Hi everyone,

Want you advise on buying a house.

1. My job is in Scarborough. Do you think , I should buy a house in Scarborough. General public has an impression that Scarborough is not a peaceful area.

2. Which area do you think shall have high "Return on Investment".

3. Is it good to have a house with a basement for renting or a single family house should be preferred.

Would appreciate your sincere advise on the above issues considering the fact that I am still new to this place (Canada)....8 months now.

Regards,

Pranav Sharma

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Live & let Live

Hi Pranav,

I also live in Scarborough and having job at Concord. Where to buy house was big question to me.


As we already settled in Scarborough, my family's first choice was Scarborough. Woburn CI is one of best public school in GTA and so It was another favoring factor in choosing Scarborough and in perticular Markham/Ellesemere Area.

Now regarding - considering scarborough's percieved image as disturbed area - have you seen anything like that? I have been hearing this, but it is much hyped and people from distance will always have that impresssion. I think the crime rate might be little high in Scarborough, but I have never realise it. My friends living in Mississauga said that they never need to think about home security system, which usually in Scarborough is a requirement. In our neighbourhood people says that there are 3-4 break-ins per year!

Being home of South Asians, the schools are full of bright students and with lot of people from the same back-ground it is easy to maintain our values if we live in Scarborough.

I considered Waughan, Maple also. It is area under development and will have lot of value in the coming years. Only problem is location. Today I am working there, but if I have to work in Mississauga or Downtown, the traffic coming from North, going to South is so heavy that I can't even think about it.

Markham is desi's favorit spot. I am still wondering why. There is no major highway passing nearby. If your are living on Middlefield and Denison, 401 will be atleast 10 minutes away! and interestingly the house prices are so high and there is rarely any apprciation room left. This is what I think. It is nice area though - mostly chinese and Indians.

Mississauga is different world - totally diffrent that Scarborough - I can't adjust myself in Mississauga.

So, Scarborough was my choise and I bought a house here recently.

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A Proud Indian Canadian

beauty of markham is that it is full of gujarati's ...most of the basements are also filled with our new people coming in and they do get the temp emplyment around markham plus it helps them in getting cheaper rent accomodation, our parks are full of gujju elderlies and kids which i love and yes again helps us maitain our values being in a desi area...! i love toronto

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kathiawadi

Kathiawadi,

I have a feeling that it is difficult to rent a basement in Markham area - reason being less access of public transport. And whereever you find buses, you have to consider double TTC beyound Steeles..

Is it true?

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A Proud Indian Canadian

On the topic of basements:

I haven't seen anywhere in US people giving their basements for rent.

If at all they do, it's for their kids friends or somebody they know personally. And they don't advertise the way the desis do here.

I read somewhere that Canadian Govt going to rewrite the tenant laws so that it covers the basements too. (b'cos as of right now it's not legal but not illegal either)

It's not a bad idea after all. Monthly mortgage will be anywhere from $1500 to $2000 and you could get $600-$800 from the basement rent. It's all depends upon the location. In Mississauge the houses near to TTC/Schools/Shopping centres demand more than other areas.

On the topic of houses:

Lot of people prefer the old houses back 70's as their foundation is strong. B'cos nowadays the new houses are built within 3 months, but the problems will arise later. And BTW the house repairs are pain in the butt.

True, in US no one is renting their basement.

We have very strong econoics for new comers:

To live in Basement at 60 percent of usual rents, plus no need to pay anything for parking and cable tv.
To live in apartment building and share it with other family.

Both has advantages and disadvantages.

As a home owner it is nice to see part of mortgage payment coming from basement rent. Legality is in question.

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A Proud Indian Canadian

the truth is, york region has a total different identity beside toronto, it is amazing, the newcomers who land in YR, who have relatives in YR they do get temp employment only in YR, most do get jobs around, they do not use TTC any more, using temp employment agencies services and other govt. programs. in fact, it is almost like scarborough, you get a chance to see big number of gujju home owners enjoying gujju tenants company in bsmnt ..

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kathiawadi