COVID and the housing market | Page 133 | GTAMotorcycle.com

COVID and the housing market

nobbie48 said:
If I was looking to buy I'd go for the untouched original place and use the savings to do the kind of renovations that are important to me.

To get those places you have to think like a real estate agent. Look for tired places with old owners. It sounds ghoulish but follow the obituary columns. Mom or pop dies and the survivor might be thinking of moving to a home. No one is going to put a house on a platter for you.
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Finding those places is very hard. As soon as an agent gets a whiff of one of them (and looking for them is literally their full time job), either they or someone they are close with will do a quick tart and flip hiding all the potential issues. Honestly, I would pay less for a flipped house than a dated one as at least I can see what I'm dealing with. It's sad that there are no repercussions for flippers destroying the housing stock (eg. bury water issues that then have another decade to develop and you need to remediate the whole house instead of a bad shingle and a dehumidifier).
 
this is already a thing:
161712900_10159054577137173_9023424710763202071_n.jpg
 
backmarkerducati said:
Right before buying our current home we bid on a similar scenario. Multiple siblings, owner had either passed or was in care. Pretty much all original ~1950s house. We bid 95% of asking, the counter was simply "not enough money". We walked, it was 2008, I kept an eye on it, sold six months later for almost 100K less then we offered.

I truly worked out for the best as we got a better home in a better area for pretty much the same money.
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For our first house, we bid on an old ladies townhouse. It had been on the market for six months. She was in LTC and needed to sell to get money to pay for LTC. She was asking the completely renovated, ready to go price. It was all wallpaper and peach and mint coloured carpets, knick knack shelves instead of crown molding, etc. In her mind it was perfect. We offered 35% under asking and her agent was pleading with her to take it. She rejected and we bought something that turned out far better (one we bought was >100K more but better postal code and detached). Six months later someone gave the old lady 50K more than we offered so it worked out for her too.
 
backmarkerducati said:
Right before buying our current home we bid on a similar scenario. Multiple siblings, owner had either passed or was in care. Pretty much all original ~1950s house. We bid 95% of asking, the counter was simply "not enough money". We walked, it was 2008, I kept an eye on it, sold six months later for almost 100K less then we offered.

I truly worked out for the best as we got a better home in a better area for pretty much the same money.
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Nice when things just work out well in hindsight. We lucked out in a similar way.

A couple weeks before we bought our house, we saw a place 1km away from where we currently live. The upper floors were nice, but the basement was a dungeon and would need at least $10k to make it decent. It was a corner lot and had a huge backyard. We were just about to submit an offer of $3k over asking, but got into a big argument two hours before the deadline. We didn't end up making an offer and the house sold for asking price the next day... we would have won that bid if we didn't get in the argument. That offer would have stretched out finances pretty thin, and even more with the immediate work to be done on it.

That winter, the house had the entire fence of that property blow over! It's been under some form of construction for what feels like 7 years straight.
In hindsight, the house we now live in is also a much better area and house for the money. Just blind luck.
 
Wingboy said:
Waterloo is crazy. My neighbors bought a huge pu truck and trailer.
"391 WINTERGREEN Drive, Waterloo, Ontario, N2V1L7 Property Details" 391 WINTERGREEN Drive, Waterloo, Ontario, N2V1L7
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They're pre-spending their anticipated windfall? Even at current crazy RE prices, you can smoke all the money you made on a rapidly depreciating mobile home without breaking a sweat.

House sigma is anticipating it selling for ~800K. I've never found their estimates to be accurate but who knows. It looks like the comp is at ~870 and that was a few hundred sq ft smaller.

A friend bought a house just south of you a few years ago as an investment property. He wasn't having much luck renting it out for the price he thought he could get (seemed high to me) but with the run-up it will turn out well for him.
 
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GreyGhost said:
They're pre-spending their anticipated windfall? Even at current crazy RE prices, you can smoke all the money you made on a rapidly depreciating mobile home without breaking a sweat.

House sigma is anticipating it selling for ~800K. I've never found their estimates to be accurate but who knows. It looks like the comp is at ~870 and that was a few hundred sq ft smaller.

A friend bought a house just south of you a few years ago as an investment property. He wasn't having much luck renting it out for the price he thought he could get (seemed high to me) but with the run-up it will turn out well for him.
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The owners are a religious couple that do missionary work. The spend several months overseas every year. With the trailer they will be spending all thier time in NA.
 
I'll have to update with my neighbour. His son's girlfriend's parents sold and rented a while back and were going to jump back in with cash when the market crashed..............Smiles or frowns????
 
nobbie48 said:
I'll have to update with my neighbour. His son's girlfriend's parents sold and rented a while back and were going to jump back in with cash when the market crashed..............Smiles or frowns????
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Frowns, always frowns. Never try to time anything. It is pure luck if it works and you can get hosed. Sell because you want to move, not to try to time the market. An old co-worker sold his house in Willowdale (>5000 sq ft, pool, ~1 acre lot) in ~2005 for 1.1M because he was convinced the crash was coming and he was going to buy back in after. The rocket took off. What's that worth now? 5M+? He was out for a few years and then gave up and bought ~1500 sq ft in Burlington.
 
I had the same idea as a client, waiting for the market to crash, buy a condo and rent it out. When the market came back sell the house and move into the condo. That was 10 or 12 years ago. We're both still waiting.

I wasn't interested in the AirBNB dumpfest condo stuff.
 
nobbie48 said:
I had the same idea as a client, waiting for the market to crash, buy a condo and rent it out. When the market came back sell the house and move into the condo. That was 10 or 12 years ago. We're both still waiting.

I wasn't interested in the AirBNB dumpfest condo stuff.
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In 2008 I had some money and wasn't sure if I should invest it or buy real estate. A childhood friend is a very successful wholesale fund guy for a big bank and always has excellent advice for me. I asked him what he thought I should do and he told me "Do not wait - buy real estate right now, unless you are a knowledgeable investor willing to track your investments and make changes as needed".

I am inherently lazy and so I bought real estate and it's turned out to be great advice, but largely due to right time, right place.

He on the other hand invested his money and has also done very well for himself, which is pretty great as well.
 
shanekingsley said:
In 2008 I had some money and wasn't sure if I should invest it or buy real estate. A childhood friend is a very successful wholesale fund guy for a big bank and always has excellent advice for me. I asked him what he thought I should do and he told me "Do not wait - buy real estate right now, unless you are a knowledgeable investor willing to track your investments and make changes as needed".

I am inherently lazy and so I bought real estate and it's turned out to be great advice, but largely due to right time, right place.

He on the other hand invested his money and has also done very well for himself, which is pretty great as well.
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In 2008, I bought some apple for $80 to 100 a share. I still hold those shares. Split adjusted price is now ~$3950 per share. I was contemplating using an unsecured loc to buy more at the time. I didnt. No early retirement for me.
 
crankcall said:
apparently to 'afford' a Toronto house right now takes a family income of $196,000.00 . There are a lot of people that cannot afford the GTA market . And they are couples with ok jobs.
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Damn... You both need to be making $100-120k and have no kids
 
Pretty sure I heard on the radio yesterday...

- average detached home in Toronto...1.7M
- average detached home in Mississauga - 1.4M
 
mimico_polak said:
Pretty sure I heard on the radio yesterday...

- average detached home in Toronto...1.7M
- average detached home in Mississauga - 1.4M
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www.thestar.com

Opinion | Changing the rules so more homes are for first-time buyers, not speculators

It’s also well past time to introduce an annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential property in Ontario. It would be a two per cent tax applied to speculators who pay the majority of their taxes outside the province and investors who own houses they don’t live in throughout the Greater...
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

I need to start looking for a six figure income ......
 
george__ said:
www.therecord.com

Rental prices nearly double at Kitchener building after takeover

Starlight Investments bought 375 units across seven buildings in Kitchener and Waterloo
www.therecord.com www.therecord.com

This is crazy..

Area is not the best
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Old beat-up rentals are an interesting situation. Do you leave them old and beat up and cheap to rent? Do you improve them to match what people expect now and increase the price accordingly? Both systems will have their detractors (if you leave it, people will argue that renters "deserve" nice places to live, if you modernize it, people will argue that market rent it too expensive for people to afford). As per MP's experience as a landlord, even if you ignore the lower monthly income, trying to help your tenants can cost you a fortune when it is time to sell. Doubling the rent on these apartments roughly doubles the value of the building if they were to sell it.

You need a well-funded non-profit (or government entity?) to buy a high percentage of the apartments and rent them at cost-recovery levels to stabilize rents. Buying a building or two gets you TPH where there is incredible competition to get in and many people that need the housing can't get it. There needs to be enough of those units to always have some available and therefore drag down market rent in the area as people have an affordable alternative and choose private landlords for other reasons (granite instead of laminate, prefer low-density neighbourhood, etc).
 
george__ said:
www.thestar.com

Opinion | Changing the rules so more homes are for first-time buyers, not speculators

It’s also well past time to introduce an annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential property in Ontario. It would be a two per cent tax applied to speculators who pay the majority of their taxes outside the province and investors who own houses they don’t live in throughout the Greater...
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

I need to start looking for a six figure income ......
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Hahaha.
"That is why the NDP has a plan to increase the Non-Resident Speculation Tax from 15 to 20 per cent and expand the tax to apply everywhere in Ontario."

NDP never has a plan, they have sound bites with no plan to back them up. I highly suspect that with our definition of resident, there truly aren't that many "non-residents" that would attract the tax. If they implemented such a tax, I suspect that would more than pay for the required structures to dodge it and nobody would actually pay it. Fix the definition of resident to include something like declaring income (and paying tax) in canada at a level commensurate with the property you are planning on buying and things would change but no politician will ever touch that.

Also that article brought up another of our common north american misconceptions. People delaying having children until they can afford more bedrooms. F that. In a one bedroom flat in much of europe (and I presume asia), you often have three generations living in the space. The north american "requirement" of one bedroom for every person plus an extra drives up square footage and therefore monthly costs. Mental realignment of needs vs wants is a major problem. My brother refused to buy a place that wasn't beautiful with granite counters, a bedroom for kid and future kid, a guest room, 2+ bathrooms, no work required, detached required, great neighbourhood etc. His budget was ~450K two years ago. He obviously didn't find anything that met his "needs" and now he is hosed. The house he is renting was purchased by a nice guy as an investment. It is currently worth about double what he paid for it 4 years ago and is a tear down as the lot is far better than the crap house with poorly constructed additions. If his landlord could clear mid six-figures, would he keep the house? If someone bought it, would they keep the renters, try for more money or flatten immediately? He has become a passenger in life because he conflated needs and wants..
 
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Stuff near me is listing at higher prices but most is hanging out for a long time. A few months ago, prices were down a few hundred thousand but they were selling in 72 hours or less. Now the listing prices are up but they are sitting for 30 days or more and not much is selling.
 
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