When I started looking, I wanted a brand new or recently built condo, although I was open to a detached house.

If it was a building, it had to have a concierge and security, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, south-east or east views, parking and in-suite laundry.

On the wish list were a den, no pool, a high floor, balcony, smaller building and it had to be family friendly.

Access to good schools was a must, in addition to public transit and grocery stores. Other amenities I was looking for included a family doctor, Catholic church, park, hospital, post office and park.

I was willing to consider a number of midtown neighbourhoods, including Avenue Road & St Clair, Davisville, Yong and Eglinton, St. Clair Ave W from Bathurst to Mount Pleasant Road, Leaside, parts of North York, some neighbourhoods along Lawrence and even Leslieville.

In general, it could probably be narrowed down to: south of Sheppard Ave, East of Keele and West of the DVP.

I ended up buying a condo at Yonge and St. Clair. The purchased condo covered 90% of the expectations. Although we started looking for a new building (recently built), after hearing a very informed comment / opinion from Shawn in regards to the downsides of buying in a new building, we dropped this point out of the Must list.

The information provided by Shawn regarding the market conditions and the buying process, added to his guidance through the whole process, was priceless. Being first home buyers in this country, it would’ve been really difficult to have had everything done in such an accurate and timely manner. There are so many details, laws and regulations around it that without the professional help of Shawn we would’ve made many mistakes and it would’ve taken us a long time to find what we wanted.

Jose

Shawn’s note: The condo Jose purchased was built in 1997