Should I Buy A House?

[Nonuser]

The Brantford housing market is on fire. Houses are up $80,000 from 4 years ago when I sold my house

Thinking of buying another one but man can they just keep on going up?

Will the interest rates rise?
Will the housing market slow down or crash?

I still remember in the 80's when interest rates went to over 20%

What's everyone's thoughts?

 

[Pistol]

Interest rates will be low for awhile, it's a good time to buy

 

[nathan]

Move out of there and move to a cheaper city...lol... kidding of course... always a good investment but buy accordingly. Always plan for an emergency and buy with in your means

 

[Nonuser]

Brantford is a cheap city! All the damn people from Toronto are moving to Hamilton all the people from Hamilton are moving to Brantford.

I'm afraid that in the next couple of years not many will be able to afford a house.

I blame all the D.I.N.K.S. Double Income No Kids

Just the double income most couples pull in males a single persons concept of owning a house hard. Even if the both make $50 G's each that's $100 G's a year and not many singles can pull in that cheese.

 

[Salty Cracker]

London's prices are jumping this year considerably, and we are the 3rd world compared to Toronto.

I can't believe what our crap Canadian houses, on our postage-stamp-sized-yards "taxed to the tits" houses are going for. Property taxes, personal taxes, hydro rates, house prices... I don't see how people can even afford to buy frags in this day and age. How are our kids supposed to afford a shack, much less a house? We'll soon be seeing multi-generation houses, with kids-parents-grandparents all in the same house to afford the expenses...and the government will then tax the crap out of "multi household incomes".

Oh but hey, that windmill thing will likely get us free electricity soon, right? right?

What you get in a place like Texas (with no state tax either), compared to here is almost crimonal. I'll be kicking myself for ages for not moving when the dollar was on par and the bubble was bursting, I'd be up an easy $500K USD on the house we were looking at. It was $600K with 5 acres, a main house, a guest house, 2 kitchens, a 100' infinity edge pool, a view, free fire ants, castle law, river access/ownership, lakefront (well lake was a salt bed but it's a lake again). FRAK.


/RANT

 

[Nonuser]

The games the real estate agents are playing around here are infuriating. They're acting like its Toronto. Marking the house low so to cause a bidding war, or not accepting offers for a week. I looked at a place didn't think it was worth the asking price was told they wouldn't accept offers for a week then a Toronto person came in offering $20,000 over asking and the sellers took it.

The people affording frags at huge $$ is easy to figure out.

Buy a house 4 or more years ago, go to the bank and tell them you have 60-100gs equity in the house now. Get a line of credit and bam access to thousands of dollars at low..low interest rates

 

[Salty Cracker]

I think the poor real estate agents are just struggling to make sense of a world sudden;y gone mad.

Honestly though, by law an agent MUST get the absolute top dollar for a house as possible. Bidding wars (shark frenzies) are the best way to do it. PLUS you don't normally see values junmp 10-15% in a season, so when an agent lists a house, they go by past sales figures, which may well be 10% below current market value. Listing a house too high can cost the homeowner thousands if it sits and goes "stale", but if you can get 20 people convinced they MUST own that old, leaky, slanty house, well.... it's all about avoiding the lawsuit from the seller.

 

[derrick orosz]

I'm about to list my current house...my agent is a buddy of mine and when he told me we would get about 50k more then I was thinking I though he was drunk...again...then he showed us comparables that have sold in the last month or two and he's right.
On the other side the houses we want that we thought where around 400k are closer to 500k so in the end I guess it's a wash...it's only money, who cares...all that matters is I have my corals hehe

 

[Salty Cracker]

That's the thing, everyone is excited by new house prices, but you have to live somewhere, and rarely does anyone move to a cheaper area. My place is ~$550K (had an unsolicited offer 4 years ago for $500K) but I'd want a million dollar place. So here I shall stay.

 

[derrick orosz]

That's the thing, everyone is excited by new house prices, but you have to live somewhere, and rarely does anyone move to a cheaper area. My place is ~$550K (had an unsolicited offer 4 years ago for $500K) but I'd want a million dollar place. So here I shall stay.

I'm currently in Cambridge...houses I'm looking at here are 550-575...the same houses are 500 in ayr so we are moving there... takes me 10 minutes to get my my current house to ayr so really no big deal

 

[derrick orosz]

And property taxes are a fair amont cheaper in ayr then csmbridge

 

[sunnykita]

And property taxes are a fair amont cheaper in ayr then csmbridge

Ayr is a lovely place to live ! beats the city any time ! enjoy !

 

[Salty Cracker]

I actually quite like ayr.

 

[Salty Cracker]

and air.

 

[Nonuser]

I get all the People loving how much their house is worth now. But then call me or come to my office hollering about how their insurance premiums on their house has when up 10 -15% from last year. well your house is now valued higher, you dolt.

They also think if they buy a second car they should get insurance on it for 1/2 price or free. Better yet they buy a new car and wonder why the Premium isn't cheaper?

Best one is my friend, neighbour, sister pays half the amount in insurance as I do. or I just moved from Ayr to Toronto, why is my premium so much higher? I haven't had an accident?

 

[AdInfinitum]

Thorndale just hit the point that we got a new school in town and a sewage treatment plant built. The cement from running pipes under my basement floor is still curing and I can finally start my sump build.....

Anyway...now that the sewers have been put in...every field around the town has signs up that it is going to be the next subdivision...so much for the quiet town that I moved out to...where are all the people coming from to fill these houses??? Considering that London is also growing like crazy....

 

[derrick orosz]

and air.

I'm fairly drunk and that really made me laugh haha

 

[Poseidon]

Personally, unless you can rent or stay with family until the market dies down, theres no point in selling now.
If you sell in a hot overpriced market, good for you, but you also have to (normally) buy in the same overpriced market as well,
negating the whole purpose of it in the first place haha

My opinion is:
almost everyone already owns a car, so simply move further and commute

Look south of hwy 3 in norfolk township, dirt cheap places.
Heck
I bought my place in otterville for 115,000. Put 50+/- into it and have a 2500 sq ft home, very livable, all up to date and energy efficient etc etc. for less than 800 a month mortgage.

I commute 25 min daily to woodstock, no big deal

living can be as affordable or unaffordable as you make it.

And like glen said, if it gets really bad, i mean REALLY bad, you could just move to the states.

 

[Nonuser]

well Woodstock is a 35 min drive and I have commuted most of my adult life either Hamilton, Kitchener Waterloo or Etobicoke. But I kind of Like being able to go home for lunch and I would be able to get a puppy!

 

[heath]

I don't think the housing market in Woodstock is any different, first Cami came and Ingersoll houses pretty much doubled and when Toyota came to Woodstock everyone thought that they owned a mansion and price them according...and we have some of the highest rents to boot...