Researching areas to live in. | GTAMotorcycle.com

Researching areas to live in.

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mimico_polak

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Hey all,
Well it's that time where baby #2 is coming up and our place is now feeling a little cramped already! We are considering upsizing the current living arrangement (townhouse in Cooksville) and are looking for a 'forever' home.
Unfortunately I'm not really sure how to research areas that we are considering. The area we're in is close to all our family and friends, and are considering in b/w 427 in the East to the 403 in the West and North as the boundary.
It's a large area, but I'm not sure where to find things like 'neighbourhood scores', school ratings, and the like. We'd prefer Etobicoke (below 401/403) as that's close to everyone, but unfortunately the pricing in those pockets is out of reach for the most part, or we'd be really stretching the budget if we went that route. Mississauga is most likely but would prefer to stay in the 416.
Can anyone point me in the right direction in order to focus on some areas that we can consider?
Thanks!
 
I'd be looking for a real estate agent.
There are a few that have been around that area for a long time and know it inside and out.
Leo the Lion comes to mind.

From what I know you're looking at $1 mil around there for a detached. Minimum.
My BIL is at Burnhamthorpe and Ponytrail. Nice area. Nice schools. Expensive.
My MIL sold a few years back just up the street in Etobicoke. Even more expensive.
I personally like the Royal York area.
The only thing I can recommend is to find an area that has similar families to yours.
When we moved to Etobicoke when I was young, the whole neighborhood was older (high school kids and up) and I was 5.
It sucked not having kids close by. And I know that there weren't any because we backed onto a park.

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As Joe has politely pointed out, wanting a recommendation and being able to afford it may be 2 different things.
Perhaps you could give an idea of a target price.
Assuming somewhere between 750 to 1 mil?
 
@JB - yes you're correct thank you. I know that area well and my parents are at Burnhamthorpe and West Mall, and sister is at Dundas / Mississauga Rd. That area is great and I'd love to move there. Ideally back in New Toronto / Mimico but that's just out of the price range.
@Kedo - Yes that's the range we are looking at. Ideally max 900k but we can stretch to 1M.
 
jc100 said:
I don’t envy you guys. I can’t fathom a $ million house. That’s insane.
Click to expand...
As much as it sounds crazy, selling his townhouse for 600+ (likely ++) makes it slightly more palatable.

We moved quite far north where houses and prices mentally match. Looking at stuff in toronto proper is just depressing. I saw a facebook ad for what appeared to be a crappy war house for 2.2. Good luck in your search.
 
JavaFan said:
+1 for k-town

University town and all that brings with it
except the outrageous real estate prices
Click to expand...

Even those prices are going up here but it’s still well below TO levels. There’s quite a few people moving here from the GTA and industry has picked up a bit, there’s a fair amount of jobs growth outside of the university/prisons/hospital areas now.
 
GreyGhost said:
As much as it sounds crazy, selling his townhouse for 600+ (likely ++) makes it slightly more palatable.

We moved quite far north where houses and prices mentally match. Looking at stuff in toronto proper is just depressing. I saw a facebook ad for what appeared to be a crappy war house for 2.2. Good luck in your search.
Click to expand...

Yes we are looking at selling our town (approx. 200k from the sale after all expenses) and another 300k from a different property that we are in the process of liquidating. Getting out of the slumlording business as it's been good, but my parents want their cash and I can't afford to buy them out.
 
Realtor.ca lets you browse the listings but every house is charming. What isn't given is the neighbourhood feel, champagne or beer crowd. Traffic will change for the worse as condos infill where there used to be open spaces etc. Forever is a pipe dream unless you are very tolerant.
 
Longbranch always seems to be a couple bucks under the nieghbors, not sure if it’s catching up or not. I always liked it as it seemed central to everything.


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mimico_polak said:
@JB - yes you're correct thank you. I know that area well and my parents are at Burnhamthorpe and West Mall, and sister is at Dundas / Mississauga Rd. That area is great and I'd love to move there. Ideally back in New Toronto / Mimico but that's just out of the price range.
@Kedo - Yes that's the range we are looking at. Ideally max 900k but we can stretch to 1M.
Click to expand...
My dad still lives at West Mall and Bloor (south west side behind the plaza), last i heard from him the houses there are hovering in the $800k area. I know he's looking to potentially sell late this year. If you`re interested PM me and i'll try to get you more details.
 
Realtor.ca provides stats in the listings for area income levels, demographics, etc. Under Neighbourhood and Statistics "tabs" (right above Description in the listing), not always obvious to see in their page.

For schools, I find this the easiest to use: School Performance Based mostly on EQAO but you can see trends year to year.

I also recommend taking a drive through the location(s) a few times/days at night before seeing the house. We did this, you would be surprised how some look good during the day but become super shifty at night.
 
The feel of the neighbourhood is very important and hard to accurately gauge unless you know someone that lives there. We live in a subdivision that is very similar to a friends subdivision. I really like the vast majority of our neighbours, they are friendly and helpful. Outwardly the friends subdivision is similar with the neighbours interacting a lot, however, I hate the people in my friends neighbourhood. They are a bunch of new-money d-bags that act like drunken high school kids. I don't know how to figure this out prior to someone living there and it is vitally important to your experience in the neighbourhood. Now over the long term, this also changes so there are no guarantees.
 
we bought based on three factors exclusively
1. can we afford the place
2. the best public school in town (at the time)
3. is it a long term solution

we lucked out and have GREAT immediate nieghbors , the ones down the street are hill billys, complete with firepit on the front lawn. But the kids play outside alot so thats cool.
 
If you become the worst neighbours in the hood that solves that problem!

My neighbourhood is 99% fine apart from the dick next door but he’s been put in his place now so all is well.

One house a few blocks away seems to have an extended (loud) family living in it, permanent trash skip on the front driveway along with a dilapidated trampoline, enough kids to start their own rugby team, some mechanical works in progress and they are developing an African savannah setting in the yard with metre tall grass. They aren’t that popular.

One piece of advice I was given was tour your prospective new neighbourhood at different times of the day/night to see what it’s like. The local gang leader may have a night shift job.
 
The Star has an article this morning, average detached home in the 416 is $1.3 million. 905 is just over $900k.


Might have to adjust budget or expectations?

Best of luck to you in the search for your family’s forever home.

Some folks manage to find it and stay. Often, I’ve seen many pursue it and end up changing their perspective over time and make another change of residence.





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this house was a long term solution but not our forever house, priorities and interests swing over time. 6 car garage with a bungalow on top would now be perfect, but a bit hard to find. I hate yardwork but need a yard for dogs, have a two car garage and 4car drive and use all the space with only two people living here. First world problems I know, I would like a commercial building with 12ft roll up doors to fit sailboats, wife would like country house with a yard for goats. somewhere in the middle is the answer.
 
The further north of Kingston you go the more economically depressed it gets, no industry unless you bring it with you. Lots of fresh water, lots of bugs, lots of rock and lots of trees. Is all good except the bugs part. lol perfect for goats, they climb rocks and eat poison ivy.

You don't really want to be starting to build a nice new house now-a-days unless you have about a million to spend :| and the price of construction is going up constantly because the building standards are too.
 
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