COVID and the housing market | Page 218 | GTAMotorcycle.com

COVID and the housing market

Building North and building South are a bit different these days , that south GTA corridor is nutty for building .
We are looking at renovations to a small 1200 sq ft building , plumbing electrical and structural, the drawings are 30k and the permits are stupid . The construction engineer wants 10k to sign the drawings .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
If I had that type of quote for my work @Mad Mike I’d already be mid construction.

Drawings from the architect only are 8k ++++

Like I said….150k firm price for the addition down to the studs and I’m signing up.
 
My buddy sold his Semi last November for 940 and purchased an end unit townhouse for 1.2 with double garage just down the street. Friday was closing day and he found out on Thursday that the buyers of his place can't get financing... a couple that work for Walmart in the IT department. Which leads me to believe they are leveraged to the T*ts. While we were moving out his stuff yesterday an appraiser came by from the bank I guess to make sure if they over extend this couple that the bank won't be backwards on the loan... gotta love it.

He is hoping the deal doesn't go through and able to sell his old place for the same price he bought his new place now that the market has gone up in the last 4-5 months. Will see what happens.
 
crankcall said:
Building North and building South are a bit different these days , that south GTA corridor is nutty for building .
We are looking at renovations to a small 1200 sq ft building , plumbing electrical and structural, the drawings are 30k and the permits are stupid . The construction engineer wants 10k to sign the drawings .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Click to expand...
Ive done a couple of projects up north, there are differences.

Building department Timmins: 'Hey cool project! We love seeing places being improved, good for the community. Let me take a look at that drawing... nice quality napkin! I gotta run this down the hall to Zoning, you're a bit close to the road with that porch. I'm back, zoning guy lives down the street from your build -- he likes it, no prob on his end. Here's you permit, pay the $200 for the permit at the end of the hall".

Building department Markham: "We need 3 copies - thinngs go easier if they are done by an architect you know. The wait for approvals is running 3 mos, wait for us to call you. Oh wait, you're 6" too high with that roof... zoning doesn't like that -- you need to go to council for a minor variance. Go see zoning, they will give you a variance kit, gonna cost about $1000 for the mailings and signs. Council approval is running 6-8 mos -- You know, Covid. Go down the hall, pay your $2000 fees. Thanks."
 
As above , excately.
Middle ground is really incorporated townships in cottage country. Current project Parry Sound/ Muskoka border, property is on the Muskoka side. We'd like to build a barn size garage with a door tall enough for a class A motorhome.
You said barn , so no agricultural building with in 1,000' (or some stupid number) of a water source. Not a barn sir , large garage big roof. No thats too tall for the area.
Its 6' shorter that the boathouse you just approved that will have an apartment over top. Yeah but boathouses and garages are quite different. Can we call it a dry storage boathouse. No.
We see you didn't use the local architect and engineering firm. No we used an architect from home we have a pre exiting realtionship with. Oh, well we know our local guys and how they work and they know the area. These drawings will take some time for overview.
Lemme know when we should meet again Skeeter ....
 
Saw that turn a buddys boathouse overhaul in the kawarthas balloon from 100k to 250k.

Funny how cottage country building inspectors use the same last name as the local GCs.
 
Similar thing at my parents cottage with the septic. Builder and the inspector show up in the same truck, neither get out, approved the location of the septic tank. Is it 66ft away from the water? Thats up for debate. Either way the old guy retires, a new keen young guy shows up, "hey we have a concern about the location of your septic, can we schedule a time to meet and unlock the gate to take a look?" Us: "No. "
 
Last edited:
crankcall said:
As above , excately.
Middle ground is really incorporated townships in cottage country. Current project Parry Sound/ Muskoka border, property is on the Muskoka side. We'd like to build a barn size garage with a door tall enough for a class A motorhome.
You said barn , so no agricultural building with in 1,000' (or some stupid number) of a water source. Not a barn sir , large garage big roof. No thats too tall for the area.
Its 6' shorter that the boathouse you just approved that will have an apartment over top. Yeah but boathouses and garages are quite different. Can we call it a dry storage boathouse. No.
We see you didn't use the local architect and engineering firm. No we used an architect from home we have a pre exiting realtionship with. Oh, well we know our local guys and how they work and they know the area. These drawings will take some time for overview.
Lemme know when we should meet again Skeeter ....
Click to expand...
Sounds like a place a friend tried to work with. He wanted to add a little side business and was told he needed to connect to a city sewer line a half mile away, pay for the installation, let anyone else that wanted to use the line to do so without charge, and maintain the line forever.

Port Dover had a new fish restauarant that wasn't allowed to serve perch IIRC. IIRC it went under and was taken over by someone else and now can serve perch.
 
Mad Mike said:
Ive done a couple of projects up north, there are differences.

Building department Timmins: 'Hey cool project! We love seeing places being improved, good for the community. Let me take a look at that drawing... nice quality napkin! I gotta run this down the hall to Zoning, you're a bit close to the road with that porch. I'm back, zoning guy lives down the street from your build -- he likes it, no prob on his end. Here's you permit, pay the $200 for the permit at the end of the hall".

Building department Markham: "We need 3 copies - thinngs go easier if they are done by an architect you know. The wait for approvals is running 3 mos, wait for us to call you. Oh wait, you're 6" too high with that roof... zoning doesn't like that -- you need to go to council for a minor variance. Go see zoning, they will give you a variance kit, gonna cost about $1000 for the mailings and signs. Council approval is running 6-8 mos -- You know, Covid. Go down the hall, pay your $2000 fees. Thanks."
Click to expand...
Rebuild the brick porch columns at my daugter's house and the city wanted engineers drawings. They wouldn't accept ones by the contractor but accepted my daughter's sketches because they were by the owner. They also wanted a survey when nothing was going to change. Before and after photos look the same. Basically add 25% to the job.

I studied architectural design and half my class went to work for building departments to OK projects that were under XXXX SF or YZ feet high.

CYA by dumping responsibility on an engineer. Why have a building department, just let the engineers issue permits.
 
nobbie48 said:
CYA by dumping responsibility on an engineer. Why have a building department, just let the engineers issue permits.
Click to expand...
Shh, they will get really riled up if you point out that they are obviously redundant. Some municipalities have gone completely nuts in the past few years. Some want stamped structural submitted before they will approve a site plan for a subdivision. wtf. That will happen. After you approve the plan and before construction. Then city asks for a stupid change (eg, move a walkway over one lot, we change our mind from where we told you to put it before) and then you need to respin the stamped drawings. There are a few municipalities that have just gone nuts. You could easily eliminate the development and building departments as they are only there to act as obstacles and a cost centre. Just give people a checklist and almost anyone can compare the submitted file to the checklist. Alternatively, grow some stones and make educated decisions to facilitate cost and time-effective development.

A recent one required a lighting study for a three townhouse block development. Study said one light was enough but they included two to be conservative. Municipality read it and said the developer has to install three lights. wtf. If you are going to ignore expert opinions and make things up, why not do that at the beginning? Why waste all the time and money on consultants if you are going to substitute your own reality at the end anyway?
 
GreyGhost said:
Shh, they will get really riled up if you point out that they are obviously redundant. Some municipalities have gone completely nuts in the past few years. Some want stamped structural submitted before they will approve a site plan for a subdivision. wtf. That will happen. After you approve the plan and before construction. Then city asks for a stupid change (eg, move a walkway over one lot, we change our mind from where we told you to put it before) and then you need to respin the stamped drawings. There are a few municipalities that have just gone nuts. You could easily eliminate the development and building departments as they are only there to act as obstacles and a cost centre. Just give people a checklist and almost anyone can compare the submitted file to the checklist. Alternatively, grow some stones and make educated decisions to facilitate cost and time-effective development.

A recent one required a lighting study for a three townhouse block development. Study said one light was enough but they included two to be conservative. Municipality read it and said the developer has to install three lights. wtf. If you are going to ignore expert opinions and make things up, why not do that at the beginning? Why waste all the time and money on consultants if you are going to substitute your own reality at the end anyway?
Click to expand...
Change orders are a money maker for the contractor.

Also add enough little pieces and then a service needs to be ungraded.
 
Change orders are also the number one reason contractors and homeowners end up fighting and occasionally in court . It really needs to be on paper and in writing, and updated weekly.
Husband or wife changes a faucet finish, there are 4 baths , kitchen, laundry and you go from $200 to $400 and that’s $1200. Do that a few times and it’s 50k over budget. Really needs to be watched


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
GreyGhost said:
Wow. So so ugly. So little done to convert. Bedroom in a vault has to break most life safety codes. As an "affordable" house it could work though.
Click to expand...

The vault is spooky unless you're kinky. The first thing would be to remove the door or weld it open. Or an escape hatch. Pay the place down and add a second floor later. Finance the purchase by having a cash deposit slot at the front door.

It's been listed a while. Offers below list??
 
nobbie48 said:
The vault is spooky unless you're kinky. The first thing would be to remove the door or weld it open. Or an escape hatch. Pay the place down and add a second floor later. Finance the purchase by having a cash deposit slot at the front door.
Click to expand...
I would keep the vault functional for sure. It wouldn't be a bedroom though. Removing the door whole is probably not possible. It's just too heavy, it would need to be cut up into smaller pieces.

Deposit slot on the door is hilarious.
 
GreyGhost said:
I would keep the vault functional for sure. It wouldn't be a bedroom though. Removing the door whole is probably not possible. It's just too heavy, it would need to be cut up into smaller pieces.

Deposit slot on the door is hilarious.
Click to expand...
The slot is not totally unrealistic. My B-I-L sold bar games where you drop a coin into slot and win a prize. He was at a bar and had just pulled the thing out of the box. As he was explaining the operation to the bartender, no sign or prize info on display, people started dropping in coins.

A guy called my business and asked if I repaired TVs. When I said no he told me he took a TV in for repair a couple of months earlier and couldn't remember where.

Another benefit of the property is all the pictures you get of scantily clad Eurobabes that found out you own a bank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom