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Buying a Parking Spot with Condo a necessity?

parking rental

And if you're just buying the spot for investment and don't have a car, you should be able to rent it out no problem. It seems there's always more people looking for spots than spots available. It will definitely pay for itself.

I live in King West and put a poster up last week to rent my spot. I had five calls within a day.

(Oh, and my first post here after months of lurking)
 
And if you're just buying the spot for investment and don't have a car, you should be able to rent it out no problem. It seems there's always more people looking for spots than spots available. It will definitely pay for itself.

I live in King West and put a poster up last week to rent my spot. I had five calls within a day.

(Oh, and my first post here after months of lurking)


Nice to Hear! and welcome on posting. I've been lurking for a bit. I usually lurk a forum a bit to get the gist of it before I start posting...but since I've just entered the Real Estate Market It make sense to finally start posting.

Yeah, I think it'll easily pay for itself. On the line of Credit, the Interest would be just over $100/month. I should easily beable to rent that out and start paying that off.
 
don't forget to add the condo fee you will have to pay on top of your regular maintenance for the parking spot. but i agree, parking spots are generally a good investment.
 
don't forget to add the condo fee you will have to pay on top of your regular maintenance for the parking spot. but i agree, parking spots are generally a good investment.

Yeah, didn't know about this right away either until someone else informed me.

But it works out to be like $30/month or something like that...
Plus the Maintenance fee on the Locker as well...

I'm looking at all this money...and all the money I need to save...
I'm feel poor all of a sudden (just for the time being though lol) and wondering what I've gotten myself into lol. A 22 year old buying a $300,000+ condo is craziness...but will definitely be worth it in the long run!
 
One point to keep in mind - Condo buildings will generally only let you rent parking spots to other residents. That means you can't rent them to outsiders who may work in the area (they'd be tresspassing on the common elements). I live in a condo at Bay/Charles, and we're currently evicting all the non-residents using the parking garage. The result has been a glut of spots available for rent, with the asking price dropping from about $100 per month last year to about $75 per month now. The public parking lot next door offers monthly parking for $150 a month!
 
One point to keep in mind - Condo buildings will generally only let you rent parking spots to other residents. That means you can't rent them to outsiders who may work in the area (they'd be tresspassing on the common elements)...!

What about a snowbird, who goes south for 3 months? Can't I use the spot when I housesit?

What about if I rent out the parking space (and the condo) when I am not home during the day? I only use the condo and parking space when I return at night. Can't I rent out the condo and parking space for 9 hours? (Darn, he lost the key to the apartment. Too lazy to make a duplicate.)
 
One point to keep in mind - Condo buildings will generally only let you rent parking spots to other residents. That means you can't rent them to outsiders who may work in the area (they'd be tresspassing on the common elements). I live in a condo at Bay/Charles, and we're currently evicting all the non-residents using the parking garage. The result has been a glut of spots available for rent, with the asking price dropping from about $100 per month last year to about $75 per month now. The public parking lot next door offers monthly parking for $150 a month!

Ours works the same way and I'd rather not have outsiders in the building.
 
I think it depends on the size and location of the condo. Mine is only 600 sq. ft., close to TTC, and I couldn't afford the extra 20 grand for a parking spot. Should I decide to sell in a few years, I figure many potential buyers will be entry-level purchasers, just like I am now: carless and broke!

Any thoughts on this?

I did the exact same thing... although I am not really close to the TTC. Well, not to a subway at least. I'm close to a streetcar stop but we all know how reliable those are... ;)

Anyway, I'm curious as to whether it is worthwhile to purchase a parking spot now, if one happens to go for sale in the building? Do you think that parking spots will actually increase much more in value given that they are going for close to $30000 these days (ie. Is there a limit to cost where purchasing would be 'worth it')?

In a situation where the unit is quite small (ie. a 600sqft unit like the previous poster mentioned) is it still as clear cut whether to buy a parking spot or not?

Sorry for all the questions... just wondering if there are any valid arguments for not getting a spot. (Or under what conditions it would not be worthwhile)
 
Any thoughts on this?

I did the exact same thing... although I am not really close to the TTC. Well, not to a subway at least. I'm close to a streetcar stop but we all know how reliable those are... ;)

Anyway, I'm curious as to whether it is worthwhile to purchase a parking spot now, if one happens to go for sale in the building? Do you think that parking spots will actually increase much more in value given that they are going for close to $30000 these days (ie. Is there a limit to cost where purchasing would be 'worth it')?

In a situation where the unit is quite small (ie. a 600sqft unit like the previous poster mentioned) is it still as clear cut whether to buy a parking spot or not?

Sorry for all the questions... just wondering if there are any valid arguments for not getting a spot. (Or under what conditions it would not be worthwhile)

It's not really about the price of the parking spot, but more about the value of your home in total if you have a parking spot and one day are looking to sell. You will attract more buyers if you have a parking spot. Most people have cars these days and most of the buyers I work with want a condo with a parking spot. I have had a harder time selling condos without parking spots.

A client of mine purchased her unit with parking but in a desperate need for some cash this year, asked me to sell her parking spot. I put it on MLS and it sold in 3-5 days and I probably got another 3-4 people asking me about it after it sold.

At $30K you may not make a profit on your parking down the road, but it will be more attractive if you ever decide to sell. You will probably break even on the parking spot, but your condo will sell quicker.
 
One point to keep in mind - Condo buildings will generally only let you rent parking spots to other residents. That means you can't rent them to outsiders who may work in the area (they'd be tresspassing on the common elements). I live in a condo at Bay/Charles, and we're currently evicting all the non-residents using the parking garage. The result has been a glut of spots available for rent, with the asking price dropping from about $100 per month last year to about $75 per month now. The public parking lot next door offers monthly parking for $150 a month!

That's slightly odd that you can rent out a condo to anyone, but you can't rent out a parking spot become of that "common element" label affixed to the parking structure. Condo parking is meant to be a private good that can be bought and sold. Your parking and locker isn't open for anyone in the building to use as they wish, after all.
 
I agree that a condo with parking is probably be easier to sell, on average. But particularly in the downtown, there are a growing number of people such as myself who do not own a car. One of the reasons I live here is that I can live comfortably without one! When my wife and I sell and move into a bigger condo in a few years, we will also look for one without parking.

Why? Because I'd rather take that $27K and invest it into a slightly bigger or slightly nicer condo, rather than into a parking spot I don't need. This talk about the "value of the space appreciating" seems a bit misleading; of course if you buy a more expensive condo, it will appreciate in absolute dollars that much more (assuming the market goes up, of course). But if you invest that money into any aspect of your condo (more square feet, a better kitchen, a better location) then the unit would also appreciate more.

The cost of the parking spot isn't added to the maximum price a buyer is willing and able to pay; it's included in it. So someone who is only able to afford $300K won't suddenly buy a unit with a parking spot and pay $327K; instead they'll buy a unit with a base price of $273K and a parking space, totaling $300K.

At least for downtown, I say if you need parking, pay for it; if you don't need it, invest that money elsewhere. If you live in a neighbourhood you consider livable without a car, chances are many others will too. Of course if you're in the burbs and living car free is a horrible sacrifice, then that might be a different story.
 
Your making the right choice. I bought my first condo 5 years ago and the only thing I would do differently is getting a parking spot. YOu don't have to ask for visitors parking pass. Security doesn't know your business and you never know how things will change in a couple of years, you might want a car. Rent out the spot to someone who works downtown Mon-Fri and then you can keep it for yourself on weekend.
 
Parking spaces don't always appreciate at the same rate as the condo itself. For example, my parking space cost me roughly $25,000 extra when I first bought my condo a year ago. Now it's worth closer to $30,000-$35,000.

That's nearly a 70% increase in a single year. Obviously the condo itself doesn't appreciate anywhere near that much. Also the parking space can be rented out very easily, and as has been mentioned many times, it makes your condo more desireable when re-selling.

Overall, it's a no-brainer.
 

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