I wonder how long this insanity will last....

[Motorcycle Mike]

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Cost is just not money.... Specially if you have kids.

I agree and want to add that one should consider what is available for the kids when they are older.

I grew up in Stratford which is a great little town, but has bugger all for work.
Because I grew up there and had many friends and family there it took a lot of effort, determination, and money to leave that place, but I had to do it to find a good paying job.

I also had to leave Stratford for education. Stratford now has a satellite campus of UofW, but that wasn't available until 2010 and there are very few degree options. That meant that I had to go away for school so I had to spend an extra $20k a year on rent, food, utilities, etc, that could have been saved had my family lived in a university town.

 

[Paul1000RR]

I just bought a house, Kingston and Warden (yea Scarbarah!) Awesome area, right by the water, crazy appreciation year over year (just East of Beaches).

$435K, detached two storey, 3 car driveway, garage, shed. 2.45% mortgage rate, and 20% down.

The people crying and whining in this thread - instead of calculating the 'crazy' cost of owning a home you don't actually own because you live in an apartment, why not put your money where your mouth is and actually get in the game? There's deals out there, it's affordable. And you can get an amazing house. Go see some properties, get to know some neighborhoods. Yes if you want to live in High Park, it's not going to happen for 400. But look around, get creative and it's totally doable.

The doom and gloom in this thread is just propagating what the Globe and The Star write about week in and week out. Market crash, prices are crazy, OMG how will I afford it, young people have no chance. Blah blah blah. They've been talking about this housing crash for YEARS.

Have a plan, be reasonable, set expectations, and be smart. Maybe it's living in a cheaper community. Or looking a lot harder at areas you never thought of. Buying a house takes work. Put it in, you get it out.

What? :lmao:

Crying and whining? Who is crying and whining about it? We're having a conversation about the biggest purchase most of us will ever make. 25 years of our lives are at stake here, and the best advice you can give is "get creative and its totally doable?"

Your rebuttal of "instead of calculating the 'crazy' cost of owning a home you don't actually own because you live in an apartment, why not put your money where your mouth is and actually get in the game? " is laughable. I put my money where my mouth is and i didn't buy a place. And wont be in the near future, at least not at these delusional prices.

It is attitudes like this that got us to where we are today and will ultimately get the ball rolling. Ironically the same people will then cry and complain the loudest that they got screwed because of the government, bank, economy etc.. It will be everyone's fault but your own.

But hey keep pumping up the idea that people who rent are the dummies, instead of looking at the numbers in this thread. If you deny it and get together with your neighbors and keep reassuring each other you'll feel better about your decision.
Don't debate facts, instead call people names. Yes, that will do it. Don't you feel better already?

 

[lator-illa]

Dude you make it sound so easy. Not everyone has $90k lying around(especially not FTHB) for a downpayment so good for you were able to afford it. Let's say one can only afford 10% of that same house you bought. I would estimate that the person's actual mortgage amount is $399k. Based on a 25 year amm at 2.5% (not taking into account the prime rate could rise), the payments will be at $1750 on the mortgage alone! That's not counting all other house bills such as taxes of all sorts and maintenance etc. To top it all off, you have car bills, kids, etc etc etc.

You just can't spout off saying put your money where your mouth is. People with a $100k combined income would not live comfortably with that kind of mortgage.

 

[Paul1000RR]

Dude you make it sound so easy. Not everyone has $90k lying around(especially not FTHB) for a downpayment so good for you were able to afford it. Let's say one can only afford 10% of that same house you bought. I would estimate that the person's actual mortgage amount is $399k. Based on a 25 year amm at 2.5% (not taking into account the prime rate could rise), the payments will be at $1750 on the mortgage alone! That's not counting all other house bills such as taxes of all sorts and maintenance etc. To top it all off, you have car bills, kids, etc etc etc.

You just can't spout off saying put your money where your mouth is. People with a $100k combined income would not live comfortably with that kind of mortgage.

Common sense need not apply

Things you will learn from home owners:

Prices ALWAYS go up
Interest NEVER goes up
Rent is a waste of money
Im building equity yo :lmao:

 

[Motorcycle Mike]

So many people here that aren't willing to sacrifice to get what they want.

This is a motorcycle forum, and by the looks of it most of you complaining about housing prices still have your bikes. As you all know, bikes are an expensive hobby -- from the purchase price to the insurance to the parts to the gear, all of it is expensive.

Guess what... if you want to save enough to get a house, you might need to put aside the hobbies for a few years. Less than 8 years ago I moved back to Canada from Indonesia with only a backpack to my name. Now I own a house in Mississauga with about 40% of it paid off.

Seems to me that people just want it all and they want it now.

 

[mimico_polak]

Common sense need not apply

Things you will learn from home owners:

Prices ALWAYS go up
Interest NEVER goes up
Rent is a waste of money
Im building equity yo :lmao:

LOL sure price always goes up....if you bought 10-15 years ago! I see maybe a small correction in our market, not a crash...no facts...just opinion on my part.

I had a fun discussion with my parents where they were lamenting how my wife and I can't go out and buy a house and how stupid this pricing is in the city of Toronto because when they bought their house (Burnhamthorpe / 427 area) they paid around 220k for a nice bungalow 21yrs ago. Blah blah blah...

Me: OK so if you went to try and sell your house for let's say $300k and the realtor told you "I think I can get $500k for your house" what would you do?"

Mom: Sell for $500k of course, why would I want less than that!?

Me: And there's the problem. I want to buy as cheap as I can, you want to sell as expensive as you can. And the realtor wants to sell for as much as he can get because he has a direct interest in the selling price as well.

End of discussion.

I do not blame the sellers for wanting top dollar for their house, hell I would too! We all would. The issue is the buying part! LoL If I could sell a house for double what I think it should be worth I'd do it as well!

I mean hell, if motorcycles appreciate in price year over year then surely houses will also in Toronto!

And as for putting your money where your mouth is, sure I can go drop ALL of my money on a mortgage tomorrow and buy a nice house. However I don't feel like living off peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the rest of my life (or at least 25yrs of it)....pierogies and cabbage rolls are expensive...don't ya know!?

 

[lator-illa]

So many people here that aren't willing to sacrifice to get what they want.

This is a motorcycle forum, and by the looks of it most of you complaining about housing prices still have your bikes. As you all know, bikes are an expensive hobby -- from the purchase price to the insurance to the parts to the gear, all of it is expensive.

Guess what... if you want to save enough to get a house, you might need to put aside the hobbies for a few years. Less than 8 years ago I moved back to Canada from Indonesia with only a backpack to my name. Now I own a house in Mississauga with about 40% of it paid off.

Seems to me that people just want it all and they want it now.

No. This is just being smart with the current situation we're in. Just because we own motorcycles doesn't mean 80% of our income is going towards that. I'm still saving close to 15%-20% of my paycheque on downpayment alone everytime I get paid. Why the hell do I wanna get a house now when there's a prospect of the $500k home i'll be buying will cost $100k less 5-10 years later? What kind of equity did I build there?

I'm waiting for the right time. When house prices start to come back to 'reasonable' prices, and the rates haven't risen as much. Just have to find that balance.

Estone, i'm assuming the rate that you chose is a variable rate. Please come back to this thread and speak of affordability when prime doubles in the near future.

 

[ZX600]

Guess what... if you want to save enough to get a house, you might need to put aside the hobbies for a few years. Less than 8 years ago I moved back to Canada from Indonesia with only a backpack to my name. Now I own a house in Mississauga with about 40% of it paid off.

.

RAGU? is that you?

I kid I kid - I agree with you. many people that bought a house, didn't spend their money drinking away every weekend at the bar, they saved their pennies.

 

[ZX600]

No. This is just being smart with the current situation we're in. Just because we own motorcycles doesn't mean 80% of our income is going towards that. I'm still saving close to 15%-20% of my paycheque on downpayment alone everytime I get paid. Why the hell do I wanna get a house now when there's a prospect of the $500k home i'll be buying will cost $100k less 5-10 years later? What kind of equity did I build there?

I'm waiting for the right time. When house prices start to come back to 'reasonable' prices, and the rates haven't risen as much. Just have to find that balance.

Estone, i'm assuming the rate that you chose is a variable rate. Please come back to this thread and speak of affordability when prime doubles in the near future.

When was the last time house values went down in the GTA?

Bought a house and moved in last october. The same model home as mine sold in 1 day in my street for 70k more than what I bought for, now mine is a corner house, that one wasn't, mine is also a lot bigger than that one.

The same house as mine in a corner lot (bigger lot than mine by a bit) but with about 100k more than mine in upgrades sold in about 1.5 months for 250k more than what I purchased mine for.

if I sold today, after lawyers, commissions and etc, I would pocket about 90k - If I was renting I would not have the opportunity to make that money.

I don't agree or disagree with anyone, each person has its own situation and means to deal with.

 

[kellen]

Will home prices really drop of just stagnate for a period of time?

 

[mimico_polak]

When house prices start to come back to 'reasonable' prices, and the rates haven't risen as much.

While I agree with this statement, each of us has a different definition of 'reasonable'. Some people can end up waiting 20 years for a 'reasonable' price because they're delusional what they think they should pay for a house. For instance I've heard people say a house in Toronto shouldn't cost more than 300k...personally I think a livable house can be 400k in my area. Unfortunately for 400k I get a shack that I need to gut, rebuild over a few months, and then I can move in. If I'm lucky it'll have a parking pad. If I find a horseshoe up my *** then I get a garage for that price.

 

[Sunspark]

House prices won't go down. I believe this because the foreigners keep coming in bunches at a time from the other side.

 

[lator-illa]

I'll put it into perspective.

A beat up bungalow in Scarborough that requires roughly $50-$60k of work to make it decent is selling for $430k the last time I checked. I don't even want to imagine how much it sold for. Anyway, to me that is NOT reasonable.

And I don't see how prices will not go down. Rates, both variable and fixed, are bound to rise(With the fixed rates slowly going up from what i've seen). What will happen when these people who bought a house at 5% suddenly realize their mortgage payments have doubled? They'll panic and sell the place! But since rates are so high, nobody's gonna be able to afford anything in the market! I'll wait when those people sell their house at a 'reasonable' price, and there's not such a ridiculous bidding war.

 

[Sunspark]

You might have to wait a long time because our market isn't a local market. It's a global market. The people buying here are people with money from places like Hong Kong and Dubai.

Hong Kong as a crown colony paid no taxes for a hundred years.

Places like Dubai live off oil money and I don't think they pay taxes either.

 

[Snobike Mike]

House prices won't go down. I believe this because the foreigners keep coming in bunches at a time from the other side.

It didn't save the US housing market although there is no doubt that a portion, possibly even a significant portion, of our housing market inflation is a result of foreign money pouring in over the past several years.

 

[lator-illa]

House prices won't go down. I believe this because the foreigners keep coming in bunches at a time from the other side.

Let's wait till the rates REALLY go up. Everyone seems to forget that not long ago, like 2006-2007, fixed rates were close to 6%.

 

[Sunspark]

Let's wait till the rates REALLY go up. Everyone seems to forget that not long ago, like 2006-2007, fixed rates were close to 6%.

The bank already admitted they're afraid of raising rates which would screw a lot of people. They can go up now but haven't.

In the early 1980s interest rates were 19%. Lol!

 

[lator-illa]

The bank already admitted they're afraid of raising rates which would screw a lot of people. They can go up now but haven't.

In the early 1980s interest rates were 19%. Lol!

Oh it's going to happen. Just watch. Like I said, the rates have slowly been creeping up. eg Fixed rates were as low as 2.69% if i'm not mistaken(and these were HISTORIC lows!), but now they're around 3.59% discounted? It's only going to go up from here.

 

[Snobike Mike]

In the early 1980s interest rates were 19%. Lol!

But rising rates is exactly one of many reasons which why housing prices can/will drop contrary to what you believe.

The bank already admitted they're afraid of raising rates which would screw a lot of people. They can go up now but haven't.

To clarify, it's the Bank of Canada rates you're talking about against which the big/commercial banks base their rates against. And even with low interest rates, another problem is the banks willingness to lend. Just because their rates are low doesn't mean they actually have to lend anyone money. If they deem the credit worthiness of their customers/general marketplace is poor they will not lend. The BoC can only push a string in this case.

 

[inreb]

Somebody mentioned sacrifices. I saw a "room for rent" posting in the crapper trailer at work last week. $750 per month. Not apartment, a room shared in a house! That's another way to do it if you can stomach it.
I have 2 Mac students renting at below market value. They are on first floor, I have second floor to myself plus backyard man cave. They pay all house running costs. What more can you ask for? Do it.

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