Housing costs | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Housing costs

Allistonfjr said:
Well done! Just imagine being debt free and not having to pay rent or pay a mortgage. Your funds are then yours to do with what you like.
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Minus the hydro, fuel, taxes, insurance, upkeep and improvement costs :|
You never really own anything in this life, you just get the opportunity to use it and pay taxes on it for a while.
 
Trials said:
Minus the hydro, fuel, taxes, insurance, upkeep and improvement costs :|
You never really own anything in this life, you just get the opportunity to use it and pay taxes on it for a while.
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That's in rent as well. Don't kid yourself.
 
Personally, I think I'd rather be in a rental situation that does not bundle the hydro, water, fuel, because any effort you make to save on those becomes fruitless and you end up subsidizing the dude next door that abuses consumption.

Remember when the big fires happened out west, the price of plywood went up ~25% in one day.
a 17k stack of plywood instantly became 21,250 plus an additional 560$ in sales taxes. It's the construction materials cost that is going crazy and every time fuel prices go up that makes it go crazier. Nowadays every grunt on a construction site needs a daily safety meeting and certificate to climb a step ladder, what's it going to cost to build homes now that housing construction cost is in sky rocket mode. Is a scary situation :/ keep buying those lottery tickets.
 
Another issue is people wanting to live where it's expensive... personally I couldn't do the big city lifestyle... traffic, crowds, parking, lack of personal space.
A lot if folks say they need to live in or close to big city centers because of "work".
Although this could be true for many... I'd say at least 50% of the support staff where I work could do there jobs from anywhere.
If employers could get past the idea that people must be "at" the office 8-4... a lot if folks could ditch the city and move out a bit to where it's a little more affordable to buy a home.
 
Hack said:
Another issue is people wanting to live where it's expensive... personally I couldn't do the big city lifestyle... traffic, crowds, parking, lack of personal space.
A lot if folks say they need to live in or close to big city centers because of "work".
Although this could be true for many... I'd say at least 50% of the support staff where I work could do there jobs from anywhere.
If employers could get past the idea that people must be "at" the office 8-4... a lot if folks could ditch the city and move out a bit to where it's a little more affordable to buy a home.
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Allowing working from home is becoming more popular with employers. I know a few people that have been doing it for years and my wife works from home a few days a week, I can work from home a lot in the summer. Depends on the job, she’s a programmer. As for working in the big city both of us have done our fair share of commuting before and it’s a soul sucking way of life spending a significant amount of time waiting in traffic. Now our commute is about 10 mins working in a smaller town/city, we would never go back to jobs where a big commute would be necessary.

On the subject of saving/paying off a mortgage. There’s a lot to be said for doing that as soon as possible, but then there’s an argument for enjoying life when you’re young enough to really do so. A happy balance is important. We still pay a mortgage but we also escape the crappy winters here every year, most years twice. That’s important for our sanity and to just get away from it all.
 
The thing that will always make housing particularly expensive in Canada is climate :| you can't live in a house built out of old shipping containers here, it's impractical, we have to build to survive winter and that's expensive.
... still trying to figure out how the Eskimo people do it, I think there must be really lax building codes on igloos :|
 
That happy balance will become very relevant when you reach your elderly stage in life and have to pay $5000/month for your care in a nursing home.
 
Wingboy said:
That happy balance will become very relevant when you reach your elderly stage in life and have to pay $5000/month for your care in a nursing home.
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Lolz... that's a bargain.
Or... it's a crappy nursing home.
 
Hack said:
Lolz... that's a bargain.
Or... it's a crappy nursing home.
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I live in Waterloo. Its much more expensive in the GTA. My father in law is in a terrific place here. 24 hour nursing staff and all his meals for $3500.
 
Hack said:
Depending on your after tax income, "owning" a home may not be the best financial situation.
Sure... The "value" of a house generally tends to rise, but much of this supposed gain is out stripped by interest on the mortgage, inflation, property taxes, insurance, maintenance and all the other costs associated with maintaining said house.
For many, renting is in the long run cheaper... 'Freeing up money that can be invested in areas with higher returns.

That said, I still prefer owning. Life isn't always about being rational.
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Not sure I agree with this. In you're lifetime you could have invested in a GTA area home with 10% down. If you did that in 2000, a suburban home worth $250K, you would have required a $25K investment. Today they property would be $1 to $1.5million and you would owe less than $60K. You would have some upkeep and debt service costs however they would be lower than the cost of rents over the investment period -- so you're further ahead.

So.... after 20 years you're living in a property rent free saving $20K/year in housing costs, -- you also have over $1million+ in equity.

Have to be a pretty savvy investor to get an annual return of 20% over 20 years.
 
r3r3r3 said:
I'd be interested to see the math on how two people working minimum wage could even afford a condo in the GTA let alone a house.

The real problem is nothing is affordable anymore. It used to be renting was the cheap option. Now rentals have been increases exponentially the last few years. Having to move from a rental can mean financial ruin for a lot of people. Good luck saving for a down payment when a bachelor in a 1970s building starts at $1700.
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You can't own a GTA house on 2x minimum wage... you never could.

If you have 2 people making min wage, that's $56K/year paying $1700/mo you could only save $2000/year toward a down payment. Doesn't work out.
 
K20EF8 said:
Interest rates will have to rise eventually and its likely going to be sooner than later as we have had a period of historically low rates for a long while now. We'll see what happens with the US economy in the next while.
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The probability of rate rise is about the same as rate fall. The checks and balances on inflation are much better than they were 30 years ago, not saying it could never happen. Remember that modern economics are only about 100 years old now -- 30 years ago there was still a lot of unlearned lessons -- we're smarter and more experienced now -- don't expect to see third world swings jump out of the dark.
 
Evoex said:
I plan to see everything i can while i can then, go out in a blaze of glory. No plans to take wealth to my grave, i just make sure i keep enough in my pockets to do what i want when i want to.
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I don't mind that approach. In my 20s I was asked why I did so many crazy things... my answered was always the same "I wanted to do everything possible when young enough to enjoy it. I'm cramming 40 years of living into 20" I didn't care what happened after 40... not sure there would even be an after 40. Then 40 came along...then 50... now heading to 60...

Fortunately my better half was a bit of a moderating factor and a house was in her dreams. By chance I did lots of living and ended up with a house. That house is now my cheap rent and nice chunk of equity so I can carry on cramming 40 years of living into the remaining 20.
 
K20EF8 said:
They paid them off quickly because they were so cheap to begin with and when interest rates plummeted so did their payments. The current young generation will never have that privilege. Interest rates can really only go up from here.

A small bungalow cost $30K in 1982 in Richmond Hill, today its worth well over a mill.
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A small livable bungalow in RH would have been $70-100K in 82. You could get teardown cottages on swampland in $30K in Oak Ridges for that money.
 
How much would it cost to retire to Epcot with hot and cold running maids?
Mad Mike said:
That's cheap! The last one I built cost me $20K for the sand alone.
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It is an exceptional price, local contractor, he owns a pit that is certified, 100% family business and they are very good at it. I paid large on the limestone because of haulage distance, concrete is not bad $ because 1000 islands concrete has a depot not far from here. Transportation of building materials is Huge cost.
 
Trials said:
How much would it cost to retire to Epcot with hot and cold running maids?...
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That is in my plan. Not Epcot but in the general area.

How much will it cost? Here's my plan:

SW Florida, 2500sq foot house on the golf course in a gated community, $250K. Taxes $2200, all-in homeowner's maintenance contract (exterior paint, shingles, HVAC and pool mechanical, pool cleaning, and lawn/garden maintenance $510/mo (snow removal not included).

Maids? the Molly type costs $60/week and does laundry. Don't know about the others -- one of the chores my wife still insists is hers and only hers.

Bike insurance. First bike (FJR) is $370 including $2M liability and $500K accident benefits, additional bikes are $8-$12 mo.
Vodka/Rum - $9l for the cheap stuff, $20/l
Beer - $15/case for regular beer, $30/case for premium. Happy hour $1.50/pint 3:30-6PM daily, and all day Mon and Wed.
 
I've had this crazy fantasy in my head for a while now of living the life of a nomad,
doing it either vanlife style or some sort of an RV, and being able to tag along a motorcycle with it.
 
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