Location: in the heart of Mrs Saga
Posted on: 26-05-04 08:46:07
Quote:
Orginally posted by amit kalia
1. Health Care: The close proximity to India and quality of Indian private health care system is far better than the subsidised health care of Canada.
A. Yes....and the medicine is a lot cheaper too!
2. Property: Yes you can buy a property in UAE and some other Gulf countries these days. But will you trust the system?
A. No question of investing in proprty in the gulf....its a system running on false economy..
3. Education: Gulf cannot match the subsidised superior quality education system and more than subsidised University education.
A. Cannot be said better.
4. Food: Enough choice of desi food in Canada and Midle East, so no differences.
A. True, although eating out and other service related activities are far cheaper than in Canada...
5. Nanny: Who cannot forget the help of a maid servant in the Middle East? It is hard to afford a full time help in Canada. Depending upon your family net earnings some people do get weekly help/maid that costs anything from 80-100 CAD for a good 4-5 hours of house cleaning.
A. Right, almost impossible to afford a maid in Canada
6. Gasoline: Is cheap in both the countries however Insurance rates are really worst in Canada.
A. Gasoline is less than half the price as in Toronto these days.....
7. Home: Canada gives you a feeling of a home, even if you have lost a job you are in your own country. In Middle East your job is everything, you loose it , you go back with your family. So you stay in the same job at the same or slightly better terms year after year. And when you are 60 you go back to your country any way as you cannot live there without a work permit. How strange?
A. Yeah a main reason for Desis to move to the West
I was not saying that I do not trust the Canadian property system......I just dont trust in such steep rises in price without a possible oncoming tradeoff. Remember the terrible property market crash in 1996 in Toronto?
And in no way I mean to say that one should not buy a home in Canada. I just meant that according to my understanding and opinion, now (May 2004) is not the best time to buy property. Perhaps this is the best time to rent and wait for a year or two for the property to go down.
If the prices just go up, they have to be supported by the buyers in the market. What if another mississauga type city starts developing in the outskirts of GTA? Think about Milton. Many people are moving out to that city!!!!....
I am expecting some advise from you as you are in this business.
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Deal With Reality or Reality Will Deal With You
In next 2-3 years the land in Mississauga should be saturated for new sub-divison developments. Milton, Oakvillle and Brampton are the cities that will grow for some years to come and will soon be the new immigrants best choices.
Please read the earlier post regarding house prices and future prediction:
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=2278
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Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/
Quote:
Orginally posted by northwind
Also can you advise how much time it takes to build a reasonable Canadian Credit history.For example you take a car loan (on a new Corolla) a month after landing and start repaying it- how many months later can it to be accounted for as safe credit history, for any other loans that you may want ( May be for a house purchase loan of 150,000 CAD.)
Yes.. that is a good way of starting your credit history here in canada. In addition to that you should take up the store cards ( as advised by Amit) like Canadian Tire, Sears and Zellers etc. and buy some thing on the card and pay it immediately after the bill arrives. After 3-4 billing cycle and with some job, you would be able to get a Visa or a Master Card and within 1 year you would have a good credit history.
However, if you want to buy a house, apart from the credit history you also need a stable job history of atleast 1 year if you are paying less than 25% down payment. But if you are paying more than 25 % down payment, you can qualify to buy a house immediately after your arrival here in Canada unders some banks 'new immigrant' program. For that you do not need an established credit history in Canada or a even a job. You can simply provide some sort of credit reference from your banker in the country of your previous residence. We have helpled numerous 'new immigrants' to buy a house under this 'new immigrant programme' without job or credit history.
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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
Thanks Pramod thats great.
We are planning to put in 35% down payment for a condo.But can we take two mortgages i.e one for a car and another for a house paying 35 down for them at the same time.
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Those who want to make their dreams come true dont sleep
Hi,
Regarding buying a condo or town home, I found that maintenance charges for condo's are high , plus it offers apartment type living. A town house offers more lateral space and also when I inquired at some places I found that the maintenance charges were comparitively less.
Could you tell us why is that if it is true.
As I understand ( I maybe wrong) the aprtment like condo's should be having less maintenance chgs and the town house should be having more maintenance charges, could you tell us why is that
Secondly between a condo and town house what would have a ready clientele immdtly, i.e what sells faster.... Are the property tax, school district tax common for both the condos and town house.
Any tips and answers would be much appreciated and usefull to make a decision.
Regards
Condominium or Condo is a unit where the comon expenses are shared amongst the residents of the condominium corporation. If you're in the market to buy a home and are looking for fewer maintenance requirements, or perhaps a typical single-unit home isn't in your budget, then you may want to consider a condominium.
By definition, when you buy a condominium, you're buying all the space contained within the walls. The condo unit may be in the form of a townhouse, apartment flat, or even a detached structure. The exterior of the building, the landscaping, surrounding roads and driveways, and common areas are all owned by an association, a group made up of all unit owners.
When you say that you find maintenance charges less in a condo townhome in comparison to condo apartments, you are right. In most of the cases you are responsible to pay your own utilies; heat, hydro, water etc. This may add to another 150-350 CAD per month in addition to 80-250 CAD monthly condo fees. Mostly the condo fees take care of overall external maintenance of the units e.g. gardening, snow removal, landscaping, lawn mowing, painting etc. and some portion of the condo fee is added to the future reserve fund of the condominium corporation. This is used for future major works to the common elements like roofing, landscaping, plumbing, roads, pathway, structure etc. You are also governed by the rules of the corporation.Be sure to check condo documents such as the declaration, rules, and bylaws. Ask about the issues that are important to you. Can you have a pet? What about a home office? Can you grow vegetables in the back?
It is always wise to check with your Realtor about the reserve fund avaliable with the corporation before you decide to give your offer.
The reason that the condo fees seems to be higher in case of high rise condo apartments is because your utilities except cable and telephone are mostly covered in the condo fee. Plus you get additional benefits like 24 hour security, club, gym, sauna, racket, tennis, party rooms, guest suites etc. depending upon the condo building that one would choose.
The Canadian demographics shows that approximately 1/3 of population is a baby boomer with 9.8 million individuals born born between 1946 and 1966 . The Canadian Baby Boom generation has driven the economy and shaped economic forces such as interest rates, the stock market, housing trends and corporate culture, to name a few. And the condo living is one of such trends.
You also asked: "Secondly between a condo and town house what would have a ready clientele immdtly, i.e what sells faster.... Are the property tax, school district tax common for both the condos and town house."
Do you mean a freehold townhome? A townhome can be both a freehold (no maintenance fees) and a condo(as explained above). The answer depends upon your affordabilty and choice. If you like condo type living and do not want to work in your lawn, shovel snow or take care of sturcture etc. then condo living is better.
The property taxes are based upon your home value as assessed by the MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation)
Regards,
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Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/
Hi
Let to tell you I have worked in the gulf (Oman) for 10 years. There is a huge difference in Canada. Right Faisal has mentioned a few & so are the other guys. Well I would just add....
The quality of life is much better. People are respected irrespective of the color, bank balance, status.... Yeah you have to shell out on taxes & insurance for every damn thing. Not sure if you can save, it depends on the lifestyle you wanna live. The education system is much better compared to the gulf. Yeah one thing I wanna add is, you can live in peace, regardless you lose your job. In the gulf you may have to pack your bags and leave for home next day. thats what happen to us.
Reagards buying a house, the price wud depend on a few factors like old or new. Locality, in toronto each area has its own value. Its important you buy a house close to school, mall, subway....etc. You have to shop for mortgage. i wud suggest you rent a apartment for atleast 6 mths to get a better picture.
Dagma
