Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Sep 26th 2015, 4:11 pm
#46
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Yes, but it's better than being obsessed with the price of cheese or wine.
I would not be anywhere near as obsessed if I was looking to move from the UK having never lived anywhere else. One tends to assume all westernised countries have reasonably equivalent housing stock for a particular age of structure, albeit with a few local quirks and differences. It's become a point of some obsession because I now know otherwise and I haven't enjoyed the experience.
I would not be anywhere near as obsessed if I was looking to move from the UK having never lived anywhere else. One tends to assume all westernised countries have reasonably equivalent housing stock for a particular age of structure, albeit with a few local quirks and differences. It's become a point of some obsession because I now know otherwise and I haven't enjoyed the experience.
Sep 26th 2015, 4:13 pm
#47
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Sep 26th 2015, 5:13 pm
#48
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Yes, perhaps I have a bee in my bonnet more than other might because we've worked so damn hard for our money and to build assets in order to set ourselves up with some degree of security that we didn't have growing up. We don't come from priviledged background. In fact not even close and we'll never inherit anything.
We've made some serious lifestyle sacrifices early in our adult lives as well as sensible financial decisions, wise carefully considered investments and we live a reasonably frugal, environmentally concious (as far as is affordable) lives because we don't want to buy into mindless consumerism and the 'bigger is better' mentality that is creeping into western culture.
With all of the above in mind, there is also the fact that climatically appropriate shelter, is a basic need that sits right up there along with nourishing food and access to medical care.
Being comfortably warm and dry has a major impact on my overall wellbeing, my health and enjoyment of life. I want to live somewhere that I can afford to heat my whole house efficiently to an indoor temperature that reaches WHO guidelines,
With all of the above in mind, there is also the fact that climatically appropriate shelter, is a basic need that sits right up there along with nourishing food and access to medical care.
Being comfortably warm and dry has a major impact on my overall wellbeing, my health and enjoyment of life. I want to live somewhere that I can afford to heat my whole house efficiently to an indoor temperature that reaches WHO guidelines,
With enough of a downpayment or a smallish mortgage you should be able to get a semi or detached property [even a fixer upper or duplex income property even better] somewhere in the GTA in the $500k - $600k range, although many folks cannot even imagine getting on the property ladder in that price range.
Most all of the GTA housing is comfortably warm - it has too be given the wide climate range we have here. Only issue is the utility bills to have that comfort in the winter & summer.
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Last edited by not2old; Sep 26th 2015 at 5:49 pm. Reason: edited
Sep 26th 2015, 5:29 pm
#49
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
An oldie but a goodie, have you established your eligibility to gain a visa for PR status in the first place? It seems to be pretty tricky these days, judging from what people on here are posting.
Sep 26th 2015, 7:49 pm
#50
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
that might be on hold for the moment for the OP
For the OP, the continuing info on the GTA & Canada
page 2 onwards in the following thread, info & discussion posted by BE members on the cost of things
http://britishexpats.com/forum/maple...-spend-845708/
For Toronto Ontario, the Ontario Dental Association fee schedule. One example of the dental costs from a dentist website
Fee Guide, Dentist - Summerville Dental office - Toronto, On
Sep 27th 2015, 5:03 am
#52
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
I'm told that commuting times (always by public transport - we are not daft enough to ever consider commuting by car into a large urban area) during winter can result is much longer journey times. How true is this? I've been tentatively investigating suburbs with subway access within walking distance.
Sep 27th 2015, 5:08 am
#53
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
For Toronto Ontario, the Ontario Dental Association fee schedule. One example of the dental costs from a dentist website
Fee Guide, Dentist - Summerville Dental office - Toronto, On
Sep 27th 2015, 6:02 am
#54
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Mindless consumerism exists everywhere, and mostly we just ignore it. We're living in the smallest house on our street. It still has 4 bedrooms and is plenty big enough for us and our tribe. We have no desire for a second lounge, more bedrooms than we already use, or more bathrooms that I'd then have to spend time cleaning. We drive the same family car we've owned for over 8 years and will run it until we either leave down under or it is uneconomical to keep. I do recognise that some locations would neccesitate a small second car, and we'd certainly need that if we moved back to the UK. We also avoid shopping malls unless we actually need something.
With enough of a downpayment or a smallish mortgage you should be able to get a semi or detached property [even a fixer upper or duplex income property even better] somewhere in the GTA in the $500k - $600k range, although many folks cannot even imagine getting on the property ladder in that price range.
That is relieving to hear. In NZ it is quite possible (even in a modern house) to spend $600+ pcm just to heat one or two roots to a lukewarm 16-17 degrees over the winter with a spaceheater, and still have the rest of the house much colder. Even with a heatpump (wall mounted aircon air sourced unit) it can cost $300-$400 pcm to provide marginally better heating and still have cool rooms which don't benefit from the warm airflow. I would expect to be paying that much in sub-zero weather but not somewhere that doesn't even get all that cold. It's less of an issue in Aussie of course, since it is warmer here. We have whole-house reverse-cycle aircon, set to heat if the temp goes below a very balmy 20.5 degrees and cooling if it goes above 27 degrees. I don't think we've had a monthly electricity bill of more than $400 to date.
Sep 27th 2015, 6:18 am
#55
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
In NZ it is quite possible (even in a modern house) to spend $600+ pcm just to heat one or two roots to a lukewarm 16-17 degrees over the winter with a spaceheater, and still have the rest of the house much colder. Even with a heatpump (wall mounted aircon air sourced unit) it can cost $300-$400 pcm to provide marginally better heating and still have cool rooms which don't benefit from the warm airflow.
You really should have thought it through more when you built.
Flopbook style. Sorry but I simply must share this on the NZ forum.
Sep 27th 2015, 8:39 am
#56
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Feel free to share by all means, but bear in mind this example is not from our own house. It's certainly be useful to new migrants who have no idea what they are looking for in a potential home.
The first example is from the 7 year old house we naiively rented when we first arrived in NZ, and it was built to the old specs, so didn't have the benefit of double glazing. With tiny tots and a medical condition to deal with, we were forced to use space heaters (with thermostats and timers, not left on all the time) to keep the room temperatures up above single-digits. Boy were our electricity bills a shock, as was the requirement to mop up copious amounts of condensation from windows for 5 months of the year.
The second example is actually from the one year old house we rented for a brief time after selling up. It was built to comply with the new regs, and insulated to meet those requirements with a slightly over-specked (for the house sq m area) heatpump in the main living area. The bedrooms never got above 15 degrees all winter, and were often down to 8 degrees in the mornings, even with the doors left open to keep the air flowing. You could argue that 15 degrees is fine, but it's not remotely OK when you are dealing with certain medical conditions and it's certainly below WHO guidelines. And this is for a new house, build by a supposedly reputable builder with a 7 year master builders guarantee!!
Our very last house in the UK, bog standard new build, maintained an ambient temperature of 17 degrees for 2 days when we had a power cut and no heating in early February.
Last edited by Pine Cone; Sep 27th 2015 at 8:49 am.
Sep 27th 2015, 12:30 pm
#57
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
We're living in the smallest house on our street. It still has 4 bedrooms and is plenty big enough for us and our tribe. We have no desire for a second lounge, more bedrooms than we already use, or more bathrooms that I'd then have to spend time cleaning. We drive the same family car we've owned for over 8 years and will run it until we either leave down under or it is uneconomical to keep. I do recognise that some locations would neccesitate a small second car, and we'd certainly need that if we moved back to the UK. We also avoid shopping malls unless we actually need something.
We'd definitely need a mortgage, as we've got about $350k-$400k for a down payment and I don't think that would go especially far if we decide to live in Toronto itself in a nicer suburb. Location everytime, even if that means the worst house on the best street. Also detached property only, with a few exceptions. That has always been one of our most important purchasing criteria as we have a strong need for personal space.
That is relieving to hear. In NZ it is quite possible (even in a modern house) to spend $600+ pcm just to heat one or two roots to a lukewarm 16-17 degrees over the winter with a spaceheater, and still have the rest of the house much colder. Even with a heatpump (wall mounted aircon air sourced unit) it can cost $300-$400 pcm to provide marginally better heating and still have cool rooms which don't benefit from the warm airflow. I would expect to be paying that much in sub-zero weather but not somewhere that doesn't even get all that cold. It's less of an issue in Aussie of course, since it is warmer here. We have whole-house reverse-cycle aircon, set to heat if the temp goes below a very balmy 20.5 degrees and cooling if it goes above 27 degrees. I don't think we've had a monthly electricity bill of more than $400 to date.
We'd definitely need a mortgage, as we've got about $350k-$400k for a down payment and I don't think that would go especially far if we decide to live in Toronto itself in a nicer suburb. Location everytime, even if that means the worst house on the best street. Also detached property only, with a few exceptions. That has always been one of our most important purchasing criteria as we have a strong need for personal space.
That is relieving to hear. In NZ it is quite possible (even in a modern house) to spend $600+ pcm just to heat one or two roots to a lukewarm 16-17 degrees over the winter with a spaceheater, and still have the rest of the house much colder. Even with a heatpump (wall mounted aircon air sourced unit) it can cost $300-$400 pcm to provide marginally better heating and still have cool rooms which don't benefit from the warm airflow. I would expect to be paying that much in sub-zero weather but not somewhere that doesn't even get all that cold. It's less of an issue in Aussie of course, since it is warmer here. We have whole-house reverse-cycle aircon, set to heat if the temp goes below a very balmy 20.5 degrees and cooling if it goes above 27 degrees. I don't think we've had a monthly electricity bill of more than $400 to date.
Within a one-hour commute to Toronto central by transit. A resale detached brick property not less than 2000 sq ft, double garage, 4 bedrooms with a finished basement on a 35 ft to 40ft frontage x 120 ft deep lot with zero work needed on it in the $600k -$650k, property tax ~$4800 yr. Property comes with stove, fridge, built in dishwasher, washer & dryer & all window coverings (blinds, curtains & drapes) & light fixtures (light bulbs included).
Just move in with the furniture that you have or need to buy. Some properties one is able to negotiate some furnishings or buy from the seller.
Mortgage rates
Best Mortgage Interest Rates - Find Today's Lowest Variable & Fixed Rates
Utilities (natural gas, electricity & municipal water & sewer) for that type of house & a family of five across 12 months, average $350/mth with the internal temperature in all rooms of 21C in the winter, in the summer the AC set at 25C. A Forced air natural gas High efficiency furnace with AC unit built in are all in the basement, One thermostat control somewhere on the main floor
An example from one supplier
the right size of air conditioner and furnace for my house
Cable TV, Internet, phones will depend on what you need or have. See & make your package in the link below
Bundles| Multiple Incredible Services |Rogers
Phone lines, Home phone plans & packages | Bell Canada
A used 4 -8 year old family vehicle in the $10k - $15k
Furnish the house for ~$20k to $25k. With the basic essentials in the Bedrooms, kitchen, dining room & lounge (family room). TV, computers extra.
Leon’s – Canada’s Top Furniture, Appliance & More Store | Leon's
The Brick
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Last edited by not2old; Sep 27th 2015 at 1:07 pm.
Sep 27th 2015, 12:56 pm
#58
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
Sep 27th 2015, 2:57 pm
#60
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Re: Ping Pong Poms - Canada vs NZ, Australia or UK
When the OP gets to Canada, its my opinion she will find the true north 'whinging poms' are alive & well here.
I get the impression that the Canadian forum is a lot different than the OZ. NZ or UK forums when it comes to w(h)ine & cheese - well at least we have 'hockey night in Canada' to fall back on if there isn't anything else to whinge about
