i almost forgot to post something today
save for a shower break and a dinner break, i've been writing pet stories for about the past seven hours and my brain is now mush. i had a screening this morning, some entertainment-magazine stuff when i got home, and then it rained cat scratches and dog weight for the rest of the day.
my real-estate agent sent me a sobering document today, too. it was a list of all the houses that sold in toronto in my price range (and in non-scary neighbourhoods) in the past year... and almost every single one of them sold for WELL-above-asking. as in, $50-60K above asking. which means a nice, seemingly affordable (for toronto) two-bedroom bungalow listed at, say, $280K will probably sell for closer to $350K.
and then require extensive renovations, to boot.
of all the houses on the list -- and there were TONS -- only a tiny handful even appealed to me, and they, too, had sold for sizable sums above their list prices. that wasn't terribly encouraging.
i'm feeling a little stuck. nothing's been coming on the market, condo-wise, so i started pondering houses and actually warming to the idea. but, now, i see that almost none of the houses that came up over the past year would have been affordable OR appealing. (there are zero on the market in my price range at present.) maybe a house is actually unrealistic. maybe a condo is unrealistic. maybe i will live in this apartment forever.
yes, i know, it's winter and things are slow and the market will pick up once spring hits and no one is shoving me out the door, so i'm trying not to get caught up in the all-too-familiar "i need to do something now!!!!" panic that tends to set in (for me) in situations like this.
but it IS tugging at my sleeve. i should probably eat another marshmallow to calm it.
5 comments:
I was a bit surprised that you were looking at houses because land is so ridiculously expensive. Buying a bungalow gives you the freedom to tear it down and replace it with the largest monster home permissible by law. And while you might never intend to do that, the possibility is factored into the price.
All that to say I'm not surprised house prices are discouraging. But I think with condos you're looking at a different and more short-term problem of finding something that suits you.
I think that YB needs to keep the marshmallows coming because you will likely be in the state of controlled panic for a while longer. The purchase of a home calls for big emotions. You are doing great. :-)
thanks, guys!
(YB has said that the marshmallows are quick and easy to whip up, should i need more. :-D)
Ugh. Discouraging I know.
YOU WILL NOT STAY IN THAT APARTMENT FOREVER!
Did you hear me?
Spring is a time for moving!
(((Vic)))
thanks, moob. :-)
right now, we've passed the tipping point for a spring move. the earliest i could move now would be june 1st (and that's if i buy a place by march 30th) because i need to give two months' notice before i can depart.
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