Hello All,

I'm a brand new member of this discussion forum and it looks really great from what I've read already!

I'm moving with my wife and two small boys to Toronto next June. We have employment and Visas sorted, now we're starting to think to find about where to live. I'm sure this has been asked 1000s of times before but if you can bear with me I'd really grateful.

So ... What are the nice family-oriented neighbourhoods in Toronto (and especially good schools)? Also, we'd like to rent before we buy so how much can we expect to spend on renting a house (3/4 bedroom) in the city? I'm sure it depends on 'where' like most things ... One area we wondered about was High Park - what's that like? Lastly, what's the property market like in TO right now? I've read that it's rising again, but is there a view that it will drop again next year as some folks seem to think in the UK? We're wondering whether to take the plunge sooner and sell here and buy there if the market's moving quickly - don't want to miss the boat.

Sorry to drone one and to be vague. Any help you can give would be fab, thanks.

Mike

Hello Mike,

I don't know Toronto too well as we live in Ottawa, however, my brother and some family are in Toronto and they are in the Yonge/Eglington (sp) area.

It is a fab area, some great schools and lots of life, however they have said that it is really expensive and sought after. My brother pays $900 for a bachelor apartment so no idea what a house to rent would be and my cousin bought a 2 bed house for $450,000 recently.

Hope this is of some help and I am sure someone who lives in Toronto will be better placed to help!

Melanie

To rent a nice 3/4 bedroom in the city will be expensive. The High Park area is one of the most desirable and I reckon rental would be in the $2500/3000 range, probably more. In that area a $500k house would be towards the lower end for buying.
If these prices are not within your budget you will require to look further out in suburbia.

Thank you so much Melanie, I appreciate it. My grandparents live in Ottawa -it's a nice city too!

Just sold our place in TO in 2 days for $59K over asking

How much for and whereabouts, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks!

dbd Will chime in here, he has lived in a few various neighbourhoods in Toronto and has some pretty good incite into what the best neighbourhoods are for schools and such. Me, i grew up in Toronto and currently live outside of the city in York Region and the commute to Toronto is a pain.

There are a lot of highly desireable neighbourhoods and some sketchy ones. I know thats a general statement but there are so many areas to compare. The beaches are nice, Little Italy area, Avenue Road corridor(expensive), High Park, Roncesvalle. How close are you looking at living to downtown and what kind of budget were you looking at will help to narrow where would be a good area for you to live down.

As for the Real Estate market, i design for Realtors so I have a little insight as I see the numbers and trends on a month to month basis. Prices are definately rising and people are starting to sell and buy more frequently than before. There are still a lot of people that are cautious to sell or buy, resulting in a lower number of units on the market for sale, which has sometimes resulted in the homes value to skyrocket as there is higher demand than supply. (as seen in the poster above)

Anyhow good luck, you will get some Toronto neighbourhood experts in this post soon enough. Im curious if you have ever visited here?

Cheers

3 bed semi in Danforth/Greenwood area. Sold for $439K

Thanks so much for your reply. Everyone's been so helpful already!

I guess we want to be in the city of Toronto, near to transport links, in a nice, family-friendly community (parks nearby, good schools, amenities etc). Actually being near to *downtown* isn't that important but being in the city environs is -- if you see what I mean! I'll be working from home mostly and needing to get out and about to univ campuses when I am on the road.

As for budget, we were thinking $2,000 - $2,500 rental per month maximum. If we buy, it totally depends on what you can get from a lender. Here in the UK it's 3-4 times earnings. What is it there? We really don't know whether we're going to buy first of all. I'm erring towards basing in the city and then scoping out first before leaping in to buy somewhere, but then it sounds as if the market's moving faster there than here so we might have to rethink this plan ...

Yes, have visited a few times. Actually I lived there when I was a kid (to aged five) which was a long time ago now, but this means I have the citizenship. I love the city, I really do.

Thanks again!

One's mortgage borrowing capacity is not based on an income multiplier in Canada. More so on ability to service total debts. A mortgage lender will/can calculate ahead of time the amount he/she is prepared to lend. This will alow you to go shopping with the knowledge of your maximum purchase.

Hi Mike,

The following site describes Toronto's neighbourhoods:

http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/

The area above and below St Clair Avenue West is pretty affordable with good transport links, shops and lots of schools. I live north of St Clair Avenue West near Eglinton Avenue and houses are affordable (though get more expensive the closer you are to the ravine). I bought my detached bungalow with large renovated basement in 2008 for $343K (needed some renovations).

High Park is lovely, though expensive. Renting and looking around areas to get a good feel for where you would like to buy is a good idea. Rentals vary according to area and quality. I can recommend an excellent Realtor who really understood the difficulties of us coming from the UK and trying to understand house buying here and the different types of house construction here.

Housing market is picking up and expected to continue picking up in 2010 as far as I am aware.

Good luck with your move and congratulations on finding a job - what do you do?

Chris

High Park is very nice and very expensive - try looking on the North side of Bloor. The area between Annette & Dundas/St.Clair (south/north) and between Keele and Jane (east/west) is known as The Junction and contains a good mix of older victorian housing that seems to sell and rent at good prices. Nearest subway is at Runnymede & Bloor.

Toronto is great you don't have to pay massive rents either if don't mind a bit of commute. Etobicoke for instants is cheaper and really next door. Around Donlands isn't bad and upper beaches around the Kingston Road. Leslieville is aright too.

Have look here I just put in quick search up to 1600 bucks. I brought a nice house in Etobicoke/Lampton Park for 240 and I'm only across the road from High Park area without the price....LOL.

http://www.realtor.ca/PropertyResults.aspx?Mode=0&vs=Residential&ret=300 &curPage=propertySearch.aspx&sts=0-0&beds=0-0&baths=0-0&bt=1&atsg=3|5|1|9|&ci=Toronto&pro=2&mp=0-0-0&mrt=800-1600-4&trt=3&of=1&ps=50&o=A

Hi there Chris,

To be honest I'm amazed at the house prices in the city. They sound more affordable than I was expecting (though I'm sure they vary greatly by area).

I work in higher educational publishing and publish textbooks for psychology students (mainly) for the global market. To be honest, Canada has been left off the radar for a while here so my company is posting me in Canada to focus on this sector ...

We're mega excited about the move. We live in E17 in London and the place is just slipping further down hill -- infrastructure collapsing, overcrowding and rising crime. The schools are terrible too. We're not excited about the Olympics at all either since our taxes have risen massively but we can't see any improvement in frontline services. Time to get off my soap box!

I'd be really grateful for the recommendation of a Realtor, Chris, thank you!

Mike

Hi Mike,

You can certainly buy houses as cheap or expensive as you want. After selling our house in the UK, we are now mortgage free - which we probably would never have been in the UK. Our Realtor was Robert Mirabelli (http://www.robertmirabelli.com/). He really helped us understand the house buying system here and took us to see lots of houses to see what we could get for our money - very helpful and trustworthy guy.

Your job sounds interesting - my background is in the cognitive sciences so I've taught cognitive psychology quite a bit in the UK and worked on psychology related research projects. I'm an educational researcher, mainly in higher education - educational technology is my main area. My partner's also worked and published quite extensively in psychology too.

I'm glad I left the UK last year - no one I know there is happy and the government/economy just seems to be getting worse. I really like it here, no where is perfect, but I like the lifestyle and I really like Toronto - so much to do here - it's very vibrant and quirky. It's really grown on me and you get used to the hot humid summers and snow shovelling in the winter!!!!

Chris