COVID and the housing market

GreyGhost said:
I know that's how it should work. The part that can kick your ass (or help you) is if MPAC decides your property value has changed substantially relative to the average. I also won't be surprised if municipalities use it as a chance to grab more money (your assessment doubled but we only want an extra 10%. We're looking out for you).

As far as assessed values go, some municipalities make it easy and put values in their gis maps (and give the public access to that data).
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My neighbour just did a 200k upgrade near our place. He said the City Inspectors were fishing around to see and then give them a new value for their appraisal.

He thought if he just doesn't answer the door when they show up they'll go away. Silly goose.
 
Friend just bought a “cottage” in the Cedar Springs Community, it’s just north of Burlington and may have been one of Ontarios first condo Corp , built in the 1920s , 84 house spaces over 500acres , 9 hole golf, nice clubhouse , swimming hole . It’s pretty eclectic, he bought a totally renovated log cabin . Many are log that came off the property . Problem is you can only live there 8 months , you can’t get a mortgage and the seasonal homes are about a mil. And you need to be voted in , and it cannot be rented . Bit of an unusual place .


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crankcall said:
Friend just bought a “cottage” in the Cedar Springs Community, it’s just north of Burlington and may have been one of Ontarios first condo Corp , built in the 1920s , 84 house spaces over 500acres , 9 hole golf, nice clubhouse , swimming hole . It’s pretty eclectic, he bought a totally renovated log cabin . Many are log that came off the property . Problem is you can only live there 8 months , you can’t get a mortgage and the seasonal homes are about a mil. And you need to be voted in , and it cannot be rented . Bit of an unusual place .


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That works out to about six acres per house site. Six acres of land in that area for a million would have Ford and company drooling.

I was in there a good number of years ago and recall it being somewhat rustic but a rare gem to those who like the lifestyle.
 
crankcall said:
Friend just bought a “cottage” in the Cedar Springs Community, it’s just north of Burlington and may have been one of Ontarios first condo Corp , built in the 1920s , 84 house spaces over 500acres , 9 hole golf, nice clubhouse , swimming hole . It’s pretty eclectic, he bought a totally renovated log cabin . Many are log that came off the property . Problem is you can only live there 8 months , you can’t get a mortgage and the seasonal homes are about a mil. And you need to be voted in , and it cannot be rented . Bit of an unusual place .


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I think I know the community you speak of up there. Friend's grandma had it and we visited a handful of times. Very strict rules for visitors, owners, and other items by the community.

Her grandma died so not sure what happened to it as we lost touch, but it looked lovely, and the 9 hole golf course was great for an amateur like me.
 
mimico_polak said:
0.25% drop in rate! Not sure what I’ll do with that extra $50/month.
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FIRE life. Don't let your payments drop and get the principal down.

For the record, I'm not doing that. I'm doing ok on long game but short game is a cash crunch so I'm letting my payments drop. 10 more rate cuts and I'll be happy.
 
GreyGhost said:
FIRE life. Don't let your payments drop and get the principal down.

For the record, I'm not doing that. I'm doing ok on long game but short game is a cash crunch so I'm letting my payments drop. 10 more rate cuts and I'll be happy.
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I do that once the EI/CPP portion comes off my cheque. Doesn’t do much, but def helps out long term.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1818042080759005291

Bobblehead announced another one of her fiscally responsible programs -- 30 Year mortgages! Lowers your monthly payment on a 600K mortgage by $300 in exchange for an additional $154,000 interest for the 5 year amortization extension.

Housing affordability conquered!
 
Mad Mike said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1818042080759005291

Bobblehead announced another one of her fiscally responsible programs -- 30 Year mortgages! Lowers your monthly payment on a 600K mortgage by $300 in exchange for an additional $154,000 interest for the 5 year amortization extension.

Housing affordability conquered!
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And it only applies to new builds so you can get stuck in purgatory waiting for construction to finish while getting hounded for hundreds of thousands in "upgrades" that should have been part of the base build.
 
We measure the economy in housing starts , so if we incentivize housing by making new builds a paper deal, we look smarter when the number of new builds goes up , bank stocks go up as people borrow more debt. It’s all good on paper.

What ? Those folks that have signed on for an extra decade of servitude to the bank, well they will work longer and pay more tax . It’s a win win! Nobody will see through this weeks sham.


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mimico_polak said:
Yowza....41k and can't evict...

globalnews.ca

Tenant doesn’t pay $41,000 in rent for Toronto condo but owner can’t evict her yet | Globalnews.ca

A Brampton couple bought a condo as an investment for their retirement but are frustrated they can't evict a tenant who they say owes them thousands of dollars in unpaid rent.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
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The LTB manages the extraordinary achievement of simultaneously screwing over honest landlords AND tenants. Aside from the insane backlogs, it also seems to be entirely incapable of weighing the veracity of statements by either party using the weight of provided evidence and instead takes every statement at face value. This means if you're brazen enough to lie, no matter how outlandish, you can manipulate, obfuscate and delay to your hearts content.

I know two entirely honest people who have rented homes and been totally screwed by the LTB. One had a tenant who hadn't paid rent in months but was blocked from evicting for another five months because the tenant claimed hardship and an inability to move because it was winter. The other had over two years of no rent because of Covid delays. Both faced repair bills well over $20k to fix the trashed houses after they finally re-took possession. There are literally thousands of identical stories out there but they rarely make the news.

Slumlords can also take advantage (mostly through fast-tracked renovictions), and large corporate renters have their own line, so aren't screwed like Joe and Jane Blow trying to rent a condo or basement apartment.

Add the tax punishment for renting a portion of your house if you ever sell, and it's almost like they're actively discouraging small-time renters...
 
crankcall said:
She would be out if I owned the apartment. Sorry baby , reno viction so my son can move in . Reno starts in 30 days , 6 guys eating subs and KFC all day , and shutting off the water supply to the unit. For safety .


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Sometimes I wonder how bad would the charges REALLY be if a landlord just switched the locks, and throws all the bad tenants stuff out onto the lawn.

It’s gotta be easier than eating a 41k loss…
 
mimico_polak said:
Sometimes I wonder how bad would the charges REALLY be if a landlord just switched the locks, and throws all the bad tenants stuff out onto the lawn.

It’s gotta be easier than eating a 41k loss…
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It's bad. Like most things, the system does little to protect you but if you try to do their job, the axe is large and swift. Fine can be up to 50k for private landlords and 250k for corporations. Like most provincial fines they are rarely that high though.

The bigger problem is this:
"If they act in bad faith as determined by the Landlord and Tenant Board, they must pay you the difference of your old rent and your new rent for up to a one-year period. They must also pay you up to 12 months of your last rent and for reasonable out-of-pocket moving, storage, and other expenses."
So your pos tenant owes 41k, you change the locks and you can be on the hook for an easy five figures in future rent, Maybe another 41k for the rent they didn't pay as well as more. So the pos tenant get free rent for a year and a cheque for 50k+ potentially. You can see why people lose their crap. A reasonable system would see the tenant flagged as a pos so all future landlords could choose to avoid them as well as garnishing all future tenant income to cover the debt.
 
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“Professional tenants” know how bad the system is and will play it to the max . It’s a lifestyle . Google Jim Regan , a Toronto tenant that took tens of thousands from landlords and stayed months before getting bounced . I met him when he bought a boat “ squated “ never paid, and tried to join my yacht club. He was going to live for the summer in the boat . He somehow got codes to the building and stored stuff in our spare lockers . We changed the codes , and donated all his stuff to charity. Really nice tennis rackets .


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The problem is you need a bailiff to legally evict, and they won't do anything without an order. If you try to evict without the bailiff, you are breaking the law.

It's easy to talk tough in these situations, but the reality is that once you're stuck with a bad tenant, the legal options are extremely limited. The buddy above who had to eat a mortgage payment for two years was desperate enough to consider enlisting 'professional' help to intimidate the tenants into leaving (I know a guy who knows a guy), but ended up chickening out for fear that these 'professionals' would then stick around to demand ongoing fees in some capacity.

Even renovictions and 'own use' evictions require a hearing in front of the LTB if the tenant refuses to leave. There are many stories of people buying houses with existing tenants with plans to move in, only to be stonewalled by the LTB and end up homeless for months and months while they wait for hearings (which are often postponed if the tenant is clever).

(As a landlord, your best protection is preventative. Another buddy rents a few houses, and has mostly been able to avoid any unpaid rent. His advice is first to personally check credit reports in detail, call every every reference (at verifiable business numbers, no cell phones) and dig as deeply into their personal lives as possible. Look at Facebook, Instagram, etc. for long-term indications that the prospective tenants are normal, functioning members of society. If anything is missing, looks fishy, doesn't have a long history, ANYTHING beyond normal stuff, and they're dropped from the list, fair or not. Second, he sets the rent at slightly below market to make sure he gets the best tenants. If something is a deal, good tenants will want it. If something is a stretch (greedy landlord), you end up with desperate tenants and big problems later. Third, he meets and chats with prospective tenants multiple times (minimum of three), trying to keep things casual, but always looking for stories not matching up, or other hints of duplicity. Last, he no longer rents places too far from home. He had a place in St Catharines that was rented by students, and had problems with significant damage to the property and a struggle to get the parents who co-signed to pay up. Now he only rents places he can easily pop into on a regular basis to catch signs of neglect early. In the end, you play your odds, and nothing guarantees protection.)
 
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