Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Paul Andrigo here.
Today I'm doing something called the 2025 Ultimate Guide to Toronto Condos and Lofts.
And it's not just because there's a new year starting.
There's a lot more to it than that. The biggest thing that's happening next year,
as of 2025, I'm celebrating my 25th year of helping amazing condo and loft owners
right from the beginning of my career.
You guys have been such a big part of the process, literally the start point of my story.
So it's only fair to make sure that when I talk about what you need to know,
what you need to avoid, helping you make the right investments from the beginning
is such an important thing.
I've always told people, and this is the case for many people right now,
many of you listening, your first home in this market, in this economy is probably
going to be a condo or a loft.
And that first step you take onto the real estate ladder will determine your future.
So not to put too much pressure on you, but choosing the right place to start
your journey is essential.
And not only do you need to choose the right place, you need to be working with
someone who is as committed to that property as you're going to be.
And by that, I mean, you need to make sure that the person that you work with,
We'll tell you the honest truth about that property and about that area.
And they need to have a degree of experience and confidence to the point where
they can tell you, yes, this is a great investment.
This neighborhood's doing well. Here's how the last few years look.
Here's, you know, here's some idea of what might be happening.
Or this building is a bad idea. It's got a lot of problems, a lot of red flags,
and the area is not doing well.
These are the conversations I have daily with my clients, some of which have
been with me since the early 2000s.
So when you jump into one of my 10 lofts in a day tours,
which is how the whole thing started, by the way, and I'll give you a quick
rundown in case I've not said it much on the podcast.
I've probably told everybody who's been on the tours about the history,
but the way it started was back in the early 2000s.
I decided that how cool would it be to have a group of people like 5, 10, 15,
20, I don't know, just have a group of people together walking through a condo or a loft in this case,
because some of the lofts that I've shown and sold over the years are absolutely legendary. And.
I'm thinking that a lot of people haven't seen these places.
So why don't I just open the doors?
So before social media, way before podcasting, I was doing tours of loft spaces for sale.
And I would get anywhere between five to as many as 35 people with me for these
tours on any given basis, on any given day.
But they started in the Leslieville area, I remember, because there was about
30 of us at one point standing in front of 245 Car Law.
And that's, for me, such an important building to include in tours just because
of when it was built and the incredible history behind it.
It's a live-work loft if you haven't been there before. a lot of the original
architecture still there, including a lot of the original windows.
So if you want to go back in time, like you've never done before,
joining me on a loft tour, especially when I include those spaces that are from
a certain era and do not assume that because the agent you might be working with can pull up lofts,
don't assume that they're going to be able to pull up the history and know which
hard lofts are actually historic and which ones are just sort of run of the
mill because there are sub sections of that.
And this is, you know, for the hundred plus lofts that are on the market right
now, many of your listings are incredibly boring and the stories are just not coming out.
So especially right now, especially with the market, the last thing you want
to do is be a cookie cutter listing.
You do not want to be on the market, A, overpriced and B, underdescribed.
That's literally the two things that you can do to destroy your listing.
Giving you guys the formula for those of you who are selling your condos and
lofts with me right away, we will discuss what formula works for your building.
Obviously, depending on the demand, depending on the amount of buyer attraction
to that property, it's going to vary in terms of who's going to be interested
in bidding on the property.
The last thing to do, and this is the last thing you want to do is make it easier
for your neighbor two doors down or two floors down to sell their property because
you just decided to come in way overpriced.
Now I've been doing this for again, quarter of a century as of next year.
So I've been through these conversations many, many times.
And if I think there's a possibility that we might be able to get a high asking
price, we'll discuss it,
but there will always be a disclaimer that if we don't get the number of bodies
through the door that you require,
which is something you have to do, we have to make sure that we correct very quickly.
Now, for those of you who are interested in starting your search,
here's what advice I would give myself if I was starting over again and I was
just starting to get into condos and lofts, which by the way,
in the beginning of my career, as I mentioned, it was literally 99% of what I did.
And it still remains a very big part of my portfolio.
But helping you guys when you're buying, helping you understand what you're
trying to buy is very important.
So of course, some of you are going to be okay with the idea of a condo, a standard condo.
So depending on where you're looking, depending on your price range,
right now, for example, I've got several awesome, incredible condos on the market.
One in the high 400s, one in the low 500s.
One of them's in the a city place area, another one's in Etobicoke and having
sold everywhere from Durham region to Halton region, to York region,
and even a bit on the outskirts of those areas,
you're going to want to find a place that has.
The best growth for you. And that means can that property be improved to some degree by you?
And the best news, the best news you're going to hear from me today is that
if you do decide to buy a condo or a loft,
and let's just say it needs some work, the most amount of work you're going to ever do is cosmetic.
You cannot remove walls. Usually you cannot remove any structural items.
There's not going to be anything to do with foundation or roof.
And if you've ever done a renovation, you'll know that foundations and roof,
all those kinds of things are what usually drives the budget into a whole nother atmosphere.
So the best part is when you walk into one of these places with me.
All your budgeting is for, okay, maybe that kitchen needs to go.
Maybe the bathroom should be upgraded.
Definitely going to paint. The floors need to go. Things like that.
So it's actually not easy. I'm not going to say that because even renovating
in a condo has got its challenges.
I had a client recently redoing his floors and just the whole idea of taking the garbage in and out.
It's a, it's, it's a big deal. There's a lot to do, but it can be done.
And if you're going to make an investment like this.
And if you are happy with these spaces for you to live in, great.
I wouldn't necessarily do any of this stuff for a quick flip type situation.
That just doesn't work. It's not a Canadian thing for the most part.
Definitely not for these spaces. So it's one of these places that you're going
to buy into and hold on to for a year, two years, three years.
And then decide what you want to trade up to when the time's right.
The better return on investment, and this is just over a 25 year period,
just because I've studied these
things and I keep pretty good notes on how certain buildings have done.
And if you need your report for your building, just say the word,
reach out, you'll have it by the end of that day.
But for a lot of my investors and my owners, having a loft space is a very different discussion.
So if you're not a condo person, if you just don't think you're a condo person,
you're more of a house person or a town home person, very likely a loft space
might be the answer for you.
So I always sort of look at lofts as a hybrid. So I'll call a loft sort of a
hybrid between a condo and a home.
So it won't be obviously like a home in the traditional sense,
but it will be in a lot of other senses, like, especially if the ceilings are really high.
And by the way, if we are touring properties, and again, this is just the way I do it.
And of course you don't have to agree with it or think it's a good idea,
but when I bring you to a building, I'm going to show you everything in that
building, even stuff that might not be in your price range.
Here's the reason for that.
Once you see like a 2000 square foot loft, that is just absolutely done to the nines.
And it's in really great condition. They've done all the right things.
And you decide to buy a thousand square foot loft, which is by no means a small
space, but let's just say that's the scenario.
You can take those upgrades and those, and that feeling that that much larger,
maybe twice as expensive loft has, and just scale it down to the space you're
in and have as good of a space as they do.
Maybe even better for you, depending on your situation or how many people you have to.
So the reason that I, I suggest that you see, and, and this,
this has been sort of the rule that just, that started almost,
like I said, almost 25 years ago, early 2000s, I started doing these tours and
they started becoming something.
So my theory remains that you have no business,
no business at all, putting an offering on anything or signing any paperwork
with anyone until you've seen at least 10 condos or lofts and heard the stories behind the scenes,
things about that building that some of the selling agents might never tell you.
And even history that I've been keeping, including positive and negative history.
In some cases, famous people dying in buildings, that's part of that story that you should know.
So if there's any of that stuff, if any of that's important to you,
and you don't want to be surprised when you're moving into your new dream property.
I suggest that you start the way every successful investor and condo and loft
owner that I've worked with starts and whether you're buying or whether you're selling,
you still want to know more about that property than anyone else does.
So if you're buying, I want you to know more about that condo or loft than the owners do.
If you're selling, I want the story that we'll tell right here on this podcast
to be so powerful and so focused on attracting the right type of person, because,
you should be telling everybody about the property, but there's only going to
be a certain type of person, especially when it comes to lofts.
I always say to people, when we're talking about selling a loft,
it's an upside down triangle and the bottom like 5% of the triangle are people who will be loft buyers.
However, that bottom 5% are also very often the most financially qualified of
the condo and loft buyers.
In my experience, again, I know that just this week, I believe there was a condo sold.
I think something like, yeah, not, not just this week, but recently there was
a condo sold for almost 8 million.
There was almost, there was one earlier this year that sold for almost 10 million.
So there are people that will pay very much top dollar for a traditional, like a luxury condo.
But in my opinion, you're going to get a lot more value if you're looking at
alternative options, not just condos, but looking at loft spaces,
obviously whatever's in your budget.
There might not be a lot of spaces in your budget, depending on what it is.
That's all stuff to be determined.
But today's podcast is to give you the rundown, to give you the preparation, to give you the,
sort of the secret hacks, I guess you could call them about condo and loft buying
and showing you the places that will be, will be the best fit for you is important.
I think you need to see again, five or 10 places.
And the best part about this, for those of you listening, this does not have to be in person.
It can be us doing the virtual, the virtual walkthroughs and me giving you the
stories that some of which,
of course, most of which you'll never hear on Google and you'll never hear from
those owners or from those agents because they just don't know them.
Considering the average agent is gone by year five, a lot of the agents that
have sold these properties are long gone. They just haven't been around.
So because of the fact that I've been here this long, and you've probably,
if you haven't listened to my podcast, I have done some great podcasts about specific lofts.
I want you to be able to benefit from that experience that I have.
And it's why I'm doing podcasts about, you know, all the topics that I know
very well, in most cases, better than a lot of others.
So before I go, I want to tell you about how we're going to celebrate you either
buying or selling with me next year in 2025.
Because of the fact that so many of you have made this possible,
I have teamed up with a vacation resort company to be able to provide you a
seven-day resort vacation as part of your thank you gift.
This is where you'll have an option to stay in a number of properties around the world.
Some incredible properties, places that you may have only dreamed of going.
And as part of my thank you gift,
you'll be getting a certificate to go there and stay for seven days and just
have the time of your life to celebrate a big moment in your life,
which again would be either buying or selling or sometimes both.
And if you happen to do both, you'll actually get twice the rewards.
So instead of just seven days, you're going to be getting a 14 day certificate.
And once I give you the certificate, it's good for a year.
So all you have to do is let me know when you're planning on going and I'll
make sure that you get the certificate and that it's good for hopefully when you are ready to go.
Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed this show and by all means,
reach out to me individually to have any questions answered that you might have.