Housing Market

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I've had some friends buy up pre builds in the Alliston area and they seem to have made out fairly decently with that strategy as after a few years they move to another home. However as others have posted that strategy gets eaten up by all the fees from realtors and lawyers during the transfer process. We've actually considered doing the same, but then in the end we weren't able to afford what we wanted in Mississauga so we scaled down our expectations and bought an affordable townhouse ($420k) in Cooksville. The price appreciation will (hopefully) be faster than the outlying areas that you're looking into, and the commute is still more doable and I'd rather spend that then be stuck in traffic for an extended period of time. We are also looking to move within 5 years or so, but the area we're in has many families and long term residents so if it all works out we will stay there...unless of course my work changes dramatically...that's a different story though.

Good luck, not easy in today's market.
 
Asking for real estate information on a motorcycle forum is like asking for motorcycle tune-up tips on a real estate forum but here's my nickel.

Hamilton: Great city but prices have become insane. You should have bought 3 years ago. The gains based on leverage would have been astounding. History doesn't always repeat itself.

Commuting in Ontario sucks. The GTA has more of a spokes on a wheel system than a grid. If you could reduce your commuting expenses and funnel them into your mortgage you would be better off. You would also have more time.

If your wife's job changes she could end up spending more time with bus drivers than you.

Seriously look at commuting times and costs. A lot of people can't take the grind day after day after day.

Be prepared for the sky to actually fall some day just like they've been saying for the last five years. Don't buy something you know you will hate in two years.

Good luck.
 
The money you will spend commuting... would be better spent buying closer to the city. And not to mention.... the time.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
Have you priced anything in Aldershot lately?
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Actually yes, I helped a friend move into a backsplit last fall on the cheap end of Northshore , once you get west of Lasalle, and I'm doing the hardwood flooring with a friends reno off a small sidestreet south of plains, barrymore I think. There are still some bungalows from the 50'5 and 60's on nice lots that can be had for less than Miss, or T.O. And those new townhouse condo things off plains aren''t awful.
I will conceed the gentrification has started and the Mcmansions are going up.

None of it is cheap, but its not T.O. pricing. Yet.
 
I just bought my first house in Orangeville in February. Property taxes are outrageous.
 
mmmnaked said:
Buy in the city. Use a non "scum" ^^ realtor and you'll be fine. There are ways to get property and stay afloat financially in the GTA you just gotta get creative. The commute from Ancaster or Orangeville alone is enough to shut down that idea.
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This ... don't trade your house for your life, you will be spending in car/bike/train/bus ... whatever. It adds up real quick, and it doesn't even take indirect impacts on quality of your life.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
Have you priced anything in Aldershot lately?
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Sweet Jesus...A lot higher than I expected for that area, based on what's currently on mls.ca. :o

We're (unfortunately) going to be selling our Brampton home in the near future and it looks like I'll have no choice but to sit on my proceeds for awhile until something reasonable within the GTA comes along. I don't fancy moving to Hamilton, myself.
 
mimico_polak said:
I've had some friends buy up pre builds in the Alliston area and they seem to have made out fairly decently with that strategy as after a few years they move to another home. However as others have posted that strategy gets eaten up by all the fees from realtors and lawyers during the transfer process. We've actually considered doing the same, but then in the end we weren't able to afford what we wanted in Mississauga so we scaled down our expectations and bought an affordable townhouse ($420k) in Cooksville. The price appreciation will (hopefully) be faster than the outlying areas that you're looking into, and the commute is still more doable and I'd rather spend that then be stuck in traffic for an extended period of time. We are also looking to move within 5 years or so, but the area we're in has many families and long term residents so if it all works out we will stay there...unless of course my work changes dramatically...that's a different story though.

Good luck, not easy in today's market.
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Bought in Port credit/lorne park last year, a townhouse, got a steal out of the deal. And now the last few townhouse that sold in my complex have gone for about 120k over what we have bought our at, with a basement and kitchen renovation away from being almost identical to those units.

We have friends who bought five years ago in the same complex, and they're looking at almost doubling the value of their house if they were to sell now.
 
Basement and kitchen reno ain't exactly cheap
 
LePhillou said:
Bought in Port credit/lorne park last year, a townhouse, got a steal out of the deal. And now the last few townhouse that sold in my complex have gone for about 120k over what we have bought our at, with a basement and kitchen renovation away from being almost identical to those units.

We have friends who bought five years ago in the same complex, and they're looking at almost doubling the value of their house if they were to sell now.
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Very nice! We looked in that area on Shawnmarr...but price and maintenance put us over budget. In our new area THs are listing over our price so gives me hope.
 
mmmnaked said:
Basement and kitchen reno ain't exactly cheap
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We've priced out our kitchen reno, about 6k's its mainly a matter of cabinetry and new appliances and flooring. Other than that, we're not changing the shape of the kitchen itself.

Basement is another monster that we'll tackle later, but even without the basement redone, other units have gone for 90k more.

It's functional-ish and dated so it could be better.

And yeah @mimico, the condo fees are horrid and only going up. But it's the only way we'd be able to get in the market in an area that was convenient for our jobs, daycare and all those fun things. Has looked at inverhouse too, but it was a 50/50 in terms of liking the house or not.

At least with the new townhouses being built across the street for 1 million +, it's going to increase the value in the area and hopefully even with a possible correction we'd break even, if not, we'll be enjoying extra "equity" hehe :agave:
 
New cabinets, flooring, and appliances.. for 6k? Yeesh you shopping at Salvation Army?
 
I guess you can hope for uninformed buyers who get impressed by lipstick renovations ;) But thats no joke anyway.. 95% of the realtors out there have no clue about renovations and buyers are even more uninformed, so if it looks clean and tidy it'll probably bring in the dollars.
 
All I know is that the housing market is ridiculous.

I recently bought a bungalow in Scarborough late November of 2015, and the prices in the area has since gone up at least 120k in the last few months! Perhaps I got a steal of a deal as well, but I think overall prices have gone up dramatically. I remember it going up at least 12% in March!
 
mmmnaked said:
New cabinets, flooring, and appliances.. for 6k? Yeesh you shopping at Salvation Army?
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This .... I was up to 12K in material (not incl. appliances) and have done all labour myself .... The cabinetry was not high end, somewhat mid tier I would say .... so 6K ... sounds like very very low number.
 
drop the realtors
try selling yourself
there is some service that is kind alike MLS and charges $500 flat fee
If you have time use all the online free sites.
The way I see it, if you are spending $100's on a house then pay for 2 separate home inspectors to really know what you are buying.
Then both parties have the real estate lawyers for the paperwork.
Done!

What does a realtor do? Arrange to show you the house...woooo, they know the key code to the box.
 
Isn't the whole house appreciation thing only feasible and tangible if you decide to sell and go rent? I know for a fact I wouldn't buy my own house today at these insane price levels ....
 
I thought the trick was to find a reasonably priced area next to skyrocket. In other words, outpace the stagnant area you're trying to get into.
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