FocusCanada Forums

So, I'm being asked to go to TO for a job interview with a company with plants in Woodbridge and Concorde.

What's this area like up there? How congested? How crazy is the real estate? Any new developments being built were you could get a new house?

I see it's right near the 400 and 407, so easy access to "cottage country", but the 400 must be a zoo on weekends? I took the 407 through TO on Dec 23rd at 4:00, and it was pretty empty. I'm surprised, from the 407 it looks like all farmland up there. Is that true?

I don't get up that way often but you are right about the 400 being a zoo on weekends and weekdays for that matter. I'm pretty sure there are lots of new developments but at what price I don't know. FYI, the local joke is Woodbridge=Dudebridge as in your Italian/Gino/Gina stereotype.

A starter home in a new development is a minimum of $350k. And yes, there are lots of new developments going in around Hwy 7 and the 400.

When Malby and dBlast pipe in, they will know best as they live in that area.

$350? Holy crap! I don't know how people do that. We make over 6 figures combined, and that's a stretch for us. I guess I know how... Can't have 3 cars and a Seadoo and expensive hobbies.

Damn people need to get a life and stop driving up the housing prices. :angry:

I see lots of greenspace to the west of Woodbridge. And then also up the 400. How bad, really is the 400 coming south in the mornings?

I currently drive about 45-50 minutes in the morning, 60km. And that includes the border. At night, it takes 60-70 minutes because of traffic slowing down on the freeways.

It looks like only 20km from the green areas up the 401 to the 407.

i just bought a semi in maple, right beside woodbridge, for $310k. traffic is bad and it starts at around 8am, anywhere in woodbridge and maple, during the week of course. concord is mainly industrial units with houses scattered here and there.

P-51,Jan 9 2006, 12: Wrote:Damn people need to get a life and stop driving up the housing prices. :angry:
[right][snapback]163978[/snapback][/right]

Or alternatively, stop driving altogether. ;)

Some may say life is better overall when you have a modest house close to work/downtown as oppossed to saving a couple hundred a month on the mortgage and living and commuting that much further away.

People like that may have paid more $/ft^2 but are not "missing" anything other than a couple hours in traffic each day.

$350G is average for anywhere in the GTA and beyond, I know you want big, detached and new but you'll have to venture pretty far to get anything like that in the $200's.

Just before Christmas two houses (both bungalows, maybe 1500 ft^2) on my street sold for about $400G, they started tearing them down yesterday. Nothing wrong with them but once rebuilt as two story houses they will fetch almost a million.

It's crazy and I love it from a net worth standpoint.

It's retarded. If my parents sold their place after finishing the renovations right now, they'd clean up smashingly... 4 bedroom, 2 storey with a full finished basement, 2 bathrooms, rear garage from a separate street.

Weston / Eglinton area.

Yet 10 years ago, they bought it for like $160,000.

Yeah i used to live in Maple/concorde. That entire area is blowing up, 10 years ago it was a waste land, all farm fields.

Now you got the vaughn mills mall and all these other developments, commercial and housing. Its insane. Traffic on the 400 once to get near hwy 7 and south gets pretty thick.

Have you ever thought about looking north and commuting south, like Barrie?

Well if not Woodbridge Brampton / Bramalea would be a good place to get a house as houses here are in the high 180's for older homes, and I think the new going rate for newer homes is just over the $210's and woodbridge is only a short drive away.

I just went through the listings for Toronto and present the LEAST expensive detached house in the city:



A mere $170,000 :lol:

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?vd=...pertyID=4101480

P-51,Jan 9 2006, 12: Wrote:$350?  Holy crap!  I don't know how people do that.  We make over 6 figures combined, and that's a stretch for us.  I guess I know how...  Can't have 3 cars and a Seadoo and expensive hobbies.

[right][snapback]163978[/snapback][/right]

We end up driving a Focus. Ha Ha Ha. If I were living in Saskachewan I'd be driving a Mucielago and working on putting on anti-lambo doors on it. :lol:

Hwy 407 passes through the primarily industrial area of Vaughan. There is certainly a lot of new housing going up in Maple/Woodbridge. The prices are relative to the proximity of a major centre like Toronto. There are other suburbs that may have lower housing pricing but it depends on how much you want to commute. The further out you go the cheaper the housing.

I chose Maple because my wife worked in Maple/Concord and I work not too far away. I hate commuting! I paid more to live close. The higher initial costs is offset by gas savings and vehicle wear and tear and because my time is too valuable to be spent on commuting.

I was looking around on MLS. Brampton is definitely cheaper. I kinda like the looks (from Google Earth) of like... Bolton, Caledon, etc.

Andrew, it's not so much about house price vs. commuting time. It's more about quality of life to me. Cleaner air, larger lots for the rugrats, etc.

There are some SWEET houses in Bolton for $350k, much better than the chicken coupes in Vaughan for the same price.

If I had a 30 minute drive, I'd be lovin life.

When you guys say the 400 gets heavy... what do you mean? Average speeds?

When I say heavy traffic, on I-75 in Detroit, that means litterally stop and go for 10 miles between Big Beaver Road (exit 69, no joke!) and I-696. Every day between 3 and 6pm.

Each of the yellow dots on this map is a camera the northern most one is at the 400/407:

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller...era/camhome.htm

I'd check in a few time during the day especially the morning and evening.

Bolton is a nice community and it is not too bad of a cummute to Concord. Brampton would be a great deal more congested and it has a high concentration of south asians. If you want wide open spaces then Caledon is where you want to be, but it can be pricey.

Caledon is beautiful.

Bolton is nice

Brampton is lovingly referred to as Bramistan.

or Bramladesh!

Move to mississauga,

You can get a 1300sq Ft. townhouse for a mere 310k in erin mills.

I live right on Rutherford and Weston rd. (the new part of Woodbridge).

As for traffic it does get bad only summer times on Fridays. Usually it’s not so bad. I work on Yonge and Bloor and usually take me 35-45 min to get to work around 8-9 am. Going home will take about 1hr. obviously longer on Fridays during summer (cottage) times.

Housing is booming like crazy in Woodbridge especially north of Major Mac these days, there are lots of new places that go for 350K to 450K. As you said it’s really expensive but it’s manageable with two incomes. We make near 100K combined as well and it’s good. We are also getting married this year so lot of money goes towards the wedding plans.

One thing you should consider is the fact real state market will eventually go down. I'm currently taking real state courses to become a real state agent. Just make sure you buy a place that has potential for development. So when the market crashes at least your property value will stay the same because of the booming in your area.

We live in the area that is about 4yrs old and we bought our place last year. It’s already gone up by about 50K since last year and its all because of Vaughan Mills and all the other little plazas that are being built around that neighborhood.

Over all I love where I live and it’s a very quite and safe place to raise kids and crap like that. Where else is TO would you be safe walking around 2 am and feel safe?

Andrew, thanks for the TOTech, that's why I come here! ;) Things didn't look too bad at 6:30. Is it safe to assume traffic on the 400 gets lighter as you get further north of the 407?

Mo, good info too. Buying into a house with an inflated price is another huge reason I don't want to get an expensive place. I think that's a huge risk.

The housing boom is fine if you got in on the ground floor, but it's a huge problem if you buy in at the top!

mo_focus,Jan 9 2006, 06:29 PM Wrote:Where else is TO would you be safe walking around 2 am and feel safe?
[right][snapback]164058[/snapback][/right]

East York. ;)

So long as the ladies in the lawn bowling league don't hassle you.

Holy Heck, Mo's commute is pretty far, and you do that in 45-50 minutes? That's not bad. I guess it's only 25km, and I do 60 in the same time... but most of mine is at 140km/h on congested highways, surrounded by terrible drivers and a requiring a roof mounted machine gun... so I'd trade you any day. ;)