Located at Winston Churchill Blvd. and Thomas St. in Erin Mills, the development includes a mix of stacked townhouses with garages and midrise condos.
Units range from 500-square-foot studios to 1,300-square-foot three-bedroom-plus-dens. Prices start at $145,900.
Daniels’ FirstHome program — which helps make home ownership simpler and more affordable for first-time buyers through special programs and incentives — has been a big hit since it was first introduced by the developer in 2004.
The communities invariably sell out at lightning speed; the most recent FirstHome development, Destination Drive Phase 2, also located in Erin Mills, was snapped up in a single day. Ample evidence, Pugh says, “of the great need for well-built, well-designed homes that people can actually afford and want to own.”
At the Long Valley FirstHome project, homes are already under construction, so purchasers have the comfort of knowing they can move in 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the arrangement.
“We all know family friends who bought a home somewhere and the joke is, ‘I’m moving in in April, but of what year I don’t know,’ ” Pugh quips. “So there’s great value in certainty.”
The FirstHome program offers a number of programs and incentives to make first-time home ownership more feasible.
Purchasers at Long Valley can take advantage of a gradual deposit payment plan: they pay $2,500 with the agreement of purchase and sale, another $2,500 within 10 days of the purchase and then $1,000 every month until they reach 5 per cent of the purchase price or they move into the home. “We’re not making the hurdle so insurmountable that (home ownership) becomes unattainable,” says Pugh, a vice president with Daniels.
There’s also the Live Free program: Daniels waives interim occupancy fees until the condominium is registered, so purchasers at Long Valley can move in, and not pay rent — only the deposit payments each month until they reach the 5 per cent down payment (versus the 20 per cent down payment normally required for pre-construction purchases).
Because the developer has already got the project under construction, “we know exactly when we can trigger registration; we know what that interim occupancy risk is, so we can just forgo the fees,” Pugh notes. “But we expect that you put that (saved) money toward your down payment.”
He likens the arrangement to a guy living in his parents’ basement: the parents charge him $400 a month, which they put into a bank account. When he’s ready to buy a home, they give it back to him for his down payment.
“We’re going to take those funds and put them directly toward your deposit, which becomes your down payment,” says Pugh. “We give 100 per cent of that money back to you.”
The developer has also worked with RBC to cap mortgage rates at Long Valley. “We’re trying to negotiate mortgages for everyone in the community, or negotiating the ability for them to buy bulk,” Pugh says. “We’ve brought our influence to bear as best we can to try and get buyers the best rate available.”
FirstHome communities are targeted at young single buyers or younger couples, downsizers, as well as new arrivals to the GTA. “It’s probably a bit of a shock when you get here and realize what property values are like, and what you can afford,” he says. “So this gets them started.”
The homes are also well suited for families who want a parent living close by, but not necessarily with them, he notes.
Daniels safeguards against investors buying up blocks of these properties by selling one home per each person in the lineup; no homes are pre-sold. But there’s nothing stopping buyers from subsequently renting out their units, says Pugh.
Marta Cichocka is a FirstHome fan.
The Mississauga resident, who works in the logistics industry, bought a one-bedroom condo at the second phase of Daniels’ Destination Drive project in May and moved in this past June.
Cichocka says she was attracted to the FirstHome community by the incentives, citing the five per cent down payment in particular. “Putting up 20 per cent of the purchase price, that’s kind of hard,” she says. “It was easier for me to do it month by month and that way I was able to save more.”
The living rent-free part was nice, too. Though she moved into her place in June, her closing date wasn’t until September. But Cichocka hasn’t had to make any added payments. “All I did was pay my deposits toward 5 per cent and I had no extra rent to pay. It goes toward your purchase.”
Plus Daniels threw in a years’ worth of Rogers cable, Internet and phone free, “which is a year of not worrying about those payments, as well,” she says.
For more information call 905-814-0123 or visit www.danielsfirsthome.ca.
Source http://www.thestar.com/
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