Park Lake Residences Condos (Pemberton Group) - Real Estate -

[Nick]

Hi Josef,
It looks like even August sounds like a tentative occupancy????
No way, we already have second notice of firm occupancy. Once it was 90 days, and the max we can have up to 15 days as a minor delay. No way....
This is ridicoulous. Anyway Josef, thanks.
I will try to find out myself smth. May be what she meant probably where the Gallery Suites.
Soon to be found.....

 

[Nick]

Hi Josef,
Already called the sale office. The advertising is for Gallery suites and for unsold ones.
Actually it makes sense, delaying the unsold ones. What a relief

 

[Nick]

Hi Josef,
Move in June 2010, probably it applies to the lower floors,
I am sure that even the others who are reading our postings will agree with me.
What do you think about the Flowerbridge rates. I think 3.69 is a very good one.
Hope you had a nice weekend. Not a good weather though
Soon to enjoy the nice weather to our new building.

 

[Pure Luxury]

Looking to get into Park Lake... Thoughts please

Hey there, I am considering purchasing a condo unit in this building, all that is left are the podium units which have a great view towards the lake, I also really like the swan layout. I have been following the entire thread and you guys are super useful and informed.

I have a few questions does anyone anticipate that the prices will go up and any idea? This is after occupancy.
NXT or this building? I like that fact that I would have a south view which is the selling feature.

I wish there were more amenities such as an indoor pool on the 5th floor that would have been nice but probably driven up the prices too much.

I wish I saw the ontario earlier very nice layout and seems to have bang for the buck. I will have to settle for "The Swan" or "The Kennisis". Is the walk in closet worth almost 20k more?\

Finally What are some of the purchase prices if you guys do not mind sharing.

Thanks

 

[Nick]

Hi there PL,
I am definitely with Josef opinion regarding the swiming pool. It will not add that much value to the unit for sale, as it will increase the maintenance cost of every unit ( Decreasing the Resale Value). Swimming pools are very costly to maintain and in many friends of mine having condos when you pass by their swimming pools they are almost empty. ( but they still have to distilate the water and have a lifeguard on the site)
As per buying units into PL, they already cost more then you should have bought them 2-3 years ago, but anyway you are buying market price as those ones who bought in 2007 market price at that time. The best thing I see for you is that if you buy at PL you might get possession in a few months compare to other projects. Plus they offer a good discount. Happy Unit Hunting!

 

[Pure Luxury]

Thanks for the responses Josef and Nick appreaciate it.
There are swan layouts available, there is also the Mattice but in terms of layout I liek the swan best. I agree with fees going up, but the tennis court is also a plus.
Thansk for the great advice and I will keep following the thread and see what the new commwents are becuase I really want a make a decision by the end of March because in teh summer everyone hose hunts and will realise that downtown core is good but the lakeshore is awesome.

Hi there Pure Luxury,

Welcome to this thread.

Regarding your questions... I received an automated e-mail from Pemberton stating that prices would go up 5k, but I have yet to see that. Generally speaking, during the Summer time, prices always increase. If
you want to purchase a unit, I suggest getting it asap, in my humble opinion. Waiting for the Summer or Fall to come will only result in a higher priced unit.

Is the Swan unit still available? I thought that was sold quite some time ago...perhaps you're referring to the Vernon?

It really all depends on your budget. If you can afford the Kennisis, go for it.

I think we're fortunate not to have the bells and whistles of amenities, as we'll clearly pay extra for them in the end. Our maintenance fees
will be pretty decent. Having a pool when we have Sunnyside beach and a renovated public pool minutes away is a little pointless, except for the Winter. Keep in mind as well
that we have High Park steps away and there's a lot of entertainment it has to offer.

Nxt is another story.... I think you'll be waiting a long time before you'll move in. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Take care.

 

[JB1]

Hi everyone:
I got an opportunity yesterday to do the tour of the Lakeview Suites. I went to three. The Kinnesis, Gale and a 2-brm. They were not as "finished" as I hoped, but that makes sense given the comments in the thread with these suites having later occupancy dates. It was good to see things coming together and get a snip of the view - even though it was from the lower floors.

 

[JB1]

Yes Josef, I wanted to see the Mattice, but I wasn't "allowed" to. It's weird how they do their showings, but I understand that because of the hoist, a lot of things aren't allowed. Still, I do wish I could've viewed my own unit! Guess that would be asking too much.

 

[Moe El]

Hello All,

Great info Josef and everyone else. Been crazy busy and back on this site for first time since Feb. The questions about more delays, mortgage rates, pool and real estate prices prompted me to send this.
Of course more delays would be a disaster. But they still have room to delay further under Tarion.

The mortgage rates I saw posted on this thread are WAY TOO HIGH!! There are lots of variable rates advertised well below 3% !!! Of course the catch as someone pointed out is that we are dealing with a lot of uncertainty on both the interest rates AND the closing date!
I do not see interest rates changing more than 0.5% for all of 2010 (0.25 around June) so the bigger uncertainty is the closing. I know CIBC is offering $4k when you switch to them, Scotia is offering Primse MINUS again!!!... I was expecting to go with my bank RBC but in the end will go with best obviously......

Having a pool with such few units would be financially devastating to the tenants. Especially down the road. I currently live in a Condo and let me tell you. I am very happy that I specifically picked a condo WITHOUT a pool!! Where I currently live there are endless amenities. Everything you can imagine in a building exists here. Multiple squash and racket ball courts, pool, Jacuzzi, gym, bowling alleys, even indoor golfing and outdoor putting area. But that is spread over 2 towers with almost 40 stories each!! That makes the maintenance fee reasonable. The biggest expense for PL aside from elevators will be the concierge. 24hr security will cost us big.

As for prices, I bought in summer 2006 and prices were around $380/sqft. Today they are easily in the $500/sqft with downtown core like Bay street pushing $700 which is nuts!!! In summer of 2006 Bay street was around $400/sqft.... it is nuts in the downtown core and I am not sure what to make of it.

I also learned of an interesting option for people who do not know what to do about parking! Some buildings have agreements with companies like Zip car where there will be at least one spot for them in the garage or in outdoor parking. This may save lots of tenants $$$$$$$$ depending on what they need the vehicle for.
Disclaimer, I DO NOT WORK for any of businesses listed above LOOOL I am learning as I go just like everyone else.... Zip Car is perfect for people who only need the car for a short period of time and can return it to same spot....

Hope this helps

 

[Moe El]

Thanx a lot for pix btw!
I wanted to add that there is a Rabba and dry cleaning among other stores under my current building. It is extremely convenient! I can buy just about anything in my pijamas without even crossing a street! It is weird that moving from a semi-suburb to Toronto will mean losing that convenience!! I have a grocery store across the street (literally) but you just can't beat having what you need in your own building! A couple of extra bucks be damned! loool

I honestly don't think it is realistic to go grocery shopping on foot if you have to walk more than 100 meters. Unless you will go every other day to avoid carrying heavy loads. Factor in the winter and it is not a good idea IMO

 

[Nick]

Hi Moe,
The ZIP car is a good idea. The problem I see will be that being only one or 2 parking spots availbale, on the weekends will be kind of hard to get ahold of them. PL is almost 2 towers with 130 units each. Do not get me wrong, this is better then nothing though. Also the rates we were talking 3.69 is a 5 year fixed closed. The one you are talking are the variable ones. It depends always on the flexibility and the tolerance people have. Someone who might be in a bad position if rates go up will look for a closed fixed rate as a 5 year pieace of mind.
Statistically talking taking variable rates has been 87 % better then taking fix ones. But in this market condition I will advise closed fixed ones. They are at record low.
Let's keep in mind that before 18 months prime rate was 6.25 %, and today is like 2,25 % or even less.
Later

 

[Moe El]

Hi Nick,

#1 I am not aware of Zip having more than a couple of cars at any building type location. Either way they can always use the outdoor parking on the lake across the street which I find to be very convenient for visitors to our building/area....
#2 U obviously know mortgages. So perhaps you can help me understand this point. I don't get why anyone would not take the lowest rate possible! Yes variable may change but you can just go and lock the 'peace of mind' rate before it goes up! It is not like the Bank of Canada raises interest rates in the dead of night. It is a relatively predictable and gradual direction 99% of the time. The difference between 2.25% and lower VS. 3.7% and higher is HUNDREDSSSSS OF DOLLARS/month and that money is going in the garbage! At least taxes theoretically serve us LOL but this is pure waste! I honestly don't get the peace of mind part. You can't wake up and find interest rates up by 2 points or anything like that. So where is the risk?

They are at record low now indeed. I think they are waiting for PL residents to apply for mortgages to raise them LOOOL

 

[Nick]

Hi Nick,

#1 I am not aware of Zip having more than a couple of cars at any building type location. Either way they can always use the outdoor parking on the lake across the street which I find to be very convenient for visitors to our building/area....
#2 U obviously know mortgages. So perhaps you can help me understand this point. I don't get why anyone would not take the lowest rate possible! Yes variable may change but you can just go and lock the 'peace of mind' rate before it goes up! It is not like the Bank of Canada raises interest rates in the dead of night. It is a relatively predictable and gradual direction 99% of the time. The difference between 2.25% and lower VS. 3.7% and higher is HUNDREDSSSSS OF DOLLARS/month and that money is going in the garbage! At least taxes theoretically serve us LOL but this is pure waste! I honestly don't get the peace of mind part. You can't wake up and find interest rates up by 2 points or anything like that. So where is the risk?

They are at record low now indeed. I think they are waiting for PL residents to apply for mortgages to raise them LOOOL

Hi Moe,
Today is friday and thanks god it is a nice wether for a BBQ
As we were talking for rates:
Having a fix rate for 5 years means that you know exactly how much you are going to pay every month and it is very easy to control your budget and plan ahead for future investments.
It is right what you say that from 2.25 to 3.79 it is a big difference and talking money language it is a lot of money.
But what happens if you have variable rates?
Those rates are connected to the prime rate, that is related to the overnight interest rate of Bank of Canada.
So as you might now that rate now is sitting at 0.25 % and reflect a prime of 2%-2.25%
Inflation soon will be a problem and the bank will be forced to increase the Overnight rate even that one might stop the Economic Growth for the moment. So if the rates go up everything changes. The example I gave you: the Prime used to be 6.25 and now is 2.25 in a matter of 18 months. So if the variables go up all the people want to lock in the rates scared of rates going up and up. Once you have a variable and you want to get a fixed one, will be too late since the Posted on a 5 Year fix will be to high too. Now Banks promoto the variable rates more attractive. If rates go up everything goes up. Posted is 5.25 used to be 7.79......
Anyway there are other factors to be taken in consideration here, Timing the rates and the economic conditions Canada , worldwide.
Also do not forget the strong Loonie.
Best Option is a Fixed rate for whoever does not understand the rates that well...
Have a good Weekend.

 

[Nick]

Hi to everyone who is reading our threads,
Question?
Since we all coming close to occupancy, does anyone knows if we do require a lawyer or not yet till possession.
Thanks

 

[Nick]

Hej Josef,
Where are the other PL owners?
What do you mean by 900 dollars?????
What is that, a fee for what?