COVID and the housing market | Page 362 | GTAMotorcycle.com

COVID and the housing market

Congrats! Whereabouts in Bowmanville?
Thanks! Actually ended up in the East end of Oshawa. I'm from Courtice and wanted there but couldn't afford it. I was looking anywhere from Oshawa to Newcastle.

While I lived in Oshawa on Gladstone Ave. for the first few years of my life, I was pretty hesitant to buy in Oshawa especially in the older parts but I've been wandering around the neighborhood a few times and it seems quiet. Far enough away from downtown and the scummy areas that I shouldn't have any problems. Plus we looked into when the last time all the neighboring houses sold, and most people have been there for 20+ years.

EDIT: I guess it's more central Oshawa than East Oshawa. It is east of downtown tho
 
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So let’s see a picture of the puppy!!
Our KiTec project since it was over 3 floors and finished lower level required 70 access holes to get all the KiTec out and PEX in , they replaced taps like garage and backyard and toilet and sink shutoffs since it’s faster and cheaper for them . Actual sink and tub faucets stayed . The drywallers were 7k , plumbers 5k, 12 all in . I will say the drywallers did a great job. I did the final paint work .


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Meet Bella! She's a 13 week old golden retriever
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So I bought a house last week. Its been a wild ride. This market is crazy. Getting hotter every day.

Here was my journey of looking at houses under $750k in Durham Region:
#1 - Open house near my parents place, probably 20 other families there in the 15mins I was there. Sold well above asking
#2 - House built in 1919, never once update. Needs $250k worth of work so you could resell it and loose $100k. My agent said there was 120 showings in 1 week, 30 offers.
#3 - Good place but outdated, backed onto the 401. Huge lot but half environmentally protected. Over 90 showings on it. I put in an offer but lost out by $15k.
#4 - ~80 year old house. Middle of house had sunk by 3". Everything was on a slant. Squirrel in the garage. Hard pass.
#5 - Again another old house. Floor was wavy, had a few runs of knob and tube. Told seller I'd put in an offer if they replaced the wiring so I could get insurance when I moved it, never heard back. They were desperate to sell so not sure why they didn't work with me...
#6/7 - Townhouses, I didn't want a townhouse by my real estate agent was like "every detached house in your budget sucks, here are decent $750k townhouse in Bowmanville". Again, hard pass.
#8 - 1940's Victory home, updated main floor, half converted to a duplex. Been on and off the market for months. 2hrs after I put in an offer another offer came in and they took that one...
#9 - Again another late 40's victory home. House was 20 years outdated, but garage was nice (2 car detached with a natural gas heater!). Kitec plumbing tho. Put an offer in and sellers jerked us around for 2 days. My agent got into an argument with the seller's agent and they told us they weren't selling to us lol. A day later they came back and said they couldn't work the closing date out with the other buyers and accepted our offer.
Congrats on the new place and missing out on #3. My last place backed onto the 401 and it got tired fast. It was before YouTube so today I could have been making crazy driver videos.
 
Beautiful! My wife started thinking of a puppy for our house. Will have to find my puppy thread and get reacquainted with the recommendations.
People says puppies are a lot of work and I knew they would be a lot but just kind of assumed people were lazy and it wouldn't be to bad.

It's been 5 weeks so far with someone right beside her all the time or she will eat everything. Carpet, blinds, the fabric on the bottom of chairs, shoes, cardboard, etc. She has no joke $500 in toys but would throw them all away for a shoe

Gotta work on the separation anxiety next. Went to the first puppy class today and she did well
 
Congrats on the new place and missing out on #3. My last place backed onto the 401 and it got tired fast. It was before YouTube so today I could have been making crazy driver videos.
Thanks! It was 500ft off the highway so you couldn't see it, but nothing but a few trees between you and it. It was 31 Robert Street W in Newcastle if you look that up. While I didn't mind it, the noise from the highway was like a constant pressure. It was odd, but inside it was fine.
 
Thanks! It was 500ft off the highway so you couldn't see it, but nothing but a few trees between you and it. It was 31 Robert Street W in Newcastle if you look that up. While I didn't mind it, the noise from the highway was like a constant pressure. It was odd, but inside it was fine.
You made a good choice. Living close to a highway is not good for your health long-term.
 
Thanks! It was 500ft off the highway so you couldn't see it, but nothing but a few trees between you and it. It was 31 Robert Street W in Newcastle if you look that up. While I didn't mind it, the noise from the highway was like a constant pressure. It was odd, but inside it was fine.
We looked at places before near a highway. Never ever again. My parents are about 800-1000m from the 427 and you can hear that hum and it never ceases.

They’re also under the Pearson flight path and the jets taking off are loud as hell at times.
 
We looked at places before near a highway. Never ever again. My parents are about 800-1000m from the 427 and you can hear that hum and it never ceases.

They’re also under the Pearson flight path and the jets taking off are loud as hell at times.

Hard to say what is worse. At least the highway for the most part is consistent noise, and you should get used to it. Airport is like once every X mins it's loud. The first place I looked at was near the Oshawa airport, and I was not looking forward to living near that haha
 
That dog is gorgeous, I’m pleased you live on the other side of the city or my wife would be organizing play dates . Not saying it still won’t happen , but 1.5hrs away is pushing it .
We have been through the puppy phase several times , it’s like a baby , it gets better , but never wants to drive your car .


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That dog is gorgeous, I’m pleased you live on the other side of the city or my wife would be organizing play dates . Not saying it still won’t happen , but 1.5hrs away is pushing it .
We have been through the puppy phase several times , it’s like a baby , it gets better , but never wants to drive your car .


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Lol haven't had too many play dates yet but she loves other dogs. They don't always like her but she had a blast at the puppy class when they all got to run around and play
 
I bought with KiTec and was told I was not insured past 30 days of closing . I had the plumbers booked . Lucky your insurance is different, my KiTec remediation was 12k , but over 3 floors .


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When we bought our current house it had K&T wiring. I did rewire the house but I did not want to have to do it in a hurry (typical 30 days)....

We made our offer conditional on getting house insurance. Listing agent got us insurance that did not care about the wiring.
 
A friend dropped by and in discussion it came out that he was heading to Calgary shortly to finalize the sale of an investment property, a semi residential. The prices he mentioned caught me of guard as I thought the big C was not that far off GTA pricing. A quick peek at listings brought this up for $750K and the taxes are lower.


He also mentioned a friend selling a place east of the GTA and the activity is up as interest rates have mellowed.
 
Found this, I think we can all relate..
 
A friend dropped by and in discussion it came out that he was heading to Calgary shortly to finalize the sale of an investment property, a semi residential. The prices he mentioned caught me of guard as I thought the big C was not that far off GTA pricing. A quick peek at listings brought this up for $750K and the taxes are lower.


He also mentioned a friend selling a place east of the GTA and the activity is up as interest rates have mellowed.
A few colleagues are snapping up pre-build condos in Calgary as the price was 1/3 of that in the GTA.

I need more money lol.
 
Your colleagues haven’t paid attention to Calgary for long , oil boom money . Real estate is up , it’s down , it flooded out . Spec house in Calgary may not be the brightest play


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A family member moved to and bought a condo in Calgary during the last "peak oil" price, condo was in the low 600Ks. Past away a few years later, condo was worth about 450K at that time, family held on for a couple more years thinking prices were coming back, final selling price was just about 400K.

I know a few people that recently moved there, drawn by the lower housing prices than the GTHA.
 
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A family member moved to and bought a condo in Calgary during the last "peak oil" price, condo was in the low 600Ks. Past away a few years later, condo was worth about 450K at that time, family held on for a couple more years thinking prices were coming back, final selling price was just about 400K.

I know a few people that recently moved there, drawn by the lower housing prices than the GTHA.
Doesn't Calgary get the Chinook winds? Wear your snow shoes to work in the morning and play tennis with them in the afternoon.
 

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