King East Condos (Lamb Development, Hyde Park, Sher Corp ) - Real Estate -

[interested]

Why are you selling? I have given it some serious thought as well.

I do not own TheKingEast in this building. I was following the thread due to another person who suggested I read it a while ago.
I have a unit (777sq.ft.) coming due in KingWestLife in Liberty Village in August 2013. I do not plan to sell it but was curious as to value. In Liberty Village I was thinking closer to $400K value for it or $515/sq.ft. I appreciate Liberty Village is not the core but I am surprised that the East side of Yonge would fetch $85/sq.ft. more than Liberty Village(if my guestimate of pricing is correct). Also, if the West side of Yonge is $50-100 more that would mean ready product today is $650 to $700/sq.ft. which I think is a bit high in the present market.

I will not be selling as I am not a big believer in doom/gloom. I think there may be a 10-15% correction...of which perhaps 4% is already being had. I do believe it can retrace back to 2008 lows in the worst case scenario but even that would be at most 25% from the peak. I don't believe however it will go down more than another 10%-12% from present levels. Given selling costs would eat up 5% at least and further that I am not looking for instant growth but am happy to hold long term (5-10 years) I am prepared to hold. I appreciate one can invest in other products but I believe personally most asset classes (including real estate) are overvalued at present.

I apologize about the R/E nature to this post to thread and will refrain from further comments about price/foot on this forum site.

 

[TheKingEast]

I do not own TheKingEast in this building. I was following the thread due to another person who suggested I read it a while ago.
I have a unit (777sq.ft.) coming due in KingWestLife in Liberty Village in August 2013. I do not plan to sell it but was curious as to value. In Liberty Village I was thinking closer to $400K value for it or $515/sq.ft. I appreciate Liberty Village is not the core but I am surprised that the East side of Yonge would fetch $85/sq.ft. more than Liberty Village(if my guestimate of pricing is correct). Also, if the West side of Yonge is $50-100 more that would mean ready product today is $650 to $700/sq.ft. which I think is a bit high in the present market.

I will not be selling as I am not a big believer in doom/gloom. I think there may be a 10-15% correction...of which perhaps 4% is already being had. I do believe it can retrace back to 2008 lows in the worst case scenario but even that would be at most 25% from the peak. I don't believe however it will go down more than another 10%-12% from present levels. Given selling costs would eat up 5% at least and further that I am not looking for instant growth but am happy to hold long term (5-10 years) I am prepared to hold. I appreciate one can invest in other products but I believe personally most asset classes (including real estate) are overvalued at present.

I apologize about the R/E nature to this post to thread and will refrain from further comments about price/foot on this forum site.

My question was actually directed at City Lights. I have no issue with this discussion, interested.

I do agree that units West of Yonge sell for more. However, it depends on the unit and building. Frankly, KWL does not really compare to King East. I'd say a building like any of the Freed ones would since they have similar finishes and cache. So, I'd say a unit at 650 King W would be a good comparison. Then we'd have to look at units in the St.Lawrence/Distillery area. Trinity Lofts, East Lofts, etc. I don't have access to the units that have sold....but I'd say the asking prices I've seen are between 550 and 625/ft.

I will say. If I could get $600ft for my unit (700+ sqft) then I'll put it up tomorrow.

 

[grey]

In Liberty Village I was thinking closer to $400K value for it or $515/sq.ft. I appreciate Liberty Village is not the core but I am surprised that the East side of Yonge would fetch $85/sq.ft. more than Liberty Village(if my guestimate of pricing is correct). Also, if the West side of Yonge is $50-100 more that would mean ready product today is $650 to $700/sq.ft. which I think is a bit high in the present market.

The reason for the price discrepancy you're observing is that Liberty Village is a hole and the buildings are awful. TheKingEast is correct; units in Freedville are a more apples-to-apples comparison.

Personally, I think Lamb Co's buildings have a noticeably higher finishes and workmanship in general (even layouts). I recognize that some of you are complaining about quality in units you've recently moved into at 318 King, but that's regrettably the state of affairs for new buildings in Toronto. I've been in most of Freed's buildings and there's a lot to like, but I've seen some seriously dodgy concrete work and layouts with odd proportions.

 

[TheKingEast]

The reason for the price discrepancy you're observing is that Liberty Village is a hole and the buildings are awful. TheKingEast is correct; units in Freedville are a more apples-to-apples comparison.

Personally, I think Lamb Co's buildings have a noticeably higher finishes and workmanship in general (even layouts). I recognize that some of you are complaining about quality in units you've recently moved into at 318 King, but that's regrettably the state of affairs for new buildings in Toronto. I've been in most of Freed's buildings and there's a lot to like, but I've seen some seriously dodgy concrete work and layouts with odd proportions.

Lamb's buildings tend to have better finishes, yes....but he should rethink aligning himself with 59 Project Management because they are downright terrible. If he sticks with them for his other projects...his reputation will go down the tubes IMO. Be weary of buying anything that 59 is a part of.

 

[interested]

^^^
I feel I have to respond to grey's comments.
I won't dispute that L.V. could have been better designed....no question. However, with one fail swoop I think you have painted a whole neighbourhood and every project in it.

I agree (I bought a Plazacorp property) that they are not the most beautiful projects. I note a lot of people have a hate on for Plazacorp from when I bought at 140 Simcoe (University Plaza) which most of this forum hates. Let me tell you that I have family who live in 1 of the 2 units I own there and absolutely love it. Rentals last 1-2 weeks. Sales are always brisk. In fact as of yesterday, there were 5 rentals (up from 3 the day before) and the 4 for sale in the past month all gone.

The workmanship I got with the units at transfer time was excellent. I had minimal deficiencies and they were taken care of very quickly. As for finishes, I have not looked at the King East so I don't know but I can tell you that I got Paris kitchens (excellent quality), brand name SS appliances, granite. Marble at the entrance way and bathrooms. Laminate or hardwood floors or broadloom (I choose hardwood throughout) and all this was standard, no extra costs and yet when I bought they were comparably priced to much less quality product.

I am anticipating the same for my L.V. units but will report back if they have slipped.

I appreciate lofts are more expensive than regular condos. I personally find Freed buildings are getting more than I think they are worth but clearly those who buy/bought there appreciated the value more than I obviously attributed to it.

 

[TheKingEast]

I know someone who bought in KWL and to me the finishes are quite good.


This was a PDI that looked in move-in condition. The deficiencies were minimal. A very, very, very far cry from what we got at KingEast. So while KE is nice at first glance, you can't deny that plazacorp is a) better built (structurally) and has better workmanship for a fraction of the price. So from a livable standpoint, KWL is quite nice.

 

[PinkLucy]

I agree with interested. I also bought from Plazacorp and it was a good experience. My PDI was delayed a couple of times but once we got to do it, deficiencies were minimal and were taken care of before we moved in so I didn't have to put up with tradesmen coming and going. That said, they are slower to take care of common area deficiencies and that whole building wide process is a bit of a slog, but from what I understand, that is typical

My only complaint as a purchaser is that they wouldn't let me upgrade my appliances or take a credit. I had to take what they provided then buy what I wanted and sell their appliances on my own. What they provided was name brand and decent, but I have appliance preferences of my own so I switched them out.

 

[TheKingEast]

I agree with interested. I also bought from Plazacorp and it was a good experience. My PDI was delayed a couple of times but once we got to do it, deficiencies were minimal and were taken care of before we moved in so I didn't have to put up with tradesmen coming and going. That said, they are slower to take care of common area deficiencies and that whole building wide process is a bit of a slog, but from what I understand, that is typical

My only complaint as a purchaser is that they wouldn't let me upgrade my appliances or take a credit. I had to take what they provided then buy what I wanted and sell their appliances on my own. What they provided was name brand and decent, but I have appliance preferences of my own so I switched them out.

The PDI I went to at KWL. They actually had a guy come into the unit and fix a few cosmetic deficiencies. It blew my mind. I've never seen a deficiency fixed during a PDI. The trades actually seemed knowledgeable and experienced unlike the teenager, handymen I've seen at other sites.

Anyways...back on topic

 

[leejabron]

My question was actually directed at City Lights. I have no issue with this discussion, interested.

I do agree that units West of Yonge sell for more. However, it depends on the unit and building. Frankly, KWL does not really compare to King East. I'd say a building like any of the Freed ones would since they have similar finishes and cache. So, I'd say a unit at 650 King W would be a good comparison. Then we'd have to look at units in the St.Lawrence/Distillery area. Trinity Lofts, East Lofts, etc. I don't have access to the units that have sold....but I'd say the asking prices I've seen are between 550 and 625/ft.

I will say. If I could get $600ft for my unit (700+ sqft) then I'll put it up tomorrow.

How are people in the building already in a position to sell?? I bought at KE as well and would love to sell.

 

[TheKingEast]

How are people in the building already in a position to sell?? I bought at KE as well and would love to sell.

Well..registration is right around the corner. I also made sure the builder put in an assignment clause that would allow me to assign the unit at any time.

 

[leejabron]

Well..registration is right around the corner. I also made sure the builder put in an assignment clause that would allow me to assign the unit at any time.

Any ballpark idea as to what closing costs would look like in total?

 

[TheKingEast]

Any ballpark idea as to what closing costs would look like in total?

Given this builder I would think it will be on the high side. I got them to cap at $6k so it will most likely be more.

 

[grey]

Has anyone else noticed that fire sprinklers in their suite are mounted right next to the windows and prevent the installation of roller shades?

I wandered into one suite under construction where blinds were installed about a foot below the pipes and that leaves a huge gap of window that can't be covered by shades.

Also, I showed pictures to a sprinkler guy and he said they used the wrong type of sprinkler heads. Normal sidewall sprinklers can be up to 4’ away from windows, but we don’t have sidewall sprinklers installed.

 

[TheKingEast]

Yea, it pisses me off because I have had trouble with getting blinds installed. I don't get why they just didn't use simple ceiling sprinklers.

 

[grey]

It looks like they were trying to set up a sidewall sprinkler system. Concrete buildings are pretty good at containing fires, but glass can burst, which allows fire to spread. Sidewall sprinklers are designed to cool down the temperature of the glass in order to contain the fire. Balconies are also good for preventing fire from spreading (this is why most condo corps develop rules to prevent pack rats from filling their balconies with combustible materials), so you might notice that the pipes are aligned with windows that don't have a balcony outside. These sprinklers aren't designed to extinguish fire by soaking everything in sight, just prevent the spread of fire.

Unfortunately, the sprinkler heads aren't the correct type for sidewall systems and will actually deflect water away from walls/windows, despite the orientation of the pipes, so it looks like someone's screwed this up.

Do NOT tamper with the sprinklers. You run the risk of flooding your suite just by bumping them.

I think any change to a unit's fire system will require permission from the condo board, a fire code inspector, and have work done by licensed pipe fitters. Maybe something can be done if enough unit owners organize and approach the board (once it's established) or the builder.