TorontoRealtyBlog

There’s no Friday Rant in the queue for today, but also no burning topic either.  Nothing I can passionately sit down and write a curt 2,000 words about, but there are, however, a few topics to file under “this ‘n that.”

Where to start?

Oh, I dunno.  How about this one…

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“(No) Problems At The Printing Factory Lofts?”

Oh, man.  The last time a blog title like this appeared on my blog, the hate-mail started to fiy…

For those long-time readers, you may recall the infamous blog post from January 29th, 2014 that went by the same title: “Problems At The Printing Factory Lofts?”

For those who are newer to TRB, read it.

Over six years ago, there were serious problems at 201 Carlaw Avenue East.  A massive lawsuit in the building forced all three mortgage lenders, CMHC, Genworth, and Canadian Guaranty, to essentially “blacklist” the building.  This meant that buyers were not able to obtain mortgage insurance in the building, and thus no buyers with less than a 20% down payment could purchase there.

As you can see from the comments back in 2014, a lot of angry residents posted their thoughts, ranging from “Nothing to see here, folks,” to “David is a liar,” down to some pretty funny stuff, like the one guy who said I was arrested and tried in a court of law!

I took more heat for that blog post than my infamous June 1st, 2010 post where I compared the Foundry Lofts to Alcatraz!

In the end, I was vindicated.  The building was, in fact, blacklisted by mortgage insurers, and while the residents tried to keep their financial problems a secret, I felt like I was empowering consumers by giving them much-needed information to help them make an informed purchase decision.

Because I’ve written over 2,500 different blog posts in thirteen-plus years, and because I’ve covered just about every topic there is, I get inundated with random emails on the daily.  If you can think of something that a person would put into writing, I’ve received it in an email.

I mean, get every question under the sun.  Usually about 3-4 of these per day:

What the hell do I know about auction homes?

And no, “Hello, David,” or “thank you,” just a person giving their order, as though I run a public service.

Seriously, every day without fail.

But the question I get asked more than any, from random blog readers and callers, is this: “Are there still problems at 201 Carlaw Avenue?”

Recently, a cold-caller on one of my listings said they had seen a unit at Printing Factory with a Purple Bricks Agent, who didn’t know what a “Status Certificate” was, and couldn’t answer any questions about the building’s finances, or the age-old lawsuit.  They had read my blog post, and eventually followed up with me.

So after six years, I finally decided to look into this.  I’d be willing to bet I’ve been asked over fifty times in those six years, whether or not there are still issues in the building.

The answer?

Yes.

The lawsuit has not been settled.

Buyers need 20% down payments, as mortgage insurance is still difficult, if not impossible.

And now, let the peanut gallery speak…

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Me Think Thou Doth Protest Too Much?

A good listing agent will order the condominium’s Status Certificate well in advance of the listing, and ensure they have it in hand once the property is listed.

A cheap agent won’t spend the $120 unless he or she knows that the property is sold and he or she is going to get paid.  I can’t possibly stress enough just how ridiculous that is, but that’s a topic for another day.

I always have the Status Certificate in advance, and I print a copy and highlight in bold neon the salient points.  How much money is in the reserve fund, whether fees are going up or not, whether there’s a special assessment, etc.

But I will also read through the Status rather diligently and look for potential issues.  In this market, it’s always better to identify issues well in advance and try to get out ahead of them.

If an agent decides to hold back offers on a listing as a matter of strategy, it’s even more important to have the Status Certificate, to encourage buyers to submit unconditional offers, and it’s important as well to ensure there are no surprises.

I recently showed a condo that was “priced for multiple offers,” and for which the Status Certificate was made available.

My client wasn’t interested, but I was still on the email thread and received updates as offer day progressed.

Mid-day, I received this email from the listing agent:

We have a status certificate available for (PROPERTY). I have attached it here. I have also attached a record of our clients paying in full their special assessment balance that finished this month.

We have been getting some questions regarding the financials so I contacted the property management in hopes of clearing some things up further.

I have been told that the 2019 financials have been approved and that they are waiting on the final copies to be put into the Status certificate. They are hoping to get those final copies in a week or two. The 2020 financials are being audited as we speak. The financial year ended April 30 and property management sent in the paperwork to them middle of June.

In the 2018 statements, there is mention of a legal dispute regarding contractor fees that resulted in a settlement of 150K. I have been told that this was resolved back in May and the last payment of 75K was sent out in the middle of August, hence it not being removed from the Status certificate yet. This is now resolved and complete.

The Status also mentions that a new reserve study was to be completed in 2018. They didn’t like said study so they went elsewhere to get a second opinion to compare. The reason being that they got an increase that wasn’t sustainable for the property. The draft was completed end of July from the second study and they are in the middle of trying to decide.

I have confirmed that there are no further special assessments being discussed at this time from property management.

Yikes.

First of all, good on the listing agent for this.  He or she was quick to respond to the feedback and questions from agents, and this email is diligent, succinct, and addresses the issues.

However, and this is a big however, I can’t imagine this will go over well with the buyer pool.

The listing agent didn’t do anything wrong here.   He or she just got dealt a tough blow, as the Status Certificate wasn’t as thorough and up-to-date as one would hope, and things like, “they are in the middle of trying to decide” provide a level of uncertainty that some buyers won’t feel comfortable with.

It’s easy to say, “The agent should have got out ahead of this at the start of the listing,” but you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.  Make an issue where buyers don’t see one, and you’ve lost.  Don’t bring this up until the very last minute, and you’ve lost.

Offers are tonight.  I’m curious to see how this one will end up.

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Surprise Disclosure!

A completely different way of dealing with disclosure, and one that is asking for disaster, is the following…

If you can think of the worst possible disclosure a listing agent and/or seller would have to make, what would it be?

Mold?  Asbestos?  UFFI?  Or some other sort of hazardous material present?

What about a major structural problem?

What about a lien on the property?

Here’s what I received from an agent on the day offers were being reviewed:

Can you guess what the disclosure was?

Suicide.

I can’t think of a worse time to spring that on a buyer than the very afternoon they are going to submit an offer.

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Time To Open Up?

Much debate has been made of public open houses, and while the province may have moved into Phase Three of post-pandemic re-opening, I think there are a lot of people out there that still feel real estate agents shouldn’t be doing open houses.

When the pandemic first began in mid-March, it was widely understood that hosting public open houses was a crazy idea, but that didn’t stop a handful of agents from continuing to open the doors on weekends.  That changed in April when the government essentially banned them, and the organized real estate bodies advised their members not to put the public at risk, and almost all agents followed suit.

In June, I started to see the odd open house sign, but as a company, we were still against them.

In July, we discussed at the company level whether to start running open houses again, but we concluded that it just wasn’t right.  The decision is ultimately up to the seller, but it wasn’t something we felt comfortable with.

So now that September is just around the corner, what should we do?

As a member of the public, would you want open houses in your community?  Do you feel, even with the threat of COVID transmission down substantially since March or April, that open houses are safe?

As a member of the public, would you attend an open house?  Wear a mask, use hand sanitizer, and expect the same of the agent running the open house and all the other people attending?

The Ontario Real Estate Association recently took a poll, asking whether or not people would feel comfortable attending an open house.

Can you guess what percentage said they did?

I would have figured less than fifty percent, but I was wrong…

That’s astonishing to me!

But I wonder if “feel comfortable attending” and “plan to attend” would have provided different results.

Would I feel comfortable attending an open house?  Sure, I guess.  But would I go to one?  No.  If I were an active home buyer, I’d book a private viewing with my agent, and ensure I was the only person present.

I’m sure that so few people are going to open houses these days that attending one essentially means you have a de-facto “private viewing,” but I wouldn’t want to be in a stranger’s living room with eight other people, who have been in and out of other people’s houses that afternoon as well.

I’m no alarmist, but I just don’t think open houses are necessary right now.

Tell me how you feel, please.

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You Can’t Make This Shit Up…..No Pun Intended…

Many of you will have already seen this, but if you haven’t – it’s a must-read:

From BlogTO last month: “Toronto Condos Forced To Share Plunger After Efficient Toilets Installed”

Seriously, you can’t make this up.  I triple-checked to see if this was some sort of April Fool’s Day gag from earlier in the year.

A downtown condo, probably a really shitty one, has replaced all the toilets in the units with these “efficient” toilets that apparently clog constantly, are tough to flush, and worst – cannot be plunged with your generic hardware store plunger.

The solution?

Something called the “PooZooka.”

Seriously, I’m not making this up!  Read the article, this is all true and there are photos!

The problem with this PooZooka is that it can’t be purchased over-the-counter by you or I, but rather it’s only sold to property managers and condominiums directly.

So every time a resident of this building muscles out an above-average colon-clot and clogs the toilet, he or she has to go down to the concierge and ask to borrow the PooZooka.

Really!

My childish side is picturing the hottest woman I’ve ever seen, gracefully sashaying through the lobby, stopping at the concierge, and asking for the POOZOOKA!

How’s that for getting to know your neighbours?

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That’s it for me today, folks!

Have a great weekend!

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