Bidding on a City-Owned building

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 1:09 pm

Hehehe Yeah, the building is about 200' from the road with a 12' deep ditch between. I'm thinking of building a berm on my side of the ditch to deflect any noise from road traffic to above the cieling level... And I can always landscape the berm with shubs and a flower garden that has the studio name/logo. As soon as I decide on one

And my closest neighbor accross the road is about 1.5 "city" blocks down the road... the rest of my lot is surrounded by farmland with a nice tree line all the way around the lot.

Privacy. I'll have room to put my house near the back and maybe even put in a pool!!!

- Tanlith -

Rking401 · Post by **Rking401** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:34 am

A word of caution.... get an environmental analysis done on the property just to make sure the towing company didn't do oil changes, etc. straight into the ground water. I have seen this come back and bite buyers where they don't want to be bit many years after the purchase. Sounds like a great site otherwise.

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:57 am

Hey Tanlith...

Word of Caution.. SHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Quite spilling too many details.

Some of us Americans are relocating to Windsor soon.

Seriously, though.

My Wife and I have been considering the move for tax reasons. Plus property is sooooo much cheaper over there than here. Then there is the US Dollar vs. CAD

Bryan Giles

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 2:04 pm

LOL... It's not all it's cracked up to be... keep this in mind if you do move here:

On your paycheck, expect to have about 35% removed for taxes / Unemployment Insurance / Canada Pention Plan (All mandetory)

Example: On one of my paychecks, My Gross pay was around $1180.00 After all my deductions I took home around $795.00 The government took $385.00 off my check -- and I don't get medical coverage where I work.

And everything you buy you have to add 8% for Provincial Sales Tax + 7% Goods & Service Tax

so if you buy something for $100.00 you actually pay $115.00

Buy a car for $20,000.00? You pay another $3000.00 in taxes alone.

Buy a house? You don't pay PST, but you do pay GST:

House: $120,000 + 7% ($8400,00)

And since you finance those, you pay your intrest rate on TOP of that

If you're over 40yrs old? Forget about getting a 25yr mortgage... not too many banks will do it. 15yr mortgage maybe... 20 if you're lucky...

- Tanlith -

Rking401 · Post by **Rking401** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:23 pm

and I don't get medical coverage where I work.

I thought you guys had government paid health insurance for everything.

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:40 pm

Hey Tanlith, let's compare that to Michigan Prices.

I Own a business, so there isn't any Payroll tax to take. My Business shall remain in America. I use everytax break I can find and I usually reduce my taxable income by up to 80% in any given year.

So My paycheck is a tad different.

I have no plans to change that type of arrangement, but I do plan to Purchase a residence in CA and retain my current residence as a mailing address. This is owned free and clear and is what I am slowly converting to a studio till I am ready for my final one. (There is a 200x160 plot of land around the corner I am trying to get so I can build my Final Studio.)

Buy a car in MI for 20K and you pay $1200 in tax, so you buy from the US and drive in Canada

Buy a house here and you pay no tax till you sell. So We are better off there.

So yes you have some advantages, but check this. A House listed in Windosr for 349K is 250K for me so even with tax I make out, 2ndly, a house worth 349K in your neck of the woods sells for about 700K in mine.

SO although taxes are a little higher, I still make out becaus eproperty is cheaper. And Canada is not as Racial as The Metro Detroit area.

Bryan Giles

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:51 pm

Rking401 wrote:
and I don't get medical coverage where I work.
I thought you guys had government paid health insurance for everything.

Doesn't cover prescriptions; glasses or certain things in the hospital...

It just garentees you a bed and the major stuff... heh a prescription for antibiotics for my throat infection last summer cost me $117.00

- Tanlith -

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:00 am

So we are going over today to start looking at some houses.

Bryan

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:32 am

Cool... here's some neighborhood you want to avoid:

Anyplace West of Ouellette

Everything between Walker Rd and Pillette & Tecumseh Rd and Riverside

ie: W --- Tecumseh Rd---P
a i
l (BAD AREA) l
k (CRACK ALLEY) l
e e
r ---Riverside Dr----- t
t
R e
d

Nice places to look: Aything East of the Casino (Further east you go, the nicer it gets... except for that area between Walker & Pillette)

Anything East of Jefferson Ave

Anything in "South Windsor" Large subdivision area on Dougall Ave (Follow Ouellette away from the river -- after the overpass you'll go around an "S" curve... at that point you'll actually be on Dougall... aything in the vicinity of Norfolk is real nice.)

- Tanlith -

frederic · Post by **frederic** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:58 am

$1180.00 After all my deductions I took home around $795.00 The government took $385.00 off my check -- and I don't get medical coverage where I work.
And everything you buy you have to add 8% for Provincial Sales Tax + 7% Goods & Service Tax
so if you buy something for $100.00 you actually pay $115.00
Buy a car for $20,000.00? You pay another $3000.00 in taxes alone.
Buy a house? You don't pay PST, but you do pay GST:
House: $120,000 + 7% ($8400,00)
And since you finance those, you pay your intrest rate on TOP of that
If you're over 40yrs old? Forget about getting a 25yr mortgage... not too many banks will do it. 15yr mortgage maybe... 20 if you're lucky...

Its no worse, no better here in the states.

Last year, I paid $9800 in property taxes to the town I live in. I paid about $90K in federal, state and local income taxes, even after deducting all the interest I pay on my mortgage, and deducted house repairs, deducted my wife as a dependant, etc. Sales tax in NJ is 6% I believe, and I could go on.

I have believed for a long time that I personally support the federal government. With what I pay, I should at least have a senator take me out to lunch twice a year as a thank you.

*sigh*

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 2:39 am

We were thinking of this area...

http://www.delrose.com/heritage/

This House

http://www.delrose.com/heritage/ypres.html

Our cost (USD) = 175K So it's an inexpensive Short term move

Bryan

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:35 am

giles117 wrote:We were thinking of this area...

http://www.delrose.com/heritage/

This House

http://www.delrose.com/heritage/ypres.html

Our cost (USD) = 175K So it's an inexpensive Short term move

Bryan

Oh dude! LaSalle is a beautiful area!! It's just outside of Windsor to the west. You're right near #18 hwy which merges into EC Row express way ... that makes it like a 15-20 minute commute to anywhere in Windsor (EC Row runs right through the center of the city) Nice choice...

... now, what I wanna know is: which of those rooms on the floorplan is targeted as your studio?

- Tanlith -

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:40 am

frederic wrote:
$1180.00 After all my deductions I took home around $795.00 The government took $385.00 off my check -- and I don't get medical coverage where I work.
And everything you buy you have to add 8% for Provincial Sales Tax + 7% Goods & Service Tax
so if you buy something for $100.00 you actually pay $115.00
Buy a car for $20,000.00? You pay another $3000.00 in taxes alone.
Buy a house? You don't pay PST, but you do pay GST:
House: $120,000 + 7% ($8400,00)
And since you finance those, you pay your intrest rate on TOP of that
If you're over 40yrs old? Forget about getting a 25yr mortgage... not too many banks will do it. 15yr mortgage maybe... 20 if you're lucky...
Its no worse, no better here in the states.

Last year, I paid $9800 in property taxes to the town I live in. I paid about $90K in federal, state and local income taxes, even after deducting all the interest I pay on my mortgage, and deducted house repairs, deducted my wife as a dependant, etc. Sales tax in NJ is 6% I believe, and I could go on.

I have believed for a long time that I personally support the federal government. With what I pay, I should at least have a senator take me out to lunch twice a year as a thank you.

*sigh*

Wow... Must be where you live... My brother has lived in Monroe Michigan for like 14yrs. We make about the same amount of money gross, he pays about the same on his mortgage as I do in rent, yet he's out of debt (other than his mortgage and 1 car payment), has a boat, 2 dirt bikes, 2 ski-doos, and 3 cars... And believe me, his regular spending habbits are about the same as mine... the mortgage rates in Michigan are "fixed" which means if you're paying $500.00 / month, it STAYS at $500.00/mo

In Canada, your mortgage goes up for review about every 5 yrs... and they require an income statement so they can adjust your new payments to include any increase in income you might have. It blows!

- Tanlith -

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:52 am

That sucks!!!!

Bryan Giles

Hmm do I look at these houses or not???

Decisions Decisions

Tanlith · Post by **Tanlith** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:53 am

giles117 wrote:That sucks!!!!

Bryan Giles

Hmm do I look at these houses or not???

Decisions Decisions

They're nice places and all, but between all the talking I've done with my brother, economically it'd be cheaper to live in Michigan.

As I said he's lived there for 14yrs. I'd go there myself, but I don't qualify under nafta (no university degree) and phil (my bro) can't sponsor me. He never gave up his immigrant status... wants to keep his options open (His real passion is snowmobiling -- eventually when he saves enough money he wants to buy a place in Northern Ontario... A retirement property)

My only other option would be to marry a US Citizen... which I don't want to do... when I get married (again) it will be out of blatent stupidity. Not for immigration purposes

My advice? Check out both the Windsor Area, and some of the nicer areas outside of Detroit... Anne Arbor; Pontiac Lake etc... compare the two and make an educated decision

- Tanlith -