Have you considered buying a condo in Mississauga ? There are many important factors that you need to consider, the main concentration of condos in Mississauga is all around Square One Area. There are over 50 condo buildings concentrated in the downtown Mississauga core, and many more on the way! That is a lot of units to be bought in the small 4 kilometer radius. Downtown Mississauga offers many restaurants, lounges, community centers and shopping in the biggest mall in Ontario is definitely a bonus. The newly build Sheridan Hazel Business School is attracting many young soon to be professionals in to the area. Everything is within walking distance and there is plenty of free parking around. Now lets talk about how much it will cost you to live in this up and coming area, a one bedroom condo in the newer buildings such as Duke of York, Elm and Webb starts around $350,000. The price varies greatly between building to building depending on how old a particular Mississauga Condo building is.
There are certainly some popular buildings in Mississauga Condo Core, 3880 Duke of York and 3888 Duke of York – Ovation 2, Located at the corner of Burnhamthorpe & Duke of York the two building are connected by a 2-story lobby. The building are around 6 – 10 years old, the units vary from 1 bedroom to Pent Houses. Club Ovation offers , swimming pool, whirlpool, 4 lane bowling alley, virtual golf, billiards and party room. 1 Elm and 33 Elm They are both connected and share underground parking garage and amenities. This is an established community, units vary from a bachelor to 3 bedroom units. This is one of the most affordable condos around Square One. 4080, 4090 Living Arts Dr, Capital Condos are built by Daniel in 2005, the building is located a short walking distance to Square One, Living Arts Center, City Hall, the Central Library, Sheridan College and the YMCA. It offer 14,000 sq ft recreational center with amenities. 385 Prince of Wales – The Chicago is another addition from Daniels to Mississauga Condo skyline. The building was complete in 2011, it is one of the newest condo buildings around Square One. The building offers amazing 17,000 square feet of amenities on the 8th floor including Gym, with Cardio and Weight Equipment, 30 Foot Climbing Wall, Virtual Golf Room, Indoor Pool, Great Meeting Rooms, Indoor/Outdoor Lounge for entertaining.
Overall Mississauga Condos are a great place to live whether you are a first time buyer or a young couple this hip and trendy area certainly has something to offer for everyone.
Square One Condos
Tips for Buying a Condo in Mississauga
Before You Start Looking
1. Hire a professional agent, you want to find an agent that will work for you and with you. What differentiates a good agent from an OK agent is how much they are committed to finding you a property; you want an agent who will work with you and understands your needs. It is a good idea to find one agent and work with him or her, it is never a good idea to work with different agents.
2. Get financial pre qualification, visit your preferred mortgage broker and get pre-qualified it will save you time and money. You want to figure out what your comfortable monthly payments will be and stick within your budget. Also keep in mind when you purchase a Mississauga Condo there will be a maintenance fee that you have to account into your monthly payment.
Looking at Condos
1. Be open minded to newer as well as older Mississauga Condos, some benefits that you will find in older condos such as Webb, Kaneff, Hillcrest and Tucana is the size, these building offer spacious layouts that you do not find in new buildings anymore.
2. Think about resale value of your Mississauga Condo most people live in condos as a transition period before they purchase a home. Eventually you might want to sell your unit remember a one plus den is more desirable over a 1 bedroom apartment. Avoid suited beside the garbage dispenser or elevators
3. Amenities are important factor when looking for a condo in Mississauga, find out how much it will cost to rent out a party room, ask how many visitor parking spaces a building has and what are some restrictions (pets). Talk to some residents and ask about their experience in the building., find out what the ratio of tenant to owner is.
Making the Offer
1. Know the comparable sales of the building, the advantage of buying a Mississauga Condo as oppose to a house is the fact that apartments below and above are usually exactly identical, if the unit that you like ends in “05” find out recently sold stats for all “05” units in the same building. Your agent will provide this information for you.
2. When you make the offer make is conditional upon lawyer approval, financial approval and status certificate.
Enjoy Your Mississauga Condo!
What Type of Mississauga Condo is Right for You?
With the large selection of condo buildings around Square One it can be hard to narrow down on the building and the type of condo unit most suitable for your living situation. Most condo buyers fall into one of these categories:
Young Professional / Single Living
When you are a young professional the features that will attract you to a certain condo living will include:
View: An unobstructed view is always desirable when selecting a condo, a view of the lake or the City of Toronto will usually cost you premium but it is worth it even for resale value. Being young profession the ability to entertain can be important and a nice view is always impressing.
High Floor: Nice view and high floor come hand in hand, especially with many new buildings coming up in the Square One area it is a good idea to ensure that your view will not get blocked in the next 5 years by a new high rise, a real estate agent can find out this information for you.
Upgrades: Being a young professional a unit that is upgraded such as high ceilings, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors play a big role when selecting a unit. You will find that newer condo buildings would have these features as standard and you would not need to invest more money into upgrading the unit.
Amenities: Nice amenities are important when selecting your condo building, a swimming pool, gym and party room are important when looking for the right condo building for you. This will also encourage socializing with your neighbors which will add to the quality of living in a condo.
Building suggestions for young professionals:
Prince of Wales (Chicago) – The building has outstanding patio with flat screen TVs and a barbeque area.
Square One Dr (Limelight) – This new building is attracting a lot of young professionals with its eco- friendly features and state of the art basketball court as well as a gym that offers group games
Absolute Ave – The building has the largest facility with an indoor and outdoor pool, cardio room, weights room and even a spa facility.
223 Webb Dr (Onyx) – One of the newer buildings with very nice finishes and an amazing terrace/party room on the rooftop.
3880 and 3888 Duke of York – Great building that has a bowling alley, swimming pool, theater and a gym.
Couples
Condo living as a couple is a great way to start out, here are some features most couples look for when buying a condo in Mississauga.
Spacious Unit: Nowadays the condo units are quite small especially new construction, for two people living in a condo you want to have a spacious unit at least 750 sq ft would allow for comfortable living. I would definitely recommend going for a 1 bedroom plus a den or a 2 bedroom unit. This way you can enjoy living in a condo for a longer period of time without lacking too much space.
Parking: When looking for a condo parking will be important especially if you have more than one car. Most units in Square One come with one parking space however if you are a couple most likely you will have two vehicles that need to be parked. You will want to look for a unit that either has 2 parking spots or a building where parking can be easily rented for not too much money. The average price to rent a parking spot in Mississauga will vary depending on the building $65 – $90 per month.
Amenities: Amenities are important for a couple living in a condo, especially if you like to entertain and you simply do not have enough space in your unit, a party room can be rented or a building with a nice outdoor terrace will come in handy. Also most buildings by Square One have guest suits that can be used for overnight guests.
Location: Location is important when you have two working adults living in one space, a convenient location when each partner can easily travel to work is very important. The Mississauga Square One area is a very convenient location with 3 highways all about 10 min from each other, you can travel to different parts of GTA with ease.
Building suggested for couples:
Living Arts– Great building with a nice location very close to Square One and minutes to Celebration Square.
3939 Duke of York or 220 Burnhamthorpe – The buildings has hydro included in the maintenance fee , it is a clean and quite building with many couples or families living. It also has a shuttle service that provides transportation to the Go Station (Square One)
225 Webb – This building is only 5 years old it features nice finishes and good size units.
Elm – The two Elm buildings are great for start-up with prices and maintenance being very reasonable.
Family
When a family of 3 or more people are looking for a condo living the important factors to consider include:
Spacious Unit: If you have children space plays a huge role when looking for a unit, a comfortable space for a family would be 1000 sq ft or more. Two full bathrooms are also very important for a family living with children.
Good Security: When looking for a building in the Square One area good security can play a big role in selecting a building. You will want to ensure that the building has 24 hour security and security cameras throughout the building.
Kid Friendly Amenities: Kid friendly amenities are hard to find in most condo building, there are however a couple of building that have small playground area.
Building Atmosphere: When looking to buy a condo in Mississauga the atmosphere of the building plays a big role. You will want to find a building with high ratio of owner as oppose to renters, a Real Estate agent will have knowledge of this information.
Building suggested for families
310 Burnhamthorpe or 330 Burnhamthorpe (Ovation/Ultra Ovation) – These building over spacious units while living in the newer condos, you can find nice 2 plus den unit where a den can be converted into a third bedroom.
3880 and 3888 Duke of York – In this building you will find reasonably priced 3 bedroom condos , also hydro is included in the maintenance fee.
335 Rathburn – This is a very nice and quiet building suitable for a small family
Older Residents
Most older residents look for a condo living as a downsize opportunity with less maintenance, no stairs and upkeep to worry about.
Spacious Unit: Moving from a house to a condo many older residents find that new units are quite small even for downsizing. Especially if they are used to a bigger property downsizing can be hard, I find that older building are quite suitable for adult living with units over 1000 sq ft.
Lower Floor: Lower floor is also important for older residents, in case of emergency or fire alarm stairwell has to be used and exiting the building from a lower floor is much easier for older people.
Good Neighbours: Neighbors of the same age is something that many individuals looking to downsize are interested in, you will also find that in older buildings in Mississauga are attractive choice for retired individuals.
Wheelchair Accessible Entrances: This is an important consideration when selecting a building in Mississauga
Building suggested for older adults
The Collegeway – These building are a popular choice amongst the older public, they offer great security spacious units and great atmosphere.
330 or 350 Rathburn – Reasonable priced units and spacious apartments are one of many features of these 2 buildings.
250 Prince of Wales – This building specializes in adult living with exclusive units and assistance living.
Mississauga Light-Rail Transit – Downtown 21 Master Plan
The Downtown21 Master Plan process (Downtown21) commenced in January 2009 with an aggressive outreach process to collaboratively build a new vision for Downtown Mississauga
Lots of great NEW additions are comming our way to the Mississauga City Centre Core. This is all part of the Downtown21 Master Plan. The City of Mississauga continues to move forward on its $1.3-billion light-rail transit (LRT) project . The LRT, which will run along Hurontario St. from Port Credit to downtown Brampton, has moved into the design phase. The 20-kilometre route will have as many as 32 stations and is being touted as a way to reduce commute times and improve connections to GO Transit and the Bus Rapid Transit line, which is currently under construction, and other transit options.
Approaching from the north, the transit route utilizes a new bridge over 
The route then travels west along Rathburn Road to Living Arts Drive, south to Burnhamthorpe Road and then east back to Hurontario Street.
A secondary connection travels south along City Centre Drive via Clarica Drive to Hurontario Street. The resulting downtown system creates routing and
operational flexibility. From the south (Port Credit) – LRT can circle the downtown and return south. From the north (Burnhamthorpe) – LRT can circle the downtown and return north. Every second LRT vehicle can be a through trip.
