The Courtney Club A Bad Investment.
During the mid-80's, Toronto and the surrounding areas were in the midst of a condominium construction boom. New projects were under construction everywhere and most were the larger 200 plus unit condo buildings featuring a variety of suites and amenities. There was now even a weekly Condo section appearing in the Saturday Toronto Star newspaper advertising all the new projects that were being offered at pre-construction prices.
For the most part there was nothing to view at any of these projects but a vacant fenced in lot where the condo was to be eventually built. You needed to visualize your new home through the glamourous artist concept drawings that always featured numerous luxury upgrades at much higher prices. The sales office usually had a built to scale site model with all the amenities and it gave the buyer a pretty good idea of what the finished project would end up looking like. First time buyers needed to act quickly since all the lower priced and most affordable units sold out usually on the first day.
It sure was crazy times in the condominium market.
I was never really interested in owning my own home back then. Having been a lifelong renter, I just assumed I would always be a lifelong renter. I was quite happy to continue on with the status quo. My reasoning as to why I was happy to continue renting was simple. There were fewer hassles along with less work renting an apartment. There was no maintenance, snow shoveling, grass cutting and most importantly there was no mortgage debt.
Plus the fact that renting was also so much more affordable.
I don’t give Bonnie my ex-wife credit for too much. She too was also a lifelong renter, but it was her who actually convinced me we should be buying our first home. Both of us earned pretty good money and other than our monthly rent and a car payment we really had no other financial obligations. We were typical DINKs, (Double Income No Kids) and could easily afford a mortgage and be living in our own home. Although we had no savings and we always seemed to be living paycheque to paycheque. Like many young couples, I still can’t believe the money that we just threw away weekly on stupid frivolous items.
I only wish now we hadn’t been so reckless with our money back then.
For me debt has always been my evil villain after I had burdened myself with a high credit card debt years earlier and I was now afraid of having a mortgage. Although I knew that mortgage debt was a good debt since we would now be building equity by putting our monthly rent money into something we actually owned. Still I was afraid, I was not convinced and right away I remember putting up barriers.
I was fussy about what neighborhood I wanted to live in and I wanted a reasonable driving commute to my job. Many of my work colleagues were already commuting an hour or more each way so as to own a more affordable house living in the suburbs. There was absolutely no way I was interested in doing that every day. I told Bonnie that a half hour tops was the most I wanted to drive each day to work. Most importantly I was also firm that we would not be buying any home unless we had a minimum 25% down payment. I was not willing to pay the higher percentage interest rate to cover the Government mortgage insurance buyers with lower down payments needed to pay.
Bonnie did indeed finally convince me that it was in our best interest for us to buy instead of rent. We both agreed we would be best suited to buying a condominium apartment for our first home. We spent many weekends that summer back in 1985 driving around visiting numerous pre-construction site trailers. We literally looked at hundreds of different suite layouts, artist renderings, miniature models and site plans. We also quickly learned that all those condo ads in the weekly paper were nothing but teasers to get us in the front door. All of the ads used a four letter ‘f’ word in a very small font.
The word was from.
Not once did any condo project we visited have a unit at the advertised newspaper price. Legally they had covered their bases because the word from was in every single ad. Usually there was only one unit available at the ad price anyway and it was the least desirable unit in the building. Most often it was the smallest unit right over the garbage area and it was always sold by the time we arrived.
We weren’t interested in buying one of those units anyway.
The Courtney Club was a new condo being built in the city of Mississauga. It was right at two major crossroads, the Queen Elizabeth Expressway (QEW) and Hurontario Street. A less than half hour drive east along the QEW would have you smack dab in downtown Toronto at the CN Tower or a Blue Jays game. However, during the rush hour that time would easily more than double. The city of Mississauga for the most part was the westerly extension of Toronto. It was booming in development with new residential, commercial and industrial projects sprouting up literally everywhere. Mississauga was also much more affordable, both house and condo prices were much cheaper there than in the city of Toronto.
Buying a condo at the Courtney Club became almost lottery like with the advertised price from $88k for a one bedroom. We needed to pre-register just for our chance to buy on the first day when the units went on sale. We won, our names were chosen. Bonnie and I would now be able to pick and choose from the 141 available units in the brand new soon to be built twelve story building. We were both eager to see what awaited us as we drove out to the site for our pre-booked appointment on that first day. The lowest priced unit was the first to sell before we arrived and like most projects it was the smallest unit directly above the garbage area. Within a couple hours we were on our way home after having put a down payment on our first home. We had bought sight unseen a penthouse unit on the twelfth floor. We agreed to put 30% down and left with a pre-approved $94k mortgage on our $125k apartment.
For the most part there was nothing to view at any of these projects but a vacant fenced in lot where the condo was to be eventually built. You needed to visualize your new home through the glamourous artist concept drawings that always featured numerous luxury upgrades at much higher prices. The sales office usually had a built to scale site model with all the amenities and it gave the buyer a pretty good idea of what the finished project would end up looking like. First time buyers needed to act quickly since all the lower priced and most affordable units sold out usually on the first day.
It sure was crazy times in the condominium market.
I was never really interested in owning my own home back then. Having been a lifelong renter, I just assumed I would always be a lifelong renter. I was quite happy to continue on with the status quo. My reasoning as to why I was happy to continue renting was simple. There were fewer hassles along with less work renting an apartment. There was no maintenance, snow shoveling, grass cutting and most importantly there was no mortgage debt.
Plus the fact that renting was also so much more affordable.
I don’t give Bonnie my ex-wife credit for too much. She too was also a lifelong renter, but it was her who actually convinced me we should be buying our first home. Both of us earned pretty good money and other than our monthly rent and a car payment we really had no other financial obligations. We were typical DINKs, (Double Income No Kids) and could easily afford a mortgage and be living in our own home. Although we had no savings and we always seemed to be living paycheque to paycheque. Like many young couples, I still can’t believe the money that we just threw away weekly on stupid frivolous items.
I only wish now we hadn’t been so reckless with our money back then.
For me debt has always been my evil villain after I had burdened myself with a high credit card debt years earlier and I was now afraid of having a mortgage. Although I knew that mortgage debt was a good debt since we would now be building equity by putting our monthly rent money into something we actually owned. Still I was afraid, I was not convinced and right away I remember putting up barriers.
I was fussy about what neighborhood I wanted to live in and I wanted a reasonable driving commute to my job. Many of my work colleagues were already commuting an hour or more each way so as to own a more affordable house living in the suburbs. There was absolutely no way I was interested in doing that every day. I told Bonnie that a half hour tops was the most I wanted to drive each day to work. Most importantly I was also firm that we would not be buying any home unless we had a minimum 25% down payment. I was not willing to pay the higher percentage interest rate to cover the Government mortgage insurance buyers with lower down payments needed to pay.
Bonnie did indeed finally convince me that it was in our best interest for us to buy instead of rent. We both agreed we would be best suited to buying a condominium apartment for our first home. We spent many weekends that summer back in 1985 driving around visiting numerous pre-construction site trailers. We literally looked at hundreds of different suite layouts, artist renderings, miniature models and site plans. We also quickly learned that all those condo ads in the weekly paper were nothing but teasers to get us in the front door. All of the ads used a four letter ‘f’ word in a very small font.
The word was from.
Not once did any condo project we visited have a unit at the advertised newspaper price. Legally they had covered their bases because the word from was in every single ad. Usually there was only one unit available at the ad price anyway and it was the least desirable unit in the building. Most often it was the smallest unit right over the garbage area and it was always sold by the time we arrived.
We weren’t interested in buying one of those units anyway.
The Courtney Club was a new condo being built in the city of Mississauga. It was right at two major crossroads, the Queen Elizabeth Expressway (QEW) and Hurontario Street. A less than half hour drive east along the QEW would have you smack dab in downtown Toronto at the CN Tower or a Blue Jays game. However, during the rush hour that time would easily more than double. The city of Mississauga for the most part was the westerly extension of Toronto. It was booming in development with new residential, commercial and industrial projects sprouting up literally everywhere. Mississauga was also much more affordable, both house and condo prices were much cheaper there than in the city of Toronto.
Buying a condo at the Courtney Club became almost lottery like with the advertised price from $88k for a one bedroom. We needed to pre-register just for our chance to buy on the first day when the units went on sale. We won, our names were chosen. Bonnie and I would now be able to pick and choose from the 141 available units in the brand new soon to be built twelve story building. We were both eager to see what awaited us as we drove out to the site for our pre-booked appointment on that first day. The lowest priced unit was the first to sell before we arrived and like most projects it was the smallest unit directly above the garbage area. Within a couple hours we were on our way home after having put a down payment on our first home. We had bought sight unseen a penthouse unit on the twelfth floor. We agreed to put 30% down and left with a pre-approved $94k mortgage on our $125k apartment.
Our pre-approved mortgage was a much lower special builder's rate at just over 9% with the Royal Bank.
The actual condo itself was a 924 sq.ft one bedroom. It was a smaller unit, but was still larger than the two bedroom apartment we were renting. It had a large bedroom, walk-in closet and ensuite bath. There was also a powder room and a small den. There was no balcony, instead we would have a large spacious solarium with floor to ceiling windows. The unit faced east; so there would be views of sailboats on Lake Ontario about a mile away. All the appliances as well as an insuite washer and dryer for laundry were also included in our purchase price. Finally, there would be no more basement laundry rooms and no more rolls of quarters.
The actual condo itself was a 924 sq.ft one bedroom. It was a smaller unit, but was still larger than the two bedroom apartment we were renting. It had a large bedroom, walk-in closet and ensuite bath. There was also a powder room and a small den. There was no balcony, instead we would have a large spacious solarium with floor to ceiling windows. The unit faced east; so there would be views of sailboats on Lake Ontario about a mile away. All the appliances as well as an insuite washer and dryer for laundry were also included in our purchase price. Finally, there would be no more basement laundry rooms and no more rolls of quarters.
The mostly glass building would be built with a gym, swimming pool, hot tub and sauna. There would be a little tot lot for kids as well as bar-b-que pits and picnic tables for community social gatherings. The number one selling feature for me was the tennis court. I loved playing tennis and waiting for my turn to play on public courts would soon become a thing of the past. I would now have my own tennis court and little did I know then just how much the tennis court would actually become my own tennis court.
Although, we technically now owned a condo our closing date was still just under two years away. Two years and that would only be if there were no unforeseen delays. Two years seemed like a lifetime away that afternoon as we drove back to our apartment in Weston.
Just over three years passed.
About two months before our final closing date the builder offered us our deposit back with an additional $50k to walk away from our deal. The condo market was red hot and our unit could now fetch well over $200k on the market. Even with the builder's generous offer, we were not even tempted to walk away from our Courtney Club deal. Finally, on Saturday November 26th, 1988 we moved into our first condo. There had been numerous delays along with a skilled trades labour strike which added a year onto our original closing date.
Bonnie and I were now residents of 2091 Hurontario Street and we were original members of the Courtney Club. The Courtney Club was a fun place to live and we lived with a cast of some pretty oddball characters. For the most part it was a nice environment and everyone got along with everyone. On beautiful summer weekends the Courtney Club became like a resort. The pool was always busy as residents invited their friends over for a swim. Evening social bar-b-ques were the norm with residents and friends making use of the area well into the evening hours.
I played a lot of tennis back in the 80's and I made good use of the brand new tennis court. Hardly any of the other residents played tennis and the ones who did were not very good. With the exception of myself the tennis court was rarely used and I anointed myself the self-proclaimed Courtney Club tennis pro. I loved waking up on a beautiful sunny weekend morning and playing with a friend who I had invited over for an early match. Much to the annoyance of a few residents who would be trying to sleep in. There were days when it felt like I was literally on the court all day and if I wasn’t playing a match, I would be practicing my serve. I always had a large bucket with dozens of used balls I accumulated after they became unfit for match play.
Although, we technically now owned a condo our closing date was still just under two years away. Two years and that would only be if there were no unforeseen delays. Two years seemed like a lifetime away that afternoon as we drove back to our apartment in Weston.
Just over three years passed.
About two months before our final closing date the builder offered us our deposit back with an additional $50k to walk away from our deal. The condo market was red hot and our unit could now fetch well over $200k on the market. Even with the builder's generous offer, we were not even tempted to walk away from our Courtney Club deal. Finally, on Saturday November 26th, 1988 we moved into our first condo. There had been numerous delays along with a skilled trades labour strike which added a year onto our original closing date.
Bonnie and I were now residents of 2091 Hurontario Street and we were original members of the Courtney Club. The Courtney Club was a fun place to live and we lived with a cast of some pretty oddball characters. For the most part it was a nice environment and everyone got along with everyone. On beautiful summer weekends the Courtney Club became like a resort. The pool was always busy as residents invited their friends over for a swim. Evening social bar-b-ques were the norm with residents and friends making use of the area well into the evening hours.
I played a lot of tennis back in the 80's and I made good use of the brand new tennis court. Hardly any of the other residents played tennis and the ones who did were not very good. With the exception of myself the tennis court was rarely used and I anointed myself the self-proclaimed Courtney Club tennis pro. I loved waking up on a beautiful sunny weekend morning and playing with a friend who I had invited over for an early match. Much to the annoyance of a few residents who would be trying to sleep in. There were days when it felt like I was literally on the court all day and if I wasn’t playing a match, I would be practicing my serve. I always had a large bucket with dozens of used balls I accumulated after they became unfit for match play.
I sure took my tennis pretty seriously back then.
Bonnie quite often would be lounging by the pool. I wasn’t a swimmer; I think I went into the pool maybe a handful of times on extremely hot days just to cool off after playing tennis.
Within a couple years our daughter Stephanie was born and we converted our small den into her nursery. We also converted our powder room for extra storage since there were now so many toys, cases of diapers and baby formula. It seemed to work out just fine at the start when Stephanie was a baby, but inevitably the writing was on the wall. Our apartment would eventually become too small for the three of us. I was fine with upgrading to a larger two or three bedroom apartment within our building, but Bonnie like usual had other plans. We purchased a semi-detached house in a new development about twenty minutes north of the Courtney Club. It was a three bedroom, three bathroom house with a garage and most importantly a full basement. There would now be tons of extra storage room for all of Stephanie's toys.
It was around this time the condo boom had over saturated the market and by the summer of 1994, the condo market crashed. We had lived at the Courtney Club for almost six years; we were offered fifty grand by the builder to walk away from the deal before we moved in. We refused his offer. We had gotten into the real estate market to build equity so when we got to this stage of our lives we hoped we would see a nice return on our investment.
To put it bluntly, it was a fuck’n disaster.
We could not sell our penthouse Courtney Club condo. There were just too many condos on the market both new and resales. However we did not panic, hoping things would eventually improve. They didn’t and with our brand new house closing date closing in on us we took a bath on our Courtney Club sale. After all the fees and everything else was paid, Bonnie and I received $30k less than what we had paid back in the summer of 1985 for our brand new penthouse condo. We would have been better off renting. Better still, we would have been better off taking the builder's incentive not to even move in. Our first foray into the real estate market had been a total nightmare.
The Courtney Club was a fun place to live, but it turned out to be an absolutely terrible investment. I will always cherish the many happy memories from the six years we lived there. It was my daughter's first home and she took her first ever steps at three months right beside my tennis court.
That’s right, it was my tennis court.
Within a decade the condo market began to pick up again and my marriage was now headed for divorce. I would once again find myself back in the condo market. However, this time I was in charge and I would be doing things much differently.
I would not be making the same mistakes that my ex-wife Bonnie and I had made.
Bonnie quite often would be lounging by the pool. I wasn’t a swimmer; I think I went into the pool maybe a handful of times on extremely hot days just to cool off after playing tennis.
Within a couple years our daughter Stephanie was born and we converted our small den into her nursery. We also converted our powder room for extra storage since there were now so many toys, cases of diapers and baby formula. It seemed to work out just fine at the start when Stephanie was a baby, but inevitably the writing was on the wall. Our apartment would eventually become too small for the three of us. I was fine with upgrading to a larger two or three bedroom apartment within our building, but Bonnie like usual had other plans. We purchased a semi-detached house in a new development about twenty minutes north of the Courtney Club. It was a three bedroom, three bathroom house with a garage and most importantly a full basement. There would now be tons of extra storage room for all of Stephanie's toys.
It was around this time the condo boom had over saturated the market and by the summer of 1994, the condo market crashed. We had lived at the Courtney Club for almost six years; we were offered fifty grand by the builder to walk away from the deal before we moved in. We refused his offer. We had gotten into the real estate market to build equity so when we got to this stage of our lives we hoped we would see a nice return on our investment.
To put it bluntly, it was a fuck’n disaster.
We could not sell our penthouse Courtney Club condo. There were just too many condos on the market both new and resales. However we did not panic, hoping things would eventually improve. They didn’t and with our brand new house closing date closing in on us we took a bath on our Courtney Club sale. After all the fees and everything else was paid, Bonnie and I received $30k less than what we had paid back in the summer of 1985 for our brand new penthouse condo. We would have been better off renting. Better still, we would have been better off taking the builder's incentive not to even move in. Our first foray into the real estate market had been a total nightmare.
The Courtney Club was a fun place to live, but it turned out to be an absolutely terrible investment. I will always cherish the many happy memories from the six years we lived there. It was my daughter's first home and she took her first ever steps at three months right beside my tennis court.
That’s right, it was my tennis court.
Within a decade the condo market began to pick up again and my marriage was now headed for divorce. I would once again find myself back in the condo market. However, this time I was in charge and I would be doing things much differently.
I would not be making the same mistakes that my ex-wife Bonnie and I had made.
