[Y2K_o__o]

Are realtors really hungry for overseas chinese buyer?
or there is huge amount of unsold condos leftover? is the bubble burst around the corner?

It was forwarded to me from a friend
picture of a condo sales ads at 188 Keefer St ** Right across T&T **

Translation: condos of $200k+ with 5% downpay

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/meet_friend_hk/IMG_4196_zps77cafb0f.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/meet_friend_hk/media/IMG_4196_zps77cafb0f.jpg.html)

[Alby]

$200k + 5% down? so cheap. must buy.

[Manic!]

Nothing new. Seen ads in the paper of real estate in places like Hawaii and Costa Rica.

[bcedhk]

i wonder how the new immigration rules will affect these buyers decisions.

Basically the Fed just announced no more immigration through oversea business investments...

[thumper]

nothing new. the last time i was in HK 14 years ago i remember seeing rooftop billboards from re//max advertising realtor services with both an HK and 604 area code phone numbers.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Are realtors really hungry for overseas chinese buyer?
or there is huge amount of unsold condos leftover? is the bubble burst around the corner?

It was forwarded to me from a friend
picture of a condo sales ads at 188 Keefer St ** Right across T&T **

Translation: condos of $200k+ with 5% downpay

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/meet_friend_hk/IMG_4196_zps77cafb0f.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/meet_friend_hk/media/IMG_4196_zps77cafb0f.jpg.html)
lol stay away from that place.

[z3german]

10k down? Damn, sounds so sketch

[SumAznGuy]

lol stay away from that place.

Which building is this and why do you say that?

I'm quite curious why you are against it.

[GLOW]

i thought 188 keefer was on the corner of keefer & main from the billboard i see in chinatown, stones throw from hastings and main. i'm assuming he means due to location (proximity to DTES?)

[Mr.HappySilp]

i thought 188 keefer was on the corner of keefer & main from the billboard i see in chinatown, stones throw from hastings and main. i'm assuming he means due to location (proximity to DTES?)

That's one of the reason. The quality they use is shit and it is very very close to the skytrain so you will hear it day in and day out. Also is like right besdie T&T tons of traffic and people just parking on the streets making it hard to find parking. If you walk around that area you will notice there are a ton of garbage around.

[GLOW]

skytrain noise wouldn't be that bad. imagine those condos by stadium that are about 10 feet away from the track.

i lived by brentwood before (about a block from the train) and it's actually not that bad.

[acemist]

That's one of the reason. The quality they use is shit and it is very very close to the skytrain so you will hear it day in and day out. Also is like right besdie T&T tons of traffic and people just parking on the streets making it hard to find parking. If you walk around that area you will notice there are a ton of garbage around.

I think you are mistaken that this development is located at 188 keefer PLACE. 188 keefer place is as you described, right next to the skytrain and T&T, but that already has been fully developed in the previous years.

This development is on the corner of main and keefer . 188 keefer STREET.

I do agree that the quality they use is shit. This is probably the first time WESTBANK ever used laminate planks... Not even laminate flooring.
Posted via RS Mobile

[winson604]

Highjacking thread a little. Noobie starting to research condos. Is there specific site that rates builders and or tells you exactly what type of materials were used? In this case how do you know laminate planks were used?

[hk20000]

I would think this kind of selling method has been around since eons ago?

[hypediss]

Highjacking thread a little. Noobie starting to research condos. Is there specific site that rates builders and or tells you exactly what type of materials were used? In this case how do you know laminate planks were used?

Would like to know as well. Seems to me there isn't any reputable dealer that actually focuses on delivering value to the customer vs. cutting every corner to maximise margins...

From what I read so far (at least in some threads), almost all developers would hire experienced tradesmen to build showhome units and then use cheaper and less skilled labour to build the others.

Would be great to hear from some folks in the industry if there are any developers we could trust in terms of materials and craftsmanship.


Seems like wishful thinking.

[Ikkaku]

^ that's their business model!

materials, you could customize your unit if it hasn't been built (different brand appliances and flooring), but in terms of the craftsmanship, that's up to the company.

[hk20000]

There is hardly any guarantee, some companies would definitely have their own level of standards and therefore they are more trusted than others. Such is Polygon and Concord Pacific, to name 2 more recognized names in 604...

but on the other hand a lot of complications could come up. Sub-contracting and suppliers can cause issues with the quality as well. If you are buying used the track record (previous minutes, special levies and this new thing called depreciation report) should give you precedence if the building has any quality issues...

whereas in new homes you have to buy into the new home warranty program that is mandated in BC and you are covered if there are any building deficiencies. There is some kind of information in the building declaration but it is not comprehensive enough... The city can let you view the building plans with inclusion of cross sections of the intended structural and engineering information but....it just looks like gibberish to people who are not in the engineering field.

At the end of the day, it is more the location, the freehold interest than the so called "quality" of the structure, which is very subjective imo.

*This is just what I think, it is not a professional opinion as a realtor...

[tiger_handheld]

subscribed for condo talk.

[henry604]

I think you are mistaken that this development is located at 188 keefer PLACE. 188 keefer place is as you described, right next to the skytrain and T&T, but that already has been fully developed in the previous years.

This development is on the corner of main and keefer . 188 keefer STREET.

I do agree that the quality they use is shit. This is probably the first time WESTBANK ever used laminate planks... Not even laminate flooring.
Posted via RS Mobile

Whats the difference between laminate plank and laminate flooring?
Sorry complete noob.

[Harvey Specter]

I just purchased a condo near YT for rental purposes after 2 months of getting into bidding wars. The market for condo's in the $360-$390k range is pretty strong especially in and around YT because the units are a good, low risk investment with good rental income to offset your mortgage payment.

The condo I got had been on the market for less than 24 hours, the realtor already had 4 showings, the interested parties were all Asian buyers looking for investment units. When I made a offer, the buyers had two offers sitting in front of them so I had to come in close to asking but finally got it.

[acemist]

188 keefer websites features says laminate plank for thier lower end units and laminate for thier higher end units.

Laminate planks (aka vinyl planks) from a distance looks like laminate flooring as they also have wood grain/patterns on them. If you go check out these in flooring stores you can see that laminate planks are much thinner (5mm approx) and they are slightly flexable, made from vinyl. These can be used in bathrooms. They are typically glued down and doesnt need a underlayment for soundproofing, vinyl doesnt transfer sound like wood afterall.

Laminate flooring is made from fiberboards and immitates hardwood floor, but cheaper alternative.
Posted via RS Mobile

[Gnomes]

Wonder how this will affect the condo sales

Could scrapped immigrant program drop Vancouver home prices? | CTV Vancouver News (http://bc.ctvnews.ca/could-scrapped-immigrant-program-drop-vancouver-home-prices-1.1683915)

[m3thods]

^Probably zilch. That should only affect the upper-tier real-estate in Vancouver. Those millionaires likely weren't picking up tons of condo units. It would require them to hire someone to manage them all.

[Y2K_o__o]

There is hardly any guarantee, some companies would definitely have their own level of standards and therefore they are more trusted than others. Such is Polygon and Concord Pacific, to name 2 more recognized names in 604...

but on the other hand a lot of complications could come up. Sub-contracting and suppliers can cause issues with the quality as well. If you are buying used the track record (previous minutes, special levies and this new thing called depreciation report) should give you precedence if the building has any quality issues...

whereas in new homes you have to buy into the new home warranty program that is mandated in BC and you are covered if there are any building deficiencies. There is some kind of information in the building declaration but it is not comprehensive enough... The city can let you view the building plans with inclusion of cross sections of the intended structural and engineering information but....it just looks like gibberish to people who are not in the engineering field.

At the end of the day, it is more the location, the freehold interest than the so called "quality" of the structure, which is very subjective imo.

*This is just what I think, it is not a professional opinion as a realtor...

This is very informative. I have been starting researching about condos / townhouse
How do we request the city to disclose the building plan before buying it?

[iEatClams]

Would like to know as well. Seems to me there isn't any reputable dealer that actually focuses on delivering value to the customer vs. cutting every corner to maximise margins...

From what I read so far (at least in some threads), almost all developers would hire experienced tradesmen to build showhome units and then use cheaper and less skilled labour to build the others.

Would be great to hear from some folks in the industry if there are any developers we could trust in terms of materials and craftsmanship.


Seems like wishful thinking.

I know from former past experience. Cressey and Polygon actually have a lot of their own construction workers under their own payroll. Unlike most developers that contract and subcontract out. It's more costly which is why I think these two have pretty well built towers imho, but their prices are on the high side. But i guess you get what you pay for.

Worst out of the bigger names is Aquilini. They contract and subcontract and dont pay attention to detail. Mother fucker is cheap as fuck. Cuts soo many corners. Having lived in a home built by them. Would never recommend to anyone. Also I know a lot of their buildings have leaks.

[Gnomes]

Highjacking thread a little. Noobie starting to research condos. Is there specific site that rates builders and or tells you exactly what type of materials were used? In this case how do you know laminate planks were used?

If you see the builders Marcon or Jameson, you can expect super tiny shitty parking stalls. Expect door dings. But the quality of their material is excellent.

[NNT]

Bosa and Mosaic are the only that I recommend.

[henry604]

Anybody have experience with Westbanks build quality?

[stump]

If Onni is still building the low quality piece of shit that one of my family members bought in Steveston, stay the fuck away from them.

7 year old building that has degrading balconies, underground parkade needs a new membrane, leaking sliding doors. I'm pretty sure that the sound proofing in the building was never even installed. Millions of dollars in repairs for a 3 building complex.

[Y2K_o__o]

Bosa and Mosaic are the only that I recommend.

Would like to hear some more info to justify why they are your only choice over the others like polygon / concord pac
Posted via RS Mobile

[Mr.HappySilp]

Would like to hear some more info to justify why they are your only choice over the others like polygon / concord pac
Posted via RS Mobile

Thind is another developer to stay away from. The craftman is really shitty and they use really bad quality. Went to their open house and the units use such shitty materials (the carpet for the bedroom is like form the 80s) the electric jacks are uneven, the blind are made from paper, I can spot some place on the walls where is not cover by paint, the counter top is made with crappy quality.

Sure their development is cheaper but I suspect within a few years you will start seeing major issues. A few friends who works in real estate all recommend me to stay away from buildings build by Thind with a 10ft pole.

Concord is pretty decent now. They aren't like the top quality. In the beginning I know they have some issues like not leaving enough room from the hallways and elevator so when people move in and out they easily damage the walls. But over the years their quality improve quite a bit.

[asian_XL]

It says "starting at 200K". The 200K unit is probably sold out before the ad was posted.

Vancouver RE always gets posted in HK newspaper, no surprise, my aunt bought one of those townhouse at Westminster Hwy and No.2 road, it was advertised at 200K in 1996, then she end up paying $350K

[4444]

If Onni is still building the low quality piece of shit that one of my family members bought in Steveston, stay the fuck away from them.

7 year old building that has degrading balconies, underground parkade needs a new membrane, leaking sliding doors. I'm pretty sure that the sound proofing in the building was never even installed. Millions of dollars in repairs for a 3 building complex.

from people i know in the trades, they say Onni are the worst company to work for, they under pay,pay late, basically use dirty business tricks to the point where some contractors won't work for them - a decision that's easy to make when demand is high, no so much when there's no work (the near future).

i also know a bunch of people who work for Onni, they are not the kind of people i would ever want to associate with, and i don't doubt they don't truly care about customers once the development has sold.

but then again, what do i actually know?

[4444]

AND... every sales/marketing member at Onni is a 20 something (or 30 something doing everything they can to stay competitive with 20 year olds) asian, fake titted skanks... they are affectionately known as "Onni Sluts" - it's like there's a 'fake asian skank' school that teaches (or not) real estate sales from which Onni hires all their sales & marketing staff

i also hear from people who work there that the greaseball upper management hire these girls to sleep with them - and some do in fact do just that... typical vancouver

(and before someone says i'm just saying this b/c i tried to pull one and failed and am bitter - i'm effectively happily married and am not attracted to skanks)

[rb]

Anyone have experiences with a Great Western made building? Looking at a 2001 development by them down on SE Marine.

[badboy]

I think this is the development site they are advertising: 188 Keefer (http://www.188keefer.com/)

Apparently, it has this oriental theme to it.

[4444]

I think this is the development site they are advertising: 188 Keefer (http://www.188keefer.com/)

Apparently, it has this oriental theme to it.

fuck i hate vancouver - what's hilarious is that vancouver really is 'different' than other cities, but not in any positive ways. the Vancouver economy has leveraged itself so heavily towards the chinese that any real slowdown in interest from the chinese will fuck the city over - leverage is great on the way up, but will kill you on the way down

so glad i left the city - it's a joke, and my current city is WAY, WAY more livable (people always say 'we're number one livable city' - i'll be one person to say that it isn't)

[4444]

hahahahahaha, ya, it'll look like this (ok i doubt it'll even look like this brand new) - will turn to shit with hipsters (who rent there for about $800 for a 1 bedroom, 2 or 3 hipster males, not gay, just typical barrister 'ceo of start up in gastown' vancouverites) up there smoking dope and trashing the place.

[twitchyzero]

AND... every sales/marketing member at Onni is a 20 something (or 30 something doing everything they can to stay competitive with 20 year olds) asian, fake titted skanks... they are affectionately known as "Onni Sluts" - it's like there's a 'fake asian skank' school that teaches (or not) real estate sales from which Onni hires all their sales & marketing staff

i also hear from people who work there that the greaseball upper management hire these girls to sleep with them - and some do in fact do just that... typical vancouver

(and before someone says i'm just saying this b/c i tried to pull one and failed and am bitter - i'm effectively happily married and am not attracted to skanks)

pics or gtfo :ilied:

[CP.AR]

it's been like this for a long time mang

[Tapioca]

fuck i hate vancouver

so glad i left the city - it's a joke, and my current city is WAY, WAY more livable (people always say 'we're number one livable city' - i'll be one person to say that it isn't)

Preach on brother!

[GLOW]

my current city is WAY, WAY more livable (people always say 'we're number one livable city' - i'll be one person to say that it isn't)

i'm curious what's your current city, not trolling

I don't believe that artist's rendering of the view either...who would...:derp:

[iEatClams]

Thind is another developer to stay away from. The craftman is really shitty and they use really bad quality. Went to their open house and the units use such shitty materials (the carpet for the bedroom is like form the 80s) the electric jacks are uneven, the blind are made from paper, I can spot some place on the walls where is not cover by paint, the counter top is made with crappy quality.

Sure their development is cheaper but I suspect within a few years you will start seeing major issues. A few friends who works in real estate all recommend me to stay away from buildings build by Thind with a 10ft pole.

Concord is pretty decent now. They aren't like the top quality. In the beginning I know they have some issues like not leaving enough room from the hallways and elevator so when people move in and out they easily damage the walls. But over the years their quality improve quite a bit.

+ 1 on Thind. they are POS and really bad quality. VERY VERY cheap material. they usually specialize in low-rise in fill projects, but have now moved on to high-rises with a tower near Kingsway and slocan? they dont also disclose or share as much information as other developers. Usually this is a bad sign when they cant even answer basic questions.

they specialize in buying and building in less attractive area. one of the poor buildings they have is the low-rise on fraser and king edward. My friend lived there and said it was shiet. They currently have the Metro 1 and Metro 2? projects on grimmer and kingsway and it's in an industrial area. Yet their prices are quite expensive given their low quality and inferior locations.

[iEatClams]

from people i know in the trades, they say Onni are the worst company to work for, they under pay,pay late, basically use dirty business tricks to the point where some contractors won't work for them - a decision that's easy to make when demand is high, no so much when there's no work (the near future).

i also know a bunch of people who work for Onni, they are not the kind of people i would ever want to associate with, and i don't doubt they don't truly care about customers once the development has sold.

but then again, what do i actually know?

AND... every sales/marketing member at Onni is a 20 something (or 30 something doing everything they can to stay competitive with 20 year olds) asian, fake titted skanks... they are affectionately known as "Onni Sluts" - it's like there's a 'fake asian skank' school that teaches (or not) real estate sales from which Onni hires all their sales & marketing staff

i also hear from people who work there that the greaseball upper management hire these girls to sleep with them - and some do in fact do just that... typical vancouver

(and before someone says i'm just saying this b/c i tried to pull one and failed and am bitter - i'm effectively happily married and am not attracted to skanks)

hahahha. funny you hear about this. there's a lot of truth in what you just posted about Onni. I was in the high-rise development industry for a bit. I heard all these sleazy stories about Onni, and thought maybe it was just over-exagerated. Until one of my buddies went to work for them and all the stuff you hear are true and even worst. Upper management are all a bunch of perves. I wont go on about how shady these guys are. but too funny.


If I can name my top three developers to never buy from: Onni, Thind, Aquilinis

[highfive]

Keep in mind that aside from onni, amacon and pinnacle are the same ppl. It's the de cotiis family.
Posted via RS Mobile

[MoBettah]

What's the word on Westbank? Units in their buildings always seem to be priced at a premium.

[Gnomes]

All these info about developers are excellent info!
:thumbsup:

[4444]

i'm curious what's your current city, not trolling

I don't believe that artist's rendering of the view either...who would...:derp:

I'll just say Europe, a city of very similar size to Vancouver, but a central hub for finance headquarters of many, many significant American, Japanese, and European companies.

i'll make this quick, but here's the difference between a good government (current city) and bad government (Vancouver) - same sized cities, similar populations...

my current city has implemented an extremely attractive tax system to allow these headquarters here - my company pays very little tax here... ok, you probably think that's bad, well is it? because they hire A LOT of very highly educated, highly paid people and personal taxes and consumption taxes are high, so in theory their tax base is very solid. I will make one aside, and this is a problem with all politicians, as they are idiots - it is very socialist here, i believe almost everyone that works gets a defined benefit pension - which is fucking insane and social security is overly generous - all of this has actually created problems at the government level, and i don't doubt they'll cut back on these programs - another issue is now that bulgarians and romanians have freer movement within Europe, we get a lot of them coming here, signing up for benefits, then going back home with the benefits - this has just come to light and is getting dealt with, but you see the problem.

also, bikes and bike lanes are done more properly here (take note, gregor) - why is he making trips to China, that's not his job, if he wants to know about public transit and bikes, fucking come here... and transit - fucking awesome here... basically i don't have any traffic issues here (partially becasue i go against hte traffic) but the difference between here and Vanacouver is night and day with respects to roads and traffic

it has REALLY opened my eyes as to how shit of a city Vancouver is to live and work in, and i come from Europe too (from another country)... Vancouver is a really sorry excuse for a workable/livable city - great if you're richie rich, BS for everyone else unless you're a loser barista/bar tender who wants to live the vancouver life, then it's great... but if you want that life, you've already lost at life.

also, this thread further's my position that buying a condo is the stupidest idea in the world, the only condo i've been impressed with that i've been to is at the sheraton wall centre (the curved newest one, not the shitty boxy ones, they were shit)

from my 30 years on this planet i have a couple pieces of advise:

don't buy a condo from these crooks

if you work in IT, move to San Fran

if you work in finance, move to TO, NY, Singapore, HK, London, Amsterdam, etc. a major finance hub - vancouver is a joke

if you're already rich, you have my blessing to stay in Vancouver and wait until you die, because that's pretty much what you're doing in Vancouver (except for 3 months in summer, it is nice in the summer, i'll admit that)

[sh0n]

What's the word on Westbank? Units in their buildings always seem to be priced at a premium.

It's priced at a premium because of their track record and brand behind it.

Westbank is the company that developed Fairmont Pacific, Shaw Tower, Woodwards, Telus Garden's to name a few.

With the project on 188 Keefer they are aiming at multiple demographics (affordable and marked priced condos). Hence you'll find the different types of finishes to what the units are for sale.

Someone asked how do you determine quality and craftsmanship...

Really there isn't any way these days if you are buying pre-sale. Your only way is to base it off the fancy and pretty display home, builder/developer's previous track record and what your gut tells you.

FWIW any developer/builder is all the same cause that's how the industry is..
Same shit, wrapped up and presented differently

[sh0n]

hahahha. funny you hear about this. there's a lot of truth in what you just posted about Onni. I was in the high-rise development industry for a bit. I heard all these sleazy stories about Onni, and thought maybe it was just over-exagerated. Until one of my buddies went to work for them and all the stuff you hear are true and even worst. Upper management are all a bunch of perves. I wont go on about how shady these guys are. but too funny.


If I can name my top three developers to never buy from: Onni, Thind, Aquilinis

Sad really cause Onni group runs alot of the highrise condo projects and a few hospitality joints and restaurants around town.

[ajax]

Keep in mind that aside from onni, amacon and pinnacle are the same ppl. It's the de cotiis family.
Posted via RS Mobile

I haven't heard much about Amacon being similar to the others.

[iEatClams]

It's priced at a premium because of their track record and brand behind it.

Westbank is the company that developed Fairmont Pacific, Shaw Tower, Woodwards, Telus Garden's to name a few.

With the project on 188 Keefer they are aiming at multiple demographics (affordable and marked priced condos). Hence you'll find the different types of finishes to what the units are for sale.

Someone asked how do you determine quality and craftsmanship...

Really there isn't any way these days if you are buying pre-sale. Your only way is to base it off the fancy and pretty display home, builder/developer's previous track record and what your gut tells you.

FWIW any developer/builder is all the same cause that's how the industry is..
Same shit, wrapped up and presented differently

I am in the real estate industry, and I have friends who are interior designors, architects, foremens, contractors property managers etc.

they are not all the same, it's in the details.

some developers use thin cabinets, dont have high ceilings, thin slab of granite/quartz for countertops, cheap fixtures, trims, etc etc. Some even cheap on sound insulation so you can hear through walls between neighbours.

the good developers have most of the high quality finishings standard, where as poor developers have basic finishing and if you want more, it's all options.

some have poor design layouts and floorplans that are not economical. super small parking stalls and "boxy" architectural design that aims at reducing costs and maximizing space rather than making the building look unique.

[bing]

I haven't heard much about Amacon being similar to the others.

Siblings of the De Cotiis family own Onni Group, Pinnacle International and Amacon.

Looks like they don't all get along either.

The targeted murder of 28-year-old Brandon Vito Hughes in North Vancouver last week was preceded by a tense family feud that included an alleged death threat within the De Cotiis clan, who are connected to massive real-estate developments in the Lower Mainland.

In the late 1980s, there was a falling out of four De Cotiis brothers, who came to Canada from Italy in the 1950s and over the years built a huge real-estate development business.

Marcangelo and Donato sued Marcangelo's three brothers and eventually settled for about $25 million, said Donato's lawyer, Daniel Barker.
Family feud preceded killing (http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=fca1081a-8ba6-4568-a42c-e23962a6d3bc)

[Y2K_o__o]

fuck i hate vancouver - what's hilarious is that vancouver really is 'different' than other cities, but not in any positive ways. the Vancouver economy has leveraged itself so heavily towards the chinese that any real slowdown in interest from the chinese will fuck the city over - leverage is great on the way up, but will kill you on the way down

so glad i left the city - it's a joke, and my current city is WAY, WAY more livable (people always say 'we're number one livable city' - i'll be one person to say that it isn't)

You're absolutely right !
"Any real slowdown in interest from the chinese will fuck the city over"

The fed is scrapping the immigrant investor program which I could foresee the high-end RE will see a significant decline. With the current overpriced RE in Vancouver and huge supply of condos / apartment in the market, this news will possibly drive the entire RE to go down

Was reading a 2014 Jan press release from Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver quoted the RE sales show "a 9.9 per cent decline compared to the 1,953 sales in December 2013"

[hypediss]

I am in the real estate industry, and I have friends who are interior designors, architects, foremens, contractors property managers etc.

they are not all the same, it's in the details.

some developers use thin cabinets, dont have high ceilings, thin slab of granite/quartz for countertops, cheap fixtures, trims, etc etc. Some even cheap on sound insulation so you can hear through walls between neighbours.

the good developers have most of the high quality finishings standard, where as poor developers have basic finishing and if you want more, it's all options.

some have poor design layouts and floorplans that are not economical. super small parking stalls and "boxy" architectural design that aims at reducing costs and maximizing space rather than making the building look unique.

And these "good" developers are?

[iEatClams]

that's a hard question to answer. as it's all relative. Cause with higher quality comes higher price, so it becomes a question of, which developers are worth their price?

I difficult to say whose "good" as it's all based on personal tastes as well.

Although based on my experiences, some of the developers I like are Mosaic, Polygon and Cressey.

[Mr.HappySilp]

+ 1 on Thind. they are POS and really bad quality. VERY VERY cheap material. they usually specialize in low-rise in fill projects, but have now moved on to high-rises with a tower near Kingsway and slocan? they dont also disclose or share as much information as other developers. Usually this is a bad sign when they cant even answer basic questions.

they specialize in buying and building in less attractive area. one of the poor buildings they have is the low-rise on fraser and king edward. My friend lived there and said it was shiet. They currently have the Metro 1 and Metro 2? projects on grimmer and kingsway and it's in an industrial area. Yet their prices are quite expensive given their low quality and inferior locations.

One of my friends bought into Metro1. When I suggested to her not to...... First time home buyer too. I don't think she even went to see the open house >< yea is cheap (I think is less than 300k in total?) but given the track record and the material and location I would rather pay a bit more and go for something like Met2, Sliver, Moda.... you pay more but the quality and location is a lot better. To make things worse she claims she actually knows someone in the industry who recommended her to buy that place ><