Housing crisis in Canada
- Thread starter ZZDown
- Start date
Another spam post, advertising a business preying on new immigrants. Btw, renovating an old/crippling home is never a good idea and for the following reasons:
1. Any renovation is stressful. Good luck on getting a contractor who will show up as promised/on time and do a job as agreed. If you deal with multiple contractors (as you will have to, to renovate 90% of your house) , then multiply stress factor by number of contractors you will have to deal with (plumber, electrician, drywall, flooring, roofing and etc.). If you have nerves of steel and want to try limits of your patience before you go livid, try it.
2. Contrary to common stereotypes, it's actually cheaper to buy a brand new home than buy an old one and then completely renovate it: a builder/developer gets all the materials and crews at the lowest price, because of wholesale leverage mass builder has. And those savings are readily passed on to you. Just ask builder how much the options (countertops, wood floors, kitchen cabinets and etc.) cost and then , for comparison, do your own research, see how much you will have to pay for materials and labor to install the same options on your own. You will see a difference of up to 50% ,sometimes much more.
Of course, old and falling apart house will be significantly cheaper than a new one. If the sole objective is affordability, then there could be little to no choice but to buy an old house and live in it, as is. Just don't buy it with a goal to turn it into sparkling, redesigned "brand new" house. The only time you could do it and come on upside is if you had plenty of cash and were a general contractor/builder yourself.
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This is part of neoliberal economic policy, which we have to live with since ideas of Milton Friedman and his Chicago school became predominant in the Northern America. Its implementation started with Reagan/Thatcher, and this is an outcome of those policies. The idea, among other things, is to allow any illicit behavior, as long as it leads to profit gains and is working hand in hand with government institutions. Such policies inevitably lead to conditions that we are commonly associating with third word country standards. Dirty minds like dirty money.
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There might be a good angle in buying an old house for the purpose of renovating (if we are talking about somewhat livable place to begin with).
You can live there while renovating (my friends do it). You can extend your renovation indefinitely, spreading your expenses over longer period of time. You can do some stuff yourself and save money there. Overall, it might be even more expensive than buying a new place but it can be affordable as you don't have to incur huge costs upfront.
Also, older homes tend to seat on the larger lots than new ones, so in the end, you might end up with a nicer property
Many of the new developments are also poorly built with the lowest standards. Many of the older homes are much better quality. You have to do your due diligence.
I agree with your last point, many new homes sit on smaller lots. But, if you really want a new house on a large lot, you can get that too. They are fewer and in between, but they are available if you search. You will pay the same premium for the land, whether the house standing on it is new or old. Therefore, if you can afford to pay for a large lot in highly prestigious area, you probably can afford to buy a new house on it too. And if you don't mind moving away from big hubs/cities, you can get huge lots for very little.
As to renovation, again, I think if you personally can rebuild it then it can work for you. If you have a construction crew and know what you are doing, you can flip the houses and make a profit. Tables turn if you are an average Joe who will be looking in kijiji for day laborers and general contractors to do the job. Most of the contractors will treat you with the least regard (they prioritize big jobs, so they will run to a developer anytime they receive a call, and they may receive those calls every time you are waiting for them to come to your house and fix your kitchen, bathroom, drywall, roof and etc.).
Renovating an old home not only will cost more than buying a new home (if you ever finish the project), but you will also have to deal with lots of surprises, because everything in the old house will fail now and then. One day it will be your HVAC (that's very costly thing to fix/replace), then it will be your water heater, next it will be your dishwasher, and then it will be your roof or your windows and etc. When you buy a new home, a lot of these come with manufacturers extended warranty (7 to 20 years), aside from builder's own 2 year workmanship guarantee (costs zero dollars to replace or fix). You get none of that warranty with the old house. And you will either have to pay cash to fix things that suddenly get broken, or live in the house without HVAC, dishwasher, with leaky roof and etc.
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The bubble is heated by real estate agents! To be honest i see houses skyrocketing in few days!
ridiculous !
ridiculous !
But there are multiple offers. Do you suppose they are just friends of the real estate agent?
the market still seems hot. My friend put in an offer few days ago and she said there were 12 other offers.
Exactly. Inventory and low interest rate are more likely than real estate agents heated up the bubble.
