Been there. OH I have been there. And do I ever hear you on the hideous light fixtures (mine are way worse than those)! Embarassingly, we have not even swapped out many of ours despite having lived in the place for FOUR years. But you pick your battles and now that we're looking to sell, I'm in no rush to put my money into things like that. Did go with the all white kitchen and black granite counters, a decision that I'm still happy about today. Your place looks great! Exciting!

Great article Jen, I went through this decision a couple of years ago and can definitely relate.  The pros of prebuild are tempting and cons can be pretty daunting like you mention. It looks like it worked out really well for you.  Congrats!

I can totally relate...We waited years for our loft and the process to get in, get registered and officially cross off all the fixes on our place took months. In the end it worked out but I wouldn't have the energy to go through the entire process again.

Your place looks stunning! And yes, furnishing is the next best part. Congrats!

thanks for sharing, your place looks great!  I just bought my first place this year, was a re-sale but was VERY close to buying a pre-construction condo. I chickened out of  buying a pre-construction at the last minute as there were so many 'un-known' factors involved with pre-construction condo's (re: property taxes, land registry etc.) and dealing with those un-known things and whole process of buying as a first time buyer was really daunting. But I would definately consider buying pre-construction in the future.

:)

I can tell ya, design consultant from the builder blows. I had one and she's totally useless. She's more into pushing you to upgrade to expensive product instead of speaking best practices.

I spent $600 bucks to upgrade my toilet which I could have done myself for half of the price. I also spent $1000 for a frameless glass shower door upgrade because I didn't want to deal with cleaning the edge with those aluminum frame shower door. Who knows that shower door had haunted me over 6 months. It leaks water on the corner, water drips down and the dry wall underneath the shower stall are all soaking wet.

And what did builder say? "Sorry, this happens if you have this kind of door". This is something a design consultant could have warn me in the first place, but she never mentioned anything.

Buying pre build condo is pretty frustrating at times, especially not everything is build perfectly, you have to haunt the builder like you haunt Rogers' customer care service. Or nothing gets fixed!

My partner and I are looking into buying a condo together. As first time condo buyers you have given us a lot to think about. This will definitely help with our decision in what type of condo to buy, whether pre-constructed or re-sale. Thanks for the information. Cheers!

I totally agree about the design consultants!  You end up paying top dollar for just so so stuff.  My experience reminded me of the guys at Best Buy trying to sell power surge protectors after you've bought a TV i.e. earn commission so they'll say whatever it takes for you to fork out more money.  I know how tempting it is to upgrade everything and just get it all done before you've moved in but I recommend keeping it simple and doing the upgrades after you've settled.  Nice article!

Wow-- love your finishes! There are definitely some pros to buying precontruction condos like being able to choose your own finishes versus having to live with someone else's taste. But, as another poster mentioned, your may also run into some dissapointments with your choices which you will only realize once you begin you live in your new condo. Also, builder's upgrades are notoriously overpriced which can be so frustrating. You learn as you go where to put your money. I'm in my second condo and both were purchased pre-contruction. I personally wouldn't do it any other way. I'd love to see what your place looks like furnished!

Thanks Everybody!  Yes, definitely some lessons learned. To both posters that want to see the place when its furnished, I will for sure share those pics somewhere in the near future. Like I said, we are really happy overall. Now I am completely consumed with choosing blinds, furnishings.. and getting started on that backsplash!

This is an exciting moment for you, I have been dreaming of home ownership since I was a child but I'm still not there.  It's like Lex Luthor's father always told him, 'Buy land son, they aint making any more of it'.  

A condo is a great stepping stone, and even though I'm not at all the kind of person who enjoys the condo scene, elevators, underground parking, a committee telling me what I can and can't do to my property, the whole presale scene has been looking better and better all the time.  I am seriously considering it.

I'm looking to buy a condo in Toronto in the next few months, and I didn't realize how nerve wracking it could be! It kind of makes me nervous, but I'm still excited at the same time. :) I love it!

Love it! This Real People thing is great, and I'd love to see how your condo develops Jennifer

Oh, did you know that when you do the upgrade, it actually adds to the housing price, so upon final closing, you end up paying more taxes because the city will access the condo to be in a higher value. So if you have to pay land transfer taxes, you will pay more!

It's like buying a fully loaded car, you pay more taxes!!

The worst part is that when you go to the design consultant to do the upgrades, they will usually ask you to pay the upgrades on the same day and you have to add the GST to the upgrades as well. (Well, after this year in July, it will be HST, booya!)

If you do your own upgrade later, city won't know and you won't pay that extra taxes!

Some deficiencies like floating floors only become apparent over time. I know someone who had to have their floor redone 4 times and there are still large gaps in it. And the condo board was thinking of alerting the media as to the level of deficiencies, but decided against it as they thought it would lower the resale value.

A very interesting and candid report on a very hot subject for so many (perhaps) younger people of today, trying to get into the real estate market. I've only ever owned single family homes, yet the surprises upon completion are often times very similar.  Just wondering if there may be bigger headaches with refurbished condos that once housed factories and other businesses!  I do love the idea of having the ugly sections of bigger cities revamped to make everything look more pleasing.  Hoping to hear more about this new venture of yours, as I am sure more people can relate!

I totally understand your experience.  I rented a newly built condo and then bought a unit in the same building 2 years later.  You have to be very patient with the process as the inspections are never ending.. well at least till the whole building is completed even then you have to watch out for maintenance fees increases the following year.  Lot's to know and learn about pre-construction condos. Tks for your insight!

I to went through something similar in regards to the purchase of a pre-construction condo. The thing that rubbed me the wrong way most during our PDI was that you were only given 1hr with the representative to go through your entire unit. We must have had over 50 items marked down. I enjoyed your blog and will check back every once and a while to see the photos you post of your furnishings. Good luck.

Glad you're happy with the whole experience and didn't run into any major complications. Buying pre-sale can be a scary investment, especially in times like these. However, it must be extremely exciting being able to make all the selections for the fixtures and such. Thanks for the read!

Thanks for letting me know that I am not alone in this process. Hope you get total control in your furnishings.

Good luck!

Great article. My husband and I are planning to buy a Condo in the near future and were contemplating whether to enter into the headaches of pre-construction or to put up with an already existing Condo containing other people's choices. Thankfully I have some design background should we decide to buy from scatch. Thanks for the insight.

My husband and I have never owned a condo, but we have lived through the new construction highs and lows (myself three times and twice for him).

Your article is very informative for people like us because should we ever look into owning a condo, we now have a better realization for the time frame between signing the paperwork and actually moving in.  .  Buying a new house seems, for the most part, to take less time.

As he and I age, looking into moving into a condo may be a more viable option for us, as gardening, lawn care, house maintenance, etc. may become more daunting.  

Having read your article made me think, however, that re-sale rather than pre-construction would be better for us, should it ever come about.  Having had the "new" construction experience enough times, the honeymoon has past for us on that phase, with all the decisions, painting, decorating, etc. that comes with it.  As well, in keeping with the ever growing popularity of "Going Green", re-sale would be high on our list of priorities.  I'd rather paint over someone else's choice, personally.

I'm very happy for you in your move!  It seems to have worked out great for you and your boyfriend.  All the best as you move forward with furnishings and giving the place "a woman's touch"!  Thanks for the info!

I bought pre-construction twice. Both times went well - especially the first - and any defects or issues I had with the second were fixed in short order. My builder offered options such as window covering installation (my walls are concrete) and closet organization. I found the cost savings were substantial compared to paying for these separately because the companies did all the work across all the units within a fixed period.

My experiences have been good, so I bought another condo pre-construction. The one *major* disadvantage - having to pay property taxes for the period when the building is under construction. My next condo's move-in date has been pushed 2 years, so the property taxes will continue to add up and considering that I'm not even living there yet, I feel ripped off.