AIBU to want to buy that house in Canada

[Flower34]

We will be relocating to Canada in the near future. We went on a trip recently and finalised the city/area we want to be in. I saw a lovely property that meets our requirements 10/10. AIBU to want to buy it now?
We have our visas (permanent residency) and can move anytime. DH is working on a project and he wants to see it through to completion. That’ll take us to next March-Apr. DH thinks we should buy that house and I move with the kids and he’ll join us next March. I’m not too sure.

Let it go? Or buy it? We have a buyer for our UK house and won’t need a mortgage for the house in Canada.

I would check the market to see how often houses in that area come up. It's nice, but there's a lot of farrow and ball esque colours going on, so may need repainting if that's not your thing. I also thought kitchen was small and suspucious about lack of garden. With kids that age I would make sure I had a good garden.

We live 10 mins from that area , been in Oakville nearly 5 years!
It’s a standard house for the area , nothing special.
Are you aware that Glen Abby golf course is wanting to place 3000 new homes just Around the corner, if it goes though that area will be an absolute nightmare with traffic etc ! I would advise not to rush into buying a property before you have lived in the area first.
On another note schools will not be a concern where ever you chose to live in Oakville :)
If you haven’t found this group on Facebook then you should definitely join , the ladies are so helpful, resourceful and funny
Oakville mommies chat.

I wouldn’t buy it. I would rent in the area to make sure you like it before committing to a purchase. Relocating to another country is a big move and (I assume) you’ve never lived there before.

But it! Quick!

Don’t rush to buy, live there first. We relocated abroad, kept our UK home and rented. It was supposed to be a 15 year minimum deal but we were back after 3 for various reasons. Also that kitchen is tiny.

Just saw Oakville mommy post. Don't buy it! Rent!

For the record, calling Oakville a suburb of Toronto is like calling Reading a suburb of London. Do you get on with your sister? Living in cities on opposite sides of Toronto is a significant obstacle - potentially a 3 hour journey to see each other.

In any case, agree with PP that wherever possible it's definitely better to live in an area before buying.

Agree with the small kitchen comments. I have family near Burlington and they have a 3 bedroom but a huge kitchen, huge basement and a massive yard (back garden) and front yard.

Shame there’s no photos of the pool which makes me think there’s not much yard and lots of pool.

Winter is also very snowy, usually from November to sometimes even March.

Buy that house! Its stunning! You can sort out the intricacies later.

Thanks for your perspectives ladies. We are still thinking. I hope it stays on the market until we complete our house sale! Although it’s a average house, we really like it. We’ll def be re decorating.

As PPs have said this is an average, middle-of-the range house (and house price) for Oakville, so you really do not need to worry about this house selling and not being able to find another one like it. There are thousands like it in Oakville and nearby. However, I would spend more time researching the neighbourhood. I would especially be concerned about buying a house in the Glen Abbey area as the owner of the golf course is looking to redevelop it and replace it with housing, so it will be built up, much less green and traffic is set to become a nightmare. (Have a look at the 'Save Glen Abbey' website /facebook pages). I would also look to buy south of the QEW, as those neighbourhoods are much more sought after with bigger lots, gardens and homes (house prices reflect this - generally speaking, the closer to the lake, the more exclusive the area). Southeast and Southwest Oakville are lovely. Avoid Queen Mary Drive/Kerr Street area. South Burlington and Lorne Park are nice too. Bronte is pretty but there's planned redevelopment in the near future. Also, bear in mind that property tax over here is crazy. We were at the top of our band in Surrey and are now paying 4 times as much per year (admittedly for a dream house but the annual tax expense does suck). Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

One more comment re the pool. I'd say every third or fourth house here has a pool. The nicer the home the more garden space you will have in addition to the pool (some people squeeze a pool into the tiniest gardens). The weather is usually great from May until end of September so we do get plenty of time to use it (do check how old it is). Winter is long (there's no real spring) so it's typically cold from November to late April (the schools had to close due to a massive ice storm in mid April last year).

OMG that house is gorgeous!!!!

We found our dream house (the other side of Canada) almost a year before we were ready to move. We rented it out until we moved there.

Also, don't buy a house without seeing it first. We made a shortlist of houses we wanted to view but were pretty certain which one we wanted to buy.
Once we got to Canada we dismissed it without even setting foot inside and the house we ended up buying was one we'd seen online but dismissed. When we saw it for real we both fell in love with it instantly.

This is the property on GE. As others have said it's all pool and no yard.

That’s why there’s no photo of the garden, I guess.
I really would rent before you buy in a place you don’t know very well.

There are better photos if you search the address on realtor.ca or point2homes.ca
This is the garden though...

So no greenery, and for safety, you would probably want to put a gate around that pool.

It’s a lovely house in a lovely area but as everyone has said it’s pretty generic. We live a couple cities over from Oakville but I know the area. I grew up in a very similar house in Burlington and have relatives in almost identical houses also in Burlington.

There will be similar houses when you are ready. Spring is the hottest time of year here for selling and you can sometimes find deals out of that season.

We moved back to Canada a few years ago. It isn’t easy making the move - don’t under estimate the emotional upheaval and homesickness that you may experience. If you are shipping your things they can take 6 weeks to arrive. If you are ordering nicer (than IKEA) furniture here it also takes time. I’d wait and come as a family.

Yes agree with above, check into property tax.

Also the commute into Toronto from Oakville on the train is about an hour max. It’s not 90 minutes

Good old MN, what a wealth of detailed local information all from one short thread. The realtor must be wondering why they're getting so many hits from the UK!

The train is less than an hour, Canuckduck, but one must drive to the GO station and find parking. Let’s assume that’s 15 minutes. If one works in downtown Toronto, add 20 minutes to get from Union to downtown.

Theoretically the train in rush hour is 41 minutes, but the majority of trains are delayed for some reason so let’s round to 50 minutes. That’s (almost) 90 minutes.

I don’t live all that far from here and have just bought a house. Honestly, I would very much suggest you go and look around the house before you buy. We looked around some that were bigger/smaller/not as expected from the listing photos. Also the suggestions of renting in the area first would be a good idea. As someone said upthread, Oakville isn’t a suburb of Toronto, it’s a completely different city. There are nice areas of Mississauga and other surrounding cities if you don’t want to live in downtown Toronto so I wouldn’t rule other places out either.

That said, I do have a recommendation for an awesome realtor if you do want to buy. PM me if you’d like the name and email address. I know he regularly works with people who are buying unseen for various reasons.

DH takes the train every morning around 7am. He’s in his office downtown by 8am. Obviously, it depends on location but if you’re working downtown and walk 10mins from Union it’s a very easy commute. Parking at the train station is free, and trains are cheap and more reliable than our London commuter lines back home. Getting to Oakville station is quick if you are south of the QEW. Clarkson and Bronte stations are alternatives but don’t include Express trains.

Jesus christ. If you can afford Toronto you are clearly a Millionaire (or close). Why do you need the internet's advice on whether to buy it or not unless it's a smug humble brag?