• single story – FOR SALE CAD1 . coming soon price to be determined
in Georgina
You too can own a waterfront cottage within 60 minutes of Toronto. Less driving time therefore, less gas, and more time to enjoy family time. No taxes, no cars, with a parking and ferry service located on the mainland. Complete relaxation in this cottage with a view. More details to follow but just thought I would put this out before you bought something.
3/19/2018
So I came across this list online that shows a few average costs of things in 1958, now I have done a little checking and the Canadian dollar was between .98 and 1.05 roughly then, so not exactly even but very close and finding all of these statistics for Canadian prices exactly hasn’t been completely feasible – but I did find a few and they are very close – and it’s again the concept we are focusing on – the fact that the smallest increases have been sugar and milk – whereas income doesn’t make the top half of increases – coming in 10th out of 15 examples!
1958 2018 increase
New House $12,000.00 $ 650,000.00 5416.67%
Average Income $ 4,650.00 $ 32,994.00 709.55%
New Car $ 2,155.00 $ 33,464.00 1552.85%
Average Rent $ 95.00 $ 1,800.00 1894.74%
University Tuition $ 1,000.00 $ 6,500.00 650.00%
Movie ticket $ 1.00 $ 14.00 1400.00%
Gas $ 0.06 $ 1.20 litre 2000.00%
Stamp $ 0.04 $ 0.85 dom 2125.00%
White Sugar $ 0.45 $ 1.44 5 lbs 320.00%
Milk $ 1.01 $ 4.00 4 l 396.04%
Coffee $ 0.93 $ 4.00 per lb 430.11%
Bacon $ 0.62 $ 6.00 per lb 967.74%
Eggs $ 0.28 $ 3.00 dozen 1071.43%
Lean ground beef $ 0.57 $ 4.00 per lb 701.75%
loaf of bread $ 0.19 $ 3.00 loaf 1578.95%
So, what we are looking at is something we all already know, that the cost of living hasn’t slowed down to let our incomes catch up! Even something as simple as going to a movie takes twice the disposable income now as it did then. So we are shifting our expectations, first time home buyers have aged from their early 20’s to late 30’s and early 40’s. Interest rates are fantastic now – lowest ever, even the prime rate back in 1958 was between 3.5% and 4.8% – our mortgage rates are lower than that now.
This all comes together to say many things – we live in interesting yet difficult times, where things are plenty and often just dangled in front of us, just a carrot out of reach. Buying a first home forces people to manage their own expectations, with concessions being made and buying townhomes and condos, or staying home and living in basements for often decades trying to pool that downpayment together. I will use a couple averages here, 3% rate, 30 yr amortization and you get roughly $2,500/mth payment. Why have they tightened mortgage rules you ask – well if you are a first time buyer who has saved diligently for more than a decade and finally put it all on the line for a home, then the market falls 15%, when your mortgage comes up for renewal you may no longer qualify, the bank may look at your situation and realize that the small market correct has absorbed all of your equity and more and under these terms you don’t qualify for a mortgage.
So in a year look at the situations as a whole – a small market adjustment has just destroyed a first time buyers 2 decades of savings. I would never suggest that you can protect yourself against this happening, you can do your due diligence and try to predict what the market is going to do. Unfortunately, in the process you can get swept up in the pageantry of it all and imagine yourself in your new place, your dream that you have saved for hoping that no matter what happens you can make it work. You can go into this with a smile on your face and the right people in your corner, us who know the factors that cause change – who watch and know the limits you may forget in that moment of excitement. Remember we have no desire to sell you just a house or simply sell your house for you. It’s too hard to find professionals you can trust, to find clients who recognize and appreciate that you care and who comprehend that referring family and friends is not only the greatest compliment you can give us, but the referring of professionals you know you can trust is the most considerate help you can be to your family and friends. We want to help, not once but always!!! mccarthomes.com
Recently a friend of mine posted a question on Facebook that caught my eye: I have altered it a little but the spirit remains the same:
Had a real good laugh today. A friend was so excited that he got his license to grow medicinal marijuana at home that he made a grow room. I asked him if he thought what would happen if he ever had to sell the house. Now that you have a legal grow op you still have to declare it. He essentially called me stupid, suggesting that I don’t know what I’m talking about. What do you think does he have to declare it and not be able to sell the property as of it is a grow op or am I just stupid?
I responded:
Interesting development! I have not researched this legally, so this is just an off the cuff opinion – that being said: There should be several well known facts pointed out. The ‘spirit’ of full disclosure in the event of a home being used as a grow OP is because when a home is converted into such an establishment, power is haphazardly rerouted, ventilation is often done from room to room and the humidity in the growing area is kept tropically high. These things cause material damage to a home, and even when the operation has ceased things like mold in the walls and timbers and overtaxed circuits as well as wetting drywall and drying it over and over again causes it to sag and expand/contract weakening the hold of screws/nails/tape lines etc.. I am sure now that your friend has a permit and has constructed a room to carry on with his operation, he has made the room on separate dedicated GFI circuits, well ventilated to the outside with odour filtration, water-proofed the room built with cement board to protect the house, an emergency fire suppression system and has informed his insurance company of this ‘addition’ to his home.(I just made up those requirements – not sure what they are if any) Now assuming he has done his due diligence, constructed this room according to established by-laws governing such an operation and the room is clearly dedicated, then yes, of course it has to be disclosed – but disclosure of such an appropriately and professionally constructed operations room in a home will in many ways be looked at as an upgrade, not unlike a hot tub or swimming pool – maybe not for everyone, or even not for most people – but for some will be a bonus and it only takes 1 person to love the features of a home to sell it. Make sure that any rules are checked within each Municipality as well, every situation may have different regulations as well. Mccarthomes.com
Since that response, I have been researching the details – as I suggested each local municipality will have its own regulations and in any individual circumstance you will need to investigate your local by-laws and restrictions. I looked in my local area, the Township of Georgina and I was ultimately referred to the local building by-laws. They have no specific rules regarding a medicinal marijuana grow room, just need a permit and to disclose the use, submitting to federal regulations on the material restrictions and operation of the permit. Where the issue starts to become a problem is with that snowball, you need to disclose use to the municipality to get a permit, once you have disclosed the use then you need to notify your insurance company of this change in the specific use of your property. It seems that mainstream insurers do not have a facility to insure under with this new federal license, so you are going to be pushed to an alternative insurer, which of course costs more. In addition the secondary insurer will require very strict inspections EPA, local by-law compliance, etc. and they are going to have extensive exclusion waivers that will exempt the insurer from responsibility due to water, mold, and other ‘grow operation’ related damages. Once you have your permits obtained and ultimately satisfied and inspected, your EPA completed, and your inflated insurance in place – your next hurdle will be when your mortgage comes for renewal. I am still researching that aspect and will update as further information becomes available. Personal and professional relationships are the foundation of successful business and sometimes the only sentry guarding your sanity, we are here to help! mccarthomes.com
Much as we have discussed the higher interest rate qualifying ‘hand’, and the mortgage and improvements ‘hand’, always big brothers’ hand being stuck in our business. The proposed new legislation Home Energy Rating and Disclosure (HER&D) program has been shelved. Many have probably not heard of this latest legislative cash grab – and we are lucky that OREA was there to push back when the government proposed this. The basic concept was that before you list your home for sale, you needed to pay to undergo an energy audit and, only if listed on MLS you had to report your score. This was intended to mean that anyone who is reselling any older home may have thousands of upgrades to do, government mandated upgrades, before you sell. Windows, doors, weather stripping, insulation, furnace upgrades – the list of items that may be causing poor energy conservation is huge. I do find it kind of disheartening that legislation like this is proposed at all, there should be a clear line in the sand as to where and when a legislative body has a right to charge additional fees to justify their own existence. Things like property taxes, land transfer taxes, and the ridiculous heights new building permits have soared to means too many of these legislative assaults have been allowed to slip into place. We are only able to help make sure you know what’s going on, to help you hear what’s going bump in the night and to try and steer you away from the hurdles nobody should have to jump! Take the time to judge for yourself who really cares for you. Mccarthomes.com