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Coltaine79

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I am trying to help a family member, by providing her with general real estate advice on her situation, and I would appreciate any thoughts you guys might have:

Her situation: 5 years away from retirement, a widow, children have their own families so they no longer live at home. Lives in Mississauga but works near Bathurst and Finch (and will work there until retirement).

It's a long drive to work every day so I'm trying to suggest moving to somewhere closer to her work. Not to mention living in a ~1600sq ft house can be a daunting task for an older lady on her own...

But I'm having trouble trying to find an alternative place to live. I would guess the house is worth about 320-330k at the moment. My suggestion would be to find a cheaper place to live (to free up some equity), but since she likes the "house life" (enjoys gardening, hates elevators, etc.) there isn't much choice either at or below that price level.

Any ideas? Even going North all the way up to York region doesn't result in any particularly appealing prices.
I know she is still making mortgage payments but I have no idea what her outstanding balance could be.
 
She's certainly spending money on driving which could be put to better use, unless she has very strong community roots in the present location. Since it sounds like an apartment wouldn't be suitable, I'd suggest a townhouse with some exterior space for gardening.
 
There really aren't any choices for 320k around that neighborhood. The only neighborhood not too far away from there where you could find a house for 320k would be Jane/Finch. It's either that or a condo. Would she consider renting a house instead of buying one? If so she could find something starting around $2000/month (example). I don't know how much equity she has in her home, but assuming after closing costs and everything she got 300k, if she put that in a 5 year GIC (ally's 5 year gic rate is currently 3.3%) that's $9900/yr or 825/month guaranteed.
 
Polkaroo, in taking a quick look at the area on MLS (C07 and C14 districts) there are indeed few choices in the price range for freehold townhouses. There are quite a few condominium townhouses, but monthly fees are significant, and the usual caveats would apply about a person who is not familiar with condos moving into a condo development. With respect to Kenny's mention of Aurora, I'm not sure I see the benefit in moving there. Depending on where she now lives in Mississauga, any saving in distance may be very minimal and not worth the move.

My own feeling was that she needs to both downsize and move closer to work.
 
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