Condo purchase help

[XXXmen]

I'm looking into first time purchase of a condo be it pre-construction or resale.
I want to use first time buyer plan, I have the $20,00 in RRSP to cover the initial., and have like $10,000 in investment. I'm not sure where to start and what to look for. I work downtown and obviously would like something in the same area that is ttc accessible. How do i find out of pre-construction condos?

Is it a good time to purchase a condo? I plan to live in the condo and eventually use it as an investment property by upgrading in years to come.

Can someone point me in the right direction??? Can a real estate agent help me in this regard considering my income as mentioned above??

[Keigotw]

I'm looking into first time purchase of a condo be it pre-construction or resale.
I want to use first time buyer plan, I have the $20,00 in RRSP to cover the initial., and have like $10,000 in investment. I'm not sure where to start and what to look for. I work downtown and obviously would like something in the same area that is ttc accessible. How do i find out of pre-construction condos?

Is it a good time to purchase a condo? I plan to live in the condo and eventually use it as an investment property by upgrading in years to come.

Can someone point me in the right direction??? Can a real estate agent help me in this regard considering my income as mentioned above??

check here http://www.newinhomes.com/index.jsp
or get those Condo magazine from the street.
pre-register with the condos that you like.

[JetLi]

Some agents have VIP access to some condo places, I came across several agents that seem to have these kind of condo pre-sale access. The nice thing about VIP sales is that you get first dibs on a the location (over public sales) and the prices are usually a little better. Going in with an agent never hurts, if nothing else, the agent is there for your benefits, where the builder will be looking out for their bottom line. Having someone there never hurts. Here's the one I spoke to about it when I was looking, they seemed very good, but I ultimately decided a condo wasn't for me.

www.galleryofcondos.com

They currently got VIP status for Menkes Savvy on their website,not sure about any other buildings, but it doesn't hurt to call them or email them.

[qster]

Never hurts to bring an agent along (they get commission too! ranges from $1,000 to 3% of purchase price depending on the builder).

Figure out where you want to live with respects to where you work.
There are a ton of condos popping up all over the city, especially the downtown core.

Condos most likely won't be going down in price since the market is being eaten up by older divorced women looking to move out of the home and ex.
Then you have the single young professional women buying too.

Be prepared to wait 1-3 years before the condo is built when you buy pre-construction, but you save a lot more.

[JetLi]

^^ Yes, most agents will get a commission and some will work anywhere, others will tell you that they can't help you because they don't specialize in that area or in condos, etc...etc... When an agent is going to get a potential client and will get paid after you move in - they will work to make sure you're happy.

Another thing to note, whatever the builder tells you as a date, most buildings in Toronto are 6-24 months behind schedule. Goodluck!

[JetLi]

I was talking to my girlfriend about this thread and she reminded me that going with an agent with VIP status not just saves you some money, but gets you in some free upgrades, ones that we saw while we were looking included free appliances, and hardwood floor upgrades. We're sure there is more, but we can't remember any more. Goodluck!