In this video we look at tips for living in a condo, specifically going from a house to a condo.
As well as, what are some good etiquette. How to be a good
neighbor and some great decorating ideas. That's starting right now.
Welcome to Homebuyer School brought to you by Brookfield Residential.
Hi everyone, I'm Karl. Welcome to another home buyer school video. A channel where you get the
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So today I'm joined by Karen MacDonald, community manager with Brookfield Residential
and today we're gonna talk about condo living tips and ideas.
So the first thing is, let's say your you're downsizing or right sizing,
and you're going from a house to a condo, what are some tips that
you would have to consider or think about when you're moving from a house to a condo?
So if you're downsizing or right sizing um a lot of people don't
factor in what their furniture will look like in their new home. A lot of the
times downsizing means downsizing your furniture as well. So depending on where
you've chosen to buy, it may not have room for a 12 seater dining room table
and hutch, so that may be something that you have to consider. If that's the case,
who and your family is gonna be doing the entertaining if you if you're buying
something that won't have enough space for everybody to sit at that table.
Or may not have enough space for your California king-size bed. So thinking
about the space that you have in a 2,400 square foot house and the size
of the furniture that house can handle compared to say a 1200 square foot
townhome. That may need to change you may need to gift ourselves some of that
furniture and get something that's all brand new.
And like when you're actually moving into a condo from a house, I think there's also things that you
might want to think about in terms of the expectation you have in terms of
I guess being a good neighbour right? Cause you've had your house
for so long you could essentially play music or be as loud as you possibly want
but I think that probably the change that there's other people around you too.
I think it's being considerate of that knowing that.
If you're you know playing your stereo, your video games it's like late at night and
that has like a high bass or anything like that, your neighbors are probably
gonna hear that. I just think about the way you would want to be treated in that
as well too I think it's making sure that you don't you don't play music well
into the evening. If you do have a good relationship with your neighbors so that
you can say I'm sorry I'm having a party, I'd love for you to come and join us if not we'll be done by this time
or that kind of thing. It's just like anything being considerate as a neighbor.
Making sure that you're not keeping everybody up at all hours of the night.
Well I also think it's also if when you mentioned
who's gonna entertain, what if you do entertain a lot right and maybe just
you're used to the amount of people that come in but some people aren't. They're
like why is that unit having all these people come in at all times.
I think it's just like anything just kind of being a good neighbor means
communicating with people and letting them know hey I entertained a
fair amount but I'm willing to do again it's the best set of compromises I'm
willing to do this and this and this if it's an issue for you. And I think
anything if you're partying every night there's this there's gotta be something
that's gonna give there. Maybe a condo is not the right place for you then if
you're partying every night. But letting people know what you're doing and I
think there's a lot of emotion that goes along with that if people are woken up
from sleep and continually I think people will accept so much but you can't do it every night.
But also I think one another thing about because I was
just I was in LA and I got woken up on all nights because there was a bike
convention and on and all the guys were there Harley's come in so I was also
thinking too it's like what if you have a loud vehicle or loud
motorcycle that would be pretty loud for everybody else too right.
I mean why do people rev their motorcycle engines okay anyways it
doesn't make any sense to me. So noise bylaws are the same from the
city that you live in as well. So any kind of noise bylaws you have to adhere
to them. Don't be that guy you know revs your motorcycle.
The last thing I want to talk about is, let's say you're you're not going from a house
to condo but this is your very first house and how about for some decorating ideas?
What are some things that you need to think about if this is your first real home you own,
what are some things you need to think about it?
It's going back to how you live, I'm sorry I keep on saying it.
But it really is. I mean do you need a dining table?
Are you gonna sit there? Will your house, how is it for you? I mean do you have enough
space um and going along with the entertaining do you need a six-seater?
Do you usually eat at your island or you know on your couch watching TV that kind of thing.
so those kind of things that you have if
you're gonna you know decorate and make it easy for you to eat on your coach
yeah you know having a table there that's easy for you to do that.
I think anything else like storage space, if you're a first-time homebuyer and
you're living in a condo or a townhome, a lot of the time storage space
is at prime. so you're gonna have to come up with some storage solutions to make
sure that you can you know organize all of your belongings.
It doesn't matter like when you are buying a brand new condo and this is your first time like
do those things matter such as a granite counter
top or like even appliances or is it just is it more so personal preference?
I think yeah it's somewhat personal preference but you have to make sure
when you're buying anything multifamily that you do not price yourself out of
the market. If you go and sell your home in five years and you have just the
absolute basics and there's a lot of other people that are selling their home
in that five years that have some upgrades that people quite like, they'll
probably sell their house a lot quicker. To the same degree you don't want to
over price your home when it comes to resale. You can think about all of the
things that you know you want these high-end handles or you want heart-like
different appliances, the best appliances, are those the things that people are
going to value as much as you do? What's gonna be the best average out of that
for you? So don't over price yourself, don't under price yourself. I think the
best rule in that is to go with the average of what people typically put in.
And your sales representative or possibly your realtor will be able to
help you out with that number, what that is.
What are some key upgrades that you think from a condo perspective that
would add value over time but not totally blow you out of your budget?
I think typically it's the same as in any new home, it's some kitchen
upgrades, which would be countertops likely storage space so if you have the
ability to have larger taller cabinets, bathroom upgrades like having additional
storage and cabinets. I guess just cabinets was what I'm
saying but anything that makes it um look nice countertops do really well for
that. Maybe it's a cool backsplash. But anything that you know, you feel you
love in the home, somebody else might love that as well too. So I mean don't
bare it down to the absolute basics because somebody else will love your
home for the reasons that you love it, maybe just not in the same way.
Perfect. Do you anything else to add in terms of tips for living in the condo?
No, I think it's just you know making sure that you're aware that
storage solutions will be something you'll be looking into a lot right.
Well thank you very much for joining us and if you want to know more about the
pros and cons of living in a condo check out this video here. We also have a great
playlist on buying a condo for the very first time. That playlist you can see
here and don't forget to subscribe to make sure you keep learning from the
home buying experts. We'll catch you next time.