We act for buyers on completed homes and condominiums across the Greater Toronto Area. The offer is the visible part; the work that changes the outcome is the pricing and the diligence that come before it.
What decides the price
Not the asking price, which is a marketing decision and increasingly a strategic one. We price from closed sales in the same building, the same stack and the same exposure, adjusted for floor and finish — and against a mix-adjusted measure of value rather than whatever happened to sell, because an average moves when the mix changes even if nothing changed in value.
We are not publishing market statistics on this site at present. The figures we price from are the board's, read directly, and we will walk you through them for your building and district on a call — including the ones that argue against the number you were hoping for.
What the diligence is for
- The status certificate on a condominium. Reserve fund balance against the study, special assessments taken or pending, litigation, arrears, and the rules on leasing and pets. A low maintenance fee against a thin reserve is a bill you have not received yet.
- An inspection on freehold, and on any condominium townhouse where you own more than the airspace.
- The building itself. What has sold there recently, what is sitting, and whether the units competing with yours are in the same part of the building.
Conditions
Financing, inspection and status certificate review, where the market allows them. Where it does not, you should know exactly what waiving each one costs you before you do it — not as a general warning, but as a number and a named risk. A deposit is at stake and in Ontario it is meaningful money.
Closing costs, in writing
Land transfer tax at the provincial level and, inside the City of Toronto, again at the municipal level. Legal fees and disbursements. Title insurance. Adjustments for taxes and common expenses. First-time buyers may be eligible for rebates at both levels — worth confirming early, because it changes the cash you need on closing rather than the price you offer.
Commission
On most resale transactions the seller's listing agreement already provides for the co-operating brokerage's commission, so in the ordinary case a buyer pays us nothing directly. Where that is not the case we will tell you before you view anything, in writing, and our fee is set out in the representation agreement before you sign it.
Commission is negotiable. It is not set by any board, association or regulator, and any brokerage that tells you otherwise is wrong. If our number does not work for you, say so and we will have the conversation.
Also
If the building you want has not been built yet, that is pre-construction, and it runs on different rules — the agreement is negotiable for ten days and matters more than the unit. An assignment is sometimes the cheaper way into the same address. Selling at the same time is selling, and the order of the two is worth planning rather than discovering.