I came across this post the other day at TheRedPin, a website devoted to people looking to buy condos in the GTA. Jessica Speziale, of Options for Homes, wrote the post about what Options does to help people get into the housing market. Basically, Options has been building condo towers since 1992 that deliberately have lower profit margins, and use lower advertising budgets, to start the prices far lower than condos of comparable size and style. They also have what they call “Alternative Mortgages” which are payment-free loans designed to be used toward down payments. The loan must only be paid back at the time of either sale or rental of the suite, with a premium tied to the increase in value. For example, if the value of the condo had increased by 5% at the time of repayment, then the loan would correspondingly increase by 5%. The profit is used to help fund the next building and future homeowners’ loans. Additionally, there are no restrictions on who is able to buy an Options home.
This is a great example of a company bringing home ownership to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it, on terms that are manageable, reasonable and laudable. Kudos to Options for creating this, and to TheRedPin for highlighting it!
