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Greed: Part 2

I had quite a few reactions (mostly via email) to my last post “Greed“. It seems it really struck a cord with both my fellow Realtors and consumers alike. As a follow up to that post, I wanted to talk about another segment of the market that in my opinion has gone off the deep end and gotten greedy: Assignment Sellers.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple years and still do not know what an assignment is, please read through my series of blog posts on the subject before continuing.

Time and time again I see assignment sellers (and their agents) making the same mistake: over pricing their assignments.Finding a buyer for an assignment is tricky under the best of circumstances. Finding a buyer for an assignment when that assignment is over priced to begin with is nearly impossible.

For example, Maple Leaf Square assignments are popping up everywhere.  Some sellers are asking $700 per square foot for their units. This is insane. There is almost nothing selling on the resale market at that price anywhere downtown. Why would anyone pay this for a run of the mill condo?

The high end of the resale market (for non-luxury buildings) are buildings like Glas (25 Oxley), College Park (761&763 Bay), Murano (37 Grosvenor and 38 Grenville), and The Met (21 and 25 Carlton). Units in these buildings are averaging about $575 PSF for units with parking spots. The odd unit is selling for slightly above $600 PSF. This is the creme of the crop. Trying to sell an assignment in an unproven building for $700 PSF is just silly.

So what is a realistic way to price an assignment? There is no set rule at this point, however, I would suggest you first determine the value of the property if it were a resale property TODAY, then subtract 10% from that. This is assuming of course, you are a motivated, rational seller who does not want to close on the property. This is also assuming occupancy will take place in the next 6 months or less for your unit.

Don’t get greedy. Price your assignment below equivalent resale market value to give yourself the best chance to find a buyer.

This one is sure to excite some people-let me know your thoughts or comments!

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Inventory Relief Coming Soon

The biggest story in the Toronto condo market over the past 6 months has been the disparity between supply and demand. Simply put, inventory (condos available for sale) is at an all time low, and demand is at an all time high. This has been a recipe for rapid price appreciation, frenzied buying, and sellers very much in control of negotiations.

2010 promises  to bring change. Several high-profile condo projects downtown are coming to completion this year and whenever this happens, huge numbers of units are put on the market by investors looking to cash-out their investments.

Specifically over the next few months, buildings that will likely be registering include London on the Esplanade (just registered), Murano (North Tower to be registered this month), VU (Jarvis and Adelaide), 550 Wellington, West Harbour City, Boutique, Glass House, CASA, Bloor Street Neighbourhood, and the list goes on…

Most of these are buildings that were selling during the heady days of 2005-2007 and 2010-2011 will see all of these projects come ‘online’ and they will be added to the inventory for the downtown market.

Buyers should soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief as all this product coming on to the market in time for the spring should make things a little easier on them, however, prices will likely continue to rise as demand will remaind strong for at least the next 2 quarters.

In about six months two key events will take place that will likely shape the real estate market for the following 6-12 months – the Bank of Canada will be raising interest rates, the HST will kick in.  There is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding these two events, however, many are predicting that they will have a negative impact on prices heading into the final half of 2010. Personally I believe there are too many variables at play to make any accurate predictions of what the market will do beyond the next 6 months.

Thoughts or comments? Leave them below or email me directly.

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New Assignment at Murano North Tower

I haven’t written too much about assignment sales, but my clients know that I am expecting/predicting 2009 to be “the year of the assignment”.  Many people who bought condos in the past two years will be looking to sell this year and get their deposit monies back.  Assignments can offer the savvy buyer with significant savings. More on that in future blog posts.

This post is about an assignment listing that came across my desk this week at Murano – North Tower. Murano is a project by Lanterra and is located on Bay Street, just north of College. The details:

• 17th floor-2 bedroom, 2 bathroom
• 752 Square feet, “Pezzati” floor plan, Murano condos – Pezzati floor plan
• Balcony – yes
• South-West exposure (corner unit)
• Includes 1 parking spot
• April 2009 Occupancy (Estimate)
• Assignment fee of $4000 to be paid by the seller
• Asking price is $399,999

The Truth is…

This is a good deal when you consider that the builder currently has a Pezzati unit for sale on the 42nd floor with North-West exposure for $449,900 with no parking spot. Assuming the parking spot is worth $35,000, the asking price per square foot is approximately $485-far below the area average (low to mid $600s. As for the floor plan itself, fitting in 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms into 752 square feet means that the living and dining area is quite narrow. Also, walking directly into the kitchen might be a turn off for some people. However, if you are looking for a 2 bedroom with a south view on a high floor, and you want to move in some time in the next few months, this unit offers good value.

If you are interested in this assignment, please contact me.

This listing is provided by Owais Sayed of Century 21 Leading Edge Realty 416-298-6000.

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