Buying in Mission/along the river

[woodywoodford]

I'm on the house hunt and have been seeing some pretty nice places in the 23rd-25th ave area's, right close to the river. Obviously they were flooded out this year, I'm just curious what the con's to buying one of these would be? They're significantly bigger units than what Connaught/Beltline has to offer so I'm giving them some consideration.

I'm thinking insurance may not cover them, the bank might not mortgage them, the reserve fund may need a top-up, and of course the risk of flooding happening again. 3 of these 4 would come up during the condo doc review/financing process. Am I missing anything? Would you do it? (love the neighborhood after all)

[busdepot]

You looking at houses or condos? If you're looking at condo's, the fees in some of those older buildings are ridiculous. Even though they have good sqft'age, the $1,000/month fees are tough to justify. Some are better than others, but I'd stay away from the older buildings for sure.

Houses may be a good play but you run the risk of flooding again and there could be some foundation damage given the age of some of the homes and the severity of the flooding.

[ercchry]

had a buddy that lived around here during the floods, no damage: http://goo.gl/maps/vVnOM

but yeah, condo=commercial building=flood insurance=no worries

[msommers]

A beyonder's sister lived in a condo in Mission and unfortunately got flooded. It was the end of October and she was still out of her place because the basement needed to be disinfected and the backlog was massive.

Then again my friend's buddy was renting in Mission, got flooded, rented another place for awhile and then bought in Mission and is happy as hell.

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Seems like a giant pain in the ass to deal with. And to say it happened last year and won't happen again for awhile is just naive.

[woodywoodford]

Yeah, condo's/conversions only. The condo fees are generally around the $400 range which is definitely expensive but not out of line with other areas. The ones I've seen so far are on 3rd+ floors so that helps, but still. Also a little nervous that there might be a stigma that affects resale in a few years.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by woodywoodford
Yeah, condo's/conversions only. The condo fees are generally around the $400 range which is definitely expensive but not out of line with other areas. The ones I've seen so far are on 3rd+ floors so that helps, but still. Also a little nervous that there might be a stigma that affects resale in a few years.

as long as it doesnt keep flooding... no one is going to even remember in a few years... right now is probably max stigma level :rofl:

[johnlennon]

I wouldn't go anywhere close to that area just because of the risk of a flood. I work that area as well as Lower and Upper MR/marda loop. If you wanted to be in and around that area I would choose Lower MR behind 17th ave on the hill with the good view of Calgary. A lot of super nice houses popping up there & they almost always get a super big backyard. I was at a corner house around that area and the guy had almost a 1 acre backyard! You will still be within walking distance of the River and be safe if there is another flood.

Mission has some absolutely stunning houses but whenever I talk to the homeowners about rebuilding they all seem nervous about another possible flood. Not saying it will or wont happen, but if i am dropping serious coin on a house I want to know EXACTLY what I am getting into.

[Sorath]

good luck getting a mortgage in a flood zone right now

[yellowsnow]

Originally posted by Sorath
good luck getting a mortgage in a flood zone right now

it's not that bad... the banks will do a mandatory appraisal in flood zones. As long as there is no flood damage, then you should be fine.

[kvg]

My friend is a developer and has been looking for property's to buy and he was telling me even in the flood zone houses didn't lose much if any value. He is saying its a great investment if you can get insurance.

[BigMass]

Originally posted by kvg
My friend is a developer and has been looking for property's to buy and he was telling me even in the flood zone houses didn't lose much if any value. He is saying its a great investment if you can get insurance.

if Calgary was as radioactive as Fukushima and Chernobyl you'd still sell out developments. Calgary is mental right now and that is why your friend hasn't lost value. When the market slows down and people start having choices you better believe that living in a flood zone will start to factor in to people's buying decisions.

[ee2k]

In my experience the only blanket rule that applies is that banks will ask for a mandatory appraisal in the flood zone. And after that, it's about the building's structure integrity. Some banks will not go in the area from what I have heard, but Scotiabank is seen as being most flexible. I know of TD bank having just financed a unit a block from the river in a building that was flooded. Sales are still going, with some properties even having seen increases in value.

Condo corporations can have their buildings insured. I know of one building that had a $10000 deductible with hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs which have now rendered the bottom part of the building brand new including electrical and ducts. This coupled with a healthy condo reserve fund makes some of these properties quite attractive as evidenced by how quickly units are being snapped up.

Condo fees for large older condos are the norm in the $500s. Some with pools have as high as $800 or even $1000.

[cam_wmh]

Majority of Mission is safe from a similar 2013 flood, or worse.

My condo would be high & dry from an even worse flood, but did speak with friends/neighbors a few blocks away.

They mentioned their board, said their commercial flood insurance was being re-evaluated by their insurer.
http://www.envinfo.gov.ab.ca/FloodHazard/
http://i.imgur.com/8KzMcQd.jpg

[BigMass]

your condo could be high and dry but you'd still be evacuated, you'd be without power and a lot of places that had insurance still have not had stuff repaired because of the wait times. Who wants to live on the 30 floor of a high-rise with zero or 1 working elevator up to this day. 8 months later. Even if you're in some way financially covered, you'd still have massive inconveniences and headaches.

[woodywoodford]

Originally posted by BigMass
your condo could be high and dry but you'd still be evacuated, you'd be without power and a lot of places that had insurance still have not had stuff repaired because of the wait times. Who wants to live on the 30 floor of a high-rise with zero or 1 working elevator up to this day. 8 months later. Even if you're in some way financially covered, you'd still have massive inconveniences and headaches.

That's actually something I noticed this morning- saw a listing for a high rise around the Saddledome, looked it up and found managements twitter account. As recently as December they were still having issues with the parkade and elevators, and insurance was "re-evaluating the situation". Don't see that on MLS I'll tell ya.