Looks like a nice place.
I could never deal with a lot that small though.
fair comment. in two years of looking we havent seen one single lot in the city that was this size. everything was much much smaller… even homes that were 6 figures more… and anything with a lot bigger than this was easily $150k more.
we were chatting about the differences in property taxes over dinner based on the comments here. the higher taxes would certainly suppress your real estate prices by a fair margin over there… tough to speculate on how much but $20k in tax on something like this (as someone here suggested) would easily push the price down $100k - $140k which would maybe be more in line with the buffalo market.
i’ve also noticed that lot sizes in buffalo and the surrounding areas tend to be much larger, or at least it is easier to find larger properties over there.
Taxes are the killer here in Erie county/buffalo region, 20K in taxes on a 600k home is was a accurate estimate.
Correct. Our infrastructure was built to handle a growing population past 500,000 in the city and a larger metro population. Currently the population of Buffalo is around 258,000. Tax revenues are lower and it shows. Taxes are higher to make up for the gap and thus have suppressed property values for a long time. This is not the cause just a symptom of a larger rust belt problem.
yeah seriously… those taxes take at least 15% from the price of the property just to cover the taxes.
some action shots
kid’s bathroom… used to be a ‘butt shower’ in there… wont be replacing it. toyed with the idea of tandem toilets solely for getting a shot of them both on the toilet reading a magazine… since the plumbing was set up like that…
This used to be the kitchen. the big hole in the wall on the opposite side (left) used to be a pair of closets in the hallway, now it’s another entrance into the kitchen. in the foreground there was also a wall with a window over the sink into the area where the pic was taken… also removed a pantry you cant see in the shot.
couple more"
these are the basement being gutted for grandma and extending the bathroom / plumbing etc to move the laundry room and add a rough-in for a future 2 piece in our part of the basement.
and elongated bowls only braaaah
Looks great! How is the stress level? Everything going ok?
Holy cow, $600k and you’ve got the gut the whole thing. Jesus.
welcome to family life in Canada… if you live in parts of Niagara or 90 minutes outside Toronto this space would be $200k cheaper but to be right in the city you cant get this kind of lot / home size for any less than what we paid. we looked at new builds and for a smaller lot in a lesser area it was $50k more than we paid before ANY upgrades… outfitting a new build similarly would have been $700k+.
note however that our interest rates are much lower than yours and dropping every other month. a bank-rate for a 5 year fixed is advertised at 2.84 right now with the secondary market being below 2% for some variable packages. Our rates are expected to drop AGAIN in March because of the price of oil…
and then also consider that our property taxes are 1/3" what yours are.
basically you take the savings from a lower interest rate and property taxes and add it on to the mortgage… when you do this is rationalizes out pretty well.
the other aspect of this is that this home within 25 minutes of downtown Toronto would be nearly twice the price… many families from the GTA are selling their homes and moving to Hamilton because it’s 10-20% cheaper than Oakville / Mississauga. This is making the market for above average family homes in Hamilton more competitive. When we looked at that new build there were couples from the GTA who literally camped out at the open house over night to secure the better lots and they paid $50k lot premiums for it… and there was a line up behind them to do so.
i’m barely paying attention. the wife is running around picking the cabinets, granite etc. etc.
i used up a ton of aeroplan points and got $2,750 in gift cards for Home Hardware that we are using for all the fixtures etc.
our contractor is a long time friend from SON240sx… he’s doing great work. you guys would have met him. he’s been at every Niagara meet for the last 8 years.
How do mortgages work in Canada-land?
5 year fixed…is there a balloon payment at the end of 5 years and it’s your responsibility to source out another 5 year loan? How does it work, every 5 years?
Bing, stop posting pics of all the work your wife has done, let’s see you getting your hands dirty. :lol:
picking granite and tile patterns isn’t work brah… the paying for it is… 
we dont really have the term balloon payment or at least i’ve never heard it used. you just find another lender or stay with your existing one at the end of your term.
Is it more like commercial loans in the US? 5 year term, then begin another 5 year term after that and so on and so forth? If you don’t pull any equity out and the property continues to appreciate in value you eventually end up owning it depending on the amortization rate?
i guess so… i dont know what the market is like in the US.
you can select any term you want. there are 10 year terms.
when our first 5 year term on our current house was about to expire i just went to a different bank (better rate / service) and there was no interruption.
some progress pics… the kitchens arrived today… will be installed early next week.
This is the view from the dressing room (second floor bedroom we removed the closet from to extend the bathroom)… that will be a window into the bathroom so i can watch my wife shower or she can watch me crap. there are rough ins for a future upper laundry set up if we so choose.
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main kitchen:
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Lower Kitchen:
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Kid’s bathroom: Freshly tiled and plumbed with new electrical as well
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This is the ‘lower loft’ as we’re calling it for my mother in law… sliding doors to keep the space feeling larger. The window boxes were cut out to let more light in and for means of egress. New flooring as well.
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Pre-assembled Ikea Kitchen Cabinets?
Pics of Bing and the wife or it didn’t happen
starting to look more housey on the mainfloor. most of the kitchen is in… now waiting to have the granite guys come through. most of the tiling in the dining room is also done as well as the main entry.
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This is the kitchen in the lower loft
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All new plumbing in the bathrooms and the tub being placed in the master suite
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should be able to move all of the ‘stuff’ out of the living room soon 
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