Alex Melconian

For those of you looking to buy a first home, or a move-up home, and certainly anyone looking for investment grade condominiums, the East End of Toronto is where the best value is and the smart money is buying. Central and West end projects like Aura, The Fashion House, Minto King West, Charlie, Burano, U, and Ice, will cost $500-$700 PSF for a typical 400-1000 square foot condominium. This may be market pricing, but I like to buy wholesale, not retail. I like to find buying opportunities at less than market value. In my opinion, this can only be done in Toronto's East End. The best values always occur in "developing neighbourhoods." The East End is an area in transition; not only is it a great place to live, with a lifestyle second to none, but condo prices are 20-25% less than West and Central Toronto. Due to the development activity occurring, it is inevitable that soon prices will rise to the same level as the West End. Currently, you can expect to pay just $380-$450 PSF for the same condo that would be $500-$700 PSF on Bay St., King Street

West, or virtually anywhere in the core of downtown. People are now just starting to flood to the eastside to buy. In a few years, the area will move to $500+ PSF. The whole feel of the eastside will continue to change. So much is changing so quickly. Exciting new things are taking place in the East End, like the Distillery District and Corktown, and the regeneration of the Design District (King & Parliament), the Queen Street East gentrification, the development of the Leslieville-Riverside neighbourhood, adding thousands of new residents and of course the new West Donlands development. All of these new projects add up to billions of dollars of redevelopment and investment in infrastructure. This will be a new world. It is typical for people to buy high and sell low, the total opposite of wise investment behaviour. Consumers typically exhibit lemming-like money losing habits. The key to accumulating wealth is to think out of the box. Imagine, what will be the next exciting part of Toronto and ride that change. I'm not advocating pioneering, because we all know pioneers get arrows in the back. The East End has already had

big success with the likes of The Garment Factory, North Beach, The Printing Factory, Edge, Broadview Lofts and the Riverside Lofts, among others. Currently, condo buyers can save $100-$120 PSF, or the equivalent of $50,000-$60,000 for a 600 square foot home, when buying from floor plans in the eastside developments. Where in the East End am I referring to? Just a short trip to the area bounded by Parliament-Leslie, Lakeshore, and Dundas. The area is literally downtown or just two minutes away. To specifically name a few opportunities - Broadview and Queen East, Carlaw and Queen East, and Parliament & King; projects like The King East, The Ninety, Worklofts and FlatIron Lofts are where the easy money will be made over the next three years. They represent the catalyst for the vibrant housing upheaval that the east end is experiencing. Buy a condo with 15% down, wait three years and find yourself with a $50,000-$75,000 profit. It couldn't be easier.