Epanton

Hi All,

I’m after some advice on areas of Oakville to avoid, if any and the best to look at! We’re (me, my partner and 2 boys under 6) due to move in June and trying to get as much information as possible together on areas to look at as I’ve never visited !

Any guidance is very muchly welcome

Thanks so much
E

dbd33

I would avoid the part north of the QEW.

Souvy

That's because Oakvillian lives there.

I used to.

I think it's probably changed a bit since I left, coming up for 12 years ago.

sean75

Downtown Oakville is a very expensive place to buy a house. The further north you go the cheaper it is, generally, but only by Oakville standards, which is still pretty expensive vs. a lot of other places. There are lot (A LOT) of new builds going up north of Dundas right now, and you don't get a lot for your money even there.

When we were looking a couple of years ago the only (just) affordable area south of the QEW was Kerr Village, but we decided against it as it's probably the most down-at-heel district (again, only by Oakville standards) in Oakville. We ended up near the uptown core (north of the QEW), which was more affordable and has easy access to the QEW, the Go station and downtown. There are also, like us, a lot of young families in the area, and there are plenty of activities and support for young children nearby.

Oakville's a nice place, and there's nowhere in the town I'd say to avoid categorically.

Epanton

Why would you avoid north of the QEW?

Sorry for the lack of knowledge but what's the QEW ?

sean75

QEW is the Queen Elizabeth Way, a main highway running along the lake shore through Oakville. It used to be the northern boundary of Oakville many years ago before the town expanded.

Epanton

Thank you all so much so far for your help. I really have very little knowledge of the area so any info is really handy!

We'll rent initially to work out if Oakville is the place for us then once settled we'll buy! I know it's like a piece of string but what would you say we should be looking at for renting/leasing a 4 bed house?

Thanks again

HGerchikov

You left when I arrived, was it something I said? and yes it has changed - a lot. Sean75 pretty much nailed it with his comments. I don't think Oakville has any bad areas compared to most places, but if you were going to rank them relative to each other then I would agree Kerr Village would come near the bottom. Having said that for young single people or couples, its really popular, lots of coffee shops and restaurants within walking distance, walk to GO train and downtown and an urban edge (again relative) to the neighbourhood that the rest of Oakville doesn't have.

Ton of new builds north of Dundas, lots of townhouses and some huge (>4000 sq ft) detached houses, all built so close together that if you sneeze you will probably infect the occupants of 6 homes.

If you want a lot of garden then you need to be south of the QEW (as Dbd33 suggests). On the East side many of the lots are 100 ft wide by 150 or so deep, on the west they are more commonly 60-75 ft wide, however builders are spending close to $1.5mi on the larger lots in the east side and then knocking down the house and building mega mansions (selling at $3.5-4mi).

As far as the other parts of Oakville go, generally speaking the older the neighbourhood the larger the lot is going to be. So the more established areas of Glen Abbey, College Park and Riveroaks have the bigger lots.

Epanton

Right I see, thank you for clarifying

HGerchikov

Depends on the area of Oakville. You would be looking at at least $2300 for a 4 bed place that is half decent. More likely $2500. The newer houses are between $3000-5000 per month. Newer homes in SE Oakville are currently listed at $13000 an $18000 per month (but they are huge) although you can get an ok original one in that neighbourhood for about $3500.

Epanton

OK this is a great guide to what to expect. I've had a little look on the internet but without the advice you've all given It mean't nothing to me!

Last question I promise... ish! Is there a online realtor that you know of that has up to date home information that I could look at to gain more of a understanding of properties?

Thanks again
E

itsasmallworld

Go to realtor.ca and type in oakville in location search. This is a site for all realtors but open to public. However many houses/apartments never make it onto the site as they are sold too quickly so in some markets it can give a false picture of properties available.

Epanton

Perfect, I'll try realtor.ca to see what they have. My other half will be out there before we follow by around a month so he can do a bit of research .

Thank you
E

dbd33

HGerchikov is a realtor with relevant experience who has access to a computer. Whether or not that counts as an online realtor I couldn't say.

Epanton

That definitely does count, I missed that she was a realtor. We have now spoken