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And would love any opinions on either from you folks, please and thanks.
From talking to what feels like a million people, we have determined that either Brooklin (Durham Region) or Burlington (Halton Region) would be ideal places for us to buy a home in the next few months. They are a little further out from the city than I would have probably liked, but we are dealing with a combination of factors including a limited budget ($400k) and there are some places closer to the city that I'm just not thrilled about.
Between the two, I'd have an easier commute to Burlington, and my mom lives on the west side as well (in Brampton) but I think we could get a much nicer house in Brooklin, and a lot of that young family, community feel that we are looking for. A hard trade-off! Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Burlington is a more established area as a suburb; Brooklin has only generally been regarded as a viable suburb for the last 5-10 years.
Ease of daily commute should be a huge factor in your decision -- that extra GO transfer or 15 minutes on the train twice a day has the potential to really grind on a person's nerves after 6 months.
Both areas have some great residential areas, so I guess it will come down to whether you feel the upgrades in house amenities you may get in Brooklin will make up for any added inconvenience in accessing Toronto.
Burlington would be a better choice, it lays right on the GO transit line, and it's between both Hamilton and Toronto so it's more of a central location.
Thank you both very much for your thoughts. I totally agree, it's one thing to tell yourself that you're okay with a sucky commute, and quite another thing when you actually have to live it...and then kick yourself for being so nearsighted!
I am actually thinking that maybe in a few years we'll be able to move to Oakville, too, once we have a bit more disposable income (read: the kids are a bit older and we won't have to pay out of our noses for a nanny or have one of us at home, which is obviously a major expense right now). So we should be able to live with the fact that it's not going to be our "perfect" house!
Going to report this all back to the husband now. Thanks again.
If it were me I would buy a beautiful old totally upgraded victorian home in downtown Hamilton. There is just beautiful neighbourhoods and the prices are very reasonable. My wife and I tried to buy a house on Heximer that was just a gem for $280,000. Everythung is right there. The hospital the downtown, etc etc. I was raised in downtown Toronto and its the nearest thing I have seen to it except at one quarter the price.
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Thanks again.
