Looking for a new house in the bounds of Orillia has been a daunting process. When we bought our first house in town, it was an old 3 bedroom war time house (2 beds on the 2nd floor, 1 on the main floor). We bought that for $27,000.
We basically gutted it on the main floor, but it only ever had 1 bath. We also build an addition with another bedroom, and turned the other main floor bed into a diningroom open to the livingroom space. It was where we raised our kids.
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| Old house on Mississaga |
A full bungalow style without stairs is what would work for us. We don't want a condo, townhouse, or semi (yeah, I know, I guess we're picky but condos & townshouses have monthly fees AND taxes, most of them fairly high) and regular home prices are quite ridiculous now.
I look at lots of sources, but Realtor.ca is easier to keep tabs on. I do check local realty sources as well because occasionally there will be non-MLS listing. Also locals have listing that are technically outside of Orillia, but literally on the edge, so close enough for me to walk into town.
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| The last house we sold. |
These numbers can change, sometimes daily, sometimes even between morning and evening, but many of the homes have been listed for quite a long while, and some have been listed more than once in the last year.
Out of those 60, 7 are over $1 million (not exactly available to the average new buyer, or the majority of seniors); 6 are over $900,000 ($900,000-$999,900; 11 are over $800,000 ($800,000-$899,900).
Of the remainder 13 are between $700,000 and $799,900. That price range might be more available to established working families, and first time home buyers (because of recent changes) or even some in the process of selling and moving up. Not an awful lot of seniors could buy in that price range unless they are moving down from a more expensive home.
Houses in the $600,000 - $699,900 range sometimes sit on the market for a longer time than some in a lower price range. Maybe because investors don't want to spend the money if it needs to be made into apartments, or needs any work. It's a better price range for young families, and even for some seniors, provided the work needed is not extensive. There are currently 10 homes in that price range.
In the $500,000 to $599,900 there are some houses available. Some need work or updating, but DIYers, they can be a good choice, particularly if it's your first home. Fairly often, they are bought up reasonably quickly. Currently, there are about 8 homes in that price range.
Orillia even has a few lower priced than those - in the range of $390,000 to $499,000 but most of those are very tiny (good for singles if it's a first-buy), and a lot of them need pretty extensive work. Right now, there's about 5 of them.
We've never been in a position where we couldn't afford a suitable house. As seniors on a pension, mortgage is very limited. We've always had a great credit rating, and still do, but the ability to carry a mortgage is not just based on that.
Wish us luck, because right now we're having a struggle find the right place at the right place ... just like many others I think.