MOVING TO CYYZ

Inverted2 · Post by **Inverted2** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:46 pm

North Shore wrote:My $.02 worth:

The caveat is that I've only been to YYZ once, and hated it. I stayed with a friend who had a hobby farm in the Campbellville/Milton area up on top of the escarpment. About a 5 minute drive to the 401, and then ~ 30 into YYZ. Quiet, semi-rural, no urban sprawl to be found, yet still convenient to downtown if you really have to go and get your urban fix. Oh, yeah, a ski hill nearby, too, as well as lots of parkland.

The Cambellville area is really nice, the only problem you won't be able to buy much in that area on a pilots salary, I tried!!

C-FABH · Post by **C-FABH** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:55 pm

Inverted2 wrote:Give Cambridge or Kitchener a try

Having to commute from Kitchener to YYZ is tougher than living in a "cesspool of crap," hands down

grammar boy · Post by **grammar boy** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:10 pm

It's funny hearing people whose only experience with Toronto is most likely the industrial park by the airport, driving along the 401 or going to the Eaton Centre by subway call it a "cesspool of crap".

FL_CH · Post by **FL_CH** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:19 pm

I just don't get what people expect from a 5 million + metropolitain area? One would hope that it's obvious that moving to T.O. means giving up the relaxed, coutry lifestyle.

Do you guys seriously expect the highways to be empty in Canada's biggest city?

asdfasd · Post by **asdfasd** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:11 pm

Id say, rent an apartment in the Highpark area first and get to know the GTA. Highpark (Bloor and Keele) is probably the best area for anyone in aviation with a quick commute to the airport via car or subway and is a safe nice area with lots of kids and a large green park.

Rent, so you can get to know the area first.

Highflyinpilot · Post by **Highflyinpilot** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:27 pm

FL_CH makes an very very very good point.

Fline@9 · Post by **Fline@9** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:12 pm

There are lots of areas in and around the GTA. Unfortunately the average cost of a detached home anywhere within a 60 minute commute of pearson is around the $400K mark

Now for all of you that are going to bite my head off at this number I have a certain standard I am referencing. Some may find it high, others not high enough. House shopping is a big deal, I mean a very big deal. Agents are out to grab what they can commission wise, not always in the best interests of their clients so the onus "must" be on you to do your own due dilligence.

http://www.mls.ca. Get to know the website and spend a lot of time on it. I live in Richmond HIll, yes I know back roads to pearson and I can generally make it there within 45 minutes (without the 401 or the godforsaken ripoff 407). Would I recommend it? It depends on your needs. No one can answer that for you here other then yourself. The only way ,I think, you can answer that is if you get in the car and drive around some prospective areas. I say this because if you come from the plains of Saskatchewan (just an example), then moving to mississauga or brampton might be a bit of a culture shock. Yet everyone thinks that the best thing to do is look for the cheapest house and the shortest commute time. I say this is not always the smartest choice on such a large investment.

If you have a wife and kids then you'll want to know proximity to parks, schools, hospitals, shopping, because you might save a bundle buying out in georgetown, but if you have teenagers that don't have drivers licences then your life will be a living hell unless you drive them everywhere where there friends are (GTA etc...) not to mention goodbye to the $$$ saved in the house only to be wasted at the pumps.

My advice (in my very humble opinion) is to see if you can find a short term rental say 6 months and do lots of homework on buying a house here. Houses are too expensive to make mistakes on and say "well I'll know better next time..."

Highflyinpilot · Post by **Highflyinpilot** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:16 pm

400k for a home in Toronto, is that a normal bungalow.

Oh ya nice avatar by the way

gr8gazu · Post by **gr8gazu** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:24 pm

Try north Burlington or north Oakville. Great access to QEW and 407.

My commute is an easy 30 minutes door to door in most traffic.

Great area for the family and easy access to the lake.

It all depends what you want though. Being from the left coast, I need to be near water of some sort.

Fline@9 · Post by **Fline@9** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:35 pm

HighFlyinPIlot.... thats what TREB says it is. I found it hard to believe too. I've been looking as far east as Claremont, as far north as Georgina, and as far west as Orangeville all I see for that price are shacks.

The median seems to be more realistic if set at $550- $600K but I suppose they set it with reference to everything for sale. I'm only looking at 4 bedroom detached homes with a yard.

It's official... judging by what I've been watching closely for the last 3 months we are going into a very meager fall/winter. Inventories they say are up, but what I see are greedy people grabbing cash from properties that are not worth what they are asking. If you watch the market closely you'll see the ones I'm talking about. 40 year old homes that haven't had a dime spent on them in 40 years and they want to command top dollar because they are in Toronto. Those people can go and f*ck themselves... I hope their homes sit and rot.

Highflyinpilot · Post by **Highflyinpilot** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:00 pm

4 hours north of toronto I can get a nice house for 120K and im thinking thats alot, I just cant imagine what a monthly mortgage would be on a house of half a million dollars, In fact I don't know how people can get appproved for mortagages of that high, unless you are a succesful business owner

grammar boy · Post by **grammar boy** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:45 pm

KFCpilot wrote:Id say, rent an apartment in the Highpark area first and get to know the GTA. Highpark (Bloor and Keele) is probably the best area for anyone in aviation with a quick commute to the airport via car or subway and is an safe nice area with lots of kids and a large green park.

Rent, so you can get to know the area first.

Excellent idea. Rent for a year, do some exploring and then jump into the house market.

3HOLER · Post by **3HOLER** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:26 pm

Thanks for all the posts they have been very helpfull. You all have some good points and there is so much choice within an hour of YYZ. The rental idea is a good option but with two little kids (2&4) I'd rather not move twice in one year if I can help it. Were lucky that we have a bit of time on our hands the move won't be untill April-May and as far as my commute to the airport most of our flights are early morning (midnight till 4am) so I don't think the traffic should be much of an issue. I've been checking out MLS big time and the prices in Barrie seem quite reasonable for a lake community. We still have a lot of time to look and thanks to your posts a lot of areas to check out THANKS AGAIN and keep them coming.... anyone living in Barrie with kids please pm me........

pilotbzh · Post by **pilotbzh** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:29 pm

guys my townhouse will be for sale soon (available in july)3bed attach garage all redone in the last few years in mississauga, creditview 401, 15min from the parking lot @t2, 220K

Alex YCV · Post by **Alex YCV** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:08 pm

pilotbzh wrote:guys my townhouse will be for sale soon (available in july)3bed attach garage all redone in the last few years in mississauga, creditview 401, 15min from the parking lot @t2, 220K

You hit another issue that anyone moving to Toronto needs to grasp: Detatched housing is really very expensive, but attached / townhouses are a bit more reasonable and much more common. There are many new projects (even at the north end of Richmond Hill) where you can get a reasonable if a bit small townhouse in the $2xx,000 range. There are also many developments through mississauga, brampton, and oakville that might also fit the bill.

Toronto is quite a shock, I remember when I moved there my rent from Montreal doubled, and that really changed the economics of the whole thing.

Rem · Post by **Rem** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:18 pm

Most folks here are making some good, valid points. I did the move 8 months ago and chose Barrie myself. My family and I love it, and don't regret a thing yet. For me, the drive to the airport isn't bad and there are a lot of side routes you can take. I also find the town quite friendly so far except for getting used to the S. Ont. driving which is a switch from some of the places I've lived.

My advice to you would be to take the time to visit as many of the places in range of Pearson as you can after checking out house prices on mls.ca. There are a lot of good suggestions for viable places to live but only you know what's important to you and a lot of it boils down to personal opinion. My wife and I spent a week exploring and it was worth every minute. In the end we could be confident we made the right decision for us.

Good luck!

RatherBeFlying · Post by **RatherBeFlying** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:41 pm

With a 2 & 4 year old, I'd be looking for a neighborhood that the wife can get to shopping and a hangout/coffee bar where she can chat with the other moms within an easy stroller push remembering that there's two in the stroller.

The 4-year old's going to be in school soon; so, get the word on the local school.

MOVING TO CYYZ

real estate is overinflated wherever you look in the GTA

400K... thats what I said