Please don’t politicize real estate

by Shawn Lackie

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Dickens wrote this in A Tale Of Two Cities, in 1859, but it could have been written yesterday. Need proof?

Take a wander through any of the social media sites and check out the finger pointing and name calling. It is astounding; and a huge amount of the bitterness is around political beliefs. Even the Winter Olympics couldn’t escape the wrath of the political effect.

The great divide comes from whether you lean left or right and there is absolutely no appetite for understanding the “other side.” I'm not sure how we stooped this low, but the divisiveness is permeating all facets of life. Let’s hope it stays away from the world of real estate.

We have seen all levels of politicians using the “affordable housing” situation as some sort of bargaining chip. From the Feds down to the local bunch, we hear non-stop about building more homes for all to buy. Except look at the results. Locally, we have seen an inordinate growth with all sorts of new homes being built.

My question is this. Have any of the new builds been anything which would qualify as affordable, by a first-time buyer who didn’t win a lottery? The short answer is, not a chance.

There has been talk for years about the need for townhouses and smaller homes which someone, just coming into the market, could afford to buy. I have yet to see one of those. The developers can chirp all they want about their long term plans but seldom do they deliver. This is because, the bottom line is always about just that, the bottom line.

So they continue to build mega and semi-mega mansions which retail in the range of $1 Million and up. Is THAT affordable?

I always go back to the good old days, when you could buy a fixer-upper and pour some sweat equity into it. The process was pretty much a three step set up. First, it was a starter home. Next, you'd step up to a home large enough to start a family. Then the last step would be down to a more manageable almost retirement sized home.

The problem is, you don’t see too many of those these days. Builders aren’t doing their share here, at least not in all the areas. Our first house was a semi, and, a few months after we bought, we found out the other side was a city-subsidized home. I will just say, that led to some interesting times. Mostly because, the people there were way over-qualified and the home use was definitely not fulfilling the original mandate.

I had the same situation years earlier, when we rented a co-op, in the downtown Toronto area. It was full on abuse of the system and the available loopholes.

Many years ago, when David Miller was running things as mayor, in Toronto, the city instituted a double land transfer tax. They also added an extra parking tax for parking permits. That parking tax was later rescinded because it was much too onerous. So it’s safe to say, all along, the politicians have been involved, mostly, in an indirect way. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site, at https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more