Joanna's House - My Brilliant Idea
Amid the terror of a supposedly collapsing Toronto Real Estate market, I've finally decided that the time has come for me to seriously consider buying a house. Am I crazy for thinking of buying in this market? Well, as Forrest Gump said, crazy is as crazy does... and real estate is what I do isn't it? hehe...
I know I ramble on a lot about making the right decisions in real estate and that buying (or selling) should make physical and financial sense. I also know that it's hard to fully hear and subsequently listen to my message because it's virtual and it's so vague. Thus, I've decided to try something a little bit different... for those of you who watch or are familiar with HGTV's hit show, "Sarah's House," where host Sarah Richardson of Design Inc. takes you through the trials and tribulations of renovating and redesigning her own home. Instead for me, this will be my own version of the show, where I'll take you through my journey of buying a house in Toronto - it'll be Joanna's House!
My genuine hope in doing Joanna's House is really to educate and shed some light on the whole home buying process coming from someone who actually helps people buy homes for a living. Yes, I am a Realtor and yes, I am also a homeowner, an investor and an urban professional who needs a roof over her head. I sometimes get the impression that people think that I get better deals than they do when buying and / or achieve higher prices than they do when selling. To futher exemplify these observations, in the book Freakanomics, there's a section that says that Real Estate Agents typically sell their homes for more money than the general population, which may seem very unfair or out of whack to some people. I can't speak for all Realtors, but at least for myself, a part of the reason why that might be the case is because you buy "right" from the start and secondly, I'm willing to follow my Realtor's advice (myself) and do what it takes to get the home sold. Whether it's your home or an investment, real estate is a business and decisions for me are typically more logical and less emtional. It is true that in real estate, you should make money going in and not coming out, but that rule does get defied by even the best of us since at the end of the day, we're all people, we all have needs and fulfiling those needs costs money!
Lastly before we begin, I need to make a disclaimer. Blogging about my own personal home search will require me to share a lot of personal information and let you into my decision making processes. I'm going to be honest, I'm going to be blunt, and I may not always be right, so take the information for what it's worth to you and don't take everything I say as fact. Remember that everyone is unique and what is right for me might not be right for you, so don't use it against me! Cool? Cool.
So without further adieu, let's we get started... ohh wait, you're going to have to wait till my next blog.
Ha-ha!
Jo
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
Brilliant in concept, actually purchasing a home in this market only to lose 35-50% of it's future value in the next two years -- yet it being potentially a 40 year investment: Not quite brilliant. :)
Show us through the eyes of a client instead, keep your liquidity.
Thanks for the post and your concern David!
35-50% of it's market is a quite aggressively bearish! While I know that the market is not immune to such a thing since it did happen before, let's hope the economists are right in saying that things are a little different this time around.
The house is a long term plan for me and I'm really not looking to make a quick buck and the decision is more because I actually need and want a place to live downtown. I'm paying around $1,500 per month in rent right now in a sub-par area and if I were to rent the same thing down here, it would be at least $1,700 or $1,800 which I am not comfortable paying.
Mind you, I am also not comfortable with over-paying for a house or buying one that doesn't make financial sense for me or my investment strategy. So, I will be patient... heck, I might not end up pulling the trigger for 2 years, but at least the idea is out there.
Lastly, I am showing you through the eyes of a client - ME! The sad thing is that I'm probably the pickiest and unreasonable client I've got. =D
Certainly valid, and as long as you're in no race to sell then purchasing isn't a bad decision, just be certain to take into consideration the direction taxes & overhead are heading downtown: Up, up, and away! :)
When renting, the majority of us luck out on the fact that most expenses are all-inclusive for the most part vs. full ownership which will most likely result in extremely similar expenses, if not slightly higher. Be certain to do the math.
Nonetheless, still a decent piece of content for the blog. :)
Yeah, I hear you... its almost always more expensive to own your property than it is to rent, but you pay for the security. Security costs money and believe me, I will DEFINITELY do the math.
See my BIG WHY blog as to why I'm buying... it might give you a better understanding. I'm really trying to put my money where my mouth is!
=D