Toronto Suburbs?
 

Hey,

Just joined and looking for some recommendations on nice suburbs to research more into in Toronto.

We are a family of 4 and hopefully our dog will join us, we are looking to make the move around summer 2019.

When we move we will be 38, 37, 7 and 4 (dog would be 8) so we would be looking for fairly quiet living, good schools, nice area, somewhere with kids activities swimming, football, basketball and I guess hockey, close to some kind of shopping centre, and somewhere with dog walks.

Ideally as close as we can be to the city, but looking at our budget prob more likely to be approx 25miles (40km) out of city.

Would be looking for 3 or 4 bed house, garden budget would be approx £300k ($500k)

We would be renting at first then looking to buy in that area all going well.

Anyway if there are any family expats that can help or local families to name a few places and I can look more into the facilities and schools around.

Thanks so much in advance

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I was in a similar situation many years ago. Since then house prices have shot up.
I would suggest using the train for commuting rather than the car. So look for property near train stations. I live in Burlington which is on the train rout and has excellent facilities, its 40 min train ride and is 40Km from downtown Toronto. You may find something in your price range in 25 km radius of Toronto, not sure.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Hey

sorry edited original post was meant to be 25 miles 40km, and yeah good point somewhere with good transport links.

Will have a look at Burlington

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If you need more information regarding Oakvile and Burlington, feel free to ask. Been living in this area for over two decades since moving from London UK.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Great thanks

Just some general info would be great

1. would 500k get a 3/4 house in nice area
2. whats the schools like
3. is family life good in the area

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

We moved to Ajax in 2013 and are very happy here. Our kids are 8 and 10 now and there are lots of things for them to do. There are many parks and trails, plus spash pads and indoor & ourdoor pools. Since we've been here, my kids have done swimming, language classes, football (soccer), skating, baseball and martial arts. A couple of times a year, the Parks and Recreation book comes out with classes and sports for adults and children. Most towns will have something similar. We like living close to the lake. My husband takes the Go Train into the city and it takes about 40 minutes. A 3-bedroom house here is currently in the $500-$600,000 range.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

There are not really bad areas in Burlington, its a family oriented town.
Its possible to buy 3/4 bed house but your budget is tight. There are two types of houses, firstly there is old sub divisions where houses were built before 1990 (I prefer those). Secondly there are new sub divisions where you get the newly built houses.
Schools are good. The schools are divided into non-religious schools and catholic schools. My children are grown up but they went to local schools and onto university.
There are no gun or drug problems in Burlington. Most of the people work in Toronto in the financial sector, and commute by train. Some do commute by car, but parking is limited in down town Toronto, and its tough commute in the winter.
I commuted by train for 12 years to Toronto. The trains are frequent during the rush hour. There are under ground trains in Toronto, but the network is not extensive as London (UK).

You can check house in Burlington online
Houses For Sale Between $500,000 – $600,000 in Burlington () — RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

You should be aware that the GTA housing is much overpriced at present. In the link provided above the houses shown reflect the most recent boom in housing prices. The market has gone softer in the past few weeks and prices are coming down. By the time you hopefully move in Summer, 2019 the houses shown could well be selling for much less.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Edited to add, the BN website has info on neighbourhoods, schools etc., which might be of use: https://burlingtonneighbourhoods.com/

+1 - Burlington was voted second in the top places to live in Canada. Canada's Best Places to Live 2016: Full Ranking

http://www.tourismburlington.com/


:)

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

We been in Ajax 6 years and love it
Other options to look at east side are Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Vernon ....181st ... Who the bloody hell would live there? :confused: Must be a real dump- Novo was right all along... Snoop- we moving to Chillawack - JS didn't seem that keen :unsure: Dawson Creek....maybe?

North and West Van seem to do well though who can afford to live there?

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I would not say that that is a “very nice” house. It has the classic Canadian suburban architectural features: the front elevation is all garage door, the bottom half is roll on brick and the top half griege plastic siding. It’s squished next to the neighbours on a lot that is inappropriately small.

Nice floors though and I like the beer mats, if I had to guess I'd say it belongs to people who moved from Southall.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Thanks for all the posts and info will have a read over the links, I'm sure I'll have more questions.

I am surprised that for my budget it's going to be tight especially looking so far from city, I would hope to have more but for now prob $500k is my budget.

What about the places north? Markham, Richmond hill, Vaughan?

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

The problem with "places north" is getting to downtown. The GO train (suburban commuter service) doesn't necessarily operate trains all day - outside of peak hours, a lot of lines operate a bus service which is a bit tedious if you're trying to get home after an evening out, or get into work after a morning appointment. Currently only the Lakeshore line (East and West) offers all-day trains; the Stouffville line (to Unionville, at least, so really Markham) will start all-day trains this month, and others "by 2024."

Realistically, if you're working downtown and want a little bit of time flexibility in your commute, then the Mississauga/Oakville/Burlington stretch to the west and the Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa stretch to the east offer the only sensible options.

And echoing others' comments about house prices: you'll need to be some distance out from downtown Toronto to find a 3-4 bed house with more than a pocket-handkerchief of backyard for less than $500k. House prices are a little bit silly around Toronto, especially in the more easily commutable areas.

Standard advice on these boards is to look to rent before you buy, to make sure you like the area. That, of course, risks being lured into a lovely neighbourhood that you then can't afford to buy in. It may be that by the summer of 2019 the long-forecast price correction will have happened and it may have turned into a buyers' market, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If you look on the realtor.ca, which is similar to RightMove, you can see what house prices are like now.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Thanks for info, yes east or west does make more sense for transport links.

The idea would be to rent first but we would like to try and rent in an area we can expect to buy in and within the same school catchment to save moving schools, so a lot of research to do to aim for that

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

thanks will have a look at website, is there a school catchment website or map of the east/west suburbs for primary schools

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Halton Public: https://www.hdsb.ca/schools/Pages/Fi...dary-Maps.aspx

Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx

Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.

Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Just to expand on this point .... selling a house in Canada costs 4-5% in estate agent fees (generally) rather than the 1% or so in the UK. So buying the wrong house and having to move will cost you $20k or more on that $500k house.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Very good point, I always forget about that! Yeah, selling here is insanely expensive... so renting makes way more sense unless you are certain about where you want to live and are willing to either take the plunge or suck up the cost of moving!

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Just something to add to the whole house purchase discussion.

Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If I'm not mistaken, though, you show proof of actually living in the residence and after 90 days you get the 15% refunded.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If that's the case - then great - you only have to come up with $75k for 3 months on a 1/2 million dollar house! Not too unlike trying to set up utility account with Hydro :rofl:

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I don't think there is a map for catchement area on that website. When we moved here, we went to the website for the school boards and put in our address there so we knew which school to take them to. Most areas will have a Public school board and a Catholic school board. Plus English and French schools for both. You'll be happy to know that the school registration process here is SO much easier than in the UK. You go to the school with proof of your address and you just say you're there to register your children. No applying or waiting for approval. They can probably start the next day, depending on the school.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Remax have a map for schools - and you can search for houses in that area. If you go to remax.ca and input the area, then when the map loads click on the green hat on the right hand side, it will load all the schools. Clicking on the green hat on the actual map (once it loads) in an area you are interested in, will show the catchment area and what properties are for sale in the area.

There's a ton of different school board catchment maps online :)

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Durham District School Board and associated Catholic one covers from Pickering out to Oshawa, and up to Uxbridge/Scugog.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

hey,

Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.

I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.

So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?

Thanks

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

This is super subjective... what kinds of things are you looking for? I can't speak for the eastern suburbs...

Oakville/Burlington have low crime and generally higher average education for parents, which broadly speaking also means higher affluence. (massive, massive generalization there.) They also have higher house prices (Oakville moreso than Burlington). Both are good in terms of amenities and shops and stuff nearby, and both have excellent town-run programs (music, swimming, that sort of thing). Both will have their slightly more run-down areas, but at least in Oakville, areas like Kerr Village that used to be more run-down are certainly turning over and becoming more trendy and on the up-and-up.

The newer areas of Oakville and Burlington have higher-density housing - houses more packed together on smaller lots and narrower streets. Some areas of Oakville actually don't even have dedicated parking, it's only street permit parking, and your permit might be for a street two streets over. That's mostly north of Dundas, though. THe older parts of Oakville have larger lots and more green space, but you'll pay for the privilege.

Burlington has a much nicer waterfront area; Oakville has kind of sold out to developers and private land owners along the waterfront, though Coronation Park and Bronte Marina are lovely spots, and there's actually a reasonably long walking trail along the water at Bronte. The trail more downtown Oakville is less good, but downtown Burlington's waterfront is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely massive.

Traffic issues in both cities are getting worse, though, as the cities expand but the transit routes haven't really been increased to deal with the uptick in demand. This is mostly referring to cars and roads... Upper Middle in Oakville is a nightmare during rush hour; Dundas is regularly busy, and the QEW is basically busy all the time. At least the GO Trains are regular and reliable and run all day every 30 minutes with extra trains during rush hour, so that's decent (my husband commutes to Toronto every day). Parking at the GO Station is also free, so that's a bonus, and Oakville, Appleby, and Burlington GO stations have oodles of parking (as does Clarkson in Mississauga; the other stations closer to Toronto like Long Branch and Port Credit have awful parking). My husband has never had any issues with the trains, always gets a seat, and loves that the quiet zone on the upper floor is militantly enforced, so he often sleeps on his commute.

That's a few thoughts off the top of my head... not sure what specific kinds of things you were looking for, though. Asking specific questions will get you better answers as opposed to just blanket stuff.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

In Canada, other than Fort McMurray, I'd be hard pressed to find a place in which high educational attainment and affluence don't go hand in hand.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Examples of places with affluent uneducated people include our office, I suppose any computer company office, and therefore Waterloo and Kanata. Really rich places and especially old money places will not have a correlation to educational attainment; Rosedale and the Bridal Path might be examples, wherever the descendants of bootleggers live.

The other way around, places with a concentration of people holding doctorates will likely have high educational attainment and low incomes; staff housing for the Toronto research hospitals would be an example.

Education aint about money and neither should it be. The rich Canadians, the Reichmanns and Bronfmans and Conrad Black are no more renowned for their schooling than are the rich Brits such as, say, Princess Anne.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

You couldn't be further from the truth if you had tried, but your thoughts, opinions and guesses matter not one iota.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

On the assumption that you know this because you are the owner of the aforementioned house, or a friend/relative of them, please note that you cannot advertise on the forums. The Site Classifieds are the place to put adverts, thx.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Well, you put this quintessentially Indian (max internal space, min maintenance exterior, no concern for aesthetics) house on the internet, if it's not for people to make fun of, why's it here?

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Many thanks for the info, thats all great.

Our main priorities are kids, family life, we want somewhere that has stuff for the kids to do, good schools, good transport links, close to some kind of shops or shopping centre, if our dog comes with us then somewhere with close walks.

Top 3 priorities

1. Schooling
2. Kids activities
3. Transport links

and of course all within an affordable budget :rofl:

3/4 bed house, parking, garden not massive but average size $500k but depends on exchange rate, and other factors could be $600k

Hope this helps towards more specific answers :thumbsup:

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

[QUOTE=h35j34;12276903]hey,

Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.

I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.

So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?

We live in north Whitby - we have had good experience with public and high schools in the area, and find the transport links good - handy for both 401 and 407, under an hour to airport and accessible by public transport.
Although not as expensive as Oakville etc on the west side, prices have increased rapidly, particularly over the last year, but seems to have slowed now. A lot of residential development over the last few years - the area is pleasant and family friendly, with good access to Toronto and countryside to north and east.
PM me if you have specific queries 😀

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Why do you want to be near the city? Will you be working downtown?

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Oakville and Burlington both meet your criteria (apart from the affordable bit). Prices have been beyond silly this year but there has been a definite slow down in the market over the past month. Prices are still holding but the bidding wars and insane paying of 10s and sometimes 100s of thousands over the list price has all but stopped. Whether this is a permanent change or just a break for the poor beleaguered buyers to catch a breath remains to be seen. We lived in Oakville for 12 years, it is a great place to raise children as there are so many activities for them (at a price). The commute into Toronto via the GO is also relatively pleasant. It is getting much busier now with the construction of multiple new housing developments and, in my view, is losing a little of its appeal, although its still a lovely place to be. Burlington, as Schnookololy said has done a much better job with their waterfront than Oakville managed, it is less expensive, offers similar array of kids activities (the two towns are major sporting rivals), but its a longer commute into Toronto.
I am sure some of the towns in the East side of the city offer similar amenities, but I am not so familiar so can't give you any specifics.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I don't know how much more specific we can be.

In my area of Oakville, which was moderately affordable when we moved here over 10 years ago, we were able to make change from our purchase of a 4-bed house on a decent sized lot, having sold a 700-sq-ft 2-bed apartment in west London. Today, houses in the same neighbourhood are selling in days for over three times what we paid; we wouldn't be able to afford our house if we were moving now.

Like Schnooks, I can't speak for the Eastern suburbs with any degree of knowledge. But, in general, housing is generally cheaper as you get further away from downtown Toronto, and also cheaper as you move away from the lakeshore. Decent houses within easy reach of the GO carry a bit of a premium.

Oakville has excellent kids' activities, plenty of trails for walking the dog, easy access to wider countryside (while there's no such concept as the "right to roam" here, the local Halton Region Conservation Authority has a number of beautiful areas to hike, bike, X-country ski, etc). The Town's recreation and culture department publishes a semi-annual guide to all the various courses, activities, etc. There are sports clubs galore. Schooling options are not nearly so pressured as they were in the UK before I left (and I gather have only become moreso in the intervening decade). Find a nice house; send your kids to the local school that meets your criteria: Catholic or not; French (immersion or whole-language) or English; they're all much of a muchness.

As for transport links - again, not much more can be said than has already. The GO train serves Toronto. Local bus routes tend to hub at the GO stations, so local public transportation is not great except if you want to end up at the GO. The QEW is busy; the 407 is expensive; local roads get full at rush hour. One advantage, I suppose, of living west rather than east of the Toronto Metropolis is that you don't have to get all the way across town to reach Pearson airport. However, internal flights in Canada are notoriously expensive, there's no such thing as a quick hop to the Med for a week in the sun (the equivalent here, a quick jaunt to the Caribbean or Mexico, is a more costly prospect but many people decide by February that they're going to go anyway just to escape the snow...)

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

<snip>

Mods

Not sure how to delete my account so if you could do it for me or in box me on how I can close it my self I would appreciate it. I do not want to be part of a community that has people like this in it.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I've snipped your post (site Rule 1). If that is your house then I understand you might be upset with dbd's opinion of it, but name calling isn't ok.

If you don't want to be part of BE any longer, then you can just log out and not visit/post again.

HTH.