Should You Buy in the GTA Right Now?

All right, so before we introduce ourselves and tell you what we got going on here, I'm gonna ask you one simple question, all right? One question. One question. So you've got a sister, okay? She's a first-time buyer. She's got a great job and some really good savings., And she wants to know, should I be buying in today's GTA real estate market? Just a quick yes or no. Well, before I get to that answer, I don't have a sister. Okay? Yes, I know that. I know that. I, I don't have a sister, but if if I do, uh, my advice to her is absolutely get into the market right now. Absolutely. Wow. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. 100%. What about you? What do you think? All right. Um, I, I would say yes, but there are a few things that, you know, I think that comes along with that yes,, which we'll dive deeper into this episode. But I'm gonna quickly just explain to anyone watching what we're doing here. So this is Real Estate Unscripted,, with Theepan, who's a real estate broker, and myself, Varshan who's a mortgage broker. And we've basically decided to come together to have these conversations that we've already been having over the phone where, you know, they're fully unscripted, just raw conversations about the market, what we've got going on, sharing what we're seeing in terms of wins, losses, things of that sort. And, uh, you know, we wanted to share that conversation with you guys, and really hope that it can provide you with the, you know, insights and, uh, uh, you know, insights and, uh, tips that you guys can use,, when you're looking to, you know, get involved in real estate, right? Whether that's a renewal, purchase, uh, refinance, uh, investing, things of that sort. So that's kind of what we've brought this together, and that's why it's ... This whole chat is gonna be in the car, fully unscripted, and just us yapping away. More like ranting. More like ranting. There will be rants. You're gonna h- There will be rants There's gonna be a lot of rant sessions- There will be rants a lot of vent sessions. Definitely. I mean, essentially th- these conversations are exactly what myself and Varshin have on the phone. Yeah. So we decided we're gonna let you guys listen in on it. Yeah. And e- essentially these are, like, the things honestly, like, a lot of people are afraid to talk or, you know, speak about in public on, uh, you know, on social media, right? We see a lot of, like, posts and, a- a- and, uh, videos out there that people are, you know, sharing all the wins in real estate, but no one ever shares the losses, right? Uh, uh, you know, Instagram and, you know, all those TikTok and things of that sort, it's all to share the wins. Like, hey, this house household for this. But no one talks about, hey, that house sold, uh, stayed on the market for a year Or sold at a 200k loss. Like, those are the real conversations we're gonna have because there's been a lot of, you know, miscommunication or misinformation in the market. And yeah, that's what we're gonna, that's what we're gonna be talking about. And, uh, yeah, hope you guys follow along, and, uh, uh, you know, happy to, um, happy to discuss any, any, any topics that you guys, uh, find interesting. So- Yeah. Drop, drop your comments on, you know, what topics you guys want us to cover. Um, our goal is for you to, you know, take away at least something from our show. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, uh, hopefully, you know, you'll find value in it. Yeah. I think they will, man. They definitely will. I'm positive about that. But let's just get right into it, man. Um, so- The one question I have for you right now is what's going on in the market on your end, man? Ah, that's the never-ending question- Yeah you know, you get. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And a- as a realtor in today's market, that's the first question everybody asks. Right. Right? Um- That's, that's the party question, the - That's right. Yeah. You go to a event- The icebreaker, eh? That's right. It's like- That's right. But, you know, I, and I think a lot more people have these questions now because of what's going on in the market. Yeah. What they see in the headlines, what they see online. And, you know, peop- They're hearing all the negative stuff, right? There's a lot of negative, right? Yeah. And I mean, rightfully so. Yeah, yeah. That, that's what the market is, right? And, you know- Yeah. That's the reality of it, right? Yeah. And, and the, you know, the short answer is if you're a buyer, this is a great time for you. Mm-hmm. I mean, in GTA, we haven't had buyer markets like this in the longest time. Mm-hmm. What, what would you say is the last time we had it? Like if you were to compare it to a year, 'cause I guess, like, maybe you can also share, like how long have you been doing this for? 'Cause I'm sure you, that will also give some perspective- as what type of markets you've seen, right? Yeah. Um, so I've been in the business since 2013, so about 14 years now. Wow. Wow, okay. Um, so I've seen some ups and downs. So you started when you were 12. That's right. That's right. I don't know if I, I don't know if I can really pull that off, but, uh, yeah. So yeah, I mean 2013. From 2013. 2013. So I feel like we had a small gap as a buyer's market- Mm-hmm ... back in 2017. Yeah. Right, when, um, the whole foreign t- uh, foreign buyer tax. Yeah. And- That was like summer of 2017, right? Yeah. Spring. Yeah. Just on the end of spring. And that's when they also inc- introduced the, uh, mortgage stress test. Yes. Yes. Right? I, I'm sure. Yeah. So those were two big changes that came into the market at that time when it was a actually scorching hot market. Yeah. And it really did cool down the market for about a year before things started picking up again. Mm-hmm. Right? Now- Where we are right now, the l- the peak of this, uh, m- market was about February, March 2022. Yeah. Right? So about four years, four and a half years ago. Yeah. About four and a half years. We've been on a steady decline since that time. Mm. Right? Would you say steady? 'Cause I feel like w- we did drop quite a bit, right? Yes. W- okay, so what I meant by a decline, I mean it's been declining the entire time. Got it. Got it. Got it. Right? Okay. Yeah. Yes. We've had some big, uh, drops, and then a small- Nothing earlier, yeah, yeah. Yes. And then now we're kind of seeing that curve kind of starting to flat out- Okay ... but I think, but- Do you think we bottomed out then, is what you saying? I don't know if it's truly bottom- Okay because I think there's different markets. Right, right. For sure. Like, different markets have different, uh, you know, w- uh, stats behind them, right? And like, for example, like I don't wanna get into a too detailed, but- Yeah, yeah. I don't think we need to, yeah ... you know, the condo market, I think there's still- Oh, my God. Yeah ... more, uh, drop. Bleeding. There's more bleeding, man. Right. There's more bleeding, for sure. So there's no- nothing to rush into a condo. Um- And I think we should also mention, like, we, when we talk about market, we focus in the GTA market, right? Um, although, like, for me as a mortgage broker, I service all over Canada, but majority of my clients are in the GTA, and I think that's the same for you as well. Exactly. Yeah. We've- I know you've done a few deals in Calgary and things of that sort, but- Yes. We've done some business in, uh, Alberta as well. Mm-hmm. But yeah, primarily we're, you know- Yeah ... very GTA focused. So when we say the market, yeah, so when we say the market, it's going to be GTA market that we're really focusing on. That's right. Yes. Um, yeah, sorry, just wanted to kind of point that out. Yeah. So I mean, at the end of the day, like I said, each product, uh, each, uh, market segment has its own, uh, micro stats, but overall, where we are right now, it's still a buyer's market. Yeah, yeah. Now, there are some- Uh, areas and products that we're seeing to see more and more sales activity. Okay. Now, doesn't mean the prices have gone up, but there's more uptick in the sales. And- So what, what are those type, what are those properties that you're seeing that are attracting more buyers towards? And, like, maybe I'm seeing, I am seeing, I don't know if it's hype, but I am seeing some properties are having multiple offers as well, right? Absolutely. Uh, which is, which is pretty uncommon in a buyer's market, right? Not, not in today's market. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So but, I, I mean, we've sold some listings with, uh, you know, multiple offers, you know. Mm-hmm. But obviously we're using that, you know, bidding war strategy- Of course. Of course. Yeah ... of listing low to attract that multiple offer situation. Now, it's not selling over market value- Yeah ... but we're able to sell it faster. Yeah, yeah. Right? And, you know, create that competition. Now, uh, what I'm seeing is, you know, properties under a million, uh, you know, closer to the GTA, you know, Toronto- Yeah ... in the surrounding markets like Durham, you know, Markham. Yeah. Uh, those areas- 'Cause now you can even get detached in Durham for under a million, right? Like- Essentially, yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. So anything under a million. Why we're seeing that uptick is because there's more people who can afford those prices. Yeah. And primarily it's the first time buyers, first time buyers- Mm-hmm you know, who might have been waiting and, you know- Yeah ... they're seeing that, you know, things are starting to slowly flatten out. Yes. So they're getting in the home market. Yeah. And they're the smart ones, to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Now- I mean, at the end of the day, they're, you know, it, it is, it is a, it is a timing thing too, right? Because I don't think a lot of people- That are buying right now purposely waited to buy right now. Exactly. I think their, their, their situation just lined up well. The situations. Right? Exactly, yeah. Um, I mean, there are a few people that definitely did. Like, I had a client who did wanna buy in 2022, but because he kept getting, um, uh, bidded out- he just got frustrated. He's like, "I'm not buying." Right? I'm not buying. But now this year he bought. Everything worked out. Right? Everything worked out. And when he was looking at, like, the properties we were buying, they were, like, $400,000 lower than what he was initially looking at. Oh, yes. Right? So, like, in that, like, I guess he did wait, but in most cases, most people are, you know, "I'm in that situation now. My family needs that house," or- Mm-hmm ... you know, "Maybe I'm getting married, and I, you know, we wanna buy a house," or, "We've been renting for X amount of years. Our situation's good." Right? But, but, you know, but families make decisions- Mm-hmm ... around sort of real estate based on their situation, and that's the right way- Of course to approach it. Yeah, yeah. Right? You shouldn't be buying real estate just because. Your friend bought it- Right ... or whatnot. We- right, so. So, you know, you, you gotta look at, evaluate your situation. Can you afford it? Yeah. Does the move make sense, right? Yeah. So that's, you know, that's- Okay ... those are the people, you know, who've been waiting. So- yeah. They're on the market. Got it. Uh, people who are kind of upsizing- Yeah ... again, a great opportunity for them as well- Mm-hmm ... because the larger properties, for example, like the, you know, the detached segment- Yeah ... you know, with, you know, more than, you know, 2,500 square feet, 3,000 square feet, those homes have come down- Yeah, they dropped a lot significantly. Yeah, yeah. Significantly. 'Cause that gap, right, between- Yes ... let's say for example, like a townhouse and a double car detached house, used to be like 400, 500,000 in some cases. Now I'm finding that's, like, closer to, what is that? Like, maybe 100, 200 you're saying, right? Would you say that? Um, the difference- Yeah, just, just as an example between, between- Like, a townhouse, someone from a townhouse upgrading to a detached ... a detached. I, I wouldn't say maybe 100, but- Okay, okay ... you know, the- 200? Maybe a 200, 150 to 200K. Well, that's still a big drop, right? It's still, it's a big drop. But I mean, but these detached homes have actually come down- Mm-hmm you know, like 300, 400K. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So that affordability- So that delta- Yeah ... really helps that move-up buyer. Yes, yes, yes. 'Cause their, the, the loss on the townhouse isn't as great, right? Is not as great. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And they, they, they might have lost 100K in the town home- Yeah ... but, you know, the detached home that they're now buying has come down, you know- Yeah 3, 400K. Yeah, because if you wanna qualify for, like, let's say 300K more, you need a minimum of $60,000 more in income, right? Minimum. And not everyone's just gonna get a 60K bump in their salary, right? Like, that's not a normal thing, right? Yeah. So I think that also plays a big factor because now people are like, "Oh, wow, I can actually qualify for this." So again, like, if you are someone who wants to buy a detached house, and you've always thought, like, you can't afford it, um, now might be an opportunity for you to, right? But again, that doesn't mean you buy. Um, but if that's something in your plans, and you got a solid financial, you know, s- uh, financial s- scenario, then I think, I think, uh, it makes a lot of sense, right? Yeah. See, you know, before going into the finances, I wanted to ask you- Yeah, for sure ... you know, what you're seeing. Yeah. But, um- In the market again, obviously we're seeing i- it's still a buyer's market. Yeah. But we're also seeing the listings come down. Yeah. Now, over the last year or two years we've seen a lot of listings, so the months of inventory was much higher. Mm-hmm. Right? And- So are people taking it off, is what you're saying? Or is it, is it being sold? Like, why is the listings coming down? It, it's, I think sellers who are now more realistic about price expectations- Okay ... are either deciding to say, "You know what? I'll take it off the market because that's not what I want." Mm-hmm. Right? Or, you know, they're pricing it right and it's selling. Yeah. Right? So w- we, before we saw an influx of listings that sat on the market, you know, overpriced, and obviously no buyer's gonna go for it, right? Yeah. And so they're waiting, waiting, waiting, and then they t- decide, "Okay, fine. We have to not sell." Yeah. And maybe they bought it at a higher price, and so now, you know, they're on, on the loss. So how much of a loss can they take before they, they decide, "You know what? Okay, maybe we'll just wait." Yeah. I'm seeing- So that's what we're seeing now. Yeah. I'm actually seeing quite a few listings that, you know, um, my clients were, like, really looking at or whatnot that actually sold at losses of what they initially bought for, like 100, 200K losses. Oh. Right? And, uh- Recent- It's, it's so sad to see, but, you know, because obviously there's another family that suffered because of that, right? But- Yeah ... uh, but the reality is, yeah, they, people do have to bring down their expectations 'cause this is not the market even a year ago. Year ago was even different than what we're seeing now, right? For sure. So. It's interesting you say that. Mm-hmm. We are, um, I just saw this, uh, I can't remember the addresses now, but there was two properties. Yeah. In Brampton. Mm-hmm. You know, and these were detached- Oh, was it a million dollar loss? ... big homes. A million dollar loss. Yes, yes. Exactly. I saw that one. That was insane, man. Right? That was insane. One, one of them was, like, I think an $800,000 loss. Yeah. And then another one was a million dollar loss. Now- Man um, uh, I mean, how do people manage that? I don't, yeah. That's just- I, I'm assuming both were power sale, right, for those massive losses. I believe so. Has to be, right? And what's interesting is also- 'Cause like- ... I think those people who bought those homes at that time- Yeah ... also probably s- sold at peak. Mm. Right? So maybe big equity- So- into the- There was a lot of equity going in there. Yeah, I guess we don't know for sure. But again. But yeah. Yes. I mean, uh, still a million dollar loss is a million dollar loss, right? It's- Well, at the end of the day they have to put 20%, right? Mm-hmm. So if you're looking at a $2 million house, 20% of that, you, you, if you lose a million, y- your whole down payment's al- already wiped out. But maybe they put more than 20%, right? 'Cause- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, that's true. Yeah. So yeah, you tell me what's going on, uh, you know, what type of mortgage, uh, applications- Man ... are you receiving. Yeah. And, you know, uh, you know, tell me a little bit about what's going on with Bank of Canada and the interest rates. Oh, man. And any- Big loaded question for me, man. So where, where- And well, I've got a, I have a three-part question, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, A, what's happening with the rates. Mm-hmm. You know, obviously whatever's happening in the US as well, so- Yeah ... you know, let me know, let us know what's happening there. Um, and then, you know, type of applications you're seeing. Yeah. And what's being approved. Mm-hmm. Um, and then, um, you know, are you seeing a lot of refinances? Yeah. So I'll, I'll start with the refinance, right? Because that comes top of mind for me because a lot of people would like, love to refinance, take out equity, pay off debt, or, you know, invest in real estate and, you know, do different things, but the problem is values are not coming at what they need to. And it's sad because it's even properties that were purchased five years ago, right? Right. Like, even places like Markham, places like, you know, Whitby, Pickering. You know, five years ago the value's actually the same or a little bit less, so. Yeah. They're actually not able to take any equity out over the five years, so it's, it's really sad to see because, you know, they've paid the mortgage for five years. Mm-hmm. Paid down the principal, but because the principal paydown and the values have also dropped, uh, there's just not enough equity for them to pull out, right? I'm gonna stop you real quick there. Mm. Right? You said, you know, principal paid down, right? But I think the f- you know, after 2022 when, when the rates started going up- Right? I think depending on the type of mortgage you had- If you had a variable, yeah ... you were just paying more interest, right? So- Depends on the loan. Yeah. So, you know, you have that fixed payment, right, where, where the variable rate does n- the payment doesn't change. Change, yeah. Right? For that, yes, you were paying basically all interest. Exactly, yeah. But if you had it with, like, for example, Scotiabank or, uh, any, a, a, a, a national bank and some other monoline lenders, their r- their payments actually move up as the rates move up- Mm-hmm ... or move down as the rates move down. So, so you're actually always paying down your principal, right? Right. So if you had that product, you do have some principal pay down. Mm-hmm. But if you had a product where, you know, the, the fixed, fixed payment variable, then unfortunately, yeah, there was most likely just interest paid. If anything, a lot of people owed money after the end of the five-year term. Right. Exactly. Okay. But, but i- if you had fixed rate, then you probably paid a good chunk of that principal in that five years. In the five-year period, yeah. Yeah, probably, like, I would say, like, 60% of your payment was going towards principal, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Uh, which is great, 'cause that's, like, the total opposite now, um, i- in today's r- rate market. But I mean, let me just go back into, like, where we are right now. So September 28th is, we're recording today, right? There's been a whole lot of changes in our market in the last two weeks. When I mean changes, in terms of rates specifically. Rates on the fixed side have gone up significantly. We were, like, two weeks ago we were getting, like, 3.89, 3.99- Mm-hmm uh, for most of our mortgages. Now we're seeing as high as 4.79. 4.79. 4.79, right? My goodness. So a lot has changed- Three main factors. Number one, the, the, the, the market's, um, uh, expectation of the war in the Middle East is diminishing, where they're thinking that this is not gonna get resolved any time soon. It's gonna prolong, which is going to make the price of oil continue to rise and rise and rise, and which is gonna impact inflation, which is what the Bank of Canada and, uh, you know, the US Central Bank cares about. So what they, when they increase or decrease a rate, it's based on the rate of inflation. So if inflation is increasing, they're gonna have to increase it as well so they can bring down the c- uh, the- Yeah ... the, the rate of inflation, right? To, to what they need it at. Um, I don't wanna get too technical, but essentially if the oil prices come down or it starts to s- starts to settle down, then you'll see less chances of a rate hike and more chances of a rate cut, if anything. Mm-hmm. Because other than the oil stuff, our economy's struggling quite a bit actually. Um, and then the other thing is, uh, down, down south in the US, um, they increased their rate, uh, just a week ago. So that brought a lot of chatter about Canada also increasing the rates, right? Yeah. Because we usually follow along pretty closely to the US. Yeah. Um, and then the third reason is the tariff war, right? Increased tariffs just means increased costs. Oh. Increased cost means increased inflation, right? So there's a lot of, uh, you know, uh, lot of, uh, you know, uh, uh- So you're saying- Yeah What you're saying is if Trump wakes up this morning- ... and decides he wants to have a tantrum, then, you know- Absolutely market change. Absolutely. Absolutely, man. I don't know. I, I have no idea what that guy does in the morning to get into the mood he gets into, but yeah, like, at the end of the day, like, he has a strong pull on the markets. We've seen that in the, you know- Yeah ... the stock market, and we're now seeing it play into our real estate market too, right? Yeah. So I think at the end of the day, like, there's so many variables in play right now, and overall the market is expecting that future rates are going to be Continue to rise. Mm. And that's gonna also force Bank of Canada increase their rates. Right now they're expecting, um, up to 1% increase in rates- Oof right over the next three years. Um, personally I don't think so, right? But again, anything can happen, right? We've seen that in the last few years where the rates have been s- fluctuating quite a bit. Yeah. And it's so volatile, and that's kind of the market we're in right now. So right now I think it's fair to say we are gonna expect a rate hike this year. This year. Right? Yeah. I think one rate hike, either it's gonna be in October or December, right? Um, and then we'll probably see another one early next year as well. Um, and then a lot of it also has to do, without getting too political, with his midterms, right? Whether he gets reelected, if there's gonna be another election, right? 'Cause if there is another election, he can't get, he can't get voted in is my understanding, right? Right, right. 'Cause he's already- That's his two terms, right ... served his maximum, right? Yeah. Um, so he might get impeached, right? So- Um, so I mean, if, if the, the, the, the market's thought is if he does get impeached or he's removed, number one, the Iran war gets resolved r- fairly quickly, right? Because Iran's whole play is they're gonna wait until his term. They don't mind closing down the, um, the s- I- The strait ... the strait, yeah. I forget the exact name of it, but- Yeah ... once they open that up, that should, uh, decrease the cost of, uh, oil and whatnot, right? So- Yeah So it's crazy. One man has caused this much tension and this much issues with our mortgage that we're having to talk about it on a Canadian real estate podcast. Like, it's crazy, right? It, it's insane. It's insane. But that's kind of how the world works right now, right? Yeah. Um, so, so just going back to that, like, a lot of the calls we're getting right now is renewals, right? And, um, we're starting to see the last chunk of that, like, you know, that renewal boom that people were talking about, right? Yeah, yeah. Um, so that's probably gonna go into the m- early 2027, uh, closer to that peak time that you discussed, right? Yeah, yeah. Of 2022. Um, so what we're gonna start to see is, uh, you know, a lot of people having to decide whether do I take variable or fixed? Yeah. And that's the number one question I get right now, right? Uh, unfortunately, it's not a blanket statement I can tell anyone, but for me personally, I would take a variable over a fixed right now just because of two things. Number one, I, I kind of understand the market a little bit better than, you know, the average person, given that I'm in it. And number two is, um, the discrepancy between the variable and the fixed is almost a percent right now. A percent at this point, right? Yeah. Right? So I'm willing to take on that risk of not paying a percent more to lock in- Right ... and taking the chance and seeing what the Bank of Canada does. Right. I think personally, if in the worst case situation, they probably hike up 1%. More than 1% is very unlikely to me. Mm-hmm. But again, we've seen what happened in the past, but I think that's just recency bias. I do think traditionally they don't usually increase that quickly or, uh, increase that much. So, uh, and if they do, it does come back up, come back down, which is what we saw in 2022 as well. When they increased- Yeah like, I think it was, like, two, almost two, two, 2.25. Yeah. It came down as well, right? So that's one thing to also keep note of. Um- And yeah, that's, that's pretty much what we're seeing i- i- on our end, and then we're seeing a lot more first-time home buyers come out of the market and, and start to actually make moves. Yeah. Right? Um, and I think a lot of that has to do affordability in the sense where, you know, before someone with a $80,000 income couldn't really afford anything in the market, right? Mm-hmm. Now they can actually at least bought a condo, right? Right. Um, which I don't know if that is the right thing for everyone, but which we can talk about later, but, um, if it's gonna get you in the market, if it's for a lifestyle reason, if it's something that, you know, this is the type of, you know, lifestyle you wanna lead as in live in a condo, which obviously a lot of people enjoy that lifestyle, then it could be the right move, right? Right. Um, so that, that's kinda what we're seeing in the market right now. Um, and, uh, and I think right now where I kinda see the future is I think people will start to buy a little bit more. I think sales activity will go up just because of what I'm seeing from the pre-approval side. More people are interested in the pre-approvals. And then, uh, uh, sorry, I go- I forgot to mention move-up buyers. We are getting, uh, uh, quite a few of those. Mm-hmm. And majority of the move-up buyers are actually people buying-- uh, sorry, selling condos and buying either a detached, semi-detached- Mm-hmm ... with a basement apartment. Yes. I think that's the biggest thing because now they're looking at their, um, uh, their monthly budget, and they're like, "We're actually saving money by making this move." Right. Right? Of course. Um, and, a- and, and they're not paying maintenance fees. They're, they're, you know, paying down the mortgage faster. They have a backyard for their families. Like, there's so many- Right ... advantages that they like, right? Yes, yeah. Again, that's not for everyone, but yeah, that's pretty much the majority of what we're seeing right now. Yeah, I think so. I mean, it kinda is a perfect segue into sort of what we wanted to talk about today- Yes ... is, you know, really who should be- Actively Buying ... buying- Yeah ... or selling- So- ... in today's market. Yes. So I, I, I wanted to start off because I think the first piece is the financial backing, financial piece, right? So the people who should be buying from a financial perspective is people who have stable income. They know they're gonna be in the house for at least five to 10 years. So if you're in a job, for example, that you know you could be relocating to US in a few years, I don't think those people should be buying. Mm. The reason I say this, right, and I'm very specific with this example, is I've had quite a few clients that reached out to me this year that purchased two years ago and are now, um, are now going to the US. Really? Right? But because they're moving to the US, and it's all job-related, nothing else, because they're moving to the US, they cannot sell their property because their property's at a loss. Right. And if they rent it out, they're gonna be negative cashflow. It's not a smart move, right? They could have rented for those two years and still been ahead right now financially. Right. So you have to really dig deep into, like, your future self in five years. Of course, anything can happen. We know that, right? Yeah. But in five years, do you still see yourself living here or in this neighborhood or this area, right? So that's a, I think it's a big financial decision that people need to make, not just like quickly say, "Hey, my friend bought a property. We need to buy a property," or, "My brother or sister bought a property. I need to buy a property." Or- Think about your- Or, or, or, you know, uh, listen to the realtor who said, "Yeah, buy. The market's great." Oh, man. The market's always great. The market's always great. You ask a realtor, it might be, it might be raining outside, and he'll still say it's sunny, okay? Sorry, guys. That's a little bit of a rant. We'll save it for another episode. But, uh, but I think, yeah, tha- that, from a financial perspective, you need to think about your job, your future job perspective, and also, do you have not just the down payment, but do you have the savings to also, you know, have for an emergency purpose, right? Yeah. For example, you buy a house. The furnace could stop working a day later. I've had those situations with clients, right? And you need to be able to, you know, have enough money to still h- have as an emergency for repairs and maintenance and things of that sort. Like, we both own properties. We know how much maintenance is involved in a property, right? Absolutely. Like, it's not ... Like, it sucks because it does come up. You know, it- That's- I feel like it's like when it rains, it pours, right? Like- It's, it's part of homeownership, right? A furnace breaks. Yeah, it's part of ownership. It's part of ... It's, it's homeownership. And, you know, especially for first-time buyers, they need to really know, you know, what they're buying- Mm-hmm and what they can afford, like you said, but also have that buffer, right? Yes. So, you know, don't buy at the max of what you can buy. That, that's, that's the, that's- You know? ... next thing I was gonna add. Right. So when you get pre-approved, if you're going for a million, and you look at the payment, and you're like, "Oh, man. I don't know if I can afford a five thou- five, four or $5,000 payment," right? I'm more comfortable with 3,000," then lower your, your purchasing power, right? And then see if that's something that you're, like, that type of property you're still willing to- Correct ... kinda buy, right? Yeah. So all of those, like, it's funny 'cause, like, that's how you initially were trained to, like, buy real estate. But because of what we went through in the last, like, five, six years- Yeah ... I feel like now it's just more of, like, a ... It's like going to, like, the store and buying, like, a new pa- pair, pair of jeans or something. Like, people think it's like, you know, there's no thought behind- Ugh ... you know, this purchase. And they don't realize the costs involved- Yeah in buying and selling- Yeah, yeah ... is a lot. And that's where you ... Yeah, yeah. Right? And yeah, I, I mean, you know, p- I, I know pe- you know, people just buy just because, like, "Oh, yeah, I should be buying." Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Let's just, you know, bend over backwards to do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So there has to be, like, a checklist of things. And if you guys need something like that, like a checklist, feel free to comment a checklist below and we'll get you something like that, right? But you guys have to, like, do your finan- like, you have to really sit down and break down the numbers and see if this makes sense for you. A lot of people don't, and that's why there's a lot more renters than buyers in this country, right? It's a very normal thing. Doesn't mean one person is different from the other in that's perspective. It, it, it just doesn't make sense for their lifestyle, right? Which is very normal. So that's so- that, that's something that I would say from finan- Now, you, now I think you wanted to talk about more so, like, who should be buying in, I guess, what situation- Yeah, I, I think- outside of that. Yeah ... you know, like, m- exactly like, you know, you said, you know. If you are financially stable and, you know, you have the backing for it and you're comfortable, you know, yeah, you can consider looking at options because, yeah, today is a great market to, as a buyer to get in, right? Mm-hmm. Um, like, you know, w- this goes back to that first question you asked if, you know, if my sister should be buying, right? Yeah. Um, I do believe as a first-time buyer, if your finances are, you know, stable and, you know, you- got that backing, then definitely I think you should get into the market. Now, what you buy, that's the other part, right? Yes. That's it. And, you know, if you can only afford, say, a condo as a first-time buyer, I think you can wait. Yeah. Right? Um, I don't think anybody should be rushing to go buy a condo. Unless you find, like, like, I don't know, if this is- A great deal ... yeah, a great deal. You, you do. Yeah. Or a layout that's, like, you know, very unique and, you know, something that it doesn't come onto the market often. Yeah. But again, you won't know that unless you're in the market, right? Like, you start- That's right looking and- Yeah ... looking. That, that's one thing that I get a lot, and maybe you can, uh, a- answer this as well, is I c- I have people that are interested buying, but they'll be like, "Hey, should I just wait till, like, next year to, like, start looking?" Mm-hmm. I'm like, no. Like, this, like, this is my perspective, is why wouldn't you be in this market and get a deal? Like, just because the market price is going f- like, uh, like that property that you said sold for a million less. Yeah. So I know what property you're talking about. It actually sold for 1.5 million, and that, or something like that, 1.5, but it was purchased for 2.5, right? Some- Yeah. 2 point, no, it bought, was bought for 2.25, and it was sold for 1.25. 1.25. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So if someone buying that property, they see that list price, I'm sure the list price was not 1.25, right? It was maybe 1.7 or 1.8. Yeah. If you put an offer that you- Feel like this is what I would be willing to pay. You never know what will get accepted. I've seen some crazy deals in this market- Oh, yeah. Oh, crazy ... where people were just... I even thought like, "Hey, like, yeah, sure. I, I don't know if it'll land, but, you know, why not? Just go check it out." And- I, you know- Lo and behold, I- So I, I mean, that, but that's the other market, right? So, you know, going back to the first time buyers- But what I'm saying is like- Yes, getting in those, those people that are waiting- Yeah ... on the market. Yeah, like these are first time buyers. They don't have to pull the trigger. You don't have to pull the trigger, but at least start looking- You know, be active- And you may see the right property ... be looking out for deals. Yeah. You know, monitor it, right? Because you d- you never know when that deal is gonna come through. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, you don't wanna be making the, a decision because you just saw that today- Yeah ... and you know it was gonna be gone. Yeah, yeah. Right? So somebody who is actively still looking but, you know, waiting for that right property, waiting for that right deal- Yeah ... that's okay 'cause this is that market. Yeah. Right? 'Cause I think, no, but I think what I'm also trying to say is like it's a good market to buy in, but that doesn't mean you can't buy a bad property. You can still buy a bad property in this market. Oh, for sure. Right? So I think that's what we, you know, just 'cause it's a great- Yeah ... time for buyers doesn't mean every property on the market is a great buy. That's right. Right? You still gotta make your- Or the, or the right property for you. Yes, exactly. Right? Um, and then, uh, when it comes to the sellers, I think, you know, if you're selling and you're considering to sell, you should only be selling because you have to. Hm. Me, uh, when I say you have to- So what, what, yeah, why don't we expand on that? Is, you know, A, you no longer can afford it. Okay. And, you know, y- you, your, your, your life, uh, is, uh, you know, I guess becoming more and more stressful because of the finances. Mm-hmm. Sometimes it's just better to walk away. Yeah. Right? And, you know, and people who have, you know, lost equity or, you know, the, the house or the price has gone down, again, how much of a loss can you handle? Yeah. Right? Um- It's also, like, the interest rates, uh, that you're gonna be paying over the course- Yeah ... of time waiting, right? Yeah. Um, and if you're renting it out, if you have a bad tenant, that could fall into a lot more issues, right? Yeah. Um, so there's a lot of other variables if you do plan to hold it, right? Yes, yes. If you're already bleeding quite a bit, like- That's right ... it's funny because, um, I had this exact same situation a few years ago with a client. It was actually around the peak time. He, he bought a pre-construction, and he pretty much was like- It was a loss at the time. At the time. But he was like, "I'm gonna take this loss and I'm selling it right now." Right? And I was like, "Are you sure? Like, do you wanna just ride it out, kind of see where it is?" Right. And he's like, "No, no, I, I can't afford this anymore." Yeah. "I bought it at a time where I thought I can. I'm gonna sell it." He sold at a loss. But if he sold today- It would've been even lower ... I think it would be almost 3, 400K lower. Damn. So he made a genius move on that side. Good move. You know what I mean? Good move. Right. Like, he recognized the situation. He is a real estate investor, so he is a little bit more, you know, in tune with the market and whatnot. Right. And honestly, like, looking back, he got a fantastic price, right? Right. So I think that's, that, that's also, like, you know, goes to what you say, right? Like, just because you're taking a loss, I know a lot of it has to do with our ego, right? Yeah. We don't wanna ... We, we made, put a lot of money, our life savings, or a lot of our, you know, hard-earned money into this property, and we don't wanna see it at a loss. Mm-hmm. But unfortunately, a loss today might be better than a loss tomorrow, right? Right. So that's kind of how you have to look at it. It, it'll be a bigger loss potentially. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, those are the type of seller that should be considering what they wanna do. Yeah. Right? Um, anybody who's actually looking to downsize, they should not be selling. Hmm. Interesting. Yes. Okay. Interesting. Right? Because you might be downsizing from, say, a, a detached property. Hmm. Maybe, you know, your, the kids have moved out, gone to university, right? And, you know, you don't need all that space, right? Which makes sense and, you know- Mm-hmm ... it makes sense to downsize, but unfortunately, your p- the price on your home has come down a lot more. Right. Yes. Right? And so I would wait for the market to actually get better because then you would actually end up doing much better on your property. Yeah. And a lot of those folks that are downsizing, obviously they're a lot older age group. Yeah. Uh, and they probably have a paid off mortgage. Exactly. Right? Yeah. So it's not a financial thing. If they can manage it- Yeah ... 100%, right You can rent it out. Yeah. Right? And, uh, and you can rent where you wanna live. Like if you wanna rent in a condo, right? And, and, and live there for the time being while renting out your, and you'll still be on a positive, right? That's right. Yes. So, so yeah. No, I agree. So I would hold. Yeah. Right? That's, that's right. So if you are downsizing, I would, you know, really think about it before you having to do it. And again, if you're downsizing, if you only have to. Yes. Right? And if you're upsizing, this is another great time for you to do so. Yeah. Again, se- you know, the, the reason is exactly the opposite, right? Yeah. So- Especially if you're gonna, like we talked about before, if you're gonna do a basement apartment or for just with the basement apartment, you actually will be- A better cash flow than what your current situation. Even if you're in a condo- Mm-hmm moving to a detached. Like, I've actually had clients who are actually saving more money by selling their condo and going into a detached with a basement apartment, right? Right. Yeah. Um, so I think- Makes sense that way, right? Yeah. Because not only, yeah, because, you know, I think you touched on this, you know, you're not paying your maintenance fees. Yep. Right? And now you have a rental income- Yes ... as well. So that's, you know, two savings right there- Exactly ... that's adding up to that cost. Yeah. That's like almost like two and a half, two, two and a half grand, right? Yeah. Like, just there. Yeah. On average, yeah. Depending on the situation. So- 100% ... that's a lot of money that you're getting in, right? Um, so. And then I think, I think this is an obvious one- Yeah ... but I will state it, right? If you're thinking about buying pre-construction- Oh, yeah ... condos, don't even touch it. Right? I, I think- That's condos, guys. Condos ... condos. Pre-construction condos. Yes. Right? Yes. And if you're looking at on the pre-construction, you know, low-rise homes, those are, there are really good options out there. Mm. You know, you also have that HST rebate- Yes ... as well. So again, you have to look at if it's at the right price. Yes. 'Cause you might actually find a better deal on the resale market. Yeah. Right? Or vice versa. Some-- and I am seeing some builders are being very competitive because they need to sell homes. For sure. And it's a business. They have a company. And you, and you also have to, you also have to look at it from a fair price point to comparison where- Mm-hmm ... obviously you would know this better, but, like, there's a lot of options that are not included on that initial purchase price, right? Yes. When you're, and, and when you're looking at a resale house, they usually have all, most of the options on there, right? Yeah. There's a lot of pros and cons- Yeah ... between the two. Maybe another day. You have to do a good comparison, right? That's what it is. 100%, right? And, you know, you need- And, and ChatGPT is not gonna do it for you. So make sure you, you, you, you look at it with a realtor or, you know, a, a, a professional in that space, right? That, that could, uh, really break down the, you know, the differences between them. And, and I'm finding right now, you know, with builders, you know, they understand that, okay, they have to be competitive. But, you know, when you show up to the builder, uh, without a realtor, I am also seeing cases where, you know, they just sell their at the sticker price. Yeah. Right? But- Oh, I- so there's, like, further discounts you can get. Yes. Oh, okay. I didn't know that. Right? Because, you know, you can always negotiate. Right. Right. You can always negotiate better terms. Yes. Better incentives. Uh, you know, for example, you can, uh, negotiate better deposit structures. That's good to know. I don't think a lot of people know that, right? Yeah. 'Cause I think a lot of people are a little bit apprehensive to use a realtor 'cause they're like, "Why do I need one? I can just go straight to the, uh-" It, it doesn't cost them at all, right? "... builder." Yeah. It doesn't cost them at all. No, it's good to know. But again, you have to understand that, you know, the salesperson at the builder is representing the builder. Yep. Right? Yeah. So- That's like for us, like, a, a, when a client goes directly to the bank, you're competing with the bank that's gonna give you the mortgage. Mm-hmm. They're not gonna tell you what, you know, the blue bank or the red bank over there is offering, right? Right. Yeah. Whereas a broker works for you and is gonna give you the options, right? Yeah. Options is how you get savings, right? It's- If you don't have options, you don't get savings ... you, you also know, you, you, you basically understand, you know, what's negotiable and what's not. Exactly. Exactly. Right? So yeah. So going back to, you know, we have a lot of these we can talk about- Yeah ... another episode, right? For sure. For sure. But, um, you know, talk- We'll definitely have a pre-construction episode, 'cause I think that's definitely warranted in today's market. Because that HST rebate has definitely, you know, sparked a lot of interest for people I find. Yes. Yes. Um, but I think, I think, I think it's fair to, like, wrap it up if you've got some closing thoughts. Uh, yeah. No, I, I think ultimately, you know, again, and thanks for tuning in, um, you know, we're hoping to really put out some good topics. Yeah. Uh, like I said, unfiltered, unscripted. Guys, this is not gonna get edited. Like, this is literally just gonna be uploaded and- For your pleasure, right? So- And drop in the comments about the topics- Yeah ... you guys wanna see as well. For sure. Yeah, yeah. Um, you know, I think- That will definitely help ... we'll do a lot of different topics. Yeah. All right. Until then, guys. See you guys. That's good? Yep