Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 12276127)

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.

Originally Posted by Dahab (Post 12277142)

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

Originally Posted by Dahab (Post 12277142)

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

Originally Posted by SchnookoLoly (Post 12277018)

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.

Originally Posted by h35j34 (Post 12277183)

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:

Originally Posted by h35j34 (Post 12277183)

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:

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 12277159)

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?

Originally Posted by Dahab (Post 12277209)

<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.

Originally Posted by Oakvillian (Post 12277201)

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...)

Originally Posted by christmasoompa (Post 12277210)

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.

Originally Posted by Dahab (Post 12277250)

Thats the best answer you can come up with is it? DBD gets to insult, mock and be generally unpleasant and you snip my comments and then tell me off like a naughty school child.

Originally Posted by Dahab (Post 12277250)

Thats the best answer you can come up with is it? DBD gets to insult, mock and be generally unpleasant and you snip my comments and then tell me off like a naughty school child.

Originally Posted by HGerchikov (Post 12277316)

And to be fair your first post in this thread was in no way helpful to the original poster, he stated his budget was 500k and you post a house for over a million. You stated that, in your opinion, it was a nice house. Dbd merely stated, that in his opinion, it wasn't.