Square One Condos

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.

If you ever wanted to invest in a Real Estate market you have probably wondered whether buying a condo would be a great investment opportunity. Lets look at condo investments, the first idea that comes in mind is buying a condo and renting it out or selling it in the future. There are some factors that need to considered, buying the cheapest/smallest unit during pre construction is not the greatest bargain as you might think at the time. You have to think about your future target buyer. Who wants a tiny condo where the couch is practically in the kitchen and a queen bed can not fit in the master bedroom? You would probably not want to live in a unit like this therefore the majority of people out there will not think of it as a great place to live either. The more unique and large your condo unit is, the more buyers/renters you are going to attract. Also think about your competition, yes all those people that bought for low price during pre construction of the condo  are planning to rent out their units, and are most likely going to do it all at the same time. This will result in many empty units in the condo waiting to be rented out which will drive prices down, there goes that nice profit that you had originally expected. Another advice is to buy as big a condo as you can afford. This is for two main reasons, so as not to be one of 100 one bedroom units for sale in a building. Another reason is many older couples will be leaving their larger homes and they are not going to want to live in a 550-square-foot one-bedroom condo. Condo buyers who rent out their unit and are not making 10 per cent or more might be better off with other forms of real estate investments.

In conclusion if you are buying a condo for resale potential try to purchase a larger condo with a unique layout and a great view this will definitely raise the demand for your property. If you are planning on renting, you will want to pick an area where vacancy rates are low (due to demand) and choose a condo that people will want to rent. The lease profit should be more then 10% in case of maintenance rates increasing and you do not want to be stuck with a negative cash inflow. All in all some research should be done before hand, let your Real Estate Agent help you with it!