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Housing Market

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Ducati911

Well-known member
Quick question or discussion for those who know alot about real estate, statistics, etc.

So me and my wife are first time home-buyers located in Brampton currently, and we have two area's currently in mind just to get us started at building home equity from the increase in value..
The two area's we have in mind are Orangeville, and Ancaster in Hamilton. The housing is affordable enough we can buy a brand new townhouse in development. My question is, are these two area's worth invest in? I work in Downtown Tdot and she works in Concord (for now, under contract). We want to stay in a place for 1-2 years before we use the increased value as a down-payment closer to the city compared to Orangeville/Ancaster.

Opinions? Thanks! :)
 
The new train station downtown Hamilton is having a major effect on house prices down there. I'm pretty sure that area is being gentrified. I'd check it out.
 
Ducati911 said:
Quick question or discussion for those who know alot about real estate, statistics, etc.

So me and my wife are first time home-buyers located in Brampton currently, and we have two area's currently in mind just to get us started at building home equity from the increase in value..
The two area's we have in mind are Orangeville, and Ancaster in Hamilton. The housing is affordable enough we can buy a brand new townhouse in development. My question is, are these two area's worth invest in? I work in Downtown Tdot and she works in Concord (for now, under contract). We want to stay in a place for 1-2 years before we use the increased value as a down-payment closer to the city compared to Orangeville/Ancaster.
Opinions? Thanks! :)
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Presuming I understand what you wrote, then I think you have a problem before you start.
Home prices in 416 will outpace what you will make out there.
You make $50k there but you will need $60k+ to buy in 416.
 
-D- said:
Presuming I understand what you wrote,
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I didn't, I thought he wrote Orangeville, Ancaster and Hamilton. OP, please put me on ignore.
 
@Ducati911 Hamilton seems to be the newest trend, and I've read opinions that it should get some of the largest gains outside of Tdot. (Locally)
There used to be a member that was in real estate, and had a thread titled "ask me anything about real estate " iirc. Try looking there too.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
 
Lightcycle said:
You're also assuming the housing market won't correct or crash. Which may or may not be true...
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They have been saying that since 2003, same thing a former coworker used to say hence he was waiting for prices to fall or correct before he buys. He gave in a few months later and bought a new townhouse somewhere midtown, guess he is laughing now.

Interest rate all time low, more ppl coming in 416, low supply.
I do agree it's overpriced, the correction will be the upscale homes and condos not the bread and butter real estate imo.

Once that interest rates goes up by 0.5 to 1% then we will see the writing on the wall.
 
The problem I see is that house prices (typically) climb in relation to the distance from downtown toronto. You could buy a 300,000 townhouse in ancaster now or a 700,000 townhouse in Toronto. In two years your ancaster townhouse will be 350, the toronto townhouse will be 800. The spread between the 2 has grown. This doesn't always happen, but typically, it is damned hard to upgrade your way closer to downtown.

As an aside, flipping a house after 1 to 2 years very rarely makes you any money. By the time you pay the transfer tax and real estate fees, with that timeframe most properties will break even at best. Around 5 years of appreciation starts to make the economics work. I would strongly advise you to look for a place that you can live in for the next 5+ years and if you can sell it earlier and buy your dream house, great, but if not you have a place to live.

Friends right now are selling their dream house they built outside of Ottawa and moving into suburbia because the commute is too brutal to live with. Try staying with friends near the communities you are interested in and commute for a few days, that may help you choose a location to look.
 
I'd say, don't think of real estate as an investment--especially considering you're wanting to flip in 1-2 years. You're taking a big gamble in an already hot market. There's also costs involved, as you probably know. For instance, when you sell, 5% (split b/w buyer and seller's agents) will go to the scum that they call real estate agents. Then there's legal fees ($1,200 or more x 2). If you do realize a capital gain, I'd bet most of it would be swallowed by these and other costs.

Also, be VERY wary of buying pre-construction. The contract is made in favour of the developer. You will also likely incur occupancy fees (think paying rent to the developer that doesn't go towards your mortgage) while you wait for MANY months (if not a year) before the building is registered.

Plus, think of your daily commute from the Hammer to TO. Your time is irreplaceable. Do you really want to spend it stuck in traffic?

If I were you, and if you have ANY consumer debts (as most ppl do), I'd target that before investing in anything. If you don't have any debt, then why take on the risk?
 
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.
 
GreyGhost said:
As an aside, flipping a house after 1 to 2 years very rarely makes you any money. By the time you pay the transfer tax and real estate fees, with that timeframe most properties will break even at best.
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Not true if you buy in a new Subdivision before all the phases are done. I did it and cleared over 100k after all was said and done in exactly 2 years

Paying rent while the building is registered is called Phantom rent, we paid it on the condo we bought before we moved to brooklin, the montly payment was way less than what rent would have been in any condo or apartment building on a bad area of the city, so we got to live in front and spadina and pay very little in rent for a couple of months, we were ok with that.

Oh and my real state agent did an awesome job in all transactions, the sale and the purchase.
 
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Ancaster appears to have some values in property, but its a ways out from T.O. on the worst commute route ever. I often see the 403 backed out past the Linc at all hours of the day. Look at Aldershot, your 30-45 mins closer in rush hr and closer to the Go train.

I know nothing of Orangeville, do they even speak English north of #9 ?
 
crankcall said:
Ancaster appears to have some values in property, but its a ways out from T.O. on the worst commute route ever. I often see the 403 backed out past the Linc at all hours of the day. Look at Aldershot, your 30-45 mins closer in rush hr and closer to the Go train.

I know nothing of Orangeville, do they even speak English north of #9 ?
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Don't know what the prices are there but areas like Waterdown might be close to public transit and more affordable (i have no clue though)
 
I lived in Hamilton for a couple of years and then moved to Guelph (been here since 2000). Ancaster has always been the more expensive part of Hamilton Mountain. Some nice homes there and the power centre off of the Linc will cover any of your shopping needs and downtown Ancaster has nice shops and restaurants. If you want to get some more for your money find a home on the mountain near the linc (Lincoln Alexander Expressway). You will get even more home for your money and the difference in your commute will be minimal at best.

The time in commute between Hamilton and Burlington is pretty minimal. Waterdown is also a nice town and I am there all the time.

The 407 entrance is just before traffic bogs down on the way to Burlington. Not sure if you can budget for using the 407 from time to time or consider taking the GO train from Aldershot.

I used to commute to Hamilton to work which was only a 40 minute drive each way and now I work in Cambridge which is only a 20 minute commute. I still have neighbors who commute to Mississauga and one who goes to Scarborough every day from Guelph! Some like the smaller city living and being able to have a decent detached home for under $400000 (albeit on a 30 ft lot if it is a newer build).
 
@ Inteb

Isnt ancaster in the Hamilton area anyways? I said orangeville as an area to buy or ancaster. Im not looking to make a million dollars in profits. Even 60k in 2 years is enough for me to buy a house in brampton in 2 or 3 years.
 
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Also, im not ever planning to live in Toronto itself. Most likely Brampton/Sauga/Caledon (basically peel region due to a future career opportunity).

So it seems like the best suggestion from some sending a PM and in the forum is stay closer to Toronto (like peel for example). Whys these darn over priced houses gotta be so expensive for my generation!
 
Orangeville is a really nice town but I'm not sure how long of a commute that will be for you. Building equity anywhere is still equity. I do agree with a point a previous poster made. Do not flip your house in two years. Legal expenses, land transfer taxes, moving expenses, agent % all add up to huge $. Ideally 5 years or more would be a better way to ammortize out those fees and give you a real opportunity to made some headway on the mortgage (first year or so is almost nothing but interest payments), and see some appreciation in the value of your home.

If you are going to live in an outlying area you might want something a bit more "turn key". Lots of newer homes in all of the areas you have identified. Something less than 15 years old where the roof has recently been replaced. The furnace should be the only big hit you would have and you could use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations. With all that commuting I can't imagine that you really want to do house project after house project.
 
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Yeah good call. Gona be better I suppose by sticking in Peel region if thats the case. Only downside is a longer period to save for the downpayment. But can easily keep it for 5+ years or longer if thats the case.
 
Given your commute I'd say go with the Guelph, Erin, Orangeville or Bolton areas. Yes Hamilton costs less and is currently the place to flip and invest, but the commute especially if you're a 9-5er is atrocious. I say this from Mississauga, if I was going downtown Toronto or Concord to Hamilton, I'd also look at buying an airplane.
 
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