“My Toronto house has doubled in value! Should I sell now and then buy a larger house with a much smaller mortgage?” For many Toronto real estate sellers, it’s making a lot of sense.
The Weir Team is always meeting new clients who are thinking that perhaps now is the time to sell their downtown home and move either a little further away towards Pickering… or even up to Stouffville where a much larger house could be purchased for much less money.
Once the second or third child comes along, many Leslieville houses and East York bungalows may start to feel a bit cramped. On top of that, many homeowners can’t help but wonder if now is the time to “cash-in” and “up-size” their house and property for much less money.
The Weir Team is seeing a noticeable movement eastwards into Scarborough, Pickering, Ajax and beyond where you’ll find a wealth of great houses in need of just a bit of TLC on excellent plots of land that could be had for “dirt cheap” by Toronto price standards. Or if a renovation project isn’t your thing, there are plenty of detached bungalows, classic side-splits and back-splits that have been expertly renovated on large lots that may have exactly what you’re looking for not too far from downtown Toronto.
The area of Cliffcrest in Scarborough is a perfect example. While many downtowners would have never considered Kingston & McCowan, the appeal of a move-in ready detached two-storey house with three bedrooms on a 150 foot lot is very appealing with list prices of $499,000 and higher. Who wouldn’t love this detached gem we recently listed at 35 Martindale Road?
For many of our clients, a move east is making very good sense. For example, if your row house on Walpole Avenue has doubled in value but run out of room, doesn’t it just make sense to finally get that 4 bedroom house on an idyllic tree-lined street in Pickering? Or if noisy streetcars rumbling by your house on Gerrard Street or loud buses on Greenwood Avenue is starting to take its toll, maybe that quieter life up “in the country” is something you’re ready to look at.
The other thing to keep in mind, while houses west of Toronto are already out of reach for many buyers, the real estate prices in Scarborough, Pickering and Ajax still have a lot of room to grow. And despite numerous and conflicting media reports and ominous predictions that never seem to come true, the simple supply and demand argument still reigns supreme.
Purchasing your ideal home in Scarborough or Durham region may cost less than $500,000 now (even in a bidding war), but we won’t be surprised to see those values increase at a very impressive rate over the next while, and likely sooner than you might expect.
However all this talk about prices and profits still needs a dose of reality regarding costs of time and transportation if you need to be downtown each day.
According to a recent report, buying a cheaper house in the suburbs may not always pay off financially, especially if the bulk of your life needs to be in downtown Toronto.
But ultimately a change of pace, job, scenery and lifestyle are often the deciding factors with such a move… especially if selling the current house will return a very nice profit which is what many of our clients are seeing time and time again.
Written by Scott Hanton, Broker with The Weir Team