STAYING PUT

How long have you been living in the home you are currently in? Used to be many years ago that you would buy a home and pretty much live there all your life. Unless you had a job transfer or some other upset in your life (family death, divorce). My grandparents lived in 2 homes their entire married life. The first was a small home, then they built a large 4 bedroom home to move into and start their family. It was also on the same street, so that is consistency. When I was younger we moved 3 times. One place was only a stop-gap for a year while the parents were sorting out their lives. Not sure if that kind of thing breeds nomadic traits but prior to getting married we lived in 7 different places, mostly moving around in Toronto. After marriage we moved 7 times. And of these 6 were homes we bought and sold. After moving back to Port in 2007 we have lived in the same home ever since. For us, that’s a record. Do others feel the same? While "every 7 years" is a commonly cited figure for homeowners, the Canadian Association of Movers has historically indicated that the average Canadian moves 5 to 6 times in their lifetime. How many of those moves involved buying and selling I’m not sure but it gives you an idea of the mind set. There are any number of factors involved in the why (see above) but for some the answer is easy. I had a family in Bowmanville that moved four times in about 20 years (see the 5 year average?) When I asked them why all they could say was they were “bored” with the area they were in and wanted to see another area of town. They loved Bowmanville and couldn’t see themselves living anywhere else but needed a change of scenery. I had other clients that did pretty much the same although their idea of “striking out on an adventure” was moving from Whitby to Brooklin. Whatever. I had one family that defied the norm and instead of moving out of Toronto, they moved into Toronto. They wanted to experience the thrill of living on what’s affectionately known as “The Danny” Uh...that would be the Danforth in central Toronto. This was just before prices went bananas in T.O. so if anyone was going to make that move, their timing was spot on. They love it there and have no desire to escape the madness of city living. Each to his own I always say. Lately moving has pretty much come to a standstill for obvious reasons. Prices, Interest rates, job uncertainty, crazy politicians. You name it. All of these factors contribute to the ennui in the current market. And where it goes next seems to be anyone’s guess. The pause button has been hit and looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Too many ifs involved at this point. That may facilitate more price drops in the market but that’s not a guarantee. I see very few For Sale signs out these days and the spring market is nigh upon us. High time to get out the crystal ball. Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site at: https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more