The Square Footage Effect

As we move closer and closer to the date that we're (finally) living in our Toronto condo - I've been thinking more and more about how those two words are often perceived, and discussed. "Toronto" and "Condo", are the two words I'm talking about, and although what I'm about to present includes Toronto houses as well as most other types of property, it is especially true for condos.

Let me paint you a picture....in two different areas of the GTA, two men (completely unrelated) bump into respective old friends from high school - and start catching up on their lives when they start talking about the property they recently bought...

Man #1: I just bought a place out in Pickering.
Friend: That's great - I hear it's really up and coming out there, how much did you pay?
Man #1: Just over $300,000, and it's got a huge backyard, and a 2 car garage.
Friend: Sounds pretty sweet.

and then there's the other guy....

Man #2: I just bought a condo downtown Toronto at John & Richmond
Friend: Sounds awesome - how many square feet?
Man #2: Just under 1,000 - not including the balcony.
Friend: Sounds pretty good for the area, how much?
Man #2: Three trillion dollars (Okay - that's a joke, but sometimes feels like the truth)

If you're either of these people - you've been in one of these situations - and know that it's the truth. People in Toronto are defined by their square footage, and people in the suburbs are defined by their price. I know how much most of my friends, and family paid for their homes in the suburbs - but know less about the size than I do about what colour underwear they're all wearing today. The opposite is also true - I know how big a lot of people's condos are - but never asked how much they paid. 

It's a strange, strange characteristic of the real estate markets in urban vs. suburban areas - one that's really clouded people (including myself at times) into not really understanding your options. 

When Michelle and I think about moving up from the condo to a house (which will no doubt be sooner and sooner, the longer this delay lasts), in my head I always assumed it would be this huge upgrade in space and size. After all, the condo is only about 700 square feet plus balcony (I'm more like man #2 I guess). However, after putting two and two together, I created a bit of a square footage calculator to see just how big some of the listings on the MLS site were, in comparison.

No, I really did - that wasn't a figure of speech. This little spreadsheet opened
our eyes.

It was a shock then, to see some of the houses we looked at, were only a couple hundred square feet bigger (some of them even less), than the condo! There were concessions made in the hallways, and bathrooms - and yes, sometimes this didn't include the unfinished basement, but unless it's usable space it didn't matter. It didn't put me off of moving into one of these houses someday, but did start (recently) to make me realize that moving into a bigger condo is also a very viable option. 

Like most, people think that condo = smaller, it is just what we've been engrained with, but I'm here to tell you that it's not always the case. 

Consider this house:

3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, no garage (more info here) - in a comparable area to where we live currently in the condo, and where we might look for houses when the time comes. Based on the sizes of all the rooms - the square footage is a whopping 607 square feet. Add to that some hallways, and closets, and call it closer to 800. Didn't expect that did you? 

If you go out to the suburbs, you'll probably get a little more (depending on the area), which makes sense, since land comes at more of a premium in Toronto, but probably still not as much as you'd think.

Here's Man #1's home in Pickering:

A beautiful house (3 beds, 2 baths, garage) - with a finished rec room in the basement. Square footage? Around 1100 including hallways and closets. 

This is more than enough space for a family, and it really depends on the layout of the home to know if this space would work for you - but it really is important to define property by its size and price, rather than one or the other, depending on location. The damper put on people who live in 1,000 square foot condos by their house-dwelling counterparts can be a bit unfair, it seems.

Now, I'm not down on houses - I want a house - always have - and this doesn't change that - but that's for different reasons. I want to be able to landscape my property, I want to have a front porch, and so on, and so on. That might not be the most important to some of you though, and in that case, I do urge you to consider your options when you're looking to "upsize" - because the word "house" doesn't always guarantee it.