Who would buy an older condo when you can get into a preconstruction with a reputable builder for a discount or just bite the bullet and get a starter home for a few $ more?
People don't want to take on a 2000$/m mortgage on top of 500$ for hot water and a gym they never use.
We would.
We've leased a few different suites and without a doubt, the older units are by far the most "home-like". The newer units were shiny and had lots of windows, granite, fancy appliances, and amenities up the ying-yang. But the older ones had better construction, much more space (SPACE!), and older, more established residents, who seem to care about the building and their neighbours.
We've been crammed into 700-800 square footers, and after a while it feels claustrophobic and frustrating as you try to figure out where to put stuff. We've liquidated, donated, sold, and trashed what seems to be an endless amount of stuff, just to feel like we could breathe.
We are now in a 1300+ square footer that was actually built to be a home. It is old, dated, yet we love it more than any other place we've lived.
So my question is once you are stuck in a highrise and these shiny new eyesores become old rustic eyesores. What happens when people can't afford the fee's to upkeep them? Or what if heaven forbid people start losing their jobs?
I honestly see many of these downtown condos becoming run down ghettos. Maybe I'm way out of line thinking that, but I doubt many of these units to the highest standard of build quality.
Or they will all become glorified run down apartments from foreign money capitalizing on a low dollar.
We spent a year in one of North York's newest condo buildings. Had a great location, and was (on the surface) an amazing place to live. But some of the residents are running it down so fast it's just sad. Many are treating it like a glorified dorm. Maybe they lease, maybe they bought it (or their parents did), but they are only there for the short-term and treat it as such. It all looks like a million bucks, but the quality of life was not very good. All style, no substance.
I agree that many buildings are going to transition into a steady decline. At some point, there will be a shift away from micro-sized condo living back to more spacious, livable places. Many of the newer buildings are mostly 1-bed units, built cheap for quick flips. These will likely see the worst of it.
