Personal Finance

first time buying home.. so depressing

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Deal Addict
Feb 20, 2008
2674 posts
801 upvotes
Too itchy wrote: if u want to have a reasonably priced house, than durham would be best. It is still close to toronto. Sure, the property tax is high, but if you care about living in a house and not flipping within a year or two...then durham is better. i think durham is the last bastion of affordable area, before all areas within a 50 km radius of toronto is no longer reasonably affordable.
Check out St Clair West and Dufferin. There are still homes to be found for less than $500k. And the Italians and Portuguese were pretty good homeowners.
Deal Addict
Oct 29, 2010
4475 posts
811 upvotes
avatar12 wrote: Thank you for your comment. I might consider to find another job closer to my potential new home if turns out my life will be miserable due to long commute....
DO NOT MOVE! I can't stress enough... If you are new at your job (or your wife) and it will say "probation" in your contract with your job, you will have a much harder time getting a mortgage.
Also, if your wife wants to open her own business, first get a mortgage with a steady paying job, get a mortgage and then open whatever business you want. Leave as many options as possible.
The good thing, if you have at least 20% down, you don't need mortgage insurance so it will be much easier to get a mortgage even if your wife doesn't work or if you're under probation, but don't push it, specially when the market is so hot that you need every edge possible. 80%+ of houses sell without finance condition, so if you're going to do that (because you want to be competitive) then you want to know 100% sure that you will get mortgage.
Plan everything a head and talk with a mortgage broker and run some scenarios with him.
Sr. Member
Dec 25, 2006
784 posts
8 upvotes
avatar12 wrote: Thank you all so much for all the comments, positive and negative, I appreciate them all ! Didn't expect to generate so much comment with this post :)
The housing market right now is really depressing and discourage, for those 80's to 90's. It's difficult to save down payment for those folks.

I have a wife and 2 kids, 3 and 11. We are planning to put down 200k as down payment, my salary is 61k and my wife currently is under E.I, I'm currently renting a condo for $1100.
We are not looking for some detach double garage house or some area with schools which are top 5 in Ontario, we are just looking for a place with a space big enough for our over active son to run around :) , maybe a place with a small basement so that he can build his own man cave there (no man cave for married man... )

I understand that once my wife goes back to full time, we properly can get lend more, assuming the household income can be 10k to 11k. However I'm not counting on my wife as I want her to start her business and I will be the one who's supporting the family while shes pursuing her dream. I don't mind to commute 1 to 2 hours every day to work if we have to move far north (I work in downtown), as long as we the numbers make sense (transit vs driving).

I started to look at mls and realmarketwatch recently, and it sucks .... Seeing all those asking price vs closing price ... its just insane.
Anyways .. I'm not looking for the bubble to pop as I think theres no bubble, it's just how the world runs now.
Look at newmarket, good sized bungalows under 500k, commute to Dt by go train is relatively stress free, good appreciation potential too
Deal Addict
Jun 17, 2012
1176 posts
84 upvotes
STONEY CREEK
Where I am you can outright buy a nice sized tow home for 200k... (That's what we did) and my wife commutes to Toronto with a friend (carpool) and has no problems with it at all. She also loves her job so that might be a big player in it.
She was taking the go train at the start but since has prices dropped, carpooling made more sense to them.

I still can't get over how expensive houses are over there. I'd rather have an extra couple of rooms and still pay 500k less and commute than the latter.
Sr. Member
Oct 19, 2005
886 posts
235 upvotes
Brampton
jrychlik wrote: Where I am you can outright buy a nice sized tow home for 200k... (That's what we did) and my wife commutes to Toronto with a friend (carpool) and has no problems with it at all. She also loves her job so that might be a big player in it.
She was taking the go train at the start but since has prices dropped, carpooling made more sense to them.

I still can't get over how expensive houses are over there. I'd rather have an extra couple of rooms and still pay 500k less and commute than the latter.
That's great!! Where r u located If u don't mind me ask?
Sr. Member
Oct 19, 2005
886 posts
235 upvotes
Brampton
well ... looks like wife wanna stay in scarborough after all .... sigh ... fml
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 31, 2008
13010 posts
3095 upvotes
Toronto
jrychlik wrote: Where I am you can outright buy a nice sized tow home for 200k... (That's what we did) and my wife commutes to Toronto with a friend (carpool) and has no problems with it at all. She also loves her job so that might be a big player in it.
She was taking the go train at the start but since has prices dropped, carpooling made more sense to them.

I still can't get over how expensive houses are over there. I'd rather have an extra couple of rooms and still pay 500k less and commute than the latter.
Just wondering, do you have kids yet? I've thought of that too, but after having kids, unless you have help close to the further home, being able to get home quicker and reliably is something that people pay the premium for.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 31, 2008
13010 posts
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Toronto
avatar12 wrote: well ... looks like wife wanna stay in scarborough after all .... sigh ... fml
Do you guys have a home there already? Prices in Scarbs has gone up considerably over the last year and a half.
Sr. Member
Oct 19, 2005
886 posts
235 upvotes
Brampton
at1212b wrote: Just wondering, do you have kids yet? I've thought of that too, but after having kids, unless you have help close to the further home, being able to get home quicker and reliably is something that people pay the premium for.
Yep we have 2 kids, 11 and 3 ... wife wants to stay in scarborough as she wants to stay close with her parents ....
Sr. Member
Oct 19, 2005
886 posts
235 upvotes
Brampton
at1212b wrote: Do you guys have a home there already? Prices in Scarbs has gone up considerably over the last year and a half.
Nope, we are renting right now... prices in Scarborough really gone up a lot and i dont see it will comes down at all ... best might just slow down ..
Deal Addict
Aug 12, 2004
4511 posts
2168 upvotes
Calgary
avatar12 wrote: Yep we have 2 kids, 11 and 3 ... wife wants to stay in scarborough as she wants to stay close with her parents ....
There has to be sacrifices...Scarborough is still fairly expensive.

Having a 200K downpayment is great, but at income of 61K and 2 kids, the reality is that at best you can take on a 250K mortgage at the very max (while living frugally). Do not count your wife's planned business as income, likely it will be an expense for a while, even if it does take off. It is a different story if she works, but it does not sound like this is in the cards.

What this means, is to be somewhat stable, you have to look at places 450K and under. You are downright limited with that budget and location to the point where you may not like the options.

http://www.remax.ca/on/scarborough-real ... TypeIds=20

You could get a townhome like this for under 450K, however I am not familiar with the area, could be a dump.

http://www.remax.ca/on/toronto-real-est ... 159629-lst

You could get a bungalow...quaint is the right word. Again, area could be an issue.

http://www.remax.ca/on/toronto-real-est ... 158455-lst

Another townhome.

http://www.remax.ca/on/toronto-real-est ... 140301-lst

Most people though nowadays seem to want to get a big 3 bedroom 2 bath fairly new big house, with 2 garage doors, want it at 300-400K despite market realities, yet in a good location.

Something has to give, prices go up with so many people looking for places and such high home ownership, and location comes at a big premium.

I think you need to face reality, go smaller to live more comfortably, or live outside of Scarborough and start considering places like Ajax and Whitby, or make more money. Now, to try and mention that to the wife and try to reason, could be a lost battle :) .
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 31, 2008
13010 posts
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Toronto
avatar12 wrote: Nope, we are renting right now... prices in Scarborough really gone up a lot and i dont see it will comes down at all ... best might just slow down ..
This won't make you feel better but I was just going through my drawer and found this.. from almost exactly 2 years ago. This price reflects the average bungalow price around this time. This one specifically is in the east side of Scarbs.

[IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/210d5w8.jpg[/IMG]
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 13, 2003
1480 posts
1420 upvotes
SASKABUSH
We were seriously lucky to get our house when we did ($43,000, 14 yrs ago) commute to the city here is 20-25 min. We're both low income workers. (now both our kids are grown and moved out, house has 1.5 yrs left, and I even managed to put RESP's away for both kids

DO YOU NEED IT or do you want it was my mentality as I WANTED a house in a small town and not $1000/month rent for a 2 bed apt .... people can and will sacrifice

I wish you all the best in achieving your goal
Deal Expert
User avatar
Oct 26, 2003
39338 posts
6341 upvotes
Winnipeg
snow00774 wrote: wow. all these threads are an advertisement to move out of the GTA if you make less than 120k and want to own a decent home.
yeah, i'd advise get out of gta period, seems ontario economy been going downhill for the last decade, and with the high cost of living and low salary it's depressing for a lot of people
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 20, 2011
5310 posts
484 upvotes
Vancouver
divx wrote: yeah, i'd advise get out of gta period, seems ontario economy been going downhill for the last decade, and with the high cost of living and low salary it's depressing for a lot of people
Washington State or Quebec are good - cheaper to run a 1PH mine
Sr. Member
User avatar
May 7, 2007
521 posts
203 upvotes
Peterborough
Bencherstyle wrote: thank you, will start looking and researching!
Mtg $300,000
Mtg payment: $1,420 (@ 2.79% over 5 years at 25 year amortization)
Taxes: $350
utilities: $300
Insurance: $150
extras: $150
Total: $2370 per month to carry a $300,000 mortgage

I myself relocated out of the GTA after 25 years to Niagara On The Lake 3 years ago. You can buy an awesome 4 bedroom 7 year old semi here for $280k Do the math! Unless you have a high profile or Govt position in the GTA it makes no sense to stay there. I have almost zero traffic (#1 reason I moved out) Really, the traffic and commuting was killing me
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 20, 2011
5310 posts
484 upvotes
Vancouver
toprodcr wrote: Mtg $300,000
Mtg payment: $1,420 (@ 2.79% over 5 years at 25 year amortization)
Taxes: $350
utilities: $300
Insurance: $150
extras: $150
Total: $2370 per month to carry a $300,000 mortgage

I myself relocated out of the GTA after 25 years to Niagara On The Lake 3 years ago. You can buy an awesome 4 bedroom 7 year old semi here for $280k Do the math! Unless you have a high profile or Govt position in the GTA it makes no sense to stay there. I have almost zero traffic (#1 reason I moved out) Really, the traffic and commuting was killing me
I understand some people prefer to go home after work and are ok with the rural suburban lifestyle but.. $4000 in annual taxes on a $300,000 property? thats a lot. seriously.
Sr. Member
Oct 19, 2005
886 posts
235 upvotes
Brampton
popbottle wrote: I understand some people prefer to go home after work and are ok with the rural suburban lifestyle but.. $4000 in annual taxes on a $300,000 property? thats a lot. seriously.
I believe the numbers he/she listed there is previous home?

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