Are you sure you're ready to buy a house?

[Aria]

They say that prices have gone down in Calgary, but I see no evidence of this. My condo cost me 175k and for tax assessment purposes they're valuing it at 220k! :P I don't think it's worth that but still...

[Captain Neon]

Ghel, here in the NW TC Metro a house like you describe is about 3x that to purchase. I paid similar to what you are quoting for my 3 bedroom in North Central MO 9 years ago. The housing market was flat in 2011 when I tried to sell it. I had one guy make a reasonable offer (what we still owed + agent commission), but he couldn't secure a loan. We ended doing a DIF after paying a mortgage on an empty house. We couldn't even find anyone to rent it to that would cover our carrying costs. The few people that did show an interest in renting had sketchy histories, essentially they had no intentions of paying the rent even after trying to negotiate for half my quoted rental price.

The cannery announced a year ago that they are laying off the bulk of their workforce permanently in June and closing completely next summer. All accounts imply that people in that small Missouri town have stopped maintaining their homes or paying the mortgage. They pay just enough to keep a roof over their heads while they still live there. Most of these houses will end up being abandoned.

It will become a Medicare town by 2019. The only people living there will be pensioners on Medicare that can't afford to leave and the few people providing them minimal goods and services. Everyone else will leave out of necessity due to lack of work.

[Sparklyturtle]

We paid 159K for our house, which is in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. It's in a nice neighborhood, but we have both the smallest house and the smallest lot on the block, which is fine for us because it's just me and Turtleguy, plus our cats. We couldn't have gotten a cardboard box for that in downtown Portland. Turtleguy's commute is only 8 miles, but sometimes it takes him an hour because of all the traffic and construction.

There's a saying in Oregon: "There are four seasons: Rain, rain, rain, and construction." More than a bit of truth to that, although a lot of construction is done in the rain because things would never get finished if everyone waited for nice weather.

[Ghel]

That just shows how very different the housing market is here (northern Minnesota). You can get a nice 3-bedroom house for around $60,000. There's plenty of houses for sale at lower prices, but they need tons of work.

That's in town, of course. If you want a house with 10+ acres of land, that will be $100,000 or more. Double that if you want lake-front property, but I think that's the case anywhere.

But the housing market is slow here, so houses often sell for far less than the asking price.

[protege]

On the other hand, I am also looking for buying a house in Jamaica and still have money left over to live on, in-fact I might buy both, that gives you an idea how much a house sells for here in Toronto.

That's because everyone wants an igloo with indoor plumbing and heat

But seriously, where I live, the houses are pretty damn cheap. $300K would get you one in a nice area and a lot left over for a sports car or two. By "nice area" I mean outside the city limits. No way you'd land even a small house in a nice city neighborhood (Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, etc.) for that.

[morgana]

The guy brought in documentation that he has enough for his down payment and closing fees, so it looks like we'll be going forward with this loan. I'm a bit surprised.

Me, too. I'd've bet against it.

[eltf177]

Just hope the money's there when it's time for repayment...

[Ghel]

The guy brought in documentation that he has enough for his down payment and closing fees, so it looks like we'll be going forward with this loan. I'm a bit surprised.

[icmedia]

I live in a suburban NW Ohio town of about 40,000, about 100 miles south of the Canadian border, and $300k would land you a 3,500 sq. ft. new construction with high-end finishes in a desirable neighborhood. Just goes to show how location affects price

[earl colby pottinger]

Warning

Yup, when I talk about City to the North, it's here.

You forgot the heart-attack warning. When I point to Toronto at what I could afford I found three buildings (one a fire burnt shell), when I went to Vancouver I found only one offering in range and it was a boat!

[notalwaysright]

Check out [Warning may cause heart-attacks]: https://www.zolo.ca/index.php?sarea=Toronto

Yup, when I talk about City to the North, it's here.

[earl colby pottinger]

Guess what

Yeah, ECP, Wolfie nailed it. I live in the American Midwest.

If you want a spot in America to buy a house cash, this would be a good one. Good housing prices, good schools, good culture, mild winters (summers can get a bit sweaty). I love it here, but no, it's not Toronto.

You are right about housing costs in the USA.

I like being Canadian, but I can become a snow-bird, I am getting too old for winters here. I am looking at a small home in the USA that comes furnished for $34,900. It is only one bedroom, but there is only one of me, and besides it is near a small lake!

Next month I am going down to the states to check it out, and if it is a sweet as it looks on the website I will be buying it.

On the other hand, I am also looking for buying a house in Jamaica and still have money left over to live on, in-fact I might buy both, that gives you an idea how much a house sells for here in Toronto.

Check out [Warning may cause heart-attacks]: https://www.zolo.ca/index.php?sarea=Toronto

[Slave to the Phone]

We are looking to sell a house in West Virginia. Weather is a little more like Canada...

Central Arizona is still very affordable, but that's because almost everything is at least a half hour drive away.

[Kristev]

I suggest that you freely give him a house rather than bothering with a loan. Now where did I leave that old Monopoly game?

[morgana]

Yeah, ECP, Wolfie nailed it. I live in the American Midwest.

If you want a spot in America to buy a house cash, this would be a good one. Good housing prices, good schools, good culture, mild winters (summers can get a bit sweaty). I love it here, but no, it's not Toronto.