Buying A New House... Need Some Advice, Please! | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Buying A New House... Need Some Advice, Please!

BNKN said:
Many years ago I worked in the central vacuum business. Had a lot of contact with recently purchased b/n home owners. The reports were rarely glowing, some downright nasty. Took the sheen off of the b/n thing for me. One of the most common head shakers was that everything was always out of square. Drywall mud can only fix so much.
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the house i moved into was built in 2002, and because of my OCD, i had to rip down a hallway closet and rebuild it because sitting in the living room i can see the wall was WAY out, wouldn't have done it if i wasn't already deep into renos.

Most houses are built on peace work.
 
Nick_f said:
Most houses are built on piece work.
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Materials, tools, techniques, everything is better than it ever was yet it's a race to the bottom. Not just in housing, everywhere it seems. Was kvetching about this over coffee one day. Buddy says Cadbury lost candy cane contract with Walmart over 1 cent per box.
 
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OpenGambit said:
nothing except location matters. imo
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This. x1000.

Buy the cheapest house on the best street. You can change the house, can't change its location.
 
nfq said:
This. x1000.

Buy the cheapest house on the best street. You can change the house, can't change its location.
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This. If you do renos your self you can save a lot of cash (kitchen, bathroom, floors)

Just finished my kitchen, under $6000 with appliance and quartz counters

34xs6lv.jpg


kitchen is about %98 done in this picture, just needs the deco strip, and another coat of paint on the crown moulding.

A big savings on renos also is to check kijiji for gift cards, people tend to sell them for a decent discount. (ikea, homedepot)
 
Nick_f said:
This. If you do renos your self you can save a lot of cash (kitchen, bathroom, floors)

Just finished my kitchen, under $6000 with appliance and quartz counters

34xs6lv.jpg


kitchen is about %98 done in this picture, just needs the deco strip, and another coat of paint on the crown moulding.

A big savings on renos also is to check kijiji for gift cards, people tend to sell them for a decent discount. (ikea, homedepot)
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Thanks for the gift card tip!
 
All are great suggestions, thank you guys!
Didn't really think there could be problems with a new house so now I will keep my options open.
I've also started looking at potential rental properties, I'd be living upstairs and renting out the basement.

As far as location goes, yes, I know, it plays a vital role in my criteria.
It's the only reason I'm looking to stay in Durham, mainly North Ajax/Whitby.

What's the deal with Oshawa?
A lot of nice houses there for considerably cheaper than Ajax/Whitby.

Real estate agents, please chime in!
 
Mina said:
All are great suggestions, thank you guys!
Didn't really think there could be problems with a new house so now I will keep my options open.
I've also started looking at potential rental properties, I'd be living upstairs and renting out the basement.

As far as location goes, yes, I know, it plays a vital role in my criteria.
It's the only reason I'm looking to stay in Durham, mainly North Ajax/Whitby.

What's the deal with Oshawa?
A lot of nice houses there for considerably cheaper than Ajax/Whitby.

Real estate agents, please chime in!
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have you considered what pretty much everyone has been saying about 2013 and prices?
 
Paul1000RR said:
have you considered what pretty much everyone has been saying about 2013 and prices?
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Mina said:
I have no idea what you're talking about, mind giving me some info?
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I wouldn't listen, the condo market may crash but the housing prices aren't going down

Some economists say that we are in a house bubble like the states was and that soon the prices are going down, but since we are not the states and our banks were way more conservative giving people loans mostly due to some checks and balances previous governments had the sense to put in place most economist say we will be fine.

Condos in the other hand, i got the hell out of mine as soon as I could.
 
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If condo prices drop, house prices will follow. The two are direct competitors of each other.

Regarding gift cards, you also need to be careful. I read that one scam used is that the seller of the card will buy one with a stolen credit card, then take you to the store to prove that there's value in the card. However, when the card company finds out the card is stolen, and what was purchased on it, then they cancel the purchase. In this case, the card value drops to $0. If you're going to take this route, be careful.
 
Mina said:
I have no idea what you're talking about, mind giving me some info?
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http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1315328--housing-market-continues-to-cool

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...state-boom-meet-dot-com-crash/article6867321/

http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/01/16/so-far-so-good-for-torontos-housing-market-in-2013/

Canadian home prices have basically gone up in value 100% since 2000. Anybody with a half working brain can tell you this cannot continue indefinitely.

Im in the same boat as you and planning to get a house in the near future, however im holding off to see what will happen in the next year, possibly 2.

"There’s no consensus on what’s ahead for real estate – forecasts for price declines of 10 to 25 per cent are floating around..."

That's a lot of money when the average home in toronto is well north of 500k.
 
ZX600 said:
I wouldn't listen, the condo market may crash but the hosing prices aren't going down

Some economists say that we are in a house bubble like the states was and that soon the prices are going down, but since we are not the states and our banks were way more conservative giving people loans mostly due to some checks and balances previous governments had the sense to put in place most economist say we will be fine.

Condos in the other hand, i got the hell out of mine as soon as I could.
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People in this country are even more irresponsible with their money than the people in US before their bubble exploded.
 
Mina said:
All are great suggestions, thank you guys!
Didn't really think there could be problems with a new house so now I will keep my options open.
I've also started looking at potential rental properties, I'd be living upstairs and renting out the basement.

As far as location goes, yes, I know, it plays a vital role in my criteria.
It's the only reason I'm looking to stay in Durham, mainly North Ajax/Whitby.

What's the deal with Oshawa?
A lot of nice houses there for considerably cheaper than Ajax/Whitby.

Real estate agents, please chime in!
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Cheaper homes, higher taxes. Plus you have to grow a mullet to be accepted.:)

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/407487--taxes-hit-you-where-you-live
 
I think the home price adjustment must be coming at some point, but nobody knows for sure or there would be a lot of for sale signs going up. The condo market if it takes the beating predicted will likely be Toronto and Van where there is condo building gone rampant, outside the GTA they probably wont shift much as demand still exceeds construction (so far).
There was an arguement made in one of the financial publications that if you are a high income earner, renting a nice place may be financialy prudent as you have the money to bank at a least the same rate as a property would increase in value. Most of us are not in this boat.

But looking at the original topic, a had drinks with my real estate pal last night. Statisticaly buying new will give a quick jump if you are willing to buy on paper, the builder uses some of your money to finance the project, then when the build is done they often go up in value pretty fast.

But it still comes back to location, some nieghborhoods will just be the place folks want to live and there are enough willing to pay for that priviledge that values are on the moon.
Personally I dont like new builds, I dont think the quality is there in constructiion of subdivision houses. Custom builds are different but thats a small percentage of owners. I think the value of an infilled older area, mature trees, maybe gas station or store nearby has merit.

We picked our move to this house based on schools, I lived 1.5kms from here but the french immersion program in a smaller school, with a much better record helped us to switch school zones.
 
crankcall said:
I think the home price adjustment must be coming at some point, but nobody knows for sure or there would be a lot of for sale signs going up. The condo market if it takes the beating predicted will likely be Toronto and Van where there is condo building gone rampant, outside the GTA they probably wont shift much as demand still exceeds construction (so far).
There was an arguement made in one of the financial publications that if you are a high income earner, renting a nice place may be financialy prudent as you have the money to bank at a least the same rate as a property would increase in value. Most of us are not in this boat.

But looking at the original topic, a had drinks with my real estate pal last night. Statisticaly buying new will give a quick jump if you are willing to buy on paper, the builder uses some of your money to finance the project, then when the build is done they often go up in value pretty fast.

But it still comes back to location, some nieghborhoods will just be the place folks want to live and there are enough willing to pay for that priviledge that values are on the moon.
Personally I dont like new builds, I dont think the quality is there in constructiion of subdivision houses. Custom builds are different but thats a small percentage of owners. I think the value of an infilled older area, mature trees, maybe gas station or store nearby has merit.

We picked our move to this house based on schools, I lived 1.5kms from here but the french immersion program in a smaller school, with a much better record helped us to switch school zones.
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It has already started, well the condos anyways.
 
Paul1000RR said:
have you considered what pretty much everyone has been saying about 2013 and prices?
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Been hearing it since 2008.


I guess blowing my money on rent (approx $60 000) since then would have been better?
 
klr_guy said:
It's the dirty shwa - nuff said.
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I've never lived there so I'm only quoting what I heard.

The topics of converstion were the Oshawa Generals and GM.

People were very GM and union dependant.

What do you drive?

They probably won't like you if you're from Toronto but that goes for just about anywhere.
 
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