Wilshire on the Green Condos (Norstar Group) - Real Estate -

[maple mystery]

thanks!!!..I have learned sooo much through this experience with my condo...trust me, I would NEVER buy another pre-construction condo again...If i knew then what i know now...I would have just bought a house, even though it's more work. For people who are using this as an investment, this is fine, i'm sure they know more about it coming into it...I am a first time buyer, so I will pen this down to a VERY EXPENSIVE lesson learned.

Hi mango3,

Dont worry so much. everything will be fine. atleast u now know that u have 2 good neighbours....nelson and me =)..hahha. Its a learning process and im sure we'd love our home in the end. Im going to pick my interiors this weekend. will keep u guys updated and probably take some pics of the building as well.

 

[xponis]

Engineered Hardwood

That's a good one! I might have to work part-time at the Timmy's next door to subsidize my mortgage

We asked about the upgrade on better flooring - I think you can only go with "engineered" hardwood as the top upgrade. I can't recall what the price was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did cost > $2K - I would check around to see if you can get it done cheaper for your square footage.

And yes, they do want their money upfront on any upgrades you get :-( It's been 3 weeks since we selected our finishings & upgrades, but they haven't cashed my cheque yet.

Good luck with your appointment!

Hi All,
New to the site, I have also bought at wilshire and hate the look of the green on the window. I asked Karen a ton of questions about cost for upgrading to engineered hardwood....she quoted me $13,800 including bedrooms for the catslefrank unit.....so I'm going with laminate and doing it myself after I move in for 1/4 of the cost...

 

[Nels_TO]

That's a very steep $ figure for just flooring. That's great that you'll be able to do it yourself for so much less $...

what's the total square footage for the castle frank model, if I may ask?

 

[xponis]

That's a very steep $ figure for just flooring. That's great that you'll be able to do it yourself for so much less $...

what's the total square footage for the castle frank model, if I may ask?

Total square footage is 851 with the bathrooms. thats $16.21 a square foot....it would be much cheaper to buy your own and pay for someone to do it for you.

I also think us paying for deliver and istallation of appliances is ridiculous.......keep us posted please!

 

[maple mystery]

Total square footage is 851 with the bathrooms. thats $16.21 a square foot....it would be much cheaper to buy your own and pay for someone to do it for you.

I also think us paying for deliver and istallation of appliances is ridiculous.......keep us posted please!

Hi xponis,

welcome to the forum.

about the appliances, the coupon clearly says that delivery is included. did they ask u to pay the installation and delivery?

 

[maple mystery]

lol!!!..thank you. It is very re-assuring to know that I have you both as neighbours. Yes, I'm sure everything will be fine and I will love my place with my wonderful neightbours next door.

hahaha....yah i guess a not so goodlooking place with good neighbours isanytime better than a excellent looking place with bad neighbours. hahah. well i picked my interiors and Yana was very helpful. Now i just pray what i picked looks good.

 

[xponis]

Hi xponis,

welcome to the forum.

about the appliances, the coupon clearly says that delivery is included. did they ask u to pay the installation and delivery?

Thanks maple mystery

I actually havnt gotten my coupon, probably because I havent picked my finishes yet. Karen cannot find a time that works for me and aparantly I'm late on picking my finishes. Karen is unable to understand that I cannot meet during the day.

good to know about the delivery, so are we expected to pay for installation? from what i read in earlier posts.

thanks

 

[one eye wonder]

Hey guys I got the scoop on the installations from mike,it's your option to pay or do it yourself or you can pay the delivery guys 20 bucks lol, or diy obviously if u get them to there is the garuntee for a yr,and ps if your picking it stuff for the condo upgrades are a RIPOFFFFF 400$ to paint a room 1 room,and does anyone know for sure what and what not our maintenance fee covers I have not looked at the book as my lawyer has it and mike can confuse me lol

 

[Sea2Sky]

Thanks maple mystery

I actually havnt gotten my coupon, probably because I havent picked my finishes yet. Karen cannot find a time that works for me and aparantly I'm late on picking my finishes. Karen is unable to understand that I cannot meet during the day.

good to know about the delivery, so are we expected to pay for installation? from what i read in earlier posts.

thanks

Hi there,

Karen is not as flexible as Ioanna. My husband and I were able to get a weekday evening appointment (6pm) to meet with Ioanna to choose our colours. Hope this helps!

 

[Nels_TO]

Hey guys I got the scoop on the installations from mike,it's your option to pay or do it yourself or you can pay the delivery guys 20 bucks lol, or diy obviously if u get them to there is the garuntee for a yr,and ps if your picking it stuff for the condo upgrades are a RIPOFFFFF 400$ to paint a room 1 room,and does anyone know for sure what and what not our maintenance fee covers I have not looked at the book as my lawyer has it and mike can confuse me lol

The maintenance fees will cover water, gas(heat), building insurance (separate from your own personal contents insurance), and common area expenses (e.g., the exercise room/sauna, patio, general upkeep of property etc). We were told that the initial maintenance cost for the first year will be 24 cents per square foot. Hydro (electricity) will be extra, as will be personal property insurance. If I have missed anything, please correct me.

 

[tisane]

Hello,
The colour option they have put together are horrible, and the upgrade fees are insane. We are going to get the standard options and upgrade ourselves. - its not worth getting the upgrades they are offereing.

THe last date for move in i received was May!

 

[tisane]

We have not been called to pick our selections yet but we went into the sales office for other issues. They quoted us around $350 to get a special outlet to put an over the range mircowave.

Also as a heads up keep in mind we will be charged an extra $7500 which is the max on the agreement for development fees and levys.

 

[Koff]

We have not been called to pick our selections yet but we went into the sales office for other issues. They quoted us around $350 to get a special outlet to put an over the range mircowave.

Also as a heads up keep in mind we will be charged an extra $7500 which is the max on the agreement for development fees and levys.

Welcome Tisane,

Thanks for reminding us of the extra headache that lies ahead. Just a heads up to the folks who have not yet finalized their Agreement of Purchase, you should ask your lawyer to modify this clause to cap it at a lower amount. This should be done anywhere in the agreement where their are additional costs with no ceiling.

 

[Koff]

Condo Upgrades

Hi All,
New to the site, I have also bought at wilshire and hate the look of the green on the window. I asked Karen a ton of questions about cost for upgrading to engineered hardwood....she quoted me $13,800 including bedrooms for the catslefrank unit.....so I'm going with laminate and doing it myself after I move in for 1/4 of the cost...

Hey folks,

I made my upgrade selections last week and I must say that the prices are alsolutely insane. On top to this, you can only add it to the mortgage if the total for the upgrades exceeds $5K. In addition to some of the prices already posted in the thread, here are some big ticket items:
- Soaker tub - $2,500 approx
- Smooth ceilings - $2,500 approx
- Hardwood - engineered is the highest upgrade - not soild hardwood: $10K for 700 s.f.

There is also a $500 fee to have the water line installed if you intend to have a fridge with water/ice dispenser. Think about this one carefully. The dimensions of your space for the fridge is already set, hence the standard side-by-fridges many not fit your space. You may need non-standard sized fridges with the water/ice dispensers. This could translate into high prices for the upgrade at the appliance store.

 

[Nels_TO]

Hey folks,

I made my upgrade selections last week and I must say that the prices are alsolutely insane. On top to this, you can only add it to the mortgage if the total for the upgrades exceeds $5K. In addition to some of the prices already posted in the thread, here are some big ticket items:
- Soaker tub - $2,500 approx
- Smooth ceilings - $2,500 approx
- Hardwood - engineered is the highest upgrade - not soild hardwood: $10K for 700 s.f.

There is also a $500 fee to have the water line installed if you intend to have a fridge with water/ice dispenser. Think about this one carefully. The dimensions of your space for the fridge is already set, hence the standard side-by-fridges many not fit your space. You may need non-standard sized fridges with the water/ice dispensers. This could translate into high prices for the upgrade at the appliance store.

That's interesting that you can roll over the upgrades you purchased if you spend > $5K ... can you imagine - over the life of your mortgage, you'll be paying at least twice that with interest

Good call on the water line. I just got my appliance certificates - the standard fridge is only 28 inches wide. Does that mean the space for a fridge is only slightly larger than this? That's as narrow as you can get for an 18 cubic foot fridge.

We only went for the extended cabinets above the fridge - it should give the fridge a "built-in" look to it. We wanted to get ceiling lights put in the bedrooms, but apparently, they're unable to accomodate this - no real reason given. Oh well, floor lamps will have to do then.