Buying house on Workpermit with 5% downpayment?

[Musti82]

Hi, All I been doing research lately for first time home buyers in BC and I wanted to ask our members about several things. which hope can provide further guidance.

1. Strata Maintenance Fees - Monthly fees, as per my understanding like here in UAE (We call it service charges) to pay the common expenses of the development. e.g. landscaping, concierge, security, hallway, elevator maintenance, etc.)
2. Strata Property Insurance- for ensuring the building/townhouse/condo/duplex, etc?
   • Is this cost included in the Strata Maintenance Fee or totally separate?
   • Monthly?
3. Land Transfer Tax - As per my understanding (based on my research on realtor.ca) if a first time home buyer/buying a newly built home this will be waived/rebate if house price is under 750,000 CAD.
4. Let say for a usual 3 bedroom townhouse what the average cost of electricity, water, cable/internet, phone
5. Lastly, is there anything else that a first time home buyer needed to be aware of that can add to the monthly expenses/obligation of a new homeowner.

The reason I asked this ff questions, as most first time home buyers are somehow not well aware of all these extra expenses that can easily build up the monthly obligations of owning a home (aside from saving some cash for a future maintenance work needed for the house)

Thank you so much in advance.

i also think for condos or townhouses, check the status certificate, one of the most important thing about the health and potential problems of a condo corp. its worth paying your lawyer couple of hundreds to make sure, the condo corp has good cash liquidity and no legal issues.

especially when u put no condition on your offer and you're buying with less than 20% down, you can have all the income in the world, but if the default insurer doesnt like the status certificate, they have the right to decline your application. it happened to a client of my lawyer, it was on the news, they put the blame on the agent, and were able to get out of the purchase without losing their deposit(evenyhough they didnt put any)

 

[canuck78]

Even if you read through the cond

i also think for condos or townhouses, check the status certificate, one of the most important thing about the health and potential problems of a condo corp. its worth paying your lawyer couple of hundreds to make sure, the condo corp has good cash liquidity and no legal issues.

especially when u put no condition on your offer and you're buying with less than 20% down, you can have all the income in the world, but if the default insurer doesnt like the status certificate, they have the right to decline your application. it happened to a client of my lawyer, it was on the news, they put the blame on the agent, and were able to get out of the purchase without losing their deposit(evenyhough they didnt put any)

Even if you look at the reserve fund and look at all the documents you can still be in for some surprises. My parents bought a condo and after being so incredibly thorough, paying a lawyer to review extra documents and doing so much due diligence it went above and beyond a normal purchaser they discovered that the Condo board had been fighting about window replacement for almost 10 years. The condo board had also been making small insurance claims to the point that they were going to be uninsurable soon. Some people on condo boards have no idea what they are doing. There are also a lot of condos that have issues that are known but nobody talks about them because they don’t want to hurt their property value. I know so,e agents that won’t show units in some buildings. Running a condo is not the same as owning as a home, it is much more complicated. The condo manager is pretty useless usually and there is a high turnover rate. You essentially need to assume that many condos will require a special assessment. Most reserve funds are underfunded. The legislation regarding condos has not kept up with the boom of condos especially in other provinces than BC where there have been a larger amount of condos for a longer. Most residents prefer to keep they condo fees lower and hope they’ll be gone before the large problems show up and there is any need for a special assessment. Look at the building construction before buying. All glass buildings may be pretty but all those windows are going to need to be replaced. A pool is fun but a huge ongoing expense and major repairs will be needed eventually. If you won’t use it, don’t take on the potential financial liability. The biggest issue are the condo boards. Being a good condo board member is a part-time to full-time job and you need to be knowledgeable about so many issues. Most people move to condos wanting a no hassle lifestyle. Many buildings can’t find board members or can’t get enough people to show up to condo meetings to make quorum. It is very important to get involved, attend condo meeting or even become a condo board member.

Not trying to totally discourage people from buying a condo. People just need to make sure they are saving for some major repairs and not expect their condo fees to cover everything.

 

[Musti82]

Even if you read through the cond


Even if you look at the reserve fund and look at all the documents you can still be in for some surprises. My parents bought a condo and after being so incredibly thorough, paying a lawyer to review extra documents and doing so much due diligence it went above and beyond a normal purchaser they discovered that the Condo board had been fighting about window replacement for almost 10 years. The condo board had also been making small insurance claims to the point that they were going to be uninsurable soon. Some people on condo boards have no idea what they are doing. There are also a lot of condos that have issues that are known but nobody talks about them because they don’t want to hurt their property value. I know so,e agents that won’t show units in some buildings. Running a condo is not the same as owning as a home, it is much more complicated. The condo manager is pretty useless usually and there is a high turnover rate. You essentially need to assume that many condos will require a special assessment. Most reserve funds are underfunded. The legislation regarding condos has not kept up with the boom of condos especially in other provinces than BC where there have been a larger amount of condos for a longer. Most residents prefer to keep they condo fees lower and hope they’ll be gone before the large problems show up and there is any need for a special assessment. Look at the building construction before buying. All glass buildings may be pretty but all those windows are going to need to be replaced. A pool is fun but a huge ongoing expense and major repairs will be needed eventually. If you won’t use it, don’t take on the potential financial liability. The biggest issue are the condo boards. Being a good condo board member is a part-time to full-time job and you need to be knowledgeable about so many issues. Most people move to condos wanting a no hassle lifestyle. Many buildings can’t find board members or can’t get enough people to show up to condo meetings to make quorum. It is very important to get involved, attend condo meeting or even become a condo board member.

Not trying to totally discourage people from buying a condo. People just need to make sure they are saving for some major repairs and not expect their condo fees to cover everything.

hey tonight its all you and me replying back and forth

i definitely agree with you,the status certificate is not everything and its funny you mention your parents, when we bought my parents a condo in 2017, everything looked perfect, and then it turns out they want to replace the crappy carpets on the alley and they were asking 1500 per unit, it was not in the report. they ended up not going for it, but yes things like that could happen, small things here and there.

reserves funds were not even regulated for so many years in ontario too, it was a disaster, until government started putting rules for that. some condos barely had any reserve funds or way too underfunded.
i tell my clients, if you go to see a condo and see someone living there, dont hesitate and ask for their opinion, u will hear things u might not see in the status report.

i always recommend getting something bigger, townhouse or detach, unfortunately the prices are so high on the townhouse and detached/semi, if you want to stay in the city, with the budget unless you're over 150-200K plus income in toronto, you wont be able to find a house.

7 years ago when i bought it was either a 1930s house in east part of town or brand new condo , it was same price. i went with the house, now looking at it, best decision i have ever done. current price is more than twice already.

usually people go like this:

younger ages----condo
get married, start family- detached
got old, retired- go back to condo and downsize.

in toronto for the price of a 500-600sq feet condo, you can buy a very nice townhome or detached outside of the city, but your commute goes up, time, also our gotrain is so expensive, some people pay so much more on transportation, u started to think is it worth going that far.

however companies with the pandemic are realizing, the employees are working as hard , even better from home. u are going to see companies telling people to come 1-2 times a week to the office, i see more people choosing suburbs over the city. since commute is limited, it will be more and more okay to live outside of the city.

 

[canuck78]

hey tonight its all you and me replying back and forth

i definitely agree with you,the status certificate is not everything and its funny you mention your parents, when we bought my parents a condo in 2017, everything looked perfect, and then it turns out they want to replace the crappy carpets on the alley and they were asking 1500 per unit, it was not in the report. they ended up not going for it, but yes things like that could happen, small things here and there.

reserves funds were not even regulated for so many years in ontario too, it was a disaster, until government started putting rules for that. some condos barely had any reserve funds or way too underfunded.
i tell my clients, if you go to see a condo and see someone living there, dont hesitate and ask for their opinion, u will hear things u might not see in the status report.

i always recommend getting something bigger, townhouse or detach, unfortunately the prices are so high on the townhouse and detached/semi, if you want to stay in the city, with the budget unless you're over 150-200K plus income in toronto, you wont be able to find a house.

7 years ago when i bought it was either a 1930s house in east part of town or brand new condo , it was same price. i went with the house, now looking at it, best decision i have ever done. current price is more than twice already.

usually people go like this:

younger ages----condo
get married, start family- detached
got old, retired- go back to condo and downsize.

in toronto for the price of a 500-600sq feet condo, you can buy a very nice townhome or detached outside of the city, but your commute goes up, time, also our gotrain is so expensive, some people pay so much more on transportation, u started to think is it worth going that far.

however companies with the pandemic are realizing, the employees are working as hard , even better from home. u are going to see companies telling people to come 1-2 times a week to the office, i see more people choosing suburbs over the city. since commute is limited, it will be more and more okay to live outside of the city.

Companies are also seeing that the cost of living is limiting their employee prospects. One of the reason real estate prices have increased dramatically in a city like Ottawa. With a condo or house there are unknowns. Much cheaper to fix a leaky above ground garage versus an underground parking facility. A lot of these condos also haven’t been built to last. Minimum standards are pretty poor quality. You hear about some real horror stories in Australia. Can on.y imagine that might happen in Canada. Remember hearing about water infiltration issues in the first stage of city place and that many agents refused to show their clients condos there even though they were much less expensive than other units. Yes those who bought in east Toronto have just sat around making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those who got lucky and were in a position to buy and were at an age where people typically buy really lucked out. Unfortunately many under 45 think that house prices only increase. The big issue is that many baby boomers have a lot (or all) of their retirement locked into a house that has increased dramatically in value without them having to do anything. Many are sitting on a $1M+ homes. The big issue is that there aren’t enough younger people who will be able to buy them all out of these homes. Although baby boomers had to deal with high interest rates they did benefit from those high interest rates when it came to growing their savings and housing was much more affordable. Definitely much harder to buy a home and grow your retirement savings with little risk these days.

 

[steaky]

Companies are also seeing that the cost of living is limiting their employee prospects. One of the reason real estate prices have increased dramatically in a city like Ottawa. With a condo or house there are unknowns. Much cheaper to fix a leaky above ground garage versus an underground parking facility. A lot of these condos also haven’t been built to last. Minimum standards are pretty poor quality. You hear about some real horror stories in Australia. Can on.y imagine that might happen in Canada. Remember hearing about water infiltration issues in the first stage of city place and that many agents refused to show their clients condos there even though they were much less expensive than other units. Yes those who bought in east Toronto have just sat around making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those who got lucky and were in a position to buy and were at an age where people typically buy really lucked out. Unfortunately many under 45 think that house prices only increase. The big issue is that many baby boomers have a lot (or all) of their retirement locked into a house that has increased dramatically in value without them having to do anything. Many are sitting on a $1M+ homes. The big issue is that there aren’t enough younger people who will be able to buy them all out of these homes. Although baby boomers had to deal with high interest rates they did benefit from those high interest rates when it came to growing their savings and housing was much more affordable. Definitely much harder to buy a home and grow your retirement savings with little risk these days.

As seen in this forum, many young people received cash handout from their parents who lives outside Canada. Many of these $1M+ homes can be bought my them.

Also there are number companies investing in those properties as well as people like the OP.

 

[Musti82]

Companies are also seeing that the cost of living is limiting their employee prospects. One of the reason real estate prices have increased dramatically in a city like Ottawa. With a condo or house there are unknowns. Much cheaper to fix a leaky above ground garage versus an underground parking facility. A lot of these condos also haven’t been built to last. Minimum standards are pretty poor quality. You hear about some real horror stories in Australia. Can on.y imagine that might happen in Canada. Remember hearing about water infiltration issues in the first stage of city place and that many agents refused to show their clients condos there even though they were much less expensive than other units. Yes those who bought in east Toronto have just sat around making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those who got lucky and were in a position to buy and were at an age where people typically buy really lucked out. Unfortunately many under 45 think that house prices only increase. The big issue is that many baby boomers have a lot (or all) of their retirement locked into a house that has increased dramatically in value without them having to do anything. Many are sitting on a $1M+ homes. The big issue is that there aren’t enough younger people who will be able to buy them all out of these homes. Although baby boomers had to deal with high interest rates they did benefit from those high interest rates when it came to growing their savings and housing was much more affordable. Definitely much harder to buy a home and grow your retirement savings with little risk these days.

i have a client who called me yesterday they bought a pre construction home in ottawa from cardel, they want to move there, much cheaper they get a brand new built house vs toronto u get 1930s houses(they are decent built though)

downtown condos are not made with good material, the work is so bad, when they were even being built, every time the wind was bad, it kept blowing windows and lucky other than minor injuries, i was hearing every week the same stuff happening.

we had kitec brand plumbing system problems, when the company went bankrupt as their stuff was crap and building made with those, had to replace their entire plumbing, or people stay away from them like plague.



i know people who worked on those condos, they are not built to last, i tell my clients stick to newer buildings, at least you have more warranty than the older ones. once they hit certain age, its going to need a lot of money to fix them. hence increased condo fees, resulting in depreciation.

there is a condo where i work, older but bigger units. 1300sq feet it was sold for 600k

and then there is newer building, 1,000sq feet sold for 1million.

why the difference? the first one the condo fee is $1300 second one $650

on the long run, condo's will slow down in appreciation because of the increasing maintenance fees. and the more they built newer ones with better features, it makes the older condo buildings more absolute, and lesser demand on those

i can say for markets like toronto, the main reason for price appreciation is the imbalance between supply and demand. there is not enough place for the number of new comers and inner migration.

Canada's new comers almost 90% choose ontario(and vancouver), and also people who get their PR in different provinces, the moment they are done, they move to Ontario or BC (mainly ontario) for ex Quebec, every single friend of mine who got PR after graduating from bachelor and masters, moved out, including me.

the pace immigration and migration is happening, its crazy but even the pace of all these builders building these condos, they sell so fast.

i work at pre-con sites, within a week, they sold 500 condos in a building where the sq foot price is 1300-1500 $/sq feet , 90% were Canadian PR and citizens, 10% foreign buyers.

 

[canuck78]

i have a client who called me yesterday they bought a pre construction home in ottawa from cardel, they want to move there, much cheaper they get a brand new built house vs toronto u get 1930s houses(they are decent built though)

downtown condos are not made with good material, the work is so bad, when they were even being built, every time the wind was bad, it kept blowing windows and lucky other than minor injuries, i was hearing every week the same stuff happening.

we had kitec brand plumbing system problems, when the company went bankrupt as their stuff was crap and building made with those, had to replace their entire plumbing, or people stay away from them like plague.



i know people who worked on those condos, they are not built to last, i tell my clients stick to newer buildings, at least you have more warranty than the older ones. once they hit certain age, its going to need a lot of money to fix them. hence increased condo fees, resulting in depreciation.

there is a condo where i work, older but bigger units. 1300sq feet it was sold for 600k

and then there is newer building, 1,000sq feet sold for 1million.

why the difference? the first one the condo fee is $1300 second one $650

on the long run, condo's will slow down in appreciation because of the increasing maintenance fees. and the more they built newer ones with better features, it makes the older condo buildings more absolute, and lesser demand on those

i can say for markets like toronto, the main reason for price appreciation is the imbalance between supply and demand. there is not enough place for the number of new comers and inner migration.

Canada's new comers almost 90% choose ontario(and vancouver), and also people who get their PR in different provinces, the moment they are done, they move to Ontario or BC (mainly ontario) for ex Quebec, every single friend of mine who got PR after graduating from bachelor and masters, moved out, including me.

the pace immigration and migration is happening, its crazy but even the pace of all these builders building these condos, they sell so fast.

i work at pre-con sites, within a week, they sold 500 condos in a building where the sq foot price is 1300-1500 $/sq feet , 90% were Canadian PR and citizens, 10% foreign buyers.

People want to get onto the property ladder and so they either have to buy very far away or buy a condo downtown. Covid has already changed things. Many employers have seen that working from home most of the time is possible. I guess the smaller cities 2-3 hours away from Toronto are seeing a lot more interest by exGTAers. Unfortunately the demand is raising the prices in these small towns making them unaffordable for the longtime locals. Yes most immigrants come to a few cities. Canada tries to encourage people to move to different areas of the country but once you are a PR you are free to move wherever you want.

 

[canuck78]

As seen in this forum, many young people received cash handout from their parents who lives outside Canada. Many of these $1M+ homes can be bought my them.

Also there are number companies investing in those properties as well as people like the OP.

Most Canadians do not have 1M dollars to gift to their children without compromising their retirement.

 

[steaky]

Most Canadians do not have 1M dollars to gift to their children without compromising their retirement.

For your 1M home, no one said you must pay 1M dollars by cash. Like the examples seen in this forum, most just need a downpayment (from their parents) to pay their mortgage payment. 5% downpayment is just $50,000.

 

[Musti82]

For your 1M home, no one said you must pay 1M dollars by cash. Like the examples seen in this forum, most just need a downpayment (from their parents) to pay their mortgage payment. 5% downpayment is just $50,000.

actually 1mil you need
25,000 for the first 500k
10% for excess of 500k which is 50k

total DP: $75,000 ,

$925,000 mtg with cmhc you are looking at 200-225k income

 

[Musti82]

People want to get onto the property ladder and so they either have to buy very far away or buy a condo downtown. Covid has already changed things. Many employers have seen that working from home most of the time is possible. I guess the smaller cities 2-3 hours away from Toronto are seeing a lot more interest by exGTAers. Unfortunately the demand is raising the prices in these small towns making them unaffordable for the longtime locals. Yes most immigrants come to a few cities. Canada tries to encourage people to move to different areas of the country but once you are a PR you are free to move wherever you want.

definitely agree the GTA unaffordable prices and the new wave of people starting work from home is going to drive up the outside of GTA areas even more than the city. interesting that this summer cottage prices are soaring crazy.

 

[steaky]

actually 1mil you need
25,000 for the first 500k
10% for excess of 500k which is 50k

total DP: $75,000 ,

$925,000 mtg with cmhc you are looking at 200-225k income

You are right, but also show that canuck78 is wrong like usual. I only said 5% because of the title....

 

[Lazymon82]

First time home buyers, DO NOT THINK TWICE!! This is the best time to buy if you have a steady income job. Fixed 5 years is at 1.79% in Quebec. If not condo then go for a town house. There will bidding wars soon as we are seeing in toronto now.

 

[anandg12]

Fake markets, fake prices. There will be a dip, mark my words. The motto is buy low, sell high

 

[Lazymon82]

Fake markets, fake prices. There will be a dip, mark my words. The motto is buy low, sell high

I do trust your words! We are already in the dip. Buy low (now) sell high later