COVID and the housing market | Page 302 | GTAMotorcycle.com

COVID and the housing market

mimico_polak said:
Didn't know about those railings not being to code!? I'll have to read into it as our deck is fairly low...but we like the look of that.

Also not surprising, even overheard some agents talking about having people just to drive traffic and they're loving the weather.

We basically saw the same families from house to house as we went...and a few agents going the same route we were.
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The provision that gets you is "climbable". If your deck is low enough that no railing is required, you could probably use them and argue they are decorative. It is possible that an inspector with a hard-on goes after you as since it is now climbable, is the top edge of the railing the surface requiring protection (and now it is high enough to require a railing)? It's a bit of a stretch in interpretation for inspector to do that but they have all the power.

People get in trouble with built-in benches along the railing too. They look nice but you can stand on the seat which makes the railing about half the height it needs to be for code. Nobody puts a full-height railing starting from the bench as it would look ridiculous.
 
This is a first...one of the agents actually followed up with me this morning whether we're interested in the house (No), and then asked what it is we don't like.

She must be new.
 
mimico_polak said:
This is a first...one of the agents actually followed up with me this morning whether we're interested in the house (No), and then asked what it is we don't like.

She must be new.
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You miss ALL the shots you dont take.
 
Relax said:
Or good.
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Yes also possible. You are right.

She was fairly hands off, but I need to remind myself we won't find the type of lot/area that we are in for our price range.

I'll also reach out to my broker to see what we're eligible for currently.

Plus I've got the designer from a house nearby coming this week to look at our potential addition to the house.
 
GreyGhost said:
Yup and the feedback can be used to give the agent things to work on (or reinforce what they already told sellers but sellers didnt want to believe).

My favorite comment when we were selling our previous small detached home was "we can get a bigger townhouse for the same money". No $#^@.
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Yeah, but they forget about the monthly maintenance fee that could go towards a higher mortgage payment on the detached house. Which doesn't even cover anything on your actual property, just the shared areas.
 
Relax said:
Yeah, but they forget about the monthly maintenance fee that could go towards a higher mortgage payment on the detached house. Which doesn't even cover anything on your actual property, just the shared areas.
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This is where we messed up majorly before....

Couldn't 'afford' a 500-550k house because of payments...but we could afford a 420k townhouse + $300/month in property maintenance fees...

Should've just gone toward the house and been done with it.

We still made 115k in 2 years when we sold...but...hindsight
 
mimico_polak said:
Didn't know about those railings not being to code!? I'll have to read into it as our deck is fairly low...but we like the look of that.
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Even if they weren't horizontal and climbable, the spacing between those cable guards also appears to be pretty close to the 4" maximum distance, and there's probably some flex in them. A building inspector would try to shove a 4" ball through the gaps to make sure a toddler's head won't fit through.
 
mimico_polak said:
Just for a laugh went out to see 5 houses with my wife to GTFO the house and the screaming kids after a week away...

Wow...what a disappointment that was. Out of the 5 houses...1 was something that was really well done (in our opinion) compared to some of the others.

It was also the ONLY house out of the 5 that didn't seem to be a flipper's project.

1. Check out this listing
- Decent but small all around. Zero yard due to a nice big deck, which I want to use those cable type of barriers on my deck...looks really nice.

2. Check out this listing
- fairly nice house, bad yard, and the amount of room was nice...but super disjointed and unfinished rooms / areas that looked to be in mid-construction

3. Check out this listing
- best house out of the 5. Well laid out, but 2 bedrooms short (used to be a 4 bedroom but they made it into a nice 3 bedroom with an open desk / study area upstairs where the last bedroom was. Looked to be lived in by a couple for a long time. Small backyard, but nice large deck with gazebo.

4. Check out this listing
- Nightmare contractor's jobs....looks decent on the surface...but get into the details and yowza...unfinished, uneven edges, mismatched tiles, etc. badly kept, and 2 illegal basement apartments in the basement. Size wise...perfect. Tiny yard. Water leaking into the garage from the street and the agent said this is 'normal' and that he'll get the 'contractor to come back and fix it'. I'd be more inclined to buy it in untouched form by original owner.

5. Check out this listing
- horribly done, and the stair railing almost gave way when I was going upstairs. Water leak inside basement from one of the drain pipes.

Now we're comparing houses like this to ours...which is in a beautiful area, with a large corner lot, and a 40x60ft backyard.

We'll keep looking for kicks.
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Number 1 is a recently topped bungalow and it's not in snotty Markland Wood, just close.

Number 2 says short stroll to Markland Golf Club implying a snotty Markland address. Google maps says 31 minutes.

Number 3. OK

Number 4 Is aggregate driveway realty speak for gravel? Snow blow a gravel driveway?

Number 5 Work from home. Work at home.
 
It’s good to see a lot of properties so you know what you don’t want . There are hundreds of homes on market that are owned by people inspired by tv shows that let them think they are designers / architects/ carpenters because that’s how it works . You just start whacking up decks and pulling out walls , it’s easy!

So much remuddling.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
crankcall said:
It’s good to see a lot of properties so you know what you don’t want . There are hundreds of homes on market that are owned by people inspired by tv shows that let them think they are designers / architects/ carpenters because that’s how it works . You just start whacking up decks and pulling out walls , it’s easy!

So much remuddling.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
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This is exactly it. We went more to see what’s available in our budget…and compared to the majority of the houses we’ve seen….ours isn’t that bad.

Now once we move into the 1.5-2M properties….it’s a bit of a different market.

But from what we’ve seen so far…we’d be downgrading.
 
mimico_polak said:
This is exactly it. We went more to see what’s available in our budget…and compared to the majority of the houses we’ve seen….ours isn’t that bad.

Now once we move into the 1.5-2M properties….it’s a bit of a different market.

But from what we’ve seen so far…we’d be downgrading.
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Put the six figures a move would cost you towards a reno.
 
crankcall said:
It’s good to see a lot of properties so you know what you don’t want . There are hundreds of homes on market that are owned by people inspired by tv shows that let them think they are designers / architects/ carpenters because that’s how it works . You just start whacking up decks and pulling out walls , it’s easy!

So much remuddling.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
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Renovating for the next unknown buyer is a crap shoot so put in a little of everything you can find at H.D. Something will click.
 
GreyGhost said:
The provision that gets you is "climbable". If your deck is low enough that no railing is required, you could probably use them and argue they are decorative. It is possible that an inspector with a hard-on goes after you as since it is now climbable, is the top edge of the railing the surface requiring protection (and now it is high enough to require a railing)? It's a bit of a stretch in interpretation for inspector to do that but they have all the power.

People get in trouble with built-in benches along the railing too. They look nice but you can stand on the seat which makes the railing about half the height it needs to be for code. Nobody puts a full-height railing starting from the bench as it would look ridiculous.
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When the insurance agent wanted a railing on my front porch I chose instead to just add some fill to the flower beds in front of it, thus reducing the height just enough to no longer need railing. (the OBC can be your friend if you take the time to read it)
 
timtune said:
When the insurance agent wanted a railing on my front porch I chose instead to just add some fill to the flower beds in front of it, thus reducing the height just enough to no longer need railing. (the OBC can be your friend if you take the time to read it)
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I've done that game before too. If you need to fix a bigger gap, a planter box on the ground works and gives you colour along the edge of your deck.
 
Any GTAM ballers wanna sponsor a nice Polish guy as a son or grandson?

May need 300-350k to finance my addition. But guy said it’ll include siding and finishes. If we want just the frame to the studs it’ll be cheaper.

This includes main floor renovation and fireplace removal.
 
mimico_polak said:
Any GTAM ballers wanna sponsor a nice Polish guy as a son or grandson?

May need 300-350k to finance my addition. But guy said it’ll include siding and finishes. If we want just the frame to the studs it’ll be cheaper.

This includes main floor renovation and fireplace removal.
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Seems good I was quoted 300 just to redo the main floor. No addition.

Sent from the future
 
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