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Originally posted by hchheda

Hi Jagmag & Senappa,
we are in the same bracket - hence vaughan looks the nearest possibility - markham and richmond hill are way too expensive.
Hiren

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Quote:

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Originally posted by chandresh

Quote:

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Originally posted by hchheda

Hi Jagmag & Senappa,
we are in the same bracket - hence vaughan looks the nearest possibility - markham and richmond hill are way too expensive.
Hiren

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Vaughan as a cheaper alternative to Richmond Hill and Markham??????

Do you guys know that Vaughan has two major sub divisions - Thornhill (infested with Rich Jews and having one of the highest prices in real estate in the GTA) and Woodbridge (full of Italians in construction business - but less expensive than Thornhill)?

East Markham and South-East Richmond Hill (around Hillcrest Mall) will have cheper houses/Twon houses. Vaughan, being in a new locality for Town houses and semi-D is very expensive - I doubt if you can find any townhouse there for less than 300K -and mind you, due to high land prices, the plot areas in Vaughan are much smaller than RH or Markham.

Chandresh

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jagmag and hchheda,

1) Look at it this way..If you are restricted to a certain part of the town due to the proximity of your work, then use it to your advantage. You just have a smaller area to research, study and make a decision..unlike us other folks who have an entire GTA to search and go crazy.

2) Agent selection: same problem here. I mean, every third person i meet is in real estate. All of those new immigrants who emailed their resume to me in the last get together party..are all now real estate agents!! ...how bad can it get?

my query is, can we have more than couple of agents to show us their listings portfolio..of course, once you like a certain house, i dont mind signing up with that person.

3) yes, deciding a good bank is another issue. some say go for TD other say stick with your own bank, since they know your financial position better.

here are suggestions i have received:

1) 1st step: get your credit history checked. Once you know where you stand, The odds are clear. Give yourself some time to improve your score.

2) Do a lot of studying. The below link is a great starter which gives you those important tips about choosing a neighbourhood, when to buy, what to look in a house etc.
http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/2001/05/bargain.html

Thanks,

seenappa

Thanks,
seenappa,amitji,chandreshji hchheda for all you contributions ,suggetions and thoughts please keep posting it. It will definately help to all our fellow desis inculding myself who would have questions pondering in their minds about how to go over and make a decesion on ones dream investment.
Also, other fellow desis please keep their experience & suggestions wrt to home buying process.

Do not fall into any price trap, US real estate has cooled down and it is only a matter of time before Canadian prices cool off..

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Non illigitamus carborundum

'Posted by goldeneye
US Real Estate prices fell .. be careful
Do not fall into any price trap, US real estate has cooled down and it is only a matter of time before Canadian prices cool off..'

1) I agree. My gut feeling is that prices will come down in the next couple of months. Looking around, prices have simply hit the roof. Better to sit tight and watch.

2) Also, a current homeowner friend suggests talking to a builder and getting a quote. He laments that he could have paid atleast 30K less if he went with the builder. anyone tried this route? any pros and cons?

seenappa

So we have
1) how to buy
2) where to buy

My question is when to buy?
Should we rent out for another year and wait & watch until the current speculations settle down or there is no such thing as bubble burst with the high influx in immigrants maybe real estate prices will not come down for another decade.