I saw an ad in the 24 hours newspaper for the Brickstone Walk 2 development. I was interested since the ad indicated that the starting price was from $189, 900. The development are townhomes in New Westminster. It has a courtyard in the middle where the entrances for each townhomes are facing.

We drove all the way to New Westminster to check out the showhome. The showhome was bare – both in visuals and people. There was only one other customer so the staff was free to help us the entire time we were there. Unfortunately, the $189,900 home was already sold, and I think there was only one of them at that price. It must be one of those marketing strategy to lure customers in. Have one really cheap one to make it look like it’s all affordable.

The development offers a range of sizes from small one bedroom (530sf) to three bedrooms with den (1200sf) in a two level townhomes. I’m not too much of a fan of the one bedroom ‘bowling alley’ layout where everything is just narrow. I prefer a box type instead…and having the bedroom right by the entrance didn’t fancy me either.

The folder’s and floorplans weren’t anything fancy. I was very disappointed to find that they didn’t have the entire suite showroom. I don’t think I’d ever buy a place without being able to see how the suite would really look like, so I was not impressed. They did have part of the kitchen which showed the kind of appliances and flooring/cabinets they would have.

As the name indicates, this is the 2 phase. It was going to be very similiar to the 1st phase, and it was going to be built right next to it. We thought we’d check out the neighborhood and the building. We walked several blocks. There wasn’t that much around that area, so I could see some inconveniences in terms of shopping, banking, eating-out in the area. Once we got to the site, we found that it was built on a hill, with a big road in front of it.

It’s always good to see what’s out there, and I don’t feel it was a waste of time at all. I enjoy looking at different developments and each one teaches me new things to consider when purchasing a home:

• of course price – also, is it worth that value?
• location! (is it next to a heavy traffic road? how far is it from work? geographical features like close to water? hill? woods?
• convenience (are there grocery stores nearby? medical? gas stations? public transit?)
• size for occupants
• made from wood or concrete?
• layout
• maintenance fees/taxes

Because I work in the design industry, there are some pet peeves when it comes to those brochures and folders you get from these developments. I hate it when they don’t list the price! They put way too much lifestyle photos and not enough important information. I’d rather have a black and white desktop printed sheet than a fancy, glossy brochure that really says nothing…