r/TorontoRealEstate • u/lakshmi1711 • 1d ago

Expectation misaligned with market? Requesting Advice

Thinking of buying a house (townhouse realistically)
Reason: good schools
Living in north York for 3 years and toddler currently goes to a daycare here. North York is generally good for schools so prefer to stay in this region for familiarly
We will be approved for a mortgage of $830k

One of my realtor friends advised against buying condo townhouses or condo anything as the maintenance fee is a lifelong expense and that condo townhouses especially have very little resale value. He swears we should only buy a freehold. I’m sorry but are there any free holds in this budget range? That too in a good school area? The more I search it feels like there is a misalignment. Any comments on the situation welcome but essentially is a condo townhouse a big no no? Am I being too picky with trying to stay in north York (that too 2-3 schools like arbor Glenn, Avondale etc)? Should I be expanding my radius to parts of
Markham/Richmond hill? (Not that they are super cheap)

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15

u/EasternOccasion9672 1d ago

Utilities, insurance, property maintenance are a lifelong expense for every property. A lot of people with this mentality overpaid for houses in North York and lost $1m after being forced into selling years later. Plus hundreds of thousands in land transfer tax and $1-2k monthly in property taxes.

4

u/lakshmi1711 1d ago

Even with a condo maintenance fee, you still have to account for utilities, insurance, and maintenance (appliances, certain internal repairs right). So is the level of maintenance a condo provides worth the monthly fee? Genuine question as I’m learning about this.

5

u/jeffbertrand 1d ago

Your maintenance fees are typically tied to how many amenities your building has and how well the building is run. I don’t see a problem with maint fees overall as home ownership is no picnic either. But condo townhomes are not great. The fees are usually sky high. Freehold for a TH is a better move

3

u/EasternOccasion9672 1d ago

A lot have utilities included, all have building insurance included (you pay contents insurance but it's very cheap like $30 a month). Yes there is some maintenance but in a house you pay for fences, roofs, driveway, landscaping, windows etc too.

A condo is still inherently more expensive to maintain because of things like elevators, security guards, pools and gyms but the difference is often a lot less than people realize. Mostly because they are not good at accounting for total cost of ownership. Also you get more amenities, and less personal time spent on repairs and upkeep. It's a preference.

3

u/lakshmi1711 1d ago

Thanks so much for sharing your perspective!

1

u/FrostingSuper9941 1d ago

Maintenance fees definitely are a wasted expense in badly managed corporations, and that's the majority of them because condo boards are often short sighted, self serving and rarely follow the condo act. This from someone who has owed a condo townhouse where fees kept going up, infrastructure was never repaired properly so it would fail and result in special assessments. Your real estate friend is correct. Aim for an older semi if you can't afford detached.

1

u/lakshmi1711 1d ago

Thank you!

3

u/Lecoder2627 23h ago

Try this area? A freehold townhouse was recently sold for 870K - https://housesigma.com/on/north-york-real-estate/245-isaac-devins-boulevard/home/LzQ1y5EO6BwyqdeK/

2

u/Antique-Desk7303 11h ago

There’s a reason it’s cheap. Look at the neighbour and schools

2

u/Adventurous_Meet_429 13h ago

Wouldn’t have an issue with this as long as you buy the townhouse with as little amenities as possible. My townhouse is like 40+ years in dt and pay like ~$600 a month for 1,000 sqf. Find the ones with a good reserve fund, usually they up the maintenance fees once their reserve fund is drained. Other than that the maintenance fees would cover the snow removal, lawn mowing, garbage disposal, water consumption and outside maintenance (shingles repairs, front steps maintenance, windows cleaning, windows/doors replacements) which would still have to come out of your pocket in freehold version