How`s your house pricing doing?..

[ifiddles]

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I found the calculator

My house came up with a value of $765,700...I paid $257,000 for it in 2009...it's paid off...the way I look at it, it's my home, so whatever number comes up doesn't really mean anything unless I'm in the mood to sell...the more mine is, the more I have to pay for my future home, unless of course I move hours away, which I'm not willing to do.

A friend of ours has been wanting to sell for years...in the height of things, he had received an offer of $2M for his place in Acton...his agent at the time was greedy and thought he could get more...he didn't...he sold a few months ago and go $1.5M I believe...he moved back home to Newfoundland, so I'm sure, he still made out very well, but in his case, he definitely lost out.

Other than maybe moving into a 55+ community that works on a land lease model, I don't see myself moving any time soon, so values are all a wash in my eyes.

 

[Brian P]

I think heat recovery systems are now required in new homes as well as high efficiency furnaces and AC.

This is a couple-thousand-dollar thing at the builders' construction stage with the prices that builders pay.

A cold-weather heat pump would be today's choice (and this price shown is the retail price, not the builder's price): Napoleon Cold Climate Heat Pump | Premium Series 2 Ton Heat Pump

ACFI is one thing that's driven price to the roof and insulation standards

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What's ACFI?

I'm not arguing that it isn't more expensive to build a house nowadays, because it is, but the portion that can be allocated to building-code changes doesn't look like the big part of it ... and the changes that I can see to the building code, are in the interest of saving energy, which would offset those costs.

Cost of lumber has increased a lot.

 

[GreyGhost]

This is a couple-thousand-dollar thing at the builders' construction stage with the prices that builders pay.

A cold-weather heat pump would be today's choice (and this price shown is the retail price, not the builder's price): Napoleon Cold Climate Heat Pump | Premium Series 2 Ton Heat Pump




What's ACFI?

I'm not arguing that it isn't more expensive to build a house nowadays, because it is, but the portion that can be allocated to building-code changes doesn't look like the big part of it ... and the changes that I can see to the building code, are in the interest of saving energy, which would offset those costs.

Cost of lumber has increased a lot.

Afci is arc-fault breakers. Needed on almost every circuit now. Thousands of dollars with almost zero benefit and many downsides. Basically profitable witchcraft engrained in code.

 

[Mad Mike]

I think heat recovery systems are now required in new homes as well as high efficiency furnaces and AC.

insulation and building envelope +$15k - under slab, walls, attic,
Plumbing - $7k back flow preventers, expansion tanks, temp balancers, basement roughins, additional clean-outs
Electrical - $7k. - 200a service, ev readiness, gfci, dedicated circuits
HVAC $6k - HRVs, increase to 95% efficiency furnaces, sealed ductwirk

It all adds up. Adding $50k cost to a basic house adds $$70k to the price.

Then development fees…

Resistance to new tech also adds cost as builders cant depend on local inspectors to be up to speed on things like sip panels, 24OC framing, single top plates on non load bearing walls, header sizes etc. I could go on.

 

[Bobo]

Afci is arc-fault breakers. Needed on almost every circuit now. Thousands of dollars with almost zero benefit and many downsides. Basically profitable witchcraft engrained in code.

Five years ago I would have agreed with you. I deal with ESA inspectors all the time and the discussion of current AFCI breaker requirements often comes up. Inspectors are usually on the scene after any house fire in their jurisdiction. More than one has said to me that they’ve seen fires that could have been prevented with AFCI breakers. Typically they add about $75-$100 per circuit that requires them, so maybe $1500-$3000 per home. Is that worth avoiding a house fire? Most people wouldn’t think twice about spending that much on a coffee table. I think they would be much more effective, though on an older house than a new one.

 

[Mad Mike]

This is a couple-thousand-dollar thing at the builders' construction stage with the prices that builders pay.

Builders don’t pay all that much less than consumers do at Home Depot. In a lot of cases they pay more as they rely on industrial supply houses for to get efficient and dependable supply and service.

I can’t use elcheapo pex fittings from Home Depot - saving $500 on fittings can have killer results. I bought 2 chineze mip-poly brass fitting last week from Home Depot to connect mains to a couple of camp trailers. Both showed poracity after 2 days. Changing those $10 fittings cost 5 hours of man-time.

A cold-weather heat pump would be today's choice (and this price shown is the retail price, not the builder's price): Napoleon Cold Climate Heat Pump | Premium Series 2 Ton Heat Pump

Ok, but they need supplemental heat in most of Ontario. Huge cost.

What's ACFI?

I'm not arguing that it isn't more expensive to build a house nowadays, because it is, but the portion that can be allocated to building-code changes doesn't look like the big part of it ... and the changes that I can see to the building code, are in the interest of saving energy, which would offset those costs.

Cost of lumber has increased a lot.

Thing is they don’t offset costs. Add $40 to a 1200sq house for insulation, windows, doors, hvac for a 5% efficiency gain doesn’t come close to offsetting the extra cost - they cannot ever pay off.

 

[shanekingsley]

You know your mortgage rate is 3%, fixed. A 6% investment return is a reasonable expectation - whether it be bank stocks, etfs, rental housing - it’s simply putting your home equity to work.

The investment income pays the mortgage, and interest paid on the mortgage portion used for investments is tax deductible.

A lot of winning to be had if your willing to sort thru the details.

I used this strategy to help stretch my Dad's investments, so that he could live in a retirement home for 5x longer than we originally anticipated. It helped that his TD advisor and his accountant were very much in his corner.

 

[Mad Mike]

Afci is arc-fault breakers. Needed on almost every circuit now. Thousands of dollars with almost zero benefit and many downsides. Basically profitable witchcraft engrained in code.

This is a good example of a major cost component. Electrical parts add 1500-2k, but electrical contractors have to price in heavy diagnostics and callbacks to support trick-trips on elcheapo fixtures, switches, appliances, and such that don’t play nice with afci breakers.

In my city of 350,000, there were 8 major fires (over $100k damage. Statistically 15% are electrical ( so one a year on average), afci would have reduced that to 0.5.

 

[Mad Mike]

I used this strategy to help stretch my Dad's investments, so that he could live in a retirement home for 5x longer than we originally anticipated. It helped that his TD advisor and his accountant were very much in his corner.

I did the same. When I tool over managing my parents financial affairs 12 years ago they had about 5 years of living as they were accustomed to. It’s about 25 years now, and growing by 5 years per annum. Mum is 85, dad passed. She’s in happily ever after territory now.

 

[AllistonGT]

Maybe I'm crazy or just not the norm but I bought my house to have a home to live in and raise a family. It's much more to me than an investment. I couldn't care less what it's worth. I gotta live somewhere.

 

[shanekingsley]

Maybe I'm crazy or just not the norm but I bought my house to have a home to live in and raise a family. It's much more to me than an investment. I couldn't care less what it's worth. I gotta live somewhere.

I'm the same. Spent all our coin renovating the place so we could enjoy it for decades to come. Whenever the time comes to sell it and move elsewhere, it will just be icing on the cake if it's worth more than we paid. But the reality is that we like our home so much, that it will be hard to leave whenever that time comes.

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