Grasshopper said:
Thanks newbuyer, Solaris & cdr108. I've been to the sales office today. According to Karen, it's now 70%+ sold. For Azalea, units above 25th floor are sold out. For Poppy, only the 13th floor is available. For the 4th floor Poppy unit, the price has been increased from $276,900 (May 17, 2009) to $286,900 (Sep 2, 2009). The cash back has been reduced from $15,000 to $10,000. HST is now included in the price. But I forgot to ask whether locker would be included or not. It seems like there would be not much flexibility for the price and no free upgrade. I am a first time condo buyer. Any ideas what I can ask before signing the offer?
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HI Grasshopper, it is best that you can get a lawyer and have him/her to go through your purchase agreement and make any necessary changes.

I would definitely suggest you to have the meter installation fees and development levies capped (if they don't do so, or even lower them more if they already have them capped). You can also ask them to lower or even waived the assignment fee in case you want to sell your unit in the future.

And try to ask for cash off the purchase price right away instead of having cash back at occupancy. It is just my personal preference of having cash back in your pocket right away instead of waiting 3 years.

Other than the above, I can't come up with much else, maybe other members will have some bright ideas for you. Good luck!
 
newbuyer said:
Check this picture. The black dot represent the poppy unit. It's a corner unit facing north east. The arrows represent the direction of the view from the unit and the balcony. You can see the view of the proposed new rental building A2 even from the 17th floor. The Y building won't be visible from the living room unless you actually really try to look south east. Anything above the line is the view from the unit. As you can see the y building is under the straight line.

Under the line is Trillium and Mulberry corner unit which has balcony facing straight to east direction, so it the y building will be visible just by sitting in the balcony.

That is why i went ahead with this unit. I was going to get the Trillium but changed my mind because Poopy has a better lay out and facing north east instead of east.

emeraldplan.jpg
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Hi newbuyer, Thanks very much for posting the picture. According to Karen, the new rental buildings A2 & D1 will be 7 storeys building. The existing rental building A9 is 17 storeys with 8 ft ceiling.
 
Hi Grasshoper.Thanks for the update. Only 13th floor available? I see.
I also want to let you know that the base price for Poppy that you see on the price list is start from the 5th floor, not 4th floor. They have seperate price for the 4th floor since the Poppy unit's balcony on the 4th is connected to the patio. It is a little bit more than the base price. I know this for sure.

As what Probey mentioned, make sure you get the water meter installation fee and development charges fee capped. I doubt it if they will reduce fees. Also you can get the other smaller fees deleted. I don't remember exactly which ones, but show the purchase agreement to your lawyer. When I bought mine, I have to pay extra for parking and locker. Hearing that they reduced the cash back to $10k, I doubt it that they are going to include the parking and locker.
 
Thanks for the info Grasshoper. I would not worry about A9 building because it's not visible from Poppy unit. Building A2 and D1 is located on the other side. I also heard that they will renovate the existing rental building as well.
 
probey said:
Isn't parking included for all units purchased? I only paid for the locker.
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Sorry, you are right. My mistake. I do remember parking is included on the purchase price, however if you don't want the parking you can get another $15k-$25k off. I do not remember exactly how much.
 
Thanks probey & newbuyer. Poppy 13th floor unit was sold yesterday. But the 4th floor unit is available today. I didn't go for it. I put in an offer for Azalea 31th floor unit (it was not available yesterday). Just got $10,000 cash back, 1 year metro pass and 2-month delay of the 2nd & 3rd deposits. There was no flexibility in price. I did ask for assignment & capped the fees up to $5k.

It seems to me the south view will be blocked by Tower 2 (page 9 of the brochure). I don't understand as Tower 2 is 29 storeys. Is there a way for me to double-check?
 
Thanks all for this informative site.

When I originally bought my unit, I had no lawyer and I signed the agreement as is without any amendments or modifications (totally regret this! :mad:). I've been to the sales office recently and they provided an amendment to sign (meter installation cost to be capped at 1500$ + GST, & levies not to exceed 3500$ + GST for a one bedroom unit).
- Do you guys think I can still negociate at this point and get them to lower or waive these fees/or the assignment fees? Anyone was able to get better offer after signing the agreement?
- What about the lockers - does anyone know their areas/sizes?
- Do you guys know if it is necessary to use lawyer's services to draft an assignment prior to closing? Can the agent do it?
 
newbuyer2 said:
Thanks all for this informative site.

When I originally bought my unit, I had no lawyer and I signed the agreement as is without any amendments or modifications (totally regret this! :mad:). I've been to the sales office recently and they provided an amendment to sign (meter installation cost to be capped at 1500$ + GST, & levies not to exceed 3500$ + GST for a one bedroom unit).
- Do you guys think I can still negociate at this point and get them to lower or waive these fees/or the assignment fees? Anyone was able to get better offer after signing the agreement?
- What about the lockers - does anyone know their areas/sizes?
- Do you guys know if it is necessary to use lawyer's services to draft an assignment prior to closing? Can the agent do it?
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Hi newbuyer2,

$1500 for meter installation and $3500 for levies are pretty standard, so far I didn't hear any other buyers on this board can get lower than this

I think lockers are not literally the size of change room lockers. I think they are bigger than that. My friend actually have a big cage bounded by metal wire mesh and he puts tons of stuff inside.

I have no idea for the process of assignment, but I think having a lawyer to do this would definitely safer.
 
You guys are amazing. You have more info than my agent. And I am very thankful.

My agent did ask for many things: free locker, free upgrades, discount... But no luck. I requested to waive the assignment fee but also no luck. The only amendment to the paper work was 2-month delay for the 2nd & 3rd deposit.

Locker is called "bicycle storage". It is 3x5 ft.

I am doing the reality check. Price/sq ft for Azalea (1B+D, south exposure, 31th floor) is $484. Monarch Ultra 722 (2B, north exposure, 31th floor) is $404/sq ft. Monarch Ultra 887 (2B, south exposure, 31th floor) is $392/sq ft.

Does it worth to pay 20% more for 9ft ceiling, direct ttc access & better layout? Is it wise to pay $65,000 more for these features? Think about resale market. Are you willing to pay $65,000 more for these features?

The property tax will also be 20% more for Emerald City compared to Monarch.
 
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Grasshopper said:
You guys are amazing. You have more info than my agent. And I am very thankful.

My agent did ask for many things: free locker, free upgrades, discount... But no luck. I requested to waive the assignment fee but also no luck. The only amendment to the paper work was 2-month delay for the 2nd & 3rd deposit.

Locker is called "bicycle storage". It is 3x5 ft.

I am doing the reality check. Price/sq ft for Azalea (1B+D, south exposure, 31th floor) is $484. Monarch Ultra 722 (2B, north exposure, 31th floor) is $404/sq ft. Monarch Ultra 887 (2B, south exposure, 31th floor) is $392/sq ft.

Does it worth to pay 20% more for 9ft ceiling, direct ttc access & better layout? Is it wise to pay $65,000 more for these features? Think about resale market. Are you willing to pay $65,000 more for these features?

The property tax will also be 20% more for Emerald City compared to Monarch.
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It depends on what you need.

Unit layout is my 1st priority. Personally I feel that Emerald City has better layouts in terms of making use of all spaces.

9ft ceiling is a big plus since I am expecting bulkhead anyways, having 9ft ceiling is kind of countering the bulkhead. And direct TTC and Fairview access are very important to me, since my dad doesn't like driving, he would rather choose a place where everything is literally within walking distance.

Does it mean that I dislike Legacy/Ultra? No. I went to both showrooms before and I really like them. I like how they include stainless steel appliances, I like their kitchen cabinets and big windows.

After a long debate to myself, I finally chose Emerald City. It is because I value the needs of my family more than things like view/direction/floor/psf.

Hope that helps. Good luck :)
 
probey said:
It depends on what you need.

Unit layout is my 1st priority. Personally I feel that Emerald City has better layouts in terms of making use of all spaces.

9ft ceiling is a big plus since I am expecting bulkhead anyways, having 9ft ceiling is kind of countering the bulkhead. And direct TTC and Fairview access are very important to me, since my dad doesn't like driving, he would rather choose a place where everything is literally within walking distance.

Does it mean that I dislike Legacy/Ultra? No. I went to both showrooms before and I really like them. I like how they include stainless steel appliances, I like their kitchen cabinets and big windows.

After a long debate to myself, I finally chose Emerald City. It is because I value the needs of my family more than things like view/direction/floor/psf.

Hope that helps. Good luck :)
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I hate Legacy/Ultra's layouts. They are so ackward. For a lot of investors and homebuyers, layout is very important.
I think TTC underground access and mall access is a huge plus for Emerald city. Especially in the winter. 9 ft ceiling does make a big difference for me.
Ultra/legacy with 8 ft ceiling and akward layout? That is just terrible, IMO.
 
In all fairness, I think there are pros + cons each to Emerald City and Legacy/Ultra:

Emerald City pros:
- underground subway access
- 9' ceilings in all units
- generally better floorplans

Emerald City cons:
- surrounded by Parkway Forest rental apartments (not really a true mixed income neighbourhood)
- higher PSF price
- less established builder in GTA
- more views blockage between various proposed and existing towers

Legacy/Ultra pros:
- better views + sightlines, less buildings blocking views
- if you can afford the SE or SW facing corner unit, the layout is amazing !
- Monarch is known for good built quality
- lower PSF price

Legacy/Ultra cons:
- no subway access
- save and except for the SE or SW facing corner unit, the layouts are poorly designed
- 8' ceiling for the lower half of the building, it wouldn't be any different than Emerald City if you were on the upper half of Legacy+Ultra where 9' ceiling is also standard

*******

In conclusion, if I was buying a place to live in myself and I can afford the SE/SW facing corner 2B/2B+D unit in Legacy/Ultra, I would choose Monarch's project over Emerald City

However, if I could only afford the 2 specific units identified above, Emerald City generally and much better layouts for smaller units
 
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