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Buying a Parking Spot with Condo a necessity?

Upwards of $250/month for condo parking sounds pretty steep but for those who drive in for work, having a guaranteed spot every day can be worth that much and more. I do wonder what the proportion is of people renting these parking spots who actually live in the condo building. Most buildings technically prohibit renting out parking spots to non-residents but it happens all the time.

Anecdotally, I know of a few condo investors in the downtown core who have rented out their units but not their parking spots. I have to wonder whether this trend of fewer people opting to own a vehicle downtown really is taking effect.
 
Just thought I'd give my two cents here. Been looking for a condo with parking, and it's certainly difficult, even in midtown. Almost every building I've looked at has reasonably priced condos for sale without parking that just will not sell because of the lack of parking. Every condo I've looked at also has many bulletins up on their boards asking to purchase a spot.

Dunno what's causing this, but from my own perspective, I don't need a car, but I would like one so that I could use it when I want to use it. The monthly cost isn't the concern for me tbh, which I imagine isn't a concern for most people looking for parking. Seems to go against the trend we've been hearing from condo developers.
 
I'm in the same boat too. I own a car but drive only on the weekends because I live and work in a very central location. Having my own parking space is a must because I love the convenience of having my car and parking available at anytime.
Car share programs my work well for most, but it is not perfect and doesn't suit my lifestyle.

Some of the higher end condos, especially those with larger units where there may be more families or multi-person households, a parking space is a must and owning a second parking space is not uncommon. It could be for families that have more than one car or those who have summer toys.
Building underground parking spaces is not cheap for developers and they don't make much money selling them so they try to build less than what is required by the City Bylaws. This will be good for those already owning a parking space as the lower inventory and ratio of parking spaces in the city will put more demand on them which will be a good investment in the future or be a more and more valuable selling feature for a condo that includes one.
 
neuhaus said:
I'm in the same boat too. I own a car but drive only on the weekends because I live and work in a very central location. Having my own parking space is a must because I love the convenience of having my car and parking available at anytime.
Car share programs my work well for most, but it is not perfect and doesn't suit my lifestyle.

Some of the higher end condos, especially those with larger units where there may be more families or multi-person households, a parking space is a must and owning a second parking space is not uncommon. It could be for families that have more than one car or those who have summer toys.
Building underground parking spaces is not cheap for developers and they don't make much money selling them so they try to build less than what is required by the City Bylaws. This will be good for those already owning a parking space as the lower inventory and ratio of parking spaces in the city will put more demand on them which will be a good investment in the future or be a more and more valuable selling feature for a condo that includes one.
Click to expand...

Not to mention car-sharing programs, IMO, are definitely more catered to infrequent trips that people do like going to a public event somewhere off the beaten path, or randomly meeting a friend. The prices are definitely not competitive when you take into account regular trips that cannot be done by Transit like: playing hockey or other recreational activities that are often located away from public transit, or weekend trips, etc. I personally referee hockey as a part-time job during the winter, but having to shell out for a car-share or taxi is completely out of the question even after factoring in gas and insurance and parking space. And although transit is a cheap alternative it just isn't quick enough if you're not going to one of the main centres.

The issue with the present housing market isn't necessarily supply, because most condos have plenty of empty spaces, it's the fact that most condos under construction don't even allow you to purchase a spot unless you have a 2B+ unit. Ofcourse all the stock is going to get bought up by those people because they can just rent it out to the 1B owners who need the spot, or to people who will rent a spot to park closer to work. It's a problem that's being created by the developers themselves. All this also plays into the fact that a developer can artificially reduce the stock so that the average profit they make off of each spot is higher. So a spot that would go for $20K a year ago is no going for $40K, and so on
 
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Buying a condo with parking is only a necessity to you if you own a vehicle. If you don't need it, then don't buy it. Although having a parking spot will be fantastic if you choose to sell the unit in the future. Has a lot of resale value.
 
If the building you buy into is fairly high end, I think that it would be hard to sell your unit without parking. People who have money have car(s) and will want a parking space or two. If the unit is small and centrally located right on the subway, the need for a space decreases.
 
Let's not forget people love their cars. Why else would people rent one, own antiques/sports cars/etc? If you just needed a car, any car that would drive would do - otherwise, why bother with luxury cars. Realistically and at this present day, the city hasn't done enough with mass transit. Our city has continued to grown, but service IMO hasn't kept up - that and the fact that people continue to want to own houses leads to urban sprawl. I know plenty of people who live in the city with cars.. in fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't own at least 1.
Everyone I talk to has been to Vaughan Mills, Markville Mall, Pacific Mall, etc.. on the subway from downtown - your looking at 1+ hours to get there minimum + wait time and realistically, unless they are teenagers, they drive.
... my 2 cents for what it's worth ... the city needs to improve mass transit; thank goodness they are finally starting, but are still way behind.
 
How many condos/apartment buildings currently have empty parking spots? Not counting "abandoned" or "discarded" vehicles.

If there are a good number actually sitting empty, the condo board or apartment owners should be considering moving those empty "assets' around and converting the "unused" parking slots into storage lockers. I'm sure there are residents who have to rent out public storage units for their "heirlooms", camping equipment, comic book collections, etc.. I'm sure that even renting them out at a lower price than the public storage units make still provide the condo/apartment building with needed extra revenue.
 
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