In this video we'll look at how to buy a townhouse for the first time in 2019
that includes some of the best tips as well as how to prepare.
That's starting right now.
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So today I'm joined by Karen McDonald a community manager with Brookfield Residential.
And today the question we're gonna answer is, How do you buy a townhouse for the first time in 2019?
So Karen do you have any tips in terms of buying a townhouse for the first time?
I think it would be a lot like a condo in that you want to make
sure you're buying in the right community you know. Do you have family around?
Is it close to amenities? Is there transit available?
If not when is that coming?
And yeah, just like anything else what space do you need um how do
you live do you need the third bedroom this is a lot of the times
um you know families and people that have a lot of visitors they need that
third bedroom so there's quite a few townhomes that have that option over and
above maybe one an apartment style condo would.
And obviously the like the number one thing is making sure you're pre-approved got your finances in order
number one all the time finding out what your budget is so that you're not
looking at the you know six hundred thousand dollar condo when you really
need to be at a three hundred thousand dollar condo, right? I think you'll know
that in advance but make sure that you do the steps to get your approval
through a bank first and through a bank maybe not just online with a mortgage
calculator they're great to find out what your budget would be, just
personal but there's so many other factors that go into your mortgage
approval that only a professional can give to you, so go and get your
pre-approval get the steps in place before you're seriously looking
at buying a townhouse.
Do you find sometimes that you know will you you get a more of
a you know they've gone through a calculator but then they come in they
think they have a price but then they actually when they go to the bank they
don't have that price? Absolutely and there there's the rub
so you set yourself up for disappointment possibly when you don't
do that because it depends on what your income is and your you know what your
debt ratio is and and again a mortgage professional will be the best person to
talk to you about that to give you the absolutes. Well yeah you could maybe on a
monthly basis afford this payment as per the mortgage calculator, but that doesn't
take into account what you're paying out in debt what other fees that
you have to pay on a monthly basis and your car loans, anything. So yes make sure
you get your pre-approval first.
So when we talked about how do you buy a condo for the first time -
you can check out that video here in the below-
how do you prepare to buy a townhouse though
Is this something a little bit different?
um I think it's a little bit different
because you might be at a different stage. Really, townhomes are a lot of the
times it's a second buy for people that are moving up from their condos.
They may not quite be ready to buy that single-family home yet but they want a
little bit more space maybe they want the attached garage you know a little
bit of outdoor space as well too. So that that would be something different from
buying a condo but really it's yeah what are you gonna - the separation of
space - in a townhome it'll have more stairs for sure so those are the kind of
things that would be a little bit different in townhomes compared to condos
So is it cheaper to buy a condo or a townhouse which is I guess which is
like it's less expensive but most likely you probably think townhouse I mean
condo. But for resale value is it the same or is it or it depends?
I think it depends. And again if you're looking at apartment buildings that are infills,
inner city certainly high value locations then you're gonna be paying a
premium for those regardless of what the size is, comparable to
something in the burbs that might be the same size,
you could pay half of what the price would be
So location is at a premium always. But other than that
townhomes compared to a condo would just be - I mean you have a
difference in ownership as well too. You could own the land for a townhome as
well that you'd have to maintain, so it just it depends on what type of townhome
you're buying, and yeah what your responsibilities are as far as maintenance go
So let's do a little quick step by step guide and how to how
to buy a townhome. So obviously same things: get your finances in order
right make sure you know the I guess what the max that you can possibly buy
again, don't go all the way to the max, right? Location; so where you
want to personally live with your family and then you go into
understanding lifestyle and I think although with a townhouse you do have a
little bit more options in terms of type, right?
well there is yeah there's different types of townhomes on and what they are is you'll have a redivided
or a barely blended and the ownership in that is where you own from the
drywall in so you have all of this that you own, right, rather than just the air
and the space (because those hand gestures mean that)
bare land is where you own from pegs in the ground, so you actually own the land of a bare land townhome.
And so in that case you may have condo fees that do or do not
maintain that property for you, so look into that, know what the ownership is and
again the lifestyle if you want to have a yard a lot of the bare land condos
don't charge your condo fees because you're maintaining that yard yourself as
well too. So it's kind of, I guess the next step from kind of that apartment
living townhome living where you're maintenance-free maybe if you want a
little bit more space you can get into a bare land condo difference in price
point of those ones typically as well too
but you're going to have land maybe a bit more yard space that you can have
kids or dogs or anything like that in that in that.
But you still share the same wall as another person right? Absolutely.
It's similar to a duplex? Yeah
It would be almost the same in a bare land that you
are responsible for maintaining that property. You should hope that your
neighbor is also going to be as responsible as you are in maintaining
that property but that is also something that you need to consider is that when
you're buying a bare land condo and you're maintaining that your neighbors
maintaining that as well too. Hopefully it's all maintained at the same.
in something where you are paying the condo fees that maintain the property
for you, you know it's going to be consistent in the maintenance of the
exterior and all of the landscaping and the snow removal is going to be the
same as well too so there's a difference in that.
it's actually quite similar to the discussion I had in terms of a
single-family home versus a duplex right
if you want to know more about that check that video up here and in the description below
but like in terms of a duplex, you're kind of at the mercy of your neighbors too, so even if you maintain your
- I guess your townhouse if the other person doesn't maintain it as well it's
gonna look kind of...
Yeah... I mean you might want to - if you go and
sell your semi-detached home you might want to give your neighbor a nudge
and say "hey I'm selling, can you kind of maintain your yard a little bit more"
because that will affect your overall property value and how attractive that is
to a potential buyer as well too. And I guess that's something
that is a pro for townhome living and the maintenance-free lifestyle is that
you know that the exterior is going to be maintained to the same level
all the way around, and so it does maintain your investment in that property the same as
what your neighbor's is as well. So you're not at mercy of somebody else and
how they choose to live.
Got it. So let's just quickly you finish the step by step so
you've picked condo, you picked your townhouse so what
are the things what are the things you... Yeah the next step is of course
depending on resale or new... you know, writing up the agreement with anything
that's townhome related in the province of Alberta, you have ten days to review
all of the condominium documentation, so that will have redivision plans,
bylaws, budgets that are put forward as well too, and any other kind of site maps
landscaping plans associated with that - facing agreements, management agreements -
a whole load of things that you need to review that's what you have the ten days for.
So within that ten days they form part of the agreement so if there's
anything within those documents that you do not agree with, that you cannot accept
then you're able to cancel your agreement and that's without any
liability for doing so through the agent or through the Builder.
But if you go through and you accept all that documentation, a lot of times you'll need
approval of financing as well too - proof of that and then you can give
your second deposit, and sign off your waiver of conditions with your sales rep.
Perfect. Do you have anything else to add in terms of buying a townhouse for the first time?
I think buying resale, making sure that you know what the budget is,
If there's any financials available through the condo board that's important to get as well too.
A lot of the times with the new builds
they'll just give you all the documentation initially, reviewing that
you can employ somebody to do the condo docs review for you at an additional cost,
but to give you that peace of mind, they'll go through it and make sure that
you're alerted to any kind of points that you may have issue with.
So that's something that you want to consider as well.
Great! So the question of the day I have for you is:
Was your first home a townhouse and what was your experience?
let us know in the comment section below.
If you want to know more about buying a condo for the first time, check out our playlist here.
As well as other home buying videos here.
And don't forget to subscribe to keep learning from the experts.
We'll see you in our next video