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OT - Toronto Real Estate

I'm essentially resigned to the fact at this point that I will realistically probably never be able to own my own house barring some kind of huge collapse in the cost of housing and condo prices. "Inheritance generation" indeed.
 
Artnes said:
Scary to think about having to carry a mortgage 600K and up.
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Especially when you think that that 600k you're either getting a place not much bigger than a condo, or if you do have space, you're living a 45 minute commute away from town. And even that, it's not like you're finding cheap houses even in places like Ajax. And does anyone really want to live in Ajax?
 
UWHabs said:
Especially when you think that that 600k you're either getting a place not much bigger than a condo, or if you do have space, you're living a 45 minute commute away from town. And even that, it's not like you're finding cheap houses even in places like Ajax. And does anyone really want to live in Ajax?
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With how awful traffic has gotten the past five or six years, I think even choosing to live in the outlying areas such as Ajax/Whitby, Milton, Newmarket/Aurora, etc. is increasingly becoming less and less of an advantage, even with the comparatively cheaper housing prices, especially when you factor in the commute times, cost of gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, etc.

My parents bought our current home back in 1989 for around $420,000 and it's valued over $1.1-1.3 million based on current market prices. They also bought and refurbished an old century home in Aurora near the GO Station there six years ago for around $200,000, put $80,000 of upgrades into it, and were recently offered over $500,000 for that property. It's an insane market.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
With how awful traffic has gotten the past five or six years, I think even choosing to live in the outlying areas such as Ajax/Whitby, Milton, Newmarket/Aurora, etc. is increasingly becoming less and less of an advantage, even with the comparatively cheaper housing prices, especially when you factor in the commute times, cost of gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, etc.
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That's not even considering the soul crushing impact that commuting has on your psyche.
 
JohnnyHolmes said:
That's not even considering the soul crushing impact that commuting has on your psyche.
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I'm lucky enough with my MLSE job that it's literally at the only point in the day where traffic isn't heinous. I head down around noon for a 1 pm start time and then head back on the 9:10 or 10:10 bus to the Aurora GO station.

It makes things significantly easier in terms of one's overall mental health when you know it will take you only 32 minutes to get to Union instead of double or three times that like it might on some days during the morning rush hour period.
 
Artnes said:
Scary to think about having to carry a mortgage 600K and up.
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+1

Can't see myself buying a spot that expensive, despite the fact that I can afford. I think we're due for a real estate reckoning sooner or later. This rate environment can't last forever.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
I'm essentially resigned to the fact at this point that I will realistically probably never be able to own my own house barring some kind of huge collapse in the cost of housing and condo prices. "Inheritance generation" indeed.
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Buy a vacation/investment property in Mexico. You can get into a decent starter condo (with very reasonable condo fees) in Vallarta for about 150K USD, that you'll be able to pull 100 USD a night pretty steady in the high season, once you've got a few grand to spend, rip the old tile out, upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms (mexican labour is cheap) and now you're charging 130-150 USD a night during the high season (and getting sporatic business during the low season at about 70% of that rate. Hire a reputable real estate agent (I've got one if you need) in the area to manage the particulars (key pick up/drop off, property inspection after the guest leaves, etc) for a few hundred pesos per guest.

Bang all the extra coin you make (after upgrades) into paying off the mortgage and it will be paid off in ~10 years tops. So maybe you won't own a place in the GTA, but you'll be 40 (or under?) with a vacation/retirement property already paid off.
 
MindzEye said:
+1

Can't see myself buying a spot that expensive, despite the fact that I can afford. I think we're due for a real estate reckoning sooner or later. This rate environment can't last forever.
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This is the spot I'm in. I can afford to buy here but I'm not sure the value is there, plus I don't want to be the guy left holding the bag when the correction does happen.
 
Volcanologist said:
This is the spot I'm in. I can afford to buy here but I'm not sure the value is there, plus I don't want to be the guy left holding the bag when the correction does happen.
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I was looking to buy in Calgary recently, figuring that with the oil armageddon out here (and my career about as stable as anyone's in the industry) that I'd be able to find some serious deals. Looked at a bunch of properties I liked, did the math to see what my cost of ownership was (condo fees can be a kick in the dick...) and was cool with the numbers I was seeing. Just for shits and giggles took a look at the rental websites for the city (noticed that a lot of the units I looked at seemed to be either empty or had what was pretty clearly staging/showing furniture and decorations in them and got curious) and found about half the shit that I had looked at, on rental websites for 400 or more a month less than my cost of ownership would be.

Noped really quickly and started making appointments to look at rentals. Why take the risk if there is no financial incentive? Renting isn't the worst thing in the world, as long as you're investing the extra coin you're not spending on ownership.
 
agreed. if your rent is cheaper than a mortgage try to invest the savings. Some of the returns can be impressive. But you can't look at your stocks everyday -- you'll probable end up selling at the lows.
 
Ownership makes a ton of sense if you plan on staying in that house for 20+ years. When you start to look at the money spent on real estate and legal fees, if you move even once or twice over that 20 year period it eats up the financial benefit between buying and renting over that time period pretty quickly. The flexibility is huge as well, as I've learned for myself over the last 10 years. I've moved to McMurray, Barrie, and now Calgary over that time period, just following the best situation for my life at the time. Within the next 6-7, I expect to be in Mexico full time. If I had owned houses in each stop, I would have easily spent 60K+ in real estate and legal fees just getting into and out of each home.

The only other times is makes sense is if you're timing the housing cycle properly (****ing risky) and you're lucky enough to buy before a pricing boom (and get out before the pricing lag/bust)....or if you're one of those people who are so ridiculously handy/skilled that you can buy a house in need of love, reno the shit out of it (without it looking like a weekend handyman did the work) and sell later for big profit. Basically, if you're a tradesman with skills in flooring, tiling, dry wall, electrical, plumbing, roofing, carpentry, windows/covering, etc, etc, etc.
 
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MindzEye said:
Buy a vacation/investment property in Mexico. You can get into a decent starter condo (with very reasonable condo fees) in Vallarta for about 150K USD, that you'll be able to pull 100 USD a night pretty steady in the high season, once you've got a few grand to spend, rip the old tile out, upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms (mexican labour is cheap) and now you're charging 130-150 USD a night during the high season (and getting sporatic business during the low season at about 70% of that rate. Hire a reputable real estate agent (I've got one if you need) in the area to manage the particulars (key pick up/drop off, property inspection after the guest leaves, etc) for a few hundred pesos per guest.

Bang all the extra coin you make (after upgrades) into paying off the mortgage and it will be paid off in ~10 years tops. So maybe you won't own a place in the GTA, but you'll be 40 (or under?) with a vacation/retirement property already paid off.
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Now THIS is interesting. Time for some research.
 
I never bought because a)flexibility and b)tried to time a downturn that never came

A lot of people buy for emotional reasons (want to live in a place they own; feel comforted by owning land) I don't have that particular need.

I did miss out on an amazing ride but that's somehow mitigated by my investment account which is +30%, 2 years running. Trading eats up a lot of time so I'm trying to simplify the process.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
With how awful traffic has gotten the past five or six years, I think even choosing to live in the outlying areas such as Ajax/Whitby, Milton, Newmarket/Aurora, etc. is increasingly becoming less and less of an advantage, even with the comparatively cheaper housing prices, especially when you factor in the commute times, cost of gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, etc.

My parents bought our current home back in 1989 for around $420,000 and it's valued over $1.1-1.3 million based on current market prices. They also bought and refurbished an old century home in Aurora near the GO Station there six years ago for around $200,000, put $80,000 of upgrades into it, and were recently offered over $500,000 for that property. It's an insane market.
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your inheritance is waiting for you, but of course none of us want our parents to die, so you aren't getting it for awhile
 
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