I would love to paint a picture for my readers and clients that buying a new, pre-construction condo at a VIP sales event is a simple and straight-forward process where if you have money and are ready to spend it, you get exactly what you want when you want it. Unfortunately this is not always the case.
This past weekend I attended yet another one of these VIP broker-type sales events at one of the highest-profile condo projects downtown in the King and Spadina neighbourhood. Condos at this project are selling in the $800-1000 per square foot range. These are not low end condos.
My client wanted to buy a 1 bedroom unit for something around $500K. We lined up early, we knew exactly what we wanted, we even had our deposit cheque ready to be handed over. When the doors finally opened, we were told that there were no 1 bedrooms available (even though it was advertised that there would be). In fact, there were no units available unless we wanted to spend at least $750K.
Of course, I knew this would likely be the case beforehand and had prepared my client for this reality. But most people attending these “VIP sales events” have no clue what they are walking into.
My best advice to buyers is “prepare to be disappointed”. Even though you may know exactly what you want to buy and have the financial means to do so, you may go home empty handed. It’s the nature of these sales events. They are built around hype and anticipation. Once you are through the doors they know that given the chance, most people will buy just about anything
Questions or comments? Feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.
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The Berczy VIP sales event analysis and post mortem | TrueCondos.com - The Best Source for Toronto Condos Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 4:46 pm[...] this past weekend. The situation reminds me a lot of a previous post I wrote last year – Prepare to be Disappointed. Some of my observations from the [...]




October 6th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Andrew: That is very good advice but take it one step further; there is usually still a deal even when they tell you there is no deal. As you know, you have to play hard ball. Show the sales staff that you’re interested but not so naive that you’ll buy only the “select remaining units” offered to you. Taking that position put me in the unit I was wanting… 4 days after the VIP event. JDF
October 6th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Good things come to those who wait and persistence pays off. Good tip JDF.