Buying House without a realtor?

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I have said it before, we don't all work at MacDonalds that can find a job anywhere and our Home offices require us to be in downtown or the GTA :)
inreb said:
Yous guys are all insane living or commuting in the morass that is the greater Toronto area. Insane. The closest I'll go is post on a greater Toronto area website but that's it.
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ZX600 said:
I have said it before, we don't all work at MacDonalds that can find a job anywhere and our Home offices require us to be in downtown or the GTA :)
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It bears repeating. Thank you.
 
inreb said:
Yous guys are all insane living or commuting in the morass that is the greater Toronto area. Insane. The closest I'll go is post on a greater Toronto area website but that's it.
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I wish I could work from home, make my own hours, and not worry about the commute...unfortunately my job doesn't exist outside of Toronto, so....SOL for me I guess.
 
mimico_polak said:
I wish I could work from home, make my own hours, and not worry about the commute...unfortunately my job doesn't exist outside of Toronto, so....SOL for me I guess.
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I guess. What blows me away is that some people are drawn to dense urban areas like moth to flame. It's almost inhuman imho.
 
inreb said:
I guess. What blows me away is that some people are drawn to dense urban areas like moth to flame. It's almost inhuman imho.
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No no...I like my life outside of the main city. I would love to live out in the country further away from all this. Closer to nature I guess...but 1-2hr commute each way...no thanks. Hell when I was losing my job I was looking hard for a job in Barrie / Collingwood area as the cottage is near there and would've loved to live up at the cottage.
 
inreb said:
I guess. What blows me away is that some people are drawn to dense urban areas like moth to flame. It's almost inhuman imho.
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I love my neighbourhood. It feels more like a small town than the many small towns I grew up in as a kid. Lots of small local business to support all within walking distance. I know everyone on my block, I walk my kids a block to school and I have 5 parks in a 4 block radius. I grow vegetables in my backyard. I love urban living just east of the core. I just wish i could shoot racoons. That is the one thing I miss from going up in the country. I hate racoons.
 
mimico_polak said:
No no...I like my life outside of the main city. I would love to live out in the country further away from all this. Closer to nature I guess...but 1-2hr commute each way...no thanks. Hell when I was losing my job I was looking hard for a job in Barrie / Collingwood area as the cottage is near there and would've loved to live up at the cottage.
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Oh, I got that from your post. I guess what I'm saying is that some people seem to treat the bright lights and flash of the big city as some kind of mecca of cultural delights and opportunity making all kinds of sacrifices to wedge into a condo and all that goes with it. I hope they find what they're looking for.
 
AdRath said:
I love my neighbourhood. It feels more like a small town than the many small towns I grew up in as a kid. Lots of small local business to support all within walking distance. I know everyone on my block, I walk my kids a block to school and I have 5 parks in a 4 block radius. I grow vegetables in my backyard. I love urban living just east of the core. I just wish i could shoot racoons. That is the one thing I miss from going up in the country. I hate racoons.
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Yup, every time I see somebody downtown in a coon skin cap I get very suspicious. Either not local or irresponsible gun owner. Having said that I get that there are great neighbourhoods in big cities. I've that going on in Westdale Hamilton but, if I may be so bold, my city limit escape is a two minute ride away. Try that in Manhattan.
 
Through sheer luck I managed to avoid the GTA and I'm glad I did now. I was offered a post at UofT but turned it down more or less on a coin toss. I like big cities but I like my house and space more and no real commute is a huge bonus.
 
inreb said:
Oh, I got that from your post. I guess what I'm saying is that some people seem to treat the bright lights and flash of the big city as some kind of mecca of cultural delights and opportunity making all kinds of sacrifices to wedge into a condo and all that goes with it. I hope they find what they're looking for.
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What can I say?

Some people want to have a head start to get to where everyone will hide when the Zombie Apocalypse comes.

Others prefer the tranquility of where most slasher horror films are made.

I've been where I could walk a couple of blocks to get a beer and a good meal, and then a decent coffee afterwards.

I've also been to where I could walk a couple of miles and buy corn off of the back of a truck.
 
Riceburner said:
Humans have been gathering together since the begining.
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If PD13 everyday with cars, buses and panhandlers is your thing, have at it, but I think it's an eerie biotch.
 
mimico_polak said:
Agreed with all you said. If you have a decent sized lot and a run down house, there's no point in even doing any renovations because at a certain point you become only land value. Especially if most of the houses on the street are already monster homes which were developed. My buddy did that. Bought the cheapest house he could find on a small street, then spent 300k in demo and re-build of his home. Total price around 750k...average house on his street now...1M+....but you need to have the money for that type of operation.

As for the low price areas...where? There's pockets where I'd be scared to walk at night, just like pockets of gems all around. Problem is finding them, and I guess the right realtor would know that.
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Low prices means moving out of Toronto typically for retirement. Niagara Peninsula etc.
 
nobbie48 said:
Low prices means moving out of Toronto typically for retirement. Niagara Peninsula etc.
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Or atypically, when ready to move, check out the latest housing charts and move to the biggest loser city which according to chart couple pages back would be Three Rivers QC. Pardon my french.
 
mimico_polak said:
Gas isn't the only consideration. Quality of life also has to factor in. Now I know that Barrie is growing and prices are going up quickly as well....and I'd consider it if I lived / worked near a GO station on both ends of that trip. Hell I wouldn't even bother with a car at that stage for commuting. Bike on nice days / warm months, and GO on the cold months.
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If economics were the only concern consider that living in T.O. with a larger mortgage would be offset by lower vehicle costs. Also the money invested in property has some chance of appreciation while vehicles are total loss.

Going further, the 10-15 hours of saved travel could go towards overtime etc if available in one's line of work. The money argument favours Toronto.

Quality of life is subjective.

Do you like live entertainment or fresh air?

Do you want your kid to know what a cow looks like before it's a burger?

Fifty foot lots are available in the burbs but not downtown unless we are discussing multi-million dollar properties. Acreage? Hah!
 
nobbie48 said:
If economics were the only concern consider that living in T.O. with a larger mortgage would be offset by lower vehicle costs. Also the money invested in property has some chance of appreciation while vehicles are total loss.

Going further, the 10-15 hours of saved travel could go towards overtime etc if available in one's line of work. The money argument favours Toronto.

Quality of life is subjective.

Do you like live entertainment or fresh air?

Do you want your kid to know what a cow looks like before it's a burger?

Fifty foot lots are available in the burbs but not downtown unless we are discussing multi-million dollar properties. Acreage? Hah!
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Agree with all your points 100%. It all comes down to what we all like / prefer to spend our time on.

As for acreage....LoL....lots in my area are sometimes described as 27.5 x 115....WTF would you add 1/2' to a descriptor...
 
mimico_polak said:
Agree with all your points 100%. It all comes down to what we all like / prefer to spend our time on.

As for acreage....LoL....lots in my area are sometimes described as 27.5 x 115....WTF would you add 1/2' to a descriptor...
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Size matters!

But yeah, I'm in a similar boat as you Mimico, but decided to bide our time and give it a couple years as we save up more and keep looking from time to time.
 
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