Who would buy a 500~550 sqft condo?

[js97]

550 sq/ft for 300 K is rediculously overpriced.

My first condo was 640 sq ft at the end of 2005. It was perfectly comfortable for a single bachelor occupant. If i had found a partner to live with, i would have been lacking serious closet space.

The best thing to do is to see existing condos that are only 10 ft 'wide' ( or should i say 10 ft 'narrow'?) and condos with similiar sizes to get the feel.

There is nothing worst than buying something on a designers floorplan then realizing many of the furniture and spacing elements aren't practical or realistic.

I say buy existing condos, yes it's not spanking new, but you get to see what you buy, and see how you feel.

nothing worst than buying something on paper then realising it wasn't as great as you expected.

 

[iSlutsky]

Here is a question:

For people living in units around the 500 SF mark, how often do you use the building amenities?

As condominiums have more extensive amenities, I would imagine that people in smaller units would treat the amenities as extensions of their actual units.

Anyone?

 

[lister]

Here is a question:

For people living in units around the 500 SF mark, how often do you use the building amenities?

As condominiums have more extensive amenities, I would imagine that people in smaller units would treat the amenities as extensions of their actual units.

Anyone?

I don't treat nor consider the amenities as an extension of my unit. Use of them varies throughout the year and we are generally light users.

 

[Flux Capacitor]

I recently purchase a I bedroom ( with balcony, sq footage on balcony not part of calculation.) at 448sq feet. I paid 234,000.

There wasn't much inventory at this price point. I remember 5 years ago, when 600sq was too small. Common people advised not to spend 150,000 on it. I wish i had bough then.

 

[cdr108]

I recently purchase a I bedroom ( with balcony, sq footage on balcony not part of calculation.) at 448sq feet. I paid 234,000.

There wasn't much inventory at this price point. I remember 5 years ago, when 600sq was too small. Common people advised not to spend 150,000 on it. I wish i had bough then.

congrats on your purchase.
where is your current condo located, and where was the 600sf at also?

as an aside, IMO, that kind of pricing and appreciation is ridiculous ...
$502 psf ... 109% increase in 5 years, ie 16% cpa

 

[lister]

When the prices for Charlie were published I compared my unit at the Hudson with a similar unit at Charlie. For a ~550 sq ft unit on the same floor with a parking space and an extra locker, Charlie was about $100,000 more.

For once I'm glad that my previous landlord jacked the rent up so much that it got into mortgage payment territory which spurred me to investigate buying a condo. I'm glad I got into the King & Spadina area when I did.

 

[grey]

Here's the 561 sqft Hudson layout...

 

[AKS]

what wasted space in the foyer.

 

[cabeman]

Have you considered increasing the width of the bedroom? 8.7 feet is pretty tight...

It is pretty tight, would have been nice to have a bit more space there but mechanicals are built into the wall near the bottom (heating/cooling panel) and at the top (air ducts) and there's no real practical way to alter it.

 

[iSlutsky]

I don't treat nor consider the amenities as an extension of my unit. Use of them varies throughout the year and we are generally light users.

Why not? Does your building have good amenities?

I am always curious about amenity space, and the amount that people use the common space (excluding workout facilities and rooftop patios).

For example, buildings with "screening rooms", and billiards rooms, and bowling alleys, and golf-putting ranges...etc..etc... Do people actually use this type of amenity, or does it become a simple waste of space?

I have used, over the past 2+ years...
- patio, about 5 times a summer;
- gym, 5-6 times per week;
- party room, been in it once for a AGM; and,
- pool and steam, used it once.

But, if I lived in a small unit, especially a bachelor unit, I think I would hang out all day in a common space...

 

[Josef]

Here's the 561 sqft Hudson layout...

They have the nerve to call that a living and dining space? That's incredibly tight. The balcony must be included in the total square footage you provided.
It would be ideal if you can fit a slim mirrored closet a long the foyer, if there's room for it. The bedroom closet can be extended to the wall as well and the sliding door can open from the other end.

If you're really desperate for more storage space, you can relocate the bathroom door to the west side and extend the wall of the bathroom to
the bedroom, which will leave access to the w/d room only from the bathroom and you can place extra shelving in that square portion, if my instructions make any sense.

 

[simuls]

They have the nerve to call that a living and dining space? That's incredibly tight. The balcony must be included in the total square footage you provided.
It would be ideal if you can fit a slim mirrored closet a long the foyer, if there's room for it. The bedroom closet can be extended to the wall as well and the sliding door can open from the other end.

If you're really desperate for more storage space, you can relocate the bathroom door to the west side and extend the wall of the bathroom to
the bedroom, which will leave access to the w/d room only from the bathroom and you can place extra shelving in that square portion, if my instructions make any sense.

That's a pretty brutal layout and the balcony must be included in the square footage as my best estimate is about 460 of usable space plus another 50 for the perimeter walls, etc..

I agree with the first suggestion about extending the closet and switching the door slide - but it looks like it's glass on the N side of the room and isn't doable - you can however, extend the closet so only the sliding door has room - it'll add another 2 feet in length. I highly disagree with relocating the bathroom door. I don't think anyone wants to look at or walk into a bathroom directly from a kitchen...unless your cooking is really that bad

The foyer is a waste of space, but you could fit a slim console with a mirror above to put your keys, etc and make it inviting. Check out the shops along Queen West and West Elm in Liberty Village as there should be some 6-8" wide options.

 

[cdr108]

re: 561sf Hudson

the SF is about right ... 21'0" x 26'0" ... the foyer is about the size of the balcony.

this just happens to be an ackward space where ~35 SF is lost in the foyer; but you can take alot of it back by extending the closet another 5 ft ... just make sure you stop short of impeding the front door's swing.
in the remaining area, put a shallow (< 1'6") console as simuls suggested.

for the bedroom, do you have the sliding or swing door?
if sliding, you can extend the closet another 2'6" feet ... just make sure you leave enough of a gap for the sliding door to 'slide' into when open; or alternatively, buy a tall boy dresser or ikea PAX closet system you can take away with you.

the LR/DR is really tight ... the 13'2" dimension extends beyond the breakfast bar and there's also the lost circulation space so it's really around 10'7" x 9'2".

forgo a DR set and use stools at the breakfast bar for eating;
entertainment set will have to be on the east wall with seating on the west wall ... a full size sofa (7'0" x 3'0") will actually fit but something with clean lines would look less cluttered.

good luck.

 

[izomax]

Regarding customization (e.g. extending the wall), will builders do that for you?

 

[whatever]

I had a condo that was just shy of 450sqft, and it actually didn't feel small in the least. And that was with two of us (and a cat) living there. It really is all about how it's laid out, how much usable space you have, and how many distinct areas you're able to carve out.