Homes/Home Ownership

[margrace]

What does one need in a home? A roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, the means of feeding yourself. The problem with a lot of new homes I see is that the houses are so big they take up all of the lot. There is little or no space to grow anything. What is the difference between these houses taking up that space and a high rise. Why does a house need a TV room, a formal sitting room, a family room etc. One room would do all this and does for a lot of us.

Subdivisions, in my opion, would be a lot more practical if instead of using valueable land for each house with no gain in usability and were turned into say 12 units for every four houses. Just look at the land saved for growing your own food. This might help to keep the absurb prices down. Markham is looking into that and will redesign their main street to fit this model.

[Wilber]

Wilber, it's too bad your parents didn't keep that place until now. Not all real estate makes money, although lately that is how it seems. It is just as possible that if you make a bad choice in location (i.e. Kirkland Lake, Ontario), you might not even be able to sell the place... no matter how much lower you go from your buying price. That is something these Albertans must consider when buying a place in an oil or mining town... what happens to the value of the real estate when the resource the town relies on for employment dries up?

No kidding about my parents place, but you are right. What you buy and where you buy is important. I bought my present house 18 years ago and while you never know what you will get until you try and sell, for taxes it is assessed at three times what I paid for it. I would not be ahead if I had rented and I can't be evicted without someone giving me a bunch of money for it.