Toronto Real Estate Blog

Suite sizes have shrunk, but clever design makes every inch count

By Terrence Belford – Globe and Mail

When architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe coined the phrase “less is more,” he did not have today’s crop of condominiums in mind.

But the words he used to capture his minimalist approach to design perfectly describe what is happening to condos in Toronto.

While overall square footage of suites has shrunk, the usable living space within their walls has grown.

Today’s 900-square-foot, two-bedroom condo has about as much living space as an 1,100- or 1,200-square-foot unit did at the beginning of this decade, architects and designers say.

Granted, little can be done with a 480-square-foot, one-bedroom unit, but as suites get into the range of 750 square feet and above, today’s designers can work wonders transforming wasted space such as hallways into functional spaces for living, dining and entertaining.

“It may seem like a paradox, but it is true,” says Paul Maggiacomo, president of Tanner Hill Associates Inc.

His company is currently doing interior spaces on projects such as Gramercy Park right next to the Wilson subway station.

“Costs of construction and land have driven prices up but at the same time there has been a revolution in design,” Mr. Maggiacomo says.

That revolution finally reflects an understanding that condominiums are not just rental suites under another name, says Sol Wassermuhl, president of Page + Steele-IBI Group Architects. You can see Page + Steele’s skills in projects such as the Hazelton, the Ritz Carlton and Maple Leaf Square.

“The whole design paradigm has shifted,” he says. “The process has become much more complicated and complex. Equally important, interior designers are now brought in once we have settled on the size of each floor plate. They work with us to create the working drawings for each suite.”

In the past, Mr. Maggiacomo says he and his colleagues would be given finished working drawings and told to do their best with decisions already made. Now they get a say in the design process right from the start.

For more than 20 years, developers turned out condos that differed little from rental buildings. Designing rental units is based on making life easier and more profitable for landlords. Rental buildings only have value to tenants as long as they lived in them. They care zip about operating costs because the landlord picks up that tab. If they do not like the building they can move.

Developers, architects and designers understood how to turn out rental buildings. The fact that condos were dramatically different had yet to set in.

Condominiums represent a U-turn in that lasting value proposition. A year or so after residents move in, the developer walks away from the project; it no longer has a stake in its continued success. Owners of the suites are the ones on the hook to keep maintenance standards up and operating costs down. And, since for many this may prove to be their home for decades to come, they want their building to deliver a certain lifestyle.

“That is one of the biggest shifts,” Mr. Wassermuhl says. “The first is creating a building and suites that represent lasting value for residents and the second is that condos are all about lifestyle. It is a very different sensibility.”

Developers now get the point. Buyers do not want those loading bay-like rectangles that served as the GTA’s rental suites right up until the end of the 1980s, they want homes that combine as much livable space as their pocket books can afford, designed in innovative ways in a building that is easy to maintain and operate, surrounded by all the lifestyle bells and whistles.

So, how have designers managed to pack all that useful space into shrinking floor plates? The first thing they do is get rid of hallways, Mr. Maggiacomo says.

“In the old days, you had a long hallway leading to the living area with bedrooms arranged in sequence along the sides of the hallways,” he says. “Now, the front door opens right on to the suite or a small foyer. Bedrooms open off the main living and dining area.

“If it is a two-bedroom suite, we split them putting one on either side of the living/dining area. That not only gets rid of those hallways but also ensures greater privacy.”

If there is a single bathroom, designers can create what Mr. Maggiacomo calls a “poor man’s ensuite.” The bathroom has two doors, one of which opens to the master bedroom while the second opens to the living/dining area.

Open-plan designs also lend themselves to better use of small spaces. Breakfast bars serve to separate kitchens from dining rooms and if you make the breakfast bar high enough, guests can’t see the dirty dishes piled in the sink, he says.

Kitchen cabinetry can run right up to the ceiling, making best use of vertical space rather than the horizontal.

Will condos get much smaller? Unlikely, Mr. Maggiacomo says. “We are pretty much pressing against the sides of the envelope now.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

By John Barber – Globe and Mail

Talk about a green shift: For the first time in generations, developers are now building as much housing inside city limits as they are in outlying suburbs. The result of surging condominium construction coupled with a steady decline in green-fields housing starts, the new balance suggests strongly that the age of sprawl in Toronto has passed.

One thing is certain: There is no end to high-rise construction in the central city. Record sales from 2007 have turned into record construction this year, with 11,200 new units started in the first seven months of 2008 – more than the total number of housing starts in all 2007.

“We’re forecasting record levels of high-rise starts for 2008 and very high levels for 2009,” said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation analyst Jason Mercer. Despite a decline in suburban, low-rise construction over the first seven months of 2008, he noted, regional housing starts are up 32% over the same period this year.

The stage for this year’s dramatic construction boom was set last year when sales of new high-rise apartments outstripped sales of front-door housing for the first time ever. The result today is more high-rise construction in Toronto than virtually anywhere else on the continent.

There are 99 high-rise buildings under construction in Toronto, according to Emporis.com, a website that tracks buildings worldwide, which ranks it second among North American cities to New York City, with 179.

On a per capita basis, however, there is currently twice as much high-rise construction in Toronto as there is in New York. On an absolute basis, no other U.S. city is comparable. Chicago has 54 high-rises under construction, Boston has 14 and Atlanta 19.

Toronto is already No. 10 in the ranking of world cities with the most skyscrapers, according to Emporis. Among world cities with more than two million people, it ranks third – behind Hong Kong and Singapore – in most skyscrapers per capita.

But nothing is more indicative of the future than the current location of regional construction crews. Prior to the latest wave of condominium construction, outlying suburbs held a virtual monopoly on new-home starts in the Toronto region, leading to widespread fears of population loss and economic “hollowing out.” As a result, many observers were slow to note the city’s gradual recovery of market share. None predicted what occurred in the first seven months of 2008, when housing starts in the city and the 905 suburbs drew even.

Affordability is not the only factor behind the central-city revival, according to Mr. Mercer. “You’re seeing new projects across the spectrum in terms of pricing,” he said. Just as important, according to some analysts, are new provincial policies that restrict green-fields development in favour of urban redevelopment.

In fact, the trend back to urban living began long before Queen’s Park threw its weight behind it, and it is accelerating despite growing concerns about central-city job growth. This year it reached a level that overthrows the conventional image of Toronto as a city of homes beneath a leafy canopy.

Today Toronto is unquestionably a city of apartments, extremely compact in its core, with steadily intensifying suburbs. The sprawl that seemed to characterize it for so long was never as bad as it seemed, at least in comparison with similar U.S. cities – and now it has stopped.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Although the Canadian economy remains fundamentally strong with stable mortgage rates, low unemployment and consistent population growth, home buyers and sellers took a “wait and see” approach this past summer.

The Greater Toronto real estate market closed out the last full month of summer at a steady pace, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill reported today. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) average price increased 1%, to $364,886 when compared to last August’s figure of $361,890.

In the City of Toronto the average price declined 1% to $377,990 from last August’s $381,681. Compared to the August 2006 figure of $344,419 however, the average price in the City of Toronto has increased 10%.

In the 905 Region the average price increased 2% to $356,657 from last August’s $348,563. Compared to the August 2006 figure of $334,245 the average price in the 905 Region has increased 7%.

“These healthy figures substantiate that when undertaken as a long term investment, buying a home is one of the smartest financial moves you can make,” said Ms. O’Neill.

Several neighbourhoods throughout the GTA experienced increased sales activity last month compared to August 2007. In Pickering transactions rose 6% based primarily on strong semi-detached home sales. And in Halton Hills strong attached/row house sales activity lead to a 3% increase in transactions overall.

Condominium apartment and detached home transactions drove Rosedale to an 81% increase in overall sales. Detached home transactions also contributed to an 11% overall increase in sales in Aurora.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Buyer’s remorse is an emotional response that many home buyers experience during the course of a real estate transaction. The response can take various forms such as feelings of regret, fear, depression or anxiety. Many doubtful questions may arise: Did I buy the right house? What if I lose my job? What if home prices drop? Did I overpay? Is this really the neighbourhood I want to live in? Can I really afford the mortgage payments?

There are hundreds of questions that will run through your mind during the period leading up to closing: the day you actually become owner of the home. Most of the questions will be simple ones that are easily answered, but sometimes doubts creep in, making you uncertain if you want to proceed with the purchase.

When you decide to buy a new home, you’re forced to step outside your current comfort zone and confront the unknown. Your mind may try to compensate psychologically for feelings of uncertainty by mentally undoing the event. In other words, you may try to talk yourself out of buying your dream home. Add feelings of uncertainty to the fear of making a long-term commitment, and it’s easy to understand why home buyers can suffer from bouts of anxiety.

Here are some tips that can help you battle home buyer’s remorse:

1. Prepare yourself
The best way to cope with buyer’s remorse, and minimize its destructiveness, is to make sure that you are well informed. You should find out as much as you can about the home buying process, local real estate prices and home mortgages.

It’s a good idea to study a sample purchase agreement before you buy. Read the contract carefully to make sure that you understand it, and that it says what you think it should. If you have any questions about the purchase agreement, talk to your real estate agent, or real estate attorney.

2. Choose the right agent
In order to make sure that the purchase transaction goes smoothly it is important that you choose the right real estate agent to represent your interests. The right real estate agent will be someone whose experience, knowledge and personality is trustworthy and will allow you to feel comfortable with the whole transaction. Try to find a real estate agent that is familiar and knowledgeable about the neighbourhood and community that you plan to move into.

3. Make sure the property meets your needs
Get out that list of wants and needs you made back when you first starting the home shopping process. Does the home you selected include the important features? Provided that you saw a number of homes and thoroughly evaluated what each home had to offer, it’s likely that house you’re about to buy is the best choice for you.

4. Is the price right?
Feeling certain about the price you are paying for a home is one of the most important factors that can reduce uncertainty and increase your comfort level. If your real estate agent didn’t prepare a comparative market analysis for you on the home you are buying, have him or her prepare one for you now.

5. Consider the resale value
As you look at houses in an area, think about what all of the houses have in common. Most neighbourhoods are usually built at the same time by the same construction company; therefore, they will have similar floor plans and similar amenities (excluding possible owner upgrades). Before you consider buying the house with the most upgrades, consider whether or not you want to tackle a remodel. Don’t just consider the cost of the remodel, but also think about the amount of time and headache you can handle. No remodel goes smoothly! If a house with a newer kitchen cost $20,000 more than a house with an older kitchen, and you do not have the time to renovate, it may be still worth buying the house with the new kitchen.

6. Ask questions
No one knows the home better than the seller of the property. If you can find out the seller’s motivation for selling you might be able to negotiate a better deal on the house. Try to find out the last time service was performed on the roof, furnace, plumbing and water heating. Asking the right questions upfront can end up saving you a lot of money in the long run.

7. Get a home inspection
Save yourself a lot of time in future litigation and renovation by bringing in a licensed, professional home inspector to inspect the home before you buy. If any major problems are found, it will steer you away from a bad decision and/or it will help you negotiate a better price at the negotiating table.

8. Review your finances
You may want to review your finances to confirm that you can afford to make the purchase. Your feelings of remorse are probably unfounded, so the more rational things you can do to put your decision into the proper perspective, the better.

9. Discuss your concerns with your real estate agent
Your real estate agent has seen plenty of cases of homebuyer’s remorse and he or she can help put your fears and doubts into perspective.

Remorse is a common feeling during the home buying process. Following the above tips will help you make an educated decision and reduce any remorse you may have.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

As the summer season comes to a close and many activities move indoors, there’s no better time to begin incorporating energy-efficient products into your home. The latest “green” products are designed to not only help the environment, but to also help you save money.

Here are some tips to help you save energy, save money, and do your part for the environment.

Reduce electricity use

* Turn off lights, TVs and other appliances when they are not needed.
* Replace incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). These bulbs save up to 78% on lighting costs and last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
* Use motion sensor lights for outdoor lights, and adjust the sensitivity to suit the environment.
* Install a programmable light switch to turn off lights automatically. The switch can turn lights off when no one is home during the day and turn off lights that are accidentally left on.
* Turn on the energy-saver option on your computer, and turn off the computer and all its accessories if they will not be used for a long period.
* Consider replacing your old appliances with new Energy-Star compliant devices.
* Run your washing machine using cold water. Wait for a full load of wash or use the small-load setting, and hang clothes outside to dry.

Reduce heat loss

* Turn back the furnace thermostat at night and during the day if you are not at home. Every 1°C set back can save up to 2% in energy costs.
* Consider installing a programmable thermostat, set the thermostat to 21ºC during the day and to 18ºC when you are sleeping and 15ºC when you are out.
* Clean the furnace filter monthly and replace it every three months.
* Check air vents regularly to ensure nothing is preventing the air from circulating freely.
* Check all doors leading to un-insulated and/or unheated areas such as garages, cold storage rooms and basements. Replace with insulated doors if necessary.
* Open draperies during the day on south-facing windows and let the sun heat your rooms naturally. Close your drapes and blinds during the night to reduce heat loss.
* Locate and seal any air leaks (walls, ceilings, around windows and doors, floors and basements) and avoid heating un-insulated areas such as the garage, crawlspace or attic.
* Check the weather-stripping on all windows and doors. Replace if worn or damaged.
* Keep all air registers/radiators clean and free of obstructions.

It’s a simple scientific fact: heat moves toward cold. In winter, heat moves toward the windows and doors and if your home windows are not isolated properly, up to 50% of all heat inside a home could be lost. Having thermally isolated windows and a thick window covering will help reduce heat loss considerably.

Energy saving is a hot topic! Talk about it with your friends and family. Discuss and share ideas and learn about how each of you can do better. Most likely you will come up with some creative ideas that are fun and can save you up to hundreds of dollars each year. Learn about how this topic fits into broader scale environmental initiatives and the role we as energy consumers could play to save mother earth.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960