HGTV, Home Prices and Careers?

Lotus · ‎03-09-2010

What do these people do for a living that they have $900,000 budgets?

On "Love It or List It" ( believe this is filmed in Canada)...they have huge budgets for the homes they are looking at and the homes they are fixing up are appraised for much higher prices than they look like they are worth. (yes I know that is a run on sentence) Are home in Canada that expensive? What do these people do for a living and what types of wages do they make?

I'm now watching Property Brothers (filmed in the USA???) Buying and Selling, they are fixing up a home that the sellers want over $700,000. I can't imagine what market they are in to warrant that type of cash for this home. Their budget for the new home is $900,000.

"People with closed hearts will always feel as though they are at war with the world." ~My friend Nancy

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

In some large metropolitan areas of the US and Canada the cost of living and thus the incomes are much higher than other areas. Places like LA , Chicago, New york and Toronto have very high COl in comparrison to cities like Pittsburgh, or Fort wayne or Little Rock or Tampa. Much smaller areas where land is much more available. It isn't so much what people in these cities do - it is that they are paid what the COL demands.

For instance - I worked with a nurse who moved from LA to Pittsburgh. At that time we were making $25/hr in Pitts. at the top of the pay scale. He told me that in LA he made $75/hr and had to have a second job just to make ends meet, and he had to live in a dumpy apartment. In pitts, making 25/hr he had bought a house and was comfortable with one job. It is all about the region's COL.

Lotus · ‎03-09-2010

151949.......I totally get that. I live on Long Island.....very high home prices and cost of living.

"People with closed hearts will always feel as though they are at war with the world." ~My friend Nancy

Mrsq2022 · ‎03-10-2010

I think $900,000 Canadian is more like $650,000-$700k USD. Most part of California, $700k is a pretty typical price for a modest home. Silicon Valley/SF Bay Area is easily higher than that for a 2/1.

Two people earning $150k each can buy a home for $700. That could be a firefighter and a web developer, or two real estate agents or a software developer...a public or private school principal...a civil engineer or planner....a nurse (here they make $60-70 an hour)...an accountant. I think that one successful commercial realtor could earn $250-$300k... Most doctors or dentists would be able to buy a $700k home on one income. Three times your salary is pretty easy to qualify for a loan.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

I have good friends who live outside of Toronto. Outside being more than an hour commute into work each way and yes their home was very expensive.

Keep in mind there is a difference in the exchange rate but they have a 3/2 ranch home with a basement in a typical suburb that was nearly $300k 10 yrs ago. That was affordable by Toronto standards.

Canadians often turn their basements into a rental apartment to accomodate a paying tenant to help them with their mortgage payment. My friends have had only a couple of different tenants. I think 3 in the last 10 yrs. It's Canadian culture to live this way. Usually makes for an affordable arrangement for both tenant and homeowner.

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

My son and SO were going to apply for Property Brothers. They were amazed at the criteria to get on the show. They really wanted a fixer upper to redo.

I do wish they would tell you where the shows are taped (they don't tell you on website either).

Both of them are professionals with substantial incomes and qualified for a sizeable mortgage amount. Then comes the other part: taxes, moving expenses, downpayment amount, and having extra amount of savings (over and above from mortgage amount). They read through all the application process and recently they were looking for NJ residents.

With Property Brothers "they" select the area (based on your info), and in addition with your pre-qualification you also must be able to have a "cushion of up to $10,000" if unforeseen problems are found (which normally they are). Of course, I believe they don't factor in the labor costs as normal people would have to do because they pay the labor fees at reduced costs. I'm not sure if they indicated if the final furnishings are included in the "reno budget".

They have to have a lender who is willing to work with them with any changes through the process. Sometimes it takes months for them to locate a home (we only see perhaps 3). It is a long process and I believe, they stated it could take up to 6 months.

My son is considering a transfer to Texas where you get alot more house for your $$$ and lower taxes, of course, his salary may be adjusted by employer (not sure) but he'll have affordable living. He had a job transfer in Tampa but declined (boo hoo for me!).

With that in mind, I'd love to see him and SO do Fixer Upper from Waco (my fav show).

I'm glad he's considering a transfer as the property taxes in NJ (mine were $13,500 when I left 6 yrs ago!) are on the rise and almost impossible to find affordable living where they presently live as it's only a hour commute to both their jobs & close to train stations, shore, etc.

Anita Bourbon · ‎06-15-2015

Ridiculously long term mortgages. Everyone is in debt up to their eyeballs these days and two missed paychecks away from disaster. I have many friends of mine that still live in California and they just get caught up in the consumerism of it all, they have super expensive houses that are garbage construction subdivision nightmares but they run upwards of 750k. None of them can really afford it but the banks are good enough not to let them know it so long as they keep paying that interest...

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Anita Bourbon wrote:
Ridiculously long term mortgages. Everyone is in debt up to their eyeballs these days and two missed paychecks away from disaster. I have many friends of mine that still live in California and they just get caught up in the consumerism of it all, they have super expensive houses that are garbage construction subdivision nightmares but they run upwards of 750k. None of them can really afford it but the banks are good enough not to let them know it so long as they keep paying that interest...

No - this is NOT how everyone lives. Some people still have managed to maintain some spectrum of common sense.We paid off our 30 year mortgage in 20 years by paying just a little extra each month. And we bought a home that was not all decked out with every newest trendy item to raise the costs. A basic home we could afford and fix up and improve as we could afford to do so. It's really too bad that it has become acceptable in our society to be irresponsible about money.

KarenQVC · ‎05-13-2010

Prices vary according to location and the industries in the area. My DS lives in a suburb of NYC where the average listing price is $2 Million. It is a lot of people in the financial industry who live there. It just depends.

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

I used to work for a company that has several customer service centers throughout the country. I worked at the location in Northern Va. We opened a new location in the Fl panhandle. Employees in Virginia could apply for positions in the Fl,center and transfer down there however the pay scales in the Fl,center were substantially less than in Virginia even though the job descriptions were the same.