Staying Put

by Shawn Lackie

How long have you been living in the home you are currently in? It used to be, many years ago, 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 (i.e. family death, divorce).

My grandparents lived in two homes their entire married life. The first was a small home, then they built a large four 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 three times. One place was only a stop-gap, for a year, while the parents were sorting out their lives. I'm not sure if that kind of thing breeds nomadic traits, but prior to getting married we lived in seven different places, mostly moving around in Toronto. After marriage, we moved seven times, and of these, six were homes we bought and sold. After moving back to Port Perry, in 2007, we have lived in the same home ever since. For us, that’s a record.

Do others feel the same? While "every seven years" is a commonly cited figure for homeowners, the Canadian Association of Movers has shared, historically, the average Canadian moves five to six 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 change of 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 who moved four times in about 20 years (see the five 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 who 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 who 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. Where it goes next seems to be anyone’s guess. The pause button has been hit and it looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future. There are too many ifs involved at this point which 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.

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