| Reading Thread What kind of houses to avoid? |
Contributors:
AjaxDesi(1) amit kalia(1) AshwaniG(1) Blue_Peafowl(2) Daari_Tappida_Maaga(1) Fido(1) frnd(3)
Garvo Gujarati(3) Iceberg(1) pratickm(1) RBO(1) santoshi(1) sarvjits(1) |
Garvo Gujarati
Admin
Member since: Nov 01
Posts: 2681
Location:
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What kind of houses to avoid?
Backed up to a shopping center or land that is zoned for business.
Backed up to a street with lots of traffic. You'll hear it at night.
Houses that have any kind of flat roof, for example on a room addition.
The biggest, most expensive house on the block.
Next door to a renter. Renters treat the house and yard like crap.
A house with chipped paint, or a damaged roof.
Avoid any house that you did not have a home inspection firm review.
In an area that puts your kid in a bad school, or far from their school.
In a noisy area like an airport or other industrial area.
In a high crime area, that you drive through would have to get home.
In a neighborhood with high homeowners association maintenance fees.
In an area prone to flooding when it rains. Visit the house when it's raining.
A house with only one bathroom. It's very difficult to resell.
In or near a 40 KMPH school zone.
Neighborhoods with no code enforcement: boats, commercial vans, etc.
A house with no central air conditioning, or central heating.
A house without a fireplace.
On a steep hill. This can be a problem in icy winters in northern states.
Overpriced "premium view" lots. If you can't get a decent price, don't buy.
Only has a one car garage or a carport. These will be hard to sell.
In a neighborhood where property values have not increased much.
2 bedroom, 2 bath homes are a lot harder to resell than 3 bedroom, 2 bath.
You don't want a house with a tiny master bedroom or tiny closets.
A weird architectural design that you'll have a hard time selling later.
Anywhere within 3 kilometers of a landfill, or near a water treatment plant.
Close to the beginning of the block. You'll get all the traffic.
The lot that gets headlights of all the cars turning onto the street at night.
Corner lot near the entrance to your street. You'll get tracks in your lawn.
On a street that's hard to get in and out of, i.e., long traffic light, or busy intersection, or a street that you have to drive past and make a U-turn.
On a golf course. Expect broken windows. Some people love it, some don't.
If you have kids, look for the school locations and wether your kid can get a bus or not.
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A Proud Indian Canadian
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04-02-10 12:37:46 |
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frnd
Senior Desi
Member since: May 07
Posts: 238
Location: GTA
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Thanks GG
Good stuff! 
Hard to avoid everything and be in budget though. These houses will have multiple offers for sure 
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Last edited by: frnd on 04-02-10 13:46:23 |
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04-02-10 13:45:42 |
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AshwaniG
Senior Desi
Member since: Jul 04
Posts: 842
Location: Toronto
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I could not resist myself in adding a mighty important factor for a house to avoid :
House that you do not afford ..
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Growing Old Is Mandatory ..Growing UP is Optional
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04-02-10 14:04:42 |
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santoshi
Senior Desi
Member since: Jan 08
Posts: 119
Location: toronto
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Thanks,Garvo Gujarati.I am planning to move from condo to house in this year.
Now I have a broder picture.
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sAnToShI
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04-02-10 16:19:55 |
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RBO
Senior Desi
Member since: Aug 06
Posts: 700
Location: Mississauaga
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Nice and very useful information for New home buyers.......
Thanks - GG for such a nice informaton.
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Learning is always better than Thinking
Start thinking of learning first........
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04-02-10 18:09:00 |
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sarvjits
Junior Desi
Member since: May 05
Posts: 32
Location: Mississauga
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A house without a fireplace. ?????????
I never realised that a fireplace was soooooo important
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05-02-10 11:45:51 |
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pratickm
Global Moderator
Member since: Feb 04
Posts: 2553
Location: Toronto
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Quote:
Originally posted by sarvjits
A house without a fireplace. ?????????
I never realised that a fireplace was soooooo important
I'm split on that one.
Very few people use wood-burning fireplaces these days.
Most people are going for boxed electric fireplaces that you can buy (Home Depot, Wal*Mart) and install anywhere in the house.
The other issue with built-in fireplaces is that it always ends up in awkward position for new owners in terms of their furniture placement and arrangement.
I have seen folks buy a house with a fireplace and then find that it is in a bad position for their sofa set or entertainment unit.
And they light it only a couple of times a year.
Overall, it ends up being a nuisance rather than value.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
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05-02-10 12:17:43 |
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Blue_Peafowl
Senior Desi
Member since: Dec 08
Posts: 558
Location: Brampton, Ont, Canada
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Quote:
Originally posted by pratickm
Quote:
Originally posted by sarvjits
A house without a fireplace. ?????????
I never realised that a fireplace was soooooo important
I'm split on that one.
Very few people use wood-burning fireplaces these days.
Most people are going for boxed electric fireplaces that you can buy (Home Depot, Wal*Mart) and install anywhere in the house.
The other issue with built-in fireplaces is that it always ends up in awkward position for new owners in terms of their furniture placement and arrangement.
I have seen folks buy a house with a fireplace and then find that it is in a bad position for their sofa set or entertainment unit.
And they light it only a couple of times a year.
Overall, it ends up being a nuisance rather than value.
Just to add:
Wood-burning stoves, fireplaces has been banned in Quebec ( due to smoke), so i would say toronto might follow same rules..
its better to stay away from those
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'Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail.' (Param Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Manoj Pandey)
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05-02-10 14:54:25 |
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Iceberg
Senior Desi
Member since: May 05
Posts: 825
Location: GTA and beyond
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Two observations
Avoid at all costs houses where your back yard faces an apartment. No privacy at all.
The point about golf courses - the city I live in - most expensive houses are the ones that back into a golf course.
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05-02-10 15:11:55 |
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amit kalia
Senior Desi
Member since: Nov 03
Posts: 430
Location: Mississauga
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Quote:
Originally posted by Garvo Gujarati
Backed up to a shopping center or land that is zoned for business.
Backed up to a street with lots of traffic. You'll hear it at night.
Houses that have any kind of flat roof, for example on a room addition.
The biggest, most expensive house on the block.
Next door to a renter. Renters treat the house and yard like crap.
A house with chipped paint, or a damaged roof.
Avoid any house that you did not have a home inspection firm review.
In an area that puts your kid in a bad school, or far from their school.
In a noisy area like an airport or other industrial area.
In a high crime area, that you drive through would have to get home.
In a neighborhood with high homeowners association maintenance fees.
In an area prone to flooding when it rains. Visit the house when it's raining.
A house with only one bathroom. It's very difficult to resell.
In or near a 40 KMPH school zone.
Neighborhoods with no code enforcement: boats, commercial vans, etc.
A house with no central air conditioning, or central heating.
A house without a fireplace.
On a steep hill. This can be a problem in icy winters in northern states.
Overpriced "premium view" lots. If you can't get a decent price, don't buy.
Only has a one car garage or a carport. These will be hard to sell.
In a neighborhood where property values have not increased much.
2 bedroom, 2 bath homes are a lot harder to resell than 3 bedroom, 2 bath.
You don't want a house with a tiny master bedroom or tiny closets.
A weird architectural design that you'll have a hard time selling later.
Anywhere within 3 kilometers of a landfill, or near a water treatment plant.
Close to the beginning of the block. You'll get all the traffic.
The lot that gets headlights of all the cars turning onto the street at night.
Corner lot near the entrance to your street. You'll get tracks in your lawn.
On a street that's hard to get in and out of, i.e., long traffic light, or busy intersection, or a street that you have to drive past and make a U-turn.
On a golf course. Expect broken windows. Some people love it, some don't.
If you have kids, look for the school locations and wether your kid can get a bus or not.
Great stuff!
Let me add to the list. Below issues may be relevant to GTA:
Grow houses: Grow houses can have health issues.
Stigma Properties: Homes that were subject to crime etc. in the past (it is not easy to know if a home was once a stigma property).
Flood Plain: Last year many Mississauga homes near Credit river conservation area/ flood plains were flooded at the time torrential downpour.
Illegal Suites: Homes not conforming to proper fire code, electrical code and zoning approval. Caveat emptor (buyer to beware).
Overpriced homes: Buyers should be careful when bidding in today's multiple offer scenarios. Paying a lot more than the property's fair market value may not be a wise decision.
Cheers,
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Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
Sutton Group-Summit Realty Inc., Brokerage
independently owned and operated
Mississauga, ON
Tel. No.: 905-897-9555
Toll Free: 1-866-630-8070
Website: LINK
Condo Blog: LINK
Last edited by: amit kalia on 07-02-10 15:50:09 |
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07-02-10 15:48:08 |
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