Changing the Floorplan

OK, so the unit that I bought is the M. Here is a picture of the floor plan (click to enlarge):


So .. I think it's quite a good layout. The Den is amazing with 2 walls of window and the Living/Dining area is pretty big ... add the Kitchen in there and you have a very large open concept room.

Good as it is .. it could be better. The Den looks like it will feel small. One of the dimensions for the second bedroom is only 8'5". The common closet for coats is pretty far from the entrance. Sigh.



So .. what can be done?

I stared at this floor plan for loooong time. Here's what I came up with:

1. Remove the wall between the Den and the Living/Dining Room
2. Move the HVAC unit somewhere else (apparently they can do that)
3. Slide the washer/dryer up
4. Move the closet under the washer/dryer.
   
5. Move the bathroom to the left.
6. Get rid of the closet in the second bedroom and add a walk-in closet behind the bathroom.

So ... now the Den is nice and open. The Living/Dining/Den room will 30 feet of continuous window! The closet is now right by the front door. The second bedroom is now bigger AND has a bigger closet. Yes yes yes!!

What's the catch? None! This is the Best Idea in the History of the World. At least Top Ten.

OK whatever .. is this actually possible? Will the builders let me do this? The answer is ... maybe.

So, maybe all condo projects do this, I'm not sure, but I thought it was nice that the folks at the42 asked me to come in and talk about any changes I wanted in the floor plan. I didn't ask them, they asked me. And when they asked, boy did I get excited.

OK fine, is this possible? They told me that removing the wall for the Den was a no-brainer and that moving the HVAC unit would work as well (this is actually an "Eco" issue, I'll talk about that some other day). As for the rest ... they agreed that it was a good idea .. they seemed to be mostly worried about how the changes would affect the plumbing ... but since the bathroom and washer/dryer weren't moving too far they say that there is a good chance it would be OK. One thing that worries me is whether there is enough room for a door into the bathroom since the washer/dryer will be right there? Another think to think about is whether I should keep the door from the bedroom into the bathroom, making a cheater en suite.

Next steps? They are going to run it by the build guys to make sure nothing looks too terrible ... after that it's going to go to the architect for a redraw. Sounds like that part will cost me some money, and they weren't quite sure how much just yet. If it is possible, they will give me a quote for the redraw before they proceed.

I'll post a comment once I hear back!

Marketing for the42

disclaimer: I don't know squat about marketing, these are my random observations.


One thing that I thought was cool was that the42 has it's own Facebook group. Makes a lot of sense .. their target market being young professionals. It seems like a valuable, easy (not to mention free) marketing/sales tool. Here's why this is so awesome:

1. Easy way to share updated information about their product and keep people interested (I know that I kept going to the Facebook group eagerly anticipating updates)
2. Engage people before the sales centre even opens. They sold something like 70% of their units on opening weekend and I bet this was a factor.
3. Viral marketing. You know how in Facebook when one of your friends joins a group and you see it in your News Feed .. hmm, i wonder what that group is all about .. click .. join .. more News Feeds ..
   
4. Cool by association. Facebook = young/trendy ... the42 is on Facebook ... therefore the42 = young/trendy ... well, something like that.

Someone on the Facebook group suggested that they setup a group just for the buyers .. that way we can meet our neighbours before we move in .. this is a great idea .. they tell me that they will be doing this at some point soon.

Anyway, back to marketing ... this isn't the only marketing they've done .. for awhile it seemed like every bus stop in town had an ad for the42. Whenever I told anyone that I'd bought a condo at the42, they invariably thought for a minute and said "oh ya, I saw those ads on all the bus stops".

They also dabbled in some online advertising. They had Google Ads and Facebook ads .. incidentally, they told me that the Facebook ads were far more effective for them .. can't remember why though .. but I thought that was interesting.

And they did other advertising .. the local paper and so on.

So what did their advertising get them? A fantastic opening weekend, with pretty much all units selling (except some penthouses), and huge waiting lists to boot.

I bought a Condo

After 6 years of dealing with lawn care, snow shoveling and a never ending list of house chores (there's always Something To Do), I said Screw It and bought a condo. OK, it wasn't quite like that .. it's something I've been thinking about for awhile. The ridiculous amount of snow Waterloo got this year pushed me over the edge.

My condo is at the42. I went into their presentation centre in April without any real intention of buying anything, but I was so impressed with what I saw that I just went for it. I'll talk more about that some other day.