Yes that is it!
Housing Market
- Thread starter Ducati911
- Start date
DownDeep99ca
Well-known member
Hi All, Just thought I would throw my 2 cent in on this. We moved up to the GTA 2 years ago from Windsor. My wife got transferred to the head office. We have rented in Milton for the past 2 years. As of this August we are moving back to Windsor. We own a home in Windsor(detached house, 2 car garage, across from a golf course). My wife is leaving her job(she will get a job when back) making me the only income for a while and yet we will be better off than living up here. If I was to buy a house in the GTA similar to the house I currently own it would be $700+, and there would still be a commute. Many people think Windsor is not a great city to live in but after living in Milton for 2 yrs I can say the same thing about Milton. There are places in Milton that are nice but the vast majority of the new part of Milton feel like super expensive geared to income housing. 500k for a town home is not normal. Don't get me wrong I like it in the GTA but I believe I will have a better life back in Windsor.
Yah, two schools and a community centre. We went to a couple of the later public consultations. Big reason we might decide to stay here.
Oh and 600k on a $98k household income is nuts. Wife and I were preapproved for nearly 900k on a combined income of ~160k, which again is complete insanity. We're looking to spend 450-500 on a 2+1 condo, with a $100k downpayment (still working on that). That way we'll put no more than 25% of our net incomes toward the mortgage payment.
I don't fancy spending every weekend at home sucking on a stick of celery.
Fair, but that's a very specific and temporary curveball. Buy a house near grandma and grandpa
I did a bit of research for housing vs investing and found this to be the outcome:
Now I'm relatively young compared to most of you so the index investment strategy may not work if you're, say, 40+. However, I highly recommend a combination renting along the subway line to save your sanity due to a horrible commute, and investing the savings from renting (generally $500-$2000 a month) and dumping it all the index investments.
What really staggered me was how much $ you need to live comfortably and retire early. My gf and I have a net income of $140,000. After OSAP payments, bills, and investing, we've got around $1,000 a month to spend on ourselves (eating out, motorcycle, her shoes, car blows up, emergency bills, etc.). This is ridiculous as I know the average household income is $80,000 or so. Just how the hell is the "average person" supposed to retire without living out of a shoebox?
- If you're buying a house, and you can get the mortgage, tax, and utilities to under $2,000, do both
- Condos are absolutely horrible if you plan to sell before 8 years
- Index investment strategies will net you a 10% gain, on average, over 30 years
Now I'm relatively young compared to most of you so the index investment strategy may not work if you're, say, 40+. However, I highly recommend a combination renting along the subway line to save your sanity due to a horrible commute, and investing the savings from renting (generally $500-$2000 a month) and dumping it all the index investments.
What really staggered me was how much $ you need to live comfortably and retire early. My gf and I have a net income of $140,000. After OSAP payments, bills, and investing, we've got around $1,000 a month to spend on ourselves (eating out, motorcycle, her shoes, car blows up, emergency bills, etc.). This is ridiculous as I know the average household income is $80,000 or so. Just how the hell is the "average person" supposed to retire without living out of a shoebox?
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When renting is cheaper than buying is the #1 sign that prices are too high and will correct within a couple of years. It has happened historically every time.
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It certainly is so right now.
Condo on Yonge and Finch (2 bedroom) is around $400,000 - $500,000. Mortgage is around $1500 a month, maintenance fee is $1000 or so.
Renting is $1800. I'd rather just rent and dump the change into stocks.
I don't think renting is cheaper than buying anymore. At said City Place building the rental prices are higher than the mortgage and condo fees together. Rental prices to me are insane, I would much prefer to buy but you got to have the money to put down.
However if you are buying a condo and pay 1k in maintenance fees you are also insane.
However if you are buying a condo and pay 1k in maintenance fees you are also insane.
I honestly can't for the life of me figure out how much the maintenance fees cost.
http://condos.ca/blog/breaking-news-toronto-condo-maintenance-fees-revealed/
The above is the closest thing I found to factual information. The $1,000 # I got from some dude at work. But you're right, if the maintenance fees are not $1,000 (and closer to the figures above) then yes it's worth it to own one, especially on the subway line.
I think maintenance fees are set according to the Building expenses. For example the first year we moved into the citiplace condo the fees were 300 as everything was under warranty, we were expecting a huge increase on the second and third year but the board kept it at 300. We moved so not sure what they are now.油井緋色;2415740 said:
I heard of some building a couple blocks away that charge 1300 and more for their fees, non sense.
It really is the job of the board, if they are getting kick backs from contractors etc, then yea you are in trouble.
Silver-line: If you live and work downtown as I did, you can pretty much ride the entire year, there is a snow repelling bubble in there
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Condo fees are not the total story though.
Periodically condo owners are also hit with Special Assessment Fees for unforeseen repairs/acts of god/etc.
*BUT* some condo boards use Special Assessment Fees to artificially keep monthly condo fees low to help the owners keep their resale values up. My condo was an older building and they used SAFs for stuff that should have been in the monthly fees. Every year, each unit was billed an extra $1000-$3000 for things like re-tiling the roof, fixing the heating element in the ramp, replacing windows. That's $80-$250/month that should have rightfully been tacked onto the condo fee, but doing that would have decimated the resale value.
Periodically condo owners are also hit with Special Assessment Fees for unforeseen repairs/acts of god/etc.
*BUT* some condo boards use Special Assessment Fees to artificially keep monthly condo fees low to help the owners keep their resale values up. My condo was an older building and they used SAFs for stuff that should have been in the monthly fees. Every year, each unit was billed an extra $1000-$3000 for things like re-tiling the roof, fixing the heating element in the ramp, replacing windows. That's $80-$250/month that should have rightfully been tacked onto the condo fee, but doing that would have decimated the resale value.
DownDeep99ca
Well-known member
[h=1]Vancouver sees jobs boom, but young workers still can't afford housing[/h]By Laura Kane, The Canadian Press
Toronto seems to be much the same way.
Toronto seems to be much the same way.
The condo fees need to cover expenses both immediate and future. Immediate like pool, gym, cleaning, etc. Future expenses like HVAC replacement, window replacement, plumbing, etc. this is all covered by the reserve fund which is built from the fees. A well run building will have a fat reserve fund with estimates on upcoming repairs and planned timeliness. The rate you pay is usually (if not always) based on the square footage of your unit, A person with a 600 sq.ft unit pays less (half) than a 1200 sq.ft unit. You can also need to pay "one time" extra charges if something big needs repair and there is not enough money in the reserve fund to cover it, this can be in the thousands (Special Assessment Fees).
New buildings will typically have artificially low fees set up by the developer (legal minimums) because it helps to sell the units. In the first five to 10 years they will likely go up a lot as the real world happens.
Comparing it to a house, if you hire out ALL the work... yard work, maintenance, snow removal, etc. and include a roof, some windows and furnace you will likely pay about the same amount of money, just in spurts. Of course with a house you have full control over how your money is spent and you can do much of the work yourself (and the house is bigger).
Another big difference, some of the condo fee you pay today goes into the reserve fund for future repairs, repairs that may happen long after you have moved. In a house you may still have to pay just as much but only when the repair is needed. Now this could be with credit or you are building your own "reserve fund". If you move before the repair is needed you keep the money!
New buildings will typically have artificially low fees set up by the developer (legal minimums) because it helps to sell the units. In the first five to 10 years they will likely go up a lot as the real world happens.
Comparing it to a house, if you hire out ALL the work... yard work, maintenance, snow removal, etc. and include a roof, some windows and furnace you will likely pay about the same amount of money, just in spurts. Of course with a house you have full control over how your money is spent and you can do much of the work yourself (and the house is bigger).
Another big difference, some of the condo fee you pay today goes into the reserve fund for future repairs, repairs that may happen long after you have moved. In a house you may still have to pay just as much but only when the repair is needed. Now this could be with credit or you are building your own "reserve fund". If you move before the repair is needed you keep the money!
As a motorcyclist I could never live in Windsor. The entire Essex county has no curvy roads, no scenic roads, no elevation changes, no reason to even own a bike. At least if you live in Toronto you are not that far from muskoka, haliburton, etc. For that reason alone, Kitchener is the westernmost I'd ever live in SW Ont.
Wasn't that way for the first 5+ years we were there. It was really only when there were events on, and that was only 2 or 3 times a week. The real issue is the massive increase in traffic from all the new buildings, and the roads can't handle it. Toronto dropped the ball 30+ years ago by deciding not to build more highway infrastructure to allow for growth. Remember that the Allen was supposed to go all the way down Spadina to the water.
DownDeep99ca
Well-known member
danp, I would agree with you Essex county does suck for riding. That said some nice roads do not out way the cost of living up in the GTA. I could buy a trailer and take my bike all over North American or ride it all over N.A. with all the money I will save. I have owned may bikes and can always find a place to go for a ride. Also a plus is 3 hrs closer to Deals gap and all the over great roads in the US.
Is there anyway to speak to someone on the management team about how this fund is managed? Or do they generally pull your leg and **** with you to keep things hidden?
I'm a software dev w/ project management experience so I'm well aware of how these things are supposed to look like on paper. I'd honestly be uncomfortable paying for a "special assessment fee" if there isn't a big *** project file or excel sheet explaining what is going on.
油井緋色;2415761 said:
When you are purchasing a condo, all those details are available to you as part of a package of documents called a Status Certificate. It should include the budget, state of the reserve fund, minutes of the last condo meeting, and condo rules and by-laws. Special Assessment Fees are also included in the Status Certificate.
