Nice location, but what happened to the trees they were supposed to preserve, in the orange fencing?

I've gotten an opportunity to work with an inexperienced developer on the rezoning package for a 40-storey mid-market tower in downtown. Right now, the design for the typical 36 stories consist only of 2 alternating (but nearly identical/inverse) floorplate types, with 11 units per floor on...

Taking out the RRSP when I have a lower income applies to both options, and like I said, yes I'm aware of the interest gained from the first 4 years. What I don't get is why I'm not also saving on tax by contributing RRSPS only when my tax rate would otherwise be highest ($100K is already a few...

^^Everything you say makes sense, but when I run the numbers, it doesn't seem to add up (am I doing something wrong?): Option 1: always max out RRSP Option 2: no RRSP until year 5-8 Year 1 Option 1: $65K - RRSP $11700 = $53300 = $9722 tax Option 2: $65K = $13367 tax ($3645 more) Year 2 Option...

Oh crap. Time to stop the RRSP payments... I'm way over $25K already. I'm quite annoyed that the guy at the bank never told me this, as I told him that the sole purpose of my RRSP at this time is to defer taxes to get the biggest downpayment possible in the shortest amount of time.

^^Yes, that's that I read, real helpful lol. So should I stop putting funds into my rrsps to keep more liquid cash? I'm more interested in getting in the market asap than saving up, as I have a 50 year career ahead of me lol.

So I was under the impression that I could use my RRSPs as a condo downpayment (while deferring my taxes lol), so I've been maxing out the contribution limit for the last 3 years. Now I'm reading that the home buyers plan only allows me to withdraw $25K per year from it for my first home. Yet...

I want this unit: A 670sf unit with THREE SIDES glazed... nice!

I find that layout rather cramped for an apartment the size of a small house. The furniture needs space to breathe. The lack of windows doesn't help the situation, but the partitioning of kitchens, breakfast rooms, etc is a pretty dated approach. Who needs a breakfast room when there's...

I just saw another unit listed in 2013 at ~$520k for 1000sf, so maybe the other listing was also outdated. Anyway, if it's $500psf in 2013, I wouldn't pay more than $550psf in 2015

Might consider 169 lofts if there are availabilities, because a) simple palette/design, b) Grange Park, c) seems cheap (saw 800sf listing for $400k). The others are too expensive and/or boutique-sized. I'm not a fan of nouveau-riche finishes and prefer exposed concrete over onyx.

Wow. I've actually been avoiding listings that come with parking, because I don't want the extra $30-40k price tag associated with something I won't use. Granted, I've only been looking downtown and near transit corridors.

Just to give you all a sense of my tastes... so far the only buildings in the city I like are Rivercity 1 and Pier 27. iT lofts looks like 1 building pretending to be 2 - fail in my books. Also I don't want to pay premium maintenance fees for a boutique building... give me many neighbours to...

measuredmove, how do you have time to do this pro bono??

Not in the last few years. Sales in Vancouver have been disproportionately lower than Toronto (even factoring population), between 25,000 and 30,000 sales annually, compared to Toronto's 85,000-95,000. So 1/3 the population of Toronto, just over 1/4 of the sales volume, but with about 40% the...

The only thing holding me back from buying a house in the bluffs is I don't want to drive to work, and transit downtown isn't an option, despite being actually closer to downtown than North York. Otherwise, some of the deals around there are amazing.

I would never buy such a narrow/deep unit. If I must, I'd get rid of both the den and 2nd bathroom and have a interior bedroom, in exchange for a less ghetto-proportioned living/dining space.

Those 2 houses aren't exactly tear-downs. They look pretty renovated and somewhat tastefully with the Romana one. The condo I used for comparison is just one ttc station away, and it seems to be asking over $600psf http://www.listofcondo.com/Carmelina_Condos/page_2433991.html In Vancouver...

Not sure why people are going on about how expensive houses are relative to condos in Toronto. Condo prices are almost as much as in Vancouver (even though house prices are still very far apart between the cities). That should be a sign that it's condo prices here that are over-inflated. I...