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We are interested in a retirement relocation in another city - retirement 3-5 years away.
We came across a condo complex being developed (construction date in 2022) in the context of a larger waterfront development / renewal project. It seems interesting to us and we have requested a conversation.
We have owned a house as well as a condo, so have some experience. But, we are not necessarily astute real estate buyers. Hence this thread to get some advice.
What are some of the questions we should be asking.
There is a clearly defined price for the units (very few remaining). How negotiable is that in such a context (new development)?
We do not have a buyer's agent based in that area. Do we need one? Do these type of developments accommodate buyer's agents?
There is a certain leap of faith involved with drawings and floorplans instead of actual building that one can see. How does one insure quality?
Anything else you might advise someone in our position?
We are interested in a retirement relocation in another city - retirement 3-5 years away.
We came across a condo complex being developed (construction date in 2022) in the context of a larger waterfront development / renewal project. It seems interesting to us and we have requested a conversation.
We have owned a house as well as a condo, so have some experience. But, we are not necessarily astute real estate buyers. Hence this thread to get some advice.
What are some of the questions we should be asking.
1. There is a clearly defined price for the units (very few remaining). How negotiable is that in such a context (new development)?
2. We do not have a buyer's agent based in that area. Do we need one? Do these type of developments accommodate buyer's agents?
3. There is a certain leap of faith involved with drawings and floorplans instead of actual building that one can see. How does one insure quality?
4. Anything else you might advise someone in our position?
Many thanks!
I've numbered your questions in order to answer them. My experience is as someone who has owned a condo and a townhouse, and built new construction but I did not buy a new construction condo, and I'm sure there are some differences about that which I am not aware of.
1. My new construction was in a very desirable area, and there was no flexibility on pricing, nor did they give concessions on finishes, etc. They didn't need to because it would have sold quickly to someone else if I didn't sign on the dotted line. You can of course always ask, but it's not unlikely the answer will be no.
The one concession they had was a few thousand dollar credit by using their preferred lender. I did the comparison shopping and the lender was competitive so I was able to put that money towards some points and some closing costs and got a good deal at that time.
2. Unfortunately your timing here may be a problem. My opinion is yes, you absolutely do need a buyer's agent esp. when you're trying to do a long distance purchase. However, in my experience and observation, builders usually decline to work with an agent if a buyer has already approached them directly and then they try to add an agent in after the fact. They will work with an agent if you have one at initial contact, but after that, they can say no. If you haven't already had the conversation, maybe the builder will allow a little flexibility here, but you would need to have someone lined up and ready to go for whenever you do have that conversation you've requested.
3. Does the builder have any other projects further along that you can check out? Ideal would be a mostly completed project where they have a model unit you can check out. An alternate might be an older project that has some resale units you can look at. It's not the same as seeing the exact unit you are going to buy but it is still helpful. I can say that for my new construction, I was onsite several time a week to check things out and caught some larger mistakes that had to be corrected along the way. However, I'm not sure how realistic that even is with a condo complex, and you might not even be able to have access during most of the process. But doing this long distance is definitely a complicating factor and you would likely want to factor at least a few visits during construction into your budget.
4. You mentioned this was part of a larger redevelopment project. Do you know what else is planned? Maybe it would be better to wait to move to this new location once you are actually retired, confirm that it suits you while you live in a rental, and then go ahead and buy at that point, where you have the benefit of being local in order to supervise the process. Also, what are your plans for a unit completed 2 - 4 years prior to when you are going to retire? Are you going to maintain two houses? Rent out this new condo? To me, that defeats a bit part of the benefit of new construction, because someone else will get to enjoy all that newness that you are paying for. Or what happens if it turns out you don't actually like living in this other city?
OP, it would seem your objective is to lock-in the price of the condo now, rather than wait until later. With the uncertainty surrounding a new construction project in a remote location, you might consider another alternative.
Why not buy an existing condo with a strong history of rentals, in the same general location. That way, you would follow the market pricing (rising tide perception) ... AND gain some rental income to offset other expenses (HOA, etc), plus earn a profit (and tax write-off). Then, IF you still want a condo in the same 'new' complex, when you get closer to retirement/moving, you can sell your rental unit and buy at that time.
Thank you, jghorton! The location of the new condos (waterfront) is the part that makes them attractive to us. The existing condos do not meet that criteria...
Our current condo has spectacular views. So, we aren't terribly interested in moving to something lesser. We also know from experience that such attributes are less abundant in supply. In our building - we overpaid to buy our condo and there has not been another comparable in out building for the last 10 years. So, our reason for the interest is less about securing the price but more about securing one of the handful of units (and we have yet to establish that that's what we are getting) that offers attributes that make it compelling for us. Otherwise, we'd rather just wait till retirement, spend some trial period in a rental, confirm our interest and then look to buy. If we do end up proceeding with a condo in this project, I am not sure we will rent it - even though that'd help pay for it.
We have a conversation this afternoon with the listing agent - and will reassess after that. Still interested but also thinking about the practical aspects (early availability, etc) and will assess how we stand.
It's onething to have a custom house built in a neighborhood you know over time in advance of moving in but a condo community has too many variable known and unknown. The entire community is dependent on potential buyers & residents along with the builders/investors/funders etc.
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