Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Too many changes to count!

Well, after a 6+ month absence from the blog, I'm back!

A lot of changes happened in the since April, when I last posted....I've sold my condo, moved to Ottawa, started a new job, bought a car, and bought a new construction condo which closes in January. 

Over the next few posts I'll detail what that means for each of these changes.  Let's start with selling my condo.  Last time I posted in April I was contemplating selling my condo.  In July I took the plunge.  I knew that I wasn't entirely happy with my job and that I wanted to look for a permanent position, instead of going for another contract, which could potentially see me living in a new city. 

I sold through Comfree, which I mentioned in the previous post. I settled on the Classic Package for $199+tax with the option to have a realtor post my property on MLS (1 photo and a link to my Comfree listing) for another $199+tax. Here's a link to my listing...http://comfree.com/274343

After 4 open houses, two weekends back-to-back and another 2 private showings, I accepted a full price offer, minus a $5,000 flat fee commission to the buyer's realtor.  I diligently returned phone calls, emails, and updated my property on all of the free sales sites (Kijiji, Craigslist) each day -- selling privately is hard work, but I loved it.  I printed out feature sheets, and provided potential buyers with as much informaiton as I could.  I ended up with 2 offers which would have netted me $195,000 and took the one whose buyer I felt would appreciate the condo as much as I did.  By not using a realtor to sell, I saved myself approximately $5,000.

So, financially how did I fare in the sale?


Condo sales price + Furniture Sale
$200,840
Mortgage + fees
$157,843
Buyer’s Realtor
$5,000
Cost to advertise property
$450
Legal Fees + Disbursements
$659
Registration Fee
$71


Total
$36,817


If you recall, I initially put down $17,500, plus closing/legal fees.  Minimal renovations were done by my Dad, the largest cost being the new floors (a gift from Mom), so all in all, I walked away with a very good profit after only 10 months of ownership -- the condo closed only last week. 

So, where is this sizeable chunk of money going?? I've broken it down into a list, which I'll share next post.




6 comments:

  1. Welcome back and congratulations on the sale! I look forward to hearing all the details in future posts.

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  2. Congratulations on the sale and I am also super curious about how you're going to do away with all that coin!

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  3. Hi Congrats to making a good profit off of your sell. Curious to know the actual profit after your own down payment and legal fees in the original purchase? In your new Ottawa purchase, how much of a down payment do you have to put down as it's a new build?

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  4. Good questions.....

    I originally paid $17,500 with $17,500 as a downpayment and the legal fees/disbursements came to another $1,887 (a big portion of that was 1/2 year in taxes).

    So, I made approximately $17,430 in just over 9 months of ownership.

    I am putting down $19,140 (or 10%) on the new condo. Legal fees/disbursements/Land transfer tax I am estimating to be $4,750.

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  5. ....and by $17,500 I mean I paid $175,000!

    Oops, that extra 0 makes a big difference!

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  6. Great job! You sold off your condo at such a relatively good value and on your own effort. While having a realtor would definitely make the process smoother and more convenient for you, you did your research and worked hard on your own. I hope the next condo you buy will also net you with a better value than this one.

    RE/MAX Crest Realty Westside

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