Real Estate

Anyone else browse realtor.com and dream about living in the states?

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  • Oct 28th, 2015 3:43 pm
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Banned
Apr 23, 2015
994 posts
163 upvotes
Toronto, ON

Anyone else browse realtor.com and dream about living in the states?

Am I the only person in this site that browses houses in the US to marvel at how affordable things are down south? I love browsing houses in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Austin, etc. It is so refreshing to see cities with affordable housing.

Am I the only one?
17 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Apr 20, 2011
5310 posts
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Vancouver
Property taxes in the US are high and there is a limit on the amount of a primary residence you can sell without paying tax.
Banned
Apr 23, 2015
994 posts
163 upvotes
Toronto, ON
I will pay $300k instead of $1M and fork over $200 more a year in taxes...

Also, the tax rate for someone with my income would be significantly lower in the states.
Deal Addict
Aug 30, 2011
3537 posts
1279 upvotes
Ottawa
I'm not sure you have any idea what it's like to live in these cities. To be honest, if you're wanting "cheap" why not move to Detroit?
Banned
Apr 23, 2015
994 posts
163 upvotes
Toronto, ON
OttawaGardener wrote: I'm not sure you have any idea what it's like to live in these cities. To be honest, if you're wanting "cheap" why not move to Detroit?
I have friends or relatives in these cities and have been there. These cities are not nearly as bad as the sheltered crowd in RFD makes it out to be...

However, it is not easy to get an career transfer as a Canadian unless you have specialized skills.
Deal Addict
Jul 23, 2014
1298 posts
503 upvotes
Toronto, ON
HumansOfToronto wrote: I have friends or relatives in these cities and have been there. These cities are not nearly as bad as the sheltered crowd in RFD makes it out to be...

However, it is not easy to get an career transfer as a Canadian unless you have specialized skills.
be ready to pay 10k for your own working VISA.. not sure what it is now, but that was 6-8 years ago.
Deal Addict
May 10, 2006
2759 posts
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Not in the States but definitely somewhere in Europe. Maybe Italy or Paris.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 24, 2005
5853 posts
1695 upvotes
No -- any good area in the States is way more expensive then here (NYC or SF)

anywhere else is like living in Hamilton
Banned
Oct 5, 2015
46 posts
1 upvote
Scarborough, ON
HumansOfToronto wrote: Am I the only person in this site that browses houses in the US to marvel at how affordable things are down south? I love browsing houses in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Austin, etc. It is so refreshing to see cities with affordable housing.

Am I the only one?
Nope because I've lived in the states and the cheap places I don't want to live..the good places aren't much cheaper..I was paying 700k for a small bungalow around walnut (east LA county) back in the mid 2000s already

Same with Irvine, anaheim hills... I have friends living in MA around boston and housing there is much more expensive than GTA
Banned
Oct 5, 2015
46 posts
1 upvote
Scarborough, ON
HumansOfToronto wrote: I have friends or relatives in these cities and have been there. These cities are not nearly as bad as the sheltered crowd in RFD makes it out to be...

However, it is not easy to get an career transfer as a Canadian unless you have specialized skills.
Its really easy to get job in states if you are a professional or have some sort of designation
Deal Addict
Aug 12, 2004
4511 posts
2168 upvotes
Calgary
HumansOfToronto wrote: I will pay $300k instead of $1M and fork over $200 more a year in taxes...

Also, the tax rate for someone with my income would be significantly lower in the states.
Not sure how you are calculating property taxes, but property taxes in a place like Dallas is 2.77% a year. There are areas in the US with much higher taxes also. For a cheap place worth 300k property taxes are 8310 a year. In Canada property taxes are half a point in most areas at worst. No idea how you think you will pay 200$ more in taxes. Most of those dream places you see that are cheap (Texas is often the state people look at) are in jurisdictions with very high taxes. And we have not even talked about insurance yet, which is a racket in itself in the states.

The tax system in the US is completely different than what Canadians are used to, but for whatever reason Canadians see lower income taxes and cheap housing and think that is the whole story.
Deal Guru
May 1, 2012
10538 posts
11427 upvotes
Toronto
HumansOfToronto wrote: I have friends or relatives in these cities and have been there. These cities are not nearly as bad as the sheltered crowd in RFD makes it out to be...

However, it is not easy to get an career transfer as a Canadian unless you have specialized skills.
I can take this a step further. I've actually lived in many of these cities you speak of.

Half the affordable places are either crime ridden or terribly kept. The other half are in places that no one wants to be, like Lexington Kentucky or Buttseks Montana.

The actual places people want to be that seem pretty decent (even though they have much more crime)... they tend to cost as much if not more than the GTA... WITH the added benefit of paying your own health insurance. 8 years ago, I was paying $220 semi-monthly ($440 monthly) for a decent health insurance that also had co-pays ($80 x-ray copay, $20 doctors visit copay, etc...).

I don't think you have it all figured out.
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Feb 18, 2010
1130 posts
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Greely
I was looking at smaller towns outside of Phoenix or Tucson, mostly to stay for 4-5 months a year during the winter. I like motorcycling touring, so I'd actually prefer to live out of town, close to the scenic and hopefully twisty roads. However, it's probably prudent to rent a place first to see if I actually would like AZ, and with the USDCAD situation, renting is probably the best way to go for the medium term
Deal Guru
Jun 7, 2005
10358 posts
1482 upvotes
Toronto
Agree. OP should compare the NYC, SF, or LA to Toronto. Otherwise, I am sure there are many small cities in Canada with very low cost of living as well.
OttawaGardener wrote: I'm not sure you have any idea what it's like to live in these cities. To be honest, if you're wanting "cheap" why not move to Detroit?
Deal Addict
May 2, 2011
1380 posts
549 upvotes
Oakville, ON
rdx wrote: Agree. OP should compare the NYC, SF, or LA to Toronto. Otherwise, I am sure there are many small cities in Canada with very low cost of living as well.
OP take a look at Windsor and Niagara Region in Southwestern Ontario. No need to leave Ontario if all you want is affordable housing.
Deal Fanatic
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Apr 20, 2011
5310 posts
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Vancouver
Firebot wrote: Not sure how you are calculating property taxes, but property taxes in a place like Dallas is 2.77% a year. There are areas in the US with much higher taxes also. For a cheap place worth 300k property taxes are 8310 a year. In Canada property taxes are half a point in most areas at worst. No idea how you think you will pay 200$ more in taxes. Most of those dream places you see that are cheap (Texas is often the state people look at) are in jurisdictions with very high taxes. And we have not even talked about insurance yet, which is a racket in itself in the states.

The tax system in the US is completely different than what Canadians are used to, but for whatever reason Canadians see lower income taxes and cheap housing and think that is the whole story.
that's because most of the TN-1 nafta Canadians working in the US rent. If people actually look up the taxes involved in owning a home its insane.
Sr. Member
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May 10, 2015
513 posts
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Vancouver, BC
i look at housing price in hk then glad im living in canada..LOL
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Dec 21, 2011
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Allenford
marcopolo85 wrote: Not in the States but definitely somewhere in Europe. Maybe Italy or Paris.
same. husband keeps looking at UK/Ireland where we would bleed money.


agree with others, lots of comparable to prices OP sees in Canada, outside of COU and GVR.

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