Shopping List: Minto

As mentioned earlier, I had no idea type of house to look for. I originally went to look at the Executive Terrace homes offered by Minto. I have two friends who are buying their Terrace homes. I visited their model homes in Chapman Mills and must say that they were quite nice. I could picture myself living there with my daughter. And the pricing is definitely catered to first time home buyers who don`t need a lot of space. Not that space is even that tiny at approx 1300 sq ft. I liked how each bedroom had their own bathroom. The main floor is also nice and open. I prefer the upper unit but of course it costs a little more. In the end, I decided that I wanted a place with a garage (I like working on cars), a bit of a yard for my daughter and a little extra space to store all my junk.

Now, onto the townhomes. Minto offers two types: Executive Townhomes and Newstyle Townhomes. The Executive Townhomes are slightly bigger sq ft wise but it includes a finished basement. The ensuite also has a nice Roman style tub as well as a separate shower. I visited the models in Chapman Mills which were the Newstyle Townhomes. Keeping to wanting something not too big to keep upkeep costs down (e.g. utilities and property taxes), I focused on the Ellington, Gershwin and Helmsley models.

I actually liked pretty much all of the Minto homes. Some very good friends of mine owned and lived in the Manhattan Executive Townhome up until last year and now have gotten themselves a beautiful Minto single home. I focused on the Gershwin and Helmsley models as their starting price was just within my budget ($250k with upgrades) at mid-230's. The Ellington was sold out at the time but they released another block in early July. However, I found out at the sales centre that the available lots for all models were actually low to mid 240's. I inquired via email so I can only presume that the difference was due to a lot premium.

So, in the end, I had to cross the Minto homes off my list. Minto does not give you any sort of bonus or free upgrades so I would have been way over my budget. Claridge was giving a lot of upgrades included in the price and Mattamy also gives you a $5k credit towards upgrades. Both Claridge and Mattamy also include the base three kitchen appliances. Minto does not give anything. However, if you look at price/sq ft, Minto actually works out to be slightly cheaper. But I didn't want to spend that much on a house total wise. Too bad Minto didn't offer a slightly smaller model at 1400-1500 sq ft. That could have fit the bill.