Buying a condo?

I came across this article in the Globe and Mail titled "What you need to know before, and after, you buy a condo".  There is some good information in the article and there's some information that I don't necessarily agree with.

He mentions to start your offer at 75% of the list price.  That's crazy!  If you just read the article and started going around offering 75% of list price you'd be going around for awhile wasting time and money.  When you find the right property you need to look at comparable properties that have recently sold and make your offer accordingly.  There are many factors that can influence where you start your offer and those factors should be considered when you're comparing other properties to the one you want.   What if the perfect property came on the market and it was priced in line with market conditions and you offer 25% below asking?  The answer is you'd probably miss out on that property.  My point is you need to determine the market value of the property you want so you know what kind of offer to make and if the market suggests 25% below asking then go for it.

The other mention is regarding the number of rentals in a building.  He warns you about buying into a condo building with more than 25% of the units currently rented.  I agree that owners typically take better care of their home than people renting, not alwyas, but typically.  In my experience more and more people are looking for the option to rent and when a building has that option they can attain a better price because it opens the building up to more buyers and helps with resale.  Investor owners just need to be extremely particular about who they rent to.  After all, you were once a tenant. 

My advice, when you read an article like this read more articles to learn different perspectives or best of all call a Realtor.