It’s got to be an amazing thing to hear those words from your children “mom, dad, I got accepted to the UofA”. The first thought is “that’s fantastic sweetie”, the second is "where are they going to live and how are we going to pay for it?" Many of the students come to the university from outside of Edmonton and without fail the summer market in Edmonton sees many parents shopping for a condo for their children.
On an annual basis June and July are some of the busiest months for sales of condos under $330,000 in the Edmonton area. This is especially true in areas close to or with easy access to the U of A.
Over the years we’ve helped many families find condos for U of A students. Some have purchased for their oldest and then their sibilings have gone on to live there too. I’ve been around long enough that the original students I worked with are buying condos for their kids now!
The two biggest mistakes I’ve seen people who weren’t working with us make, is buying low quality because its cheap, and not looking deeply enough into the management of the condo association because they are pressed for time.
My best advice for people who are looking to buy something is to start doing their research early. Perhaps a year in advance, and in my opinion you are better off buying earlier in the year and sometimes carrying it a few months instead of waiting until the last moment when you are competing against others in the same situation.
~Sheldon.
We have a rental property two block from the UofA that we purchased almost 10 years ago. It was built in the 1950′s and will need at least $20,000 work to keep it in adequate shape: windows, shingles, siding, furnace. (We can do all the work ourselves.) The property is only 950 square ft and if we do decide to sell in the next 5 years, we’re not sure we’ll get the money out of it. We are debating taking the whole thing down and building a upscale duplex in it’s place. We would not have any problems finding a contrator to work with on the job. What are your thoughts?
Terry
A couple of things you need to know. What is the current market value? What would the value be with the improvements? Will the improvements be done to an acceptable standard or will it look like you saved money by doing it yourself? I would be very suprised if the work you are talking about took 5 years to recoup but assuming it did then you have to determine the highest and best use of the property? Is there a better investment for you then the redevelopment and if so then selling might be a better way to go. However another factor you must look at is your level of comfort with doing a development of that nature and the risks that come with it in relation to your objectives.. There are some big potential payoffs in it as well. You also have to consider your carrying costs among many other things.
Sheldon,
What about a 1200 sqft 3 bedroom carriage style condo within 700 meters from Century Park LRT. We are close to Whitemud and Henday as well. Would it be a good idea to hold onto the condo for a couple more years?
Our plan is to buy a house with a backyard within the next year and we are wondering if we should sell the place and loose money ( we bought in Feb 2007)or rent it until we can at least break even.
I have read in the newspaper that our area is going to be one of the best location in Edmonton pretty soon… I am not quite certain, but it is a nice neighborhood for sure!
Your thoughts on this one would be appreciated.
The “U of Where”?
AT an exorbitant rent rate or RE resale price…. who cares. Want crime with that?
I think you should change your handle to Bitter Edmonton Expat…Nah forget it your comments spell that out quite clearly. Anyways don’t worry be happy.
I’m assuming you’re talking about Quail Ridge, Shadow Ridge, Hunters Run, Pebble Creek and others like that. Well Quail Ridge is too far to be the one but anyways. Those are in my opinion far greater than the mass of converted crap that fell in to our market and so you’ve got a great location (I hear from every seller that their location is the best and sometimes I actually agree) and a very resellable property. The question though calls for a crystal ball and mine is cracked and fuzzy but here goes.
Firstly if you’re value improves then most likely so will the value you of what you buy. In that case it’s all relative then the deciding factor might be interest rates. If the interest rates are higher when you buy at a higher value then you’ll end up paying more and it is no longer a question of relativity (no offence Mr. Einstein).
However if you need the equity from your current place to buy, then holding is a good option, but are you sure you want to have so much invested in real estate. Home and a rental property? Having a rental property is not always a dream. Most of my week this week was spent with people who had tenants pull a midnight, leaving significant damage and owing a fair bit of money.
I hope this helps.
Hi, we have a house we just listed for sale in medicine hat, and are currently living in cold lake. we will be moving to edmonton just after christmas. we would love to be close to uofa, but also close to a french immersion school. we want to move in to our own house, even if our house hasn’t sold yet, or would like to build. what are the chances of finding land in central edmonton to build on?
Hi Sheldon,
I have a Condo I bought in downtown, in a building called ‘The Parliament’ 9939-109 St. It is a 1000 sqft, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with a large patio. Would it be a good time to sell right now? I bought it for around $360,000. I am not sure what it is worth now, but have the prices dropped on Condos such as that one. I believe it was built in 2006.
Quincy,
It really depends on your goals. If you’re selling to buy something else it might not be a good time. However, from a timing perspective there’s a number of factors to consider not the least of which is the seasonal sales cycle. What I would recommend is you fill out our online evaluation form and we’ll send you the sales in the building, the area, and the competing listings as well. There is no cost or obligation and that might help you establish if you want to further investigate selling your property.
http://www.sellmyedmontonhome.com/free-online-home-evaluation/