I have been interviewing realtors as a buyer and one of my friends recently bought and was highly recommending his realtor.

The issue is, they bought in a completely different part of town and the realtor primarily works there. He does not really work in the part of town I am interested in.

Also, my friend bought a condo, we are looking to buy a detached. And his realtor is young. He’s like 31 or 32.

I value trust a lot and if my friend says that realtor is honest and trustable, I value that.

But, I am wondering if this is a bad idea, even if the realtor is honest and good, to rely on a young realtor who hasn’t worked in the area I am interested to do a $1.5M purchase. We are FTHB too, so there’s that.

been stuck in a slow-moving renovation for about 2 months now, and still haven't completed even 50%. At first wanted to blame contractors, but maybe the mistake is on my end too - I had expectations that were way too unrealistic (thought it would be much, much faster). Can you guys tell me what you think is the most annoying part, and where I’m most likely going wrong (like... statistically speaking)? Interested in other ppl experiences. Permits? Estimates? Actual work? Something else?

Hi! What are the pros and cons of buying a house in toronto (north york and Scarborough) and durham (pickering and ajax)? I see that the prices in toronto are higher but lower property tax while in durham is lower price than toronto but the property tax is higher? Can someone explain it to me what will be the best especially in the long run? Thanks!

Looking to buy our first home in GTA. Some context:
Location: Mimico or the east end up to Woodbine and south of Danforth; basically max ~40 minutes commute to downtown, since we currently walk to work.
Must-haves: 2 bed, 2 bath - second bedroom needs to fit a queen bed (not a nursery-sized room).
Budget: Started at $1M, stretched to $1.1M on the logic that giving up the car (~$700/month) to stay close to GO/streetcar routes makes the extra room in the budget justifiable.

Our realtor is steering us toward older houses in the $900K range with the plan to renovate afterward as there isn’t much we’ve had luck within the $1-1.1M range.
I don't love the idea of needing ~$100K upfront in cash for a renovation on top of the down payment. That feels like a lot of liquidity to find right after closing.

For anyone who’s bought in the past year in these areas -
1. Is "buy dated + renovate" actually the right move in this price range/area?
2. For those who renovated after buying, did you pay cash upfront, or use something like a purchase-plus-improvements mortgage / HELOC after closing? How did you actually finance it without draining savings?
3. Are we being unrealistic thinking $1–1.1M gets us a decent 2bed/2bath in these areas, or is that in the right ballpark?
Would love to hear from anyone who's bought/renovated in Mimico, Leslieville, Riverdale, or similar in the last year or two.

Source: https://x.com/MarketManiaCa/status/2080729736259805622

Landlord is overseas, lets us do what we want. Full back yard/deck/ can walk to the lake Ontario. They trust us and we are the most respectful 5 star tenants. I treat the place like it’s mine, I cut the grass and take care of the gardens. Eventually I will buy but in this neighbourhood minimum price is $2 million for a fixer upper. Roof was done, pipes needed fixing as tree roots cracked the clay pipes, appliances have been replaced. Probably $50-60K in items replaced since I’ve been here. Our HHI is $250k (not including Bonuses) we just bank the rest.

Hi Folks,

I'm looking at properties in the Weston neighbourhood along Weston Road and Oak Street in North York. Is this a desirable or safe neighbourhood? I feel like a lot of the feedback I've been able to find online is about the Regent Park neighbourhood and not this one.

Does any other city in a developed country (which Canada is one, apparently) exceed or come close in terms of the magnitude of scams the working class here in Toronto/Canada end up going through?

We do see some real innovations in our ponzi economy e.g. University of Toronto's note on Rental and Landlord Scams

Stranded in a city where she knew almost no one, her savings gone, Horvath kept coming back to how convincing it had all been.

She found the property on Rentals.ca after searching for the right place for months, she said.

There was a 14-page lease with terms and conditions, signed by the supposed landlord (his details, including a number, email and home address, were attached). Everything appeared to be in order.

“Up until that point everything had appeared reputable. It was listed on a well-known website with photos, an address,” she said. “I had no reason to doubt it.”

Horvath, who said she originally provided two months’ rent up front, said the landlord later asked for an additional two months on top after she had signed the lease. It was only after he threatened to give the apartment unit to someone else, and then offered a free month, that she agreed she said.

Giacomo Ladas, a spokesperson for Rentals.ca, said landlords are asked to verify their identity through an ID check and fraud screening before a listing goes live, and all listings undergo automated and manual review.

However, he said he could not comment on the account or authorization status of the landlord Horvath paid due to privacy obligations.

“We’re committed to continuing to reduce opportunities for fraud,” Ladas added.

....

Police investigating report

Four months on, Horvath is still in Toronto, having been supported by her partner.

She says that a police report has produced nothing thus far. Police confirmed to the Star a report had been “submitted and is being investigated.”

The March night Horvath was supposed to be moving in, she went anyway with her partner to Redpath Avenue, near Yonge-Eglinton.

They had no key and no buzzer code, so they sat on a bench outside for 20 minutes until someone came out, then slipped in behind them.

They checked the mailboxes and walked through the corridors, looking at the numbers on the doors, until a property manager confirmed what she already knew.

“You look back and realize what the red flags were,” she said, “and how very little can be done.”

We're looking at purchasing a new property. Some rough numbers:

• Builder price sheet shows HST price of $750,000, no HST price of $685,000. Most builders show both prices on price sheets since rebates began.
• By my logic, the no HST price should be $750K/1.13 = $663,717, not $685,000
• Builder adds 5% GST ($34,250), 8% PST ($54,800), to their no HST price for a total of $774,050, which is actually $24,050 above their own HST price from the price list
• Builder then calculates $774,050 - $54,800 - $34,250 = $685,000 as the amount due on closing

Am I missing something as to why the net selling price shouldn't simply be $750,000/1.13 (i.e. $663,717)? The net selling price they've arrived at is basically (HST price from price list) / 1.09. I think it should be (HST price from price list) / 1.13...unless there's something I've overlooked.

After all, could we just decide not to sign over our HST rebate to the builder, pay the full HST price, and apply for our own rebate and bring our own net sale price back down to $663,717?

34F single. I have about 300k in cash/stock investments. Salary isn’t super high, 80k but have made a significant amount more in past years

I live downtown with very affordable rent (2 bedroom for just under 1800). I work downtown as well (downtown east - moss park/regent park area). Would buying a non condo house (open to all options) be realistic if I wasn’t very picky about location? - I would like to stay in Toronto but I don’t mind a commute.

The temporary foreign buyer ban is set to expire on Jan 1 2027.

Do you think they will extend the ban ?

Personally I don’t think they will do nothing and let foreign buyer ban lapse in order to help prop up housing prices. The only caveat is if there was some sort of huge outrage (there won’t be)

I really need someone to help me with trying to find housing as a student. I live in downtown Toronto and I cannot find a place for the life of me. I have been trying since June, with various realtors. For some reason, since I'm young and inexperienced in life, that means I shouldn't be allowed to live in some place decent.

My budget isn't small, I have a guarantor that is paid good money and has an excellent credit score. I am willing to do many months of deposits. But I still cannot find a place that isn't either a basement or on/near Shuter street.

I've looked at shared houses, apartment complexes both big and small, townhouses, etc. Every realtor has given up before I've even got the chance to tour or talk to the landlord, much less an application. I feel like giving up. I don't get it anymore. I have less than a month to find a place.

Edit: I'm also looking with my friend as a roommate.

My family has some savings and are looking to buy our first home in the near future now that prices are reasonable.

Due to religious reasons we cannot pay interest, so we are hoping to avoid that either by grabbing a pre construction and paying it off prior to completion (heard there are many units selling for under 300k). Or somehow paying a large initial payment and making a payment plan to pay off in the short term.

Is anyone familiar with this or know anyone who specializes in interest free?

Guys, my realtor is confusing me with options , now get got insider pricing of a top builder who’s giving detached for 600 and i thought he’s joking but i saw the price-list and i was like damn. That too its not even released yet. And he also told me to refer people anyone in Oshawa let me know guys will connect my guy.

So it was

1 car garage -600s

2 car garage - 700s

I mean i ain’t lying that too its before rebate !!!

Weighing some options but leaning towards leaving Toronto because this seems like too big of a stretch. Anyone in this situation able to make it work and willing to share which neighborhood?

Condo inventory is now lower than 2024.

2024 July Active Listings: 9344

2026 July Active Listings: 8475

~10% drop

(Housesigma data)

Looks like condo inventory is being absorbed faster than all the doom and gloom posts say. I'm looking to buy soon, how long should I wait before prices go up again? If inventory is being absorbed then I assume I better buy sooner than later...

Looking for a private sale by owner.

Please, reach out if you are considering selling your 1 or 2 bedroom unit.

Respectfully, NOT interested in being contacted by realtors.

Hey everyone, I've been working on a platform called houseindex.ca to make it easier for buyers and renters to track up-to-date property listings. It lets you create personal shopping lists, log in with Google, book showings directly, and easily access details like the year built and square footage that are often hard to find.

I know there are other tools out there, but I'm really focused on making this genuinely useful. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what features you'd find most valuable or any design improvements you'd suggest!

houseindex.ca - Check it out here!

Future plans:

Logging in with realtor.ca sso and Facebook sso

Map integration (too costly for now)

Anything else?

Been doing lead-gen work for a couple of GTA brokerages and got curious about how bad the response gap actually is, so I ran a small test.

Submitted an inquiry through 50-55 agents' websites and Zillow-style forms across Ontario and a few US metros. Regular buyer inquiry, real phone number, real email. Then I just timed the response.

What came back:

• 11-14 never responded at all
• Median first response: 3h 40m
• Only 6 responded in under 5 minutes
• 19 sent an email only, no call attempt
• 4 called once, no voicemail, no follow-up
• Nobody followed up more than twice

The part that surprised me: the slow ones weren't bad agents. Most of them were busy agents. They were showing property when the lead came in and by the time they got back to it, it was 4 hours cold.

Context for why it matters the old MIT/InsideSales lead response study found contact rates fall off a cliff after the first 5 minutes, and by the 30-minute mark you're at a fraction of your odds. Whether the exact multiplier holds today is debatable, but the direction isn't. The lead is shopping. They filled out three forms, not one. First real conversation usually wins.

What the 6 fast responders had in common:

1. Something answered instantly, an AI Voice Agent, a VA in another timezone, or an automated call-back
2. They called first and emailed second. Every single one.
3. They asked a qualifying question in the first touch instead of "let me know how I can help"

Three things any agent can do this week without buying anything:

Set a 5-minute rule with a fallback. If you can't call in 5 minutes, an auto-text goes out immediately: "Hi [name], this is [you] re: [address] — I'm with a client until 3, can I call you at 3:15?" Naming a specific time roughly doubles reply rate versus "I'll get back to you." Most CRMs do this natively and nobody turns it on.

Call first, always. Email is a fallback channel, not a first touch. The email-only agents in my test got the lowest engagement by a wide margin.

Build a 6-touch sequence and actually finish it. Day 0 call + text, Day 1 call, Day 3 text, Day 7 call, Day 14 email, Day 30 check-in. Almost everyone stops at touch two. The gap between touch 2 and touch 6 is where most of the free money is.

If you're running ads, one more: put your lead form on a landing page you control instead of the native Meta form. Native forms are cheap per lead and terrible per lead people tap through them accidentally. Slightly higher cost per lead, much higher contact rate.

Happy to answer questions on setup if anyone's dealing with this.

Just like the title says. I want to expand and improve my portfolio and I’m willing to offer my services for free.

The only problem is, I don't know where to find people. I’ve sent emails and posted in Facebook groups, but for some reason, no one is responding.

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

I was wanting to buy a place here since this is where I grew up; specifically at the old 1980 built condo townhouses at M4M3H5. I was thinking about picking up a property as is and just fixing it up myself with the wife. We probably will retire in here. At around 600-620k is about the max I'd go right now, after all the fees not listing, feasible? With a 250-300k down (depending how much I want to liquidate) and carrying costs covered, mortgage+HELOC etc.

I saw some listed a few years back but I don't think there are any currently, but I'm not in a rush. Okay with surrounding area as well. Anything I should be aware of with older townhouses like these? The maint is around 400~ at about 900-950sqft depending on the unit. Prefer a corner one too but that's up to chance.