What it was like to buy a condo on FaceTime
Remember March 2020? It’s hard to forget that terrifying blur. I was catsitting at my partner’s dad’s place in the Ontario countryside for what was supposed to be two weeks, but then the world shut down. My flight to Europe to write a travel guidebook was canceled, and like everyone else, I hunkered down for months (though, I didn’t know how long it would be at the time).
A month before that, my partner and I were shopping for our first home. We made some bids on one-bedroom condos in Toronto — tiny places in high rises that I didn’t love — but were blown out of the water by bidding wars and closing prices that sometimes went $100,000 CDN ($79,500) over asking price.
The bidding frenzy in Toronto dampened our spirits, but we still wanted a place of our own — living in my partner’s dad’s basement only amplified that desire. So we kept shopping online for places in Toronto.
For curiosity’s sake, we also took a look at real estate in the city where I went to college, Montreal. We saw centrally-located two-bedroom condos for more than $100,000 less than what we’d seen in Toronto. Some were listed at $200,000 less than some of the one bedroom places we bid on.
At first, we didn’t really consider Montreal — my partner’s career was taking off in Toronto and she doesn’t speak French. But when we started to see some ridiculously-charming heritage apartments with interior brick walls, we thought we’d entertain the idea of moving cities and had a phone call with a Montreal-based agent.
During the call, I emphasized that we were just looking — and the agent agreed to not get his hopes up too high. He then sent us place after place to find out what we liked. Many were newer, modern condos — not our vibe. But then we saw a stunning 900sq-ft place built at the turn of the century with brick walls and the most beautiful Moroccan sink I’d ever laid eyes upon. We considered driving to Montreal to see it, but there wasn’t much time and we were five and a half hours away. Besides, COVID-19 restrictions meant that buyers weren’t allowed to visit. So we had our agent take us on a tour of the condo — over FaceTime. It feels weird to say that now, but considering the circumstances it felt… normal. Despite not going in person, we were smitten and prepared our bid.
Hours before the deadline, our agent called and crushed our hopes. There were already multiple bidders and it’d likely close above of our qualification limit, so it wasn’t even worth bidding. It was Toronto all over again and we felt broken. Maybe, we thought, we weren’t meant to buy anything.
But less than a week later, another condo came up in the same Montreal neighborhood with a very similar vibe. Brick wall? Check. Historic? Yep, it was built in 1924. And most importantly, it was listed about $50,000 less than the one with the Moroccan sink.
So our agent went and gave us another tour via FaceTime. He was concerned about the street — not as charming as the other place. And the floors were slanted. But I knew from my time living in Montreal that the condo was perfectly located and that nearly all apartments around there have slanted floors, so we placed our bid.
At the time, June 2020, I’d seen plenty of articles that balked at the idea of buying a home without visiting it, but I knew we’d be able to see it during the inspection so if there were major issues we could pull out. Still, it was a risk.
Hours after the bid, our agent called to tell us the good news — our bid was accepted. We were moving to a new city, into our first home, in a condo we hadn’t seen in person all during a freaking pandemic. Wild times.
When we went for the inspection, it was about 100 degrees and we got there early to check out the neighborhood. Around the corner, we saw a park I’d been to maybe once during my time in Montreal and stopped in front of a cafe kiosk. People were sipping espresso on tiny tables and chairs, a band was playing and birds were singing in harmony. “If we don’t live here, you can shoot me,” my charmed-out-of-her-mind partner said.
When we went into the apartment with the inspector, it was like a sauna from the heat. The inspector quickly started to point at issues. The caulking needs to be redone around the windows and balcony doors. The floor on the front balcony was peeling and unsafe. There was an exposed dryer plug sticking out of the wall. Oh, crap, I thought. Had we made a terrible choice!?
But we decided that the issues weren’t big enough to pull out, so we proceeded with the purchase.
It has now been nearly two years since we moved into our first home. The issues the inspector saw were minor — the previous owners fixed the front balcony and the dryer plug before we moved in, and I did the caulking in an afternoon. We’ve decorated the place to create our ideal maximalist eclectic vibe, and it was featured in a video on HGTV Canada. We’ve also added an air conditioner to prevent any more summer saunas.
As for the investment — it’s looking pretty good right about now. Since we bought, the housing market in Montreal has skyrocketed. Case in point: Our downstairs neighbor with a similar condo is selling after two years and expects to haul in $100,000 more than what she paid for it.
Did I get lucky buying my place over FaceTime during a global pandemic? Maybe. But honestly, the video and listing photos were enough to show us what we were getting into and our guts told us this was the right place. Suffice to say, we have no regrets.
Additional Services
Take Your Marketing Even Further
Additional Features at no cost
Part of any package
Press
