Housing Market

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Almost every decent detached home in the GTA is priced for bidding. If you're seeing an $X99,999.00 asking price, they're expecting offers - and they will likely get them. If they're asking 599, its going in the mid to high 600s... most realtors are putting the ask just below the $100k threshold of where it will likely sell.

You can't expect to shop for a house and NOT get into bidding situations. You will never get a house. The stuff thats on the market for more than 7-10 days is overpriced, or its junk. You could ask your realtor to seek out just those listings, but be prepared for a long road of house hunting.

Regarding the market in general, I don't consider it a bubble. It's not obscene yet. It's expensive but its not obscene. If you have a decent job or dual income you should easily be able to afford a detached home in the GTA. Maybe peoples expectations are whacked out??? Move to Mississauga in the 600s, or Brampton in the 500s. Don't carry an $800 lease payment on a new 3-series BMW and you'll be fine - life is about setting reasonable priorities.
 
Friend just bought a 77ft steel workboat , it has 2000sq ft of living space. He paid less than 30k and the docking is less per yr than property taxes and condo fees and he's basing it on toronto island in the summer, bringing it city side for the winter. Waterfront housing for the price of a Honda accord.
 
backmarkerducati said:
How about this one.... two prices one house, bold marketing strategy.
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Yeah, but it's on Prince Edward Drive. You don't want to live on Prince Edward Drive.
 
crankcall said:
Friend just bought a 77ft steel workboat , it has 2000sq ft of living space. He paid less than 30k and the docking is less per yr than property taxes and condo fees and he's basing it on toronto island in the summer, bringing it city side for the winter. Waterfront housing for the price of a Honda accord.
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That would be a great idea. What's the requirements for having a living space/houseboat as opposed to a work boat?
 
I'd like to request the wave of people moving from Toronto to Durham to please stop. The traffic is just getting silly now. Tired of seeing headlines of "Brampton driver kills..." in the Oshawa newspaper.
 
crankcall said:
Friend just bought a 77ft steel workboat , it has 2000sq ft of living space. He paid less than 30k and the docking is less per yr than property taxes and condo fees and he's basing it on toronto island in the summer, bringing it city side for the winter. Waterfront housing for the price of a Honda accord.
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We will see how long it lasts this time. This has been tried before, it works when it stays under the radar and once enough people do it they crackdown on it. It was house boats last time. Most are gone now with the exception of a community in the east end. I considered it the last time, glad I didn't do it.
 
EC2010 said:
OP, here are a few things I've learned from my experience. Just my humble opinion.

New homes:
- I hear Mattamy, GreenPark and Empire are pretty good.
- Even it's a new build, I'd still recommend a home inspection to produce a report to be submitted to Tarion

If you are buying an existing home:
- Never get emotional with a property. By this, I mean avoid bidding wars. A good realtor will know the true cost of the property and advise you properly on it. Bidding most often turns into over-paying, not worth it because why pay 2018 prices today?
- Do the comps yourself. Take a quick browse on MLS listing and know what the highs & lows in the neighbourhood of your desire. Understand why something is selling so low / high. Never pay to own the most expensive house on the street.
- I love pink walls and dated decors on prospects. Don't be turned off by things that can be changed. Look past the cosmetic stuff that can be changed, adjust your offer accordingly. Structural stuff is a whole different ball game, and me personally I avoid those.
- Stay within your budget.
- As principle residence, you can go as little as 5% down.

A bit on financing:
- When it comes to mortgage, I always look for the longest possible term (e.g. 30yrs), lowest possible monthly payment, and the flexibility of the mortgage product itself (prefer a home equity line vs. mortgage).
- Do not just only focus on rate. Rate is important, but shall not be the only deciding factor. Plus, a 2.5% vs. a 2.6% should not matter (stretched over 30yrs). If it does, you have to worry about affordability.
- Do not do accelerated payment - Instead do the lowest possible monthly payment, save up any extra money and make lump sum payments towards principle every year. Personally, I choose to be not in a hurry to pay down my mortgage, because it locks in and ties up my cashflow.

Good luck with your search.
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I like your advice. I heard a few of these points from a few people I work with, especially the finance ones. Thanks. :)
 
There is no "over paying" in a bidding war. The market value of a house is whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Like I said earlier, an asking price which encourages bidding is below market value, so if your realtor is advising you not to bid because you'll overpay, he's an idiot.

Bad advice.
 
backmarkerducati said:
We will see how long it lasts this time. This has been tried before, it works when it stays under the radar and once enough people do it they crackdown on it. It was house boats last time. Most are gone now with the exception of a community in the east end. I considered it the last time, glad I didn't do it.
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its been going on for years, the answer is to use an actual boat not a houseboat. Not as comfy or roomy as a houseboat and it has to be a hull that can stay in the water year round and be moved under its own power, then your outside the floating house regulations. If your ok with some inconvenience , ok a lot of inconvenience , its a cool lifestyle. I did it with a refitted sailboat for a few years, my year round dockage was $5400. a year with 30 amp electricty and water in the summer months.
I'll do it again the first few years of my retirement when I get there, but the boat wont be in lake ontario......
 
crankcall said:
its been going on for years, the answer is to use an actual boat not a houseboat. Not as comfy or roomy as a houseboat and it has to be a hull that can stay in the water year round and be moved under its own power, then your outside the floating house regulations. If your ok with some inconvenience , ok a lot of inconvenience , its a cool lifestyle. I did it with a refitted sailboat for a few years, my year round dockage was $5400. a year with 30 amp electricty and water in the summer months.
I'll do it again the first few years of my retirement when I get there, but the boat wont be in lake ontario......
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I know a live-aboard and it isn't fun in February, walking the icy dock to the communal crapper and showers, mildew etc.
 
February is a short month. Small space living has it's appeal when viewed from a large space c/w portobackyardo. The reality might be different. Tighter for sure.
 
Baggsy said:
We do the opposite of EC2010 for financing. Pay it off asap.

Our second house was a bidding war. (Not many for sale ever, in the neighbourhood). We offered a little more than asking, but with a flexible closing date for the sellers, as advised by our agent. The closing date closed the deal.

But as advised, don't get emotional, know what it's worth to you, and don't go above that.
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That is what we did; paid extra payments and the house was paid off by our late 30s. If you are really disciplined and can save the extra money to do the lump payments then the other option of long term and lower payments can work as well. Now we have a nice emergency fund, can travel, and instead of moving we have been doing upgrades the past several years.

You would be amazed with some of the Americans I met on vacation recently. They were more than happy to talk about their house, where they travel to and what they are driving. When I discussed investing a lot of them had no savings, had tapped into their 401k and other investments for short term pleasure etc. Crazy!

I hope the OP goes for less house. You don't want to be house poor.
 
I have three investment guru's. One is actually my investment guy, he preaches "no debt is good debt" , pay out a mortgage lickety split and dont get more, other guy is a stock broker, he gives me free advice, based on what he's doing. He makes a lot of money , not so much for me. Guy three is a retired lawyer and financial adviser , a published author. He wrote the 'Mutual fund investment bible', published by McMillan. We drink togther a fair bit, his advice is dont buy mutual funds and use other peoples money when ever possible.
My take away is all advice is good advice when it works. There is no majic bullet. Luck and timing are often a factor and dont gamble with money you cant afford to loose. The guys that have lots of money?? when you drop 10% on a million your sour, drop 10% on 25 mil, its alot, but you dont sell the cottage you just wait.
 
I just read a book called "Irrational Exuberance" which studied the various crashes in the stock market, bond market, real estate market, and other indices over the past century. The author used Canada as an example of an overheated real estate market and had warnings for both Vancouver and Toronto. Take from that what you will but the first edition foreshadowed the downturn of 2000/2001 and he warned of housing speculation in the second edition before the 2007/2008 crash. The author is not exactly an intellectual lightweight:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Shiller

I take out of this that I would be spending under my limit if I were starting out right now and I would buy in a "non hot" area. Those are the areas more ripe for a hard correction should one happen.
 
A small rise in interest rates could lead to a lot of for sale signs in the 'hot' areas. But then interest rates show no sign of moving much any time soon.
 
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