and looking down at Lanterra Developments latest project “ICE Condos”, the picture captures the condo during it’s earliest stages of development…hence it’s title “From Soil to ICE”

This southern part of the City is really starting to take shape! In anticipation of this, Longo’s grocery store is opening up a location at the base of Maple Leaf Square and across from ICE condos this fall!  Both condo’s are minutes from the Air Canada Centre and Union Station!

If you’re thinking of moving into this growing part of the Toronto Send me an email or give me a call…I’d love to help!

No two snowflakes are the same… and either are pre construction condo contracts!

With the launch of several new projects this year, I’ve seen my fair share of contracts and with all of them; the same thing remains true “THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS!” It’s for this reason buyers of pre construction condos have a 10 day cooling off period for their lawyer to review the contract. But of course “reading the fine print” is basic and something all should do regardless of the type of contract…the point of this post is for something a bit more obvious! DEPOSIT STRUCTURES.

It’s typical in Toronto for a developer to ask for deposits ranging anywhere from 20%-25% from a prospective buyer. The amount is not given up front, but rather in instalments over a period of time. To better illustrate my point, I’m going to use a purchase price of $300,000 and a 25% deposit structure as an example. By the time the condo is complete and the unit registered in your name, a total of $75,000 would have been given to the developer…but before we pop the champagne and move in, let’s take a look at what gets us there!

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On a recent visit to the River City Sales Centre, I noticed something different about the street… the old commercial buildings that once stood on the North side of Eastern Ave were gone!

The demolition of the buildings was to make way for Underpass Park, the most extensive park to ever be built under an overpass in Canada, and the first in Toronto.  The Park will cover approximatily 2.5 acres under and around the Eastern Avenue overpasses.  I had thought the park would be much smaller, but after seeing the work being done, it’s much more clear of how far the public space will stretch!

According to the Waterfront Toronto website:

“Designed by renowned landscape architects Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg in association with The Planning Partnership, Underpass Park embodies design excellence and is the epitome of innovative urban park design.  The design creates a socially-engaging park for community members of all ages and abilities by incorporating public art, recreational space, playful climbing structures and play areas, flexible community space, community gardens, and public gathering places.” 

Here are a few photos I took of the park under construction:

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Pool season has officially begun! With the hot June summer weather rolling into town, 12 outdoor pools opened their doors early this year. On Saturday June 26, the City’s remaining 47 outdoor pools opened up along with more than 100 wading pools. Outdoor pools and wading pools will remain open for the season, until September 5. It’s expected to be a hot one this year, so check out the City of Toronto’s website for a full list of pools, locations and hours of operation!