Comments on: Buying a New Home? Watch Out for Those Hidden Costs

By: Warren

Warren — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:55:13 +0000

I’ve had the experience of buying a new condo in the past. Specifically in a 32 story apartment building with close to 300 units. Some negatives include 1) Things are “being finished” for about a year after you move in. 2) GST! You only pay half when you are a first time buyer, but that can be a big hit.

By: Riscario Insider

Riscario Insider — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 05:51:02 +0000

Buying a new home is distracting. There are so many decisions to make regarding flooring, paint colours, upgrades, brick colour. It’s even worse if you’re having the entire house custom made. The whole process can be draining and time consuming. There’s the stress (especially if you’re selling an existing property). Will your new home be ready on time? What if you need to leave your old place and possession of your new place is delayed? Can you really visualize the end result?

If you avoid the distractions, you can focus on your career instead. Thomas J Stanley gives similar advice in The Millionaire Next Door (I think that’s the title). His example is about two lawyers.

When buying a resale property, there are fewer decisions to make. You see what you’re getting. It’s easier to negotiate with a seller than a builder. You can get more value for your dollar buy buying used, as with a car.

We’ve always bought resale properties (and during down markets when sellers are more motivated to negotiate). Having seen what new home buyers go through, we’re thankful to have skipped the ordeal. It’s a delight to move to an established neighbourhood. No construction trucks/noise/dust. Better quality construction. Established schools (an important factor in selecting the area). Mature trees.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:07:45 +0000

Glad to hear of such a great experience! You do raise a good point- it depends on who the developer is. Some are more purchaser friendly and others have no issues downloading everything to the purchaser. Your story is a good reason why people should also do their due diligence on builders. Thanks for sharing.

By: AS

AS — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:04:32 +0000

We got our new home from Mattamy recently (we moved in this march) and the process was pretty smooth actually. The “development costs” were included in the price. The driveway, boulevard tree etc. were included in the price as well. We got a cap on any possible levies (they are making a school & there is a GO station nearby), but in the end there were no extra levies. The workmanship is also very satisfactory.
The advantage of getting a new house was that we booked it by depositing $20,000 and then we had around 18 months before closing. We used this time to save for the downpayment. We had enough time to workout the First time home buyer plan through RRSPs, which proved to be great. At the closing we were able to save enough for the 25% deposit. Today the house is valued at around $290,000 where as the total cost (purchase price and all the upgrades and closing costs) is around $277,000. Was not a bad expreience.

By: MillionDollarJourney.com

MillionDollarJourney.com — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:41:10 +0000

Thanks for the link!

We’re in the process of building now and let me tell you, there are a LOT of extra costs that we didnt’ account for. For example, the front door included in our price was for a basic door, we had to pay an extra $400 just for a decent looking door! I can only imagine the extras as time goes on.