10 Rodda Blvd Townhouses: Three-Storey Homes With Underground Parking

10 Rodda Boulevard is a complex I look at differently from most West Hill townhouses. The homes are three storeys over a basement, and the parking is underground rather than in a driveway. That gives you more interior space and a tidier site, and it also gives the corporation one of the most expensive things an older complex can own. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three storeys, a basement and a garage below

Listings here describe three-storey townhouses over a basement, so a home can have four levels of living space. Recent listings range from three-bedroom plans to four-bedroom homes with around 1,600 to 1,800 square feet. For a family, that is more room than most condo options in West Hill and more than many freehold townhouses.

Parking is underground. Listings describe an underground garage, and some homes come with two spaces. That keeps cars off the site and gives the complex a quieter feel, but it also means the corporation owns a shared parking structure that must be maintained.

Condos.ca counts 45 units, but unit numbers in the complex run well past that. Numbering in older complexes often skips, but confirm the total number of homes in the declaration, because it affects how costs are shared.

The underground garage is the key question

In a townhouse complex, an underground garage is usually the largest single shared asset and the largest repair risk. The waterproofing membrane, concrete slab, drainage, ramps and ventilation all age, and after nearly 50 years most have needed at least one round of major work.

Before you buy, ask the property manager, ICC Property Management, when the garage was last repaired, what the most recent engineering report says, and how future work is funded in the reserve fund study. If the work is done, that is a strong point for the complex. If it is still ahead, you want to know before you make an offer, not after.

Read the board minutes for any discussion of the garage, roofs or windows. These are the items that drive future fees in a complex of this age.

Fees and what they cover

Fees on the current listings run from about $950 to about $1,025 a month. Recent listings describe the fee as covering common elements, parking, building insurance and water. Heat and hydro are typically paid by the owner here, and listings describe gas forced-air heating and central air in the homes.

That puts this complex at the higher end for West Hill townhouses. Part of the reason is likely the underground parking, which costs more to run and repair than surface parking. A high fee is not necessarily a problem if it is funding the work properly, so read it against the reserve fund study.

Check the declaration for responsibility for windows, doors, patios and fences, and the rules for pets, renovations and rentals. Listings mention pets as allowed with restrictions, but the declaration and rules are the documents that count.

Living near Kingston and Lawrence

Rodda Boulevard is a residential street in West Hill, close to Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue East. Kingston Road gives you the shops and services, and the complex sits on a quieter side street. The panel on this page lists the nearest transit, schools, parks and shops.

The City and the TTC are planning Scarborough East Rapid Transit, the future Line 7, along Kingston Road through this area, with a proposed stop at Kingston and Lawrence. It is in planning and not yet funded, so it is a long-term possibility rather than something to price in today.

How I would inspect a home here

A three-storey townhouse over a basement has a lot of house to check. I would have a home inspector look at the furnace, air conditioner, water heater, electrical panel and plumbing, and ask whether the water heater is owned or rented. Look closely at the basement for signs of past water.

Then go down to the garage. Look at the ceiling and walls for staining, cracks or patched concrete, and at the floor for pooling water or efflorescence. These are not proof of a problem on their own, but they are the things to ask the property manager about, and to match against the engineering reports.

Finally, compare a renovated home and an original one if both are available. Renovations change the price far more than the location within the complex, so you want to know what you are paying for. Ask for permits on any major renovation, particularly in the basement or anywhere walls have been moved.

What homes here are asking

Three homes were listed for sale when I checked, asking from about $440,000 to about $678,000. That is a wide range, and it follows size, condition and renovation more than anything else. A home renovated top to bottom and one with original finishes are effectively different products here.

Townhouse condos rarely have consistent square footage on record, so I would compare on total monthly cost: mortgage, fee, property tax, heat and hydro, against a freehold townhouse nearby that carries its own roof and exterior costs.

The fee deserves its own comparison. At about $950 to $1,025 a month, you are paying roughly $11,400 to $12,300 a year. Set that against a freehold townhouse nearby, where you would pay nothing to a corporation but would carry your own roof, windows, insurance and driveway. The fee makes sense if it is funding the garage and exterior properly, and the reserve fund study is how you confirm that.

If you want the recorded sales for this complex and similar ones nearby, I can pull them through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 10 Rodda Blvd Townhouses

There are no shared recreation facilities here. The practical amenity is underground parking, which keeps the site clear of cars and keeps snow off your windshield, at the cost of a shared structure the corporation has to maintain. With no pool, gym or party room to run, the garage and the exteriors are where your fee actually goes.

Jatin’s honest take on 10 Rodda Blvd Townhouses

10 Rodda Blvd Townhouses — frequently asked questions

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