I believe that what is happening is that many people who want to live downtown are taking 2 bedrooms and room mates since $1500 for a 1 bedroom vs. $2200 for a 2 bedroom means living expenses are $1100/person vs. $1500/person. I suspect that the high end will have problems since the mid range...

From the management: The developer expects to replace glass from balconies commencing end of August and finishing end September for South and East sides. Glass is ordered...no known delivery date yet for the North and West sides. They do not know if Nickel sulfide inclusions are the problem or...

My understanding it is the Developer who has to do this and pay. This is what was relayed to me by the management office. It is between the City and the developer. City told the developer they have to remedy the problem. In any event, it is still under Tarion warranty.

Actually the update is that the developer is replacing all the balconies and hopes to have the job done by the end of August. If so, that would be extremely quick. Either way, it is fortunate that the problem will be taken care of and taken care of rather quickly once the decision was finally...

I don't believe however that the selling record has to do with the glass. I believe the $800/sq.ft. and above price is what was making this difficult to sell and that there were issues with resales at that price even before the glass issues came to light. However, it certainly does not help...

Exactly my thoughts though once corrected I will be glad that we should not have to worry about the balconies in the future. Big expense for the developer.

Mike through your corporations you may get some tax savings I have no doubt. However, most of the time it is tax deferrals. Still at tax deferred is a tax not paid as the saying goes. I think you can acknowledge at this point at least that real losses are not something someone wants, even if...

I am sorry Mike but I do not believe you are correct. No one wants a real loss to get a tax loss. For e.g., if I have a property that is in a loss of $10K after expenses and one that has $10K profit after expenses, I will have a net zero income. However, if I did not have the property in the...

To TorontoMike$$ As per party penguin: You are allowed to deduct 100% of the expenses against taxable income... so for income tax purposes, you can save the tax component of this loss on a future year. So if you lost $10,000 in vacancy costs, when you DO end up generating income of let's...

CN Tower, you are of course correct and Toronto Mike$$ argument is only logical in the sense that offsetting some of your other income with losses means the government shares up to 50% with you on your loss. You still have the other 50% loss. I know few investors who set out to lose money. If...

I thas to do with the culture there that "new" is better if I understand correctly. While you may offset your expenses, the thinking is that a new condo will be worth more than one previously inhabited. Hence, as a store of value, the thinking is "keep it new". If you are a foreign investor...

I have read the same thing about the Chinese method of investing. If it is true, the concern of course with this is capital will go to were it make its best return. Should the Chinese who believe in this decide to leave, will other investors have the same approach and if not, and the new...

cdr: I really appreciate your calculations. If I could point out however you suggest insurance at $100/month. In my experience it is closer for a landlords package to about $15-20/month. I agree with the King East that the value is in the smaller units for renting. Renters in my experience do...

Personally, I think 1 Bloor East has a certain amount of prestige over YC. Both subway lines there, Yorkville nearby. That said, it remains to be seen if anyone is going to make any money. Certainly to sell when you fact in realty commissions etc. and other soft costs, I suspect close to $900...

I don't know the particulars of this project except that I believe it has a lot of units....like 968+ which means they need to sell probably 600+ average units or more just to get construction financing. That is a big launch/project. Alot of precon is not to end users but to investors and I...

Of course your logic makes sense. To not offend other purchasers, keep the price up but then offer rebates or freebies. The new buyer is paying less. There are other reasons however for this action possibly. For e.g. sold say 60% in 2 months for e.g. (which would be excellent for most...

This is a fairly logical predictable pattern. In 1989 the market turned. The real estate agents stuck it out for a couple of years and with decreasing prices and sales falling people got out. The market turned in 1996-1997 but really started its big climb in 2000 and low and behold, everyone...

Ben, this is reassuring. However, the reality is that Fortress as a company if I am not mistaken has been around only during the boom times so this is hardly a resounding endorsement. I believe that most real estate ventures though not all have been positive in the past 10+ years with few...

^^^ Somehow this must be a reflection of the temperature with expansion / contraction or alternatively wind?

the problem is people are going all in on real estate, the stock market and every asset class. This is driving up the price of everything. People are taking the attitude that it is a good time to get debt as interest rates are at 50 year lows. The problem is as has been said TheKingEast, when...