Toronto

I have a couple of quetions for anyone in the Toronto area .. lakes ( yes I noticed a lot on the map ! but theres a lot in the UK as well, we just cant use them !)

Property near lakes !


I would appreciate any help

thanks

Mike

Are you looking to buy property? Cause there's a crap load. I'm on Healy lake, near a town called Mactier. It's just south of Parry Sound. You need to be more specific about your question. But Yes there is property near and on lakes.

Yes, we want to buy something. maybe I should explain a bit. My Girl is Canadian, and we where planning on moving to Toronto next year, or so. Recently I have gotton a serious bug for wakeboarding, but its crap in the uK. the more I have complained about it, the more it is something we want to do.

I would like to know a lot of things..

Houses ?.. whats sort of thing do you get, for how much, do they have moorings ?

can I email you Xander, I have a few other things I would like to ask


Mike

Hey Mike!

I live 90 minutes from Toronto in a place called Midland... Feel free to ask me any questions you'd like answered...

You can pick up boat access only cottages on the water for as little as $100,000 CDN right up to the $10 million mark for crazy, pimped out places...

I can hook you up with a few good real estate sites if you want... www.mls.ca is a good one...

Later!

Colin

Thanks Colin,


I can hardly contain myself, 100K canadian for a house by the water..that is crazy, where I live it cost you 400K for a 2 bedroom apartment, in a shabby area too !.. very cool

Chelsea is a teacher, so I guess we are going to have to be near a city ( you dont know any teachers do you ?)

Is Midland cool ? 90 mins sounds like a nice enough run to be away from work everyweekend...

Mike

Hey Mike I agree with Colin, the mls site is excellent. Also there is a regional magazine which had a pretty good overview of cottage property in the march '03 issue. It's called Cottage Life and back issues can be ordered thru their website www.cottagelife.com

Thanks Dave.. your profile says Tornoto. We have spent a few hours on the MLS website, some nice lake houses up by the lake in Georgina. Is this a nice place ? Whats the lake like, can wakeboard there ?

Oh, and sorry to be completely off topic, but any idea how far driving wise it is away from markham ?

thanks

Mike

Hi Mike I'm guessing that the georgina you are talking about is on Lake Simcoe. Simcoe is a BIG lake.I'd say its about 15 miles wide by 30 miles long. I imagine you can wakeboard but it gets pretty choppy from wind and boat traffic. It's close to Markham, within an hours drive. There are tons of resorts on simcoe, i would reccomend going for a weekend - renting to get a sense of whether its what you are looking for. There are litteraly hundreds of lakes within 2 hours of markham. I have a place in Haliburton, a cottage area about 2 hours from Toronto. Hope this helps Dave

yeah, thats the problem some of we Brits have.. scale....

15 miles by 30 miles !..isnt that a sea ?

So, where do people board Dave ?

I would love to be somewhere, were I can commute to Markham, but also, maybe be by the lake. Or do people rent, and buy a weekend place ?

thanks for your help Dave

Mike

Don't let me mislead you, there may be some nice quiet bays on simcoe but i don't know it well enough to say. Cottage country in Ontario is fabulous - tons of lakes for whatever suits your pleasure. Commuting is a little tough because the majority of the lakes are a little further away -say an hour and a half from markham. most people own or rent vacation properties/second homes Dave

Hey Mike,

That's crazy! How does anyone afford to live there?? Yikes!

I actually know a whole bunch of teachers - both here in Midland and elsewhere around Ontario... There are going to be a lot of openings in the next few years... A lot of our teachers are reaching retirement age and will leave vacancies for younger teachers...

Midland is pretty cool... We're located right at the south end of Georgian Bay... It's got amazing water - clean, deep and relatively warm in the summer...

We have some of the world's nicest freshwater beaches 10 minutes outside of town and some smaller inland lakes with cottages on them...

Most of Ontario with the exception of the Toronto area and southern Ontario is considered cottage country... There are a few different regions with lots of lakes and recreational facilities...

Georgina is pretty close to Markham... Maybe 45 minutes to an hour... It's at the south end of Lake Simcoe - which is a really nice, clean lake... It's pretty large as well...

If you're actually considering moving to Canada, I'd suggest skipping Toronto/Markham and moving to Barrie...

It's right on Lake Simcoe - the housing is still affordable (I've heard there are still a bunch of 1 acre (approx.) waterfront lots left that are for sale for under 100k...

Even if you were to live in town, there are a couple of nice marinas right downtown...

The lake is almost always calm and boat traffic isn't bad at all...

The population is 100,000, but it's a regional hub that attracts people from all of the surrounding communities, so it has tons of amenities, job opportunities and more...

You can find the Barrie website here: http://www.city.barrie.on.ca/

Anyway, let us know if there's anything else you need to know...

Colin

wow, thanks Colin,

as usual the help you get on WW is fantastic..

Barrie does look nice, but I have a job Oppertunity in Markham, so I might have to be commutable to that..

I ask for teachers, as I would love to hook Chelsea up with one or 2, just to get the feel of things.

Maybe I can buy you a beer when I come over for my interview !

Thanks again.

Mike

Hey Mike!

No problems at all... If that's the case and you're pretty sure you're gonna be heading to Markham, Barrie might still be a good alternative...

30% of the people who live in Barrie commute to work in Toronto... It's only about 30 - 45 minutes to the north end of the city - basically the Markham area...

Also, they just announced that they're extending commuter train service up to Barrie next year... Should make getting down there even easier...

The thing about living right in the city is that the housing prices are quite a bit higher than in smaller areas... I'd imagine a decent place there would start around $200k, but may be as high as $350-400k, depending on the neighbourhood...

I'll ask around for a couple of email addresses and let the teachers know that she might be contacting them for information... That way, she can ask any questions she needs answered...

Beer sounds great! I think you'll fit in in Canada just fine... Hahaha...

Take care!

Colin

If you're actually considering moving to Canada, I'd suggest skipping Toronto/Markham and moving to Vancouver!

Sorry, Colin, couldn't resist!

lol... hahahah ok time to give Richmond Hill its time in the spot light hahahah. Colin just to let you know you can get cottages for less than 100k. My parents bought theres for around 55K faces south boat only access walk out onto the lake. Ok its not a dream house but its good for weekends. From the posts it sounds like your pretty intent on comming to Markham. I'd say get yourself over here and go talk to some real estate agents they'll be able to tell you who to contact. It's hard to say what are good lakes as there are so many. On my way up to my cottage I must pass at least 10 major turn offs to cottage areas. My cottage is 2hrs door to door (that includes getting the boat in and everything across). But like I said come on over and just start looking. Most lakes are big enough to wakeboard on, unless you get something out on Georgain Bay then you may have some problems (gets pretty choppy). Anyways feel free to email me if you have any questions.

I want a house with boat access
and I want one of those walk out areas made of wood

and a boat

and surrounded by lakes.... mmmmm

cant wait to check all of this out, should be heading over next week or the week after,

If any of you guys are around, I do like beer very much, and also sharing beer,

I will be staying at the

Crappy Inn Motel De lak ( or similar)

Mike