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Good morning.
We'll be moving to Toronto in August and probably will rent for an extended period of at least 6 months to 1 year .
In case that everything will go smooth or kinda smooth, we'll be interesting to buy a freehold townhouse or semi detach house .
Now I'm looking for an advise from you according our requirements and funds.
So our situation is :
I'm 33 , working in telecommunication sector (Network Operation Centre) and my wife 38 is an experienced laser hair removal technician (currently transferring herself to IT DBA world)
We have 2 children : 19 y.o boy and 4.5 y.o girl . We are from Russian-Hebrew ethnicity.
Now , according our funds we'll might afford a house/t.house/semi maximum up to 400k
We need at least 3 bedrooms . Condominium is not something that we like
We would like to stay in the city for easier commute
We definitely prefer safe neighborhoods.
This is basically the story .
I'll appreciate any thoughts and your patience to give me some ideas and try to understand if it possible or not .
Thank you ,
Lior
I'm sorry to say, but $400K just won't by you a semi or townhouse in any desirable neighbourhood in Toronto. It might get you a small place out in Scarborough, North Etobicoke or North York, but not in a good neighbourhood, meaning that it will be difficult to get to the downtown, crime rates will typically be higher than average, street gangs may be prevalent, amenities will not very good, streets will be designed for cars instead of people, making it difficult to walk to shops and other destinations which may be separated by several km's.
The only neighbourhood that might be okay, and where you might be able to find a place in your price range is the eastern part of East York. The area around Woodbine and Mortimer / Coxwell and Mortimer is within walking distance of the subway, is safe and close to the Danforth - a major commercial / retail strip - and has small bungalows that may go for $400 - $500K. But if you're looking to live in a prime inner-city TO neighbourhood, close to transit, shopping, dining, and other amenities, starting prices are $650K, but closer to $750K for a semi or townhouse. A nice, renovated semi in a good neighbourhood will easily run you $1 million +. Home prices in the Old City are very expensive. Other than the part of East York I mentioned, any other neighbourhood in the Old City (or any of the boroughs either) with places in your budget will be neighbourhoods you probably will not want to live in.
^^^^
Thank you for your patient answer.
Yes you definitely right.
Ok, I understand that I need to put some corrections in my borders , and extend them
How bad is the commute from north part of GTA , lets say Markham,R.Hill e.t.c ?
If my understanding is right , the commute from Mississauga is not convenient , and way worse than from north part of GTA (Vaughan,R.Hill,Markham) ?
Actually, I would say the commute from Mississauga is much better than from the northern suburbs. Suburbanites from places like Markham must depend solely on the DVP - or as it's commonly known, the Don Valley Parking Lot. It's gotta be the slowest most congested highway in the Toronto area. On the flip side, Mississauga's commuters rely on either the Gardiner (to get downtown) or the 401 (to get to the northern part of the city). While both these highways also get packed, I would choose either of them over the DVP any day. I also think Mississauga is the best Toronto suburb for a number of reasons.
That said, even in the burbs $400K won't get you too far these days, but you should still have better luck finding a place in your budget than you will in Toronto Proper.
Hmm. I didn't know . Actually you gave me another point of view , because I was always thinking that strategically if you commute from north to south , you have more options than from west to east.
Probably Mississauga has better infrastructure as a newer city than TO , but if you taking the public transport , how much like nightmare it feels from M-aga to TO (if you know of course ) ?
Will the real estate in M-aga prices save me money , just to spend it on public monthly passes ?
I think TO and M-aga have different transit system and it will be more expensive ?
Of course we have a car , but I don't think that we can afford another one especially with the car insurance rates, so probably one of us will use the public transport.
Ok ,don't want to waste too much of your time ,so let's make the long story short . As a new immigrant that live in N.Scotia , I don't have any idea about GTA , but I can deal with rent .I'm interested in day thereafter , when I will go on buying option.
Let's turn my question to this side :
Let's say if you were in my shoes , where in GTA you would go to start with "first time buy a house" thing ?
Just throw whatever opinion you have , everything might be helpful for me to learn and understand.
Thanks again.
One car in the 905 suburbs will be tough. One way to hack it is if you can use a GO train (only useful if your job is near Union Station).
One area within the Toronto city limits that could be of interest is Duffern to Bathurst and Finch to Steeles. A lot of Russian/Jewish live and have businesses there, and it is not very expensive. But it is not really convenient either. At least you could use a single TTC ticket to get you anywhere in Toronto (unlike Mississauga or the northern suburbs). 400K might get you a condo townhouse in that area. 500K might get you something freehold (like a semi or link attached).
So you'll be taking transit? That changes everything. I would definitely rent somewhere close to the subway, or on a busy streetcar route, in the heart of Toronto.
That will give you time to get to know the area and decide for yourself where to buy when the time comes.
If you want to live in an area with a Jewish/Russian community, you won't find one in Mississauga. Unfortunately it's hard any single-family house for less than $400K in areas with significant Jewish and Russian communities.
"905" Jews live in York Region - Thornhill and Richmond Hill (and now expanding into Maple which is very new and more affordable). York Region is a lot more expensive than Peel and Durham regions. And it's a very car-centric region.
In Toronto, Jews overwhelmingly live in a broad area stretching from Dufferin to Leslie, north of Bloor St., and are most concentrated in neighborhoods along Bathurst north of St. Clair. In this broad area housing prices are very expensive, especially south of the 401.
You may be able to find something in the Bathurst to Dufferin, Sheppard to Steeles area: the heart of Russian Jewish Toronto.
^^^^
I don't care about the communities . Don't feel the need to be close to the ghetto
The main goal is standing on 3 basic stones :
Location , Safety , Cheap .
Now the trick is to find the right combination in my case .
I understand that single detached is expensive , so I'm looking for freehold townhouses that will more than satisfy my needs
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