Comments on: The Costs of Home Ownership

By: home staging toronto

home staging toronto — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:42:39 +0000

I think that real estate comes out ahead only if you get the appreciation (which we’ve gotten over the last decade). If you don’t have that, then you have probably lost money and maybe a lot of it.

By: Mortgage Slaves

Mortgage Slaves — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:47:05 +0000

[...] Life had an excellent article some time back on mortgage slaves. The Canadian Capitalist has linked to this article before, and I think its an excellent question: is it worthwhile being house [...]

By: Fat Tony

Fat Tony — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:56:48 +0000

ALWAYS HAGGLE WITH THE REAL ESTATE AGENT!!! Whether you are buying or selling.

IF YOU DON’T GET HALF-COMMISSION, YOU ARE BEING RIPPED-OFF – find another agent who’s willing – there are 25,000 agents in Toronto.

Example: if you are a buyer:
Seller pays 5% commission. Of this 5%:
2.5% goes to seller’s agent.
2.5% goes to buyer’s agent.
Buyers agent gives half (1.25%) to you.

By: Novice

Novice — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:37:53 +0000

I agree with poster above and actually also had a pre-offer home inspection (my parent’s said “what the hell is that?’) but in our case we were able to win the bidding war against 6 other couples, and though I don’t know for sure I’m positive some of it was that our offer had no conditions whatsoever. However, this was on the first house that my wife and I saw and both loved equally. I wonder if perhaps the couple above tried to do it the right way and couldn’t; I also wonder if my own behavior would have changed if we’d fallen in love 3 or 4 times, had 4 inspections, and 4 deals all get blown….

By: Marianne O

Marianne O — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:48:37 +0000

What hasn’t been mentioned yet (unless I missed it) is that the lesbian couple in the article apparently took possession of their house BEFORE getting a home inspection. Then they were shocked to see gaping holes and water staining.

I just don’t understand how someone can commit to a purchase of this magnitude without taking the time & small outlay of cash to make sure it’s worth buying. If they fell in love with the house and wanted to make an unconditional offer (to boost the chances of acceptance) then they could have arranged a same-day or next-day home inspection. It’s done all the time.

We paid for an inspection prior to bidding on a home that was attracting a lot of buyer interest. The inspection was great, but we dropped out of the bidding war when it moved above our top dollar. So we were out the cost of the inspection. It happens. The next time we bid conditional on inspection (as the house had been on the market for awhile, so we had a little leeway) and in the end closed the deal with another good inspection report in our pockets. Again, I just can’t fathom why anyone would CONSIDER taking possession based on their own limited look-see. Arrgghhhh.

By: Winner and Weekend Reading - March 28, 2008 | Million Dollar Journey

Winner and Weekend Reading - March 28, 2008 | Million Dollar Journey — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:31:24 +0000

[...] Canadian Capitalist explains The Costs of Home Ownership. [...]

By: plei

plei — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:46:25 +0000

It’s worth noting one cost that people in Canada don’t pay that others in the US often do (or did) – yield spread premium. Home buyers in Canada have things better in that sense…

By: In Defence of Home Ownership

In Defence of Home Ownership — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:01:08 +0000

[...] that the home is the ‘best investment’ that most people make (of course, assuming that all housing-related expenses fit comfortably within a household budget). We know that it is not due to the usual claims [...]

By: Thicken My Wallet » Blog Archive » What is the True Rate of Return on Real Estate?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:04:41 +0000

[...] admit my bias up-front: I do not consider residential real estate a good investment. The costs of residential home ownership or upkeep of residential real estate investments are too great relative to other forms of [...]

By: Traciatim

Traciatim — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:14:58 +0000

Sundae1888: Exactly my point, it’s a lifestyle choice. They think they ‘deserve it all’ rather than ‘deserving reality’. That’s the only problem here.