"Don't judge a book by its cover," my mother used to say, and what applies to books also applies to people and to condominium homes. While the plainest or even a homely human visage can conceal a heart of gold and personality to match, so it is with modest-looking condominium buildings. Some of them offer interior features you can't imagine, and are very well run and financed. In all these cases it would be a mistake to walk away before looking beyond the surface.
My favorite example of this is the client of mine who glanced up at an apartment condominium building in which I was to show him a suite. "Don't want to see it," he announced, passing judgement on a plain-looking building. It wasn't easy, but I prevailed upon him to view the suite, however briefly. As we'd booked an appointment, I'd have to leave a card to indicate that we'd come and gone. In addition, I told him, there's a reason that I show every home that I do; this one had something special to offer.
Grumpily, he followed me into the building and down the hall. Shuffling into the suite my client did what Realtors call "the swoon". Hidden in this older conversion building in Lower Mount Royal was a fully modernized, wide-open suite with hardwood flooring and a top-floor panorama view of downtown Calgary in all its nighttime glittering glory. "This is it," was all he said, as he took out his chequebook.
Another example could be Victoria Park's Palisades Condominiums in the 300 block of 14th Avenue SW. Who would think that this modest and affordable building offers an indoor pool in the basement? Or how about my own home building on the same block, which looks fine, but is utterly unremarkable. Who would guess that it offers two-storey penthouse suites with spectacular downtown views and that two of those suites each have a private rooftop patio larger than any in Eau Claire? My own home in this modest setting has a small hot tub on that deck; cool, or what?
Sadly, of course, the rule not to judge by outward appearance cuts both ways. I also know of a few buildings that outwardly look pretty darn nice, but which offer structural problems, inadequate financing, or political fights that rival Canada's national political scene. These buildings are on my confidential "do not buy" list, and I drive my clients right past them, countering their protests with my comment, "Trust me; you don't want to own a suite there."
Either way, I can say what I do because in these cases I've looked inside the book's cover, seen the soul behind the face, and know a condominium building's details beneath its perhaps misleading exterior. Give modest buildings a serious look to find hidden jems. And give glossy buildings cautious analysis.
Calgary Condominium Directory
