Buying a house in downtown Hamilton on a small budget?
 

Could I please get some help? My dad passed away recently and left a small amount of money to each of us kids. My one brother has straightened himself out after years of living a bit of a rough life and he wants to use this money towards a downpayment on a house in Hamilton (he works near Bronte Go station in Oakville).

A fear he has is if he loses his job, he wants to have at least one room rented out (hopefully to a student if thats possible) to help cover the expenses while he's unemployed. He will have a small emergency fund but it's always nice to have some leeway so he doesn't lose the house. So his budget is $140K max.

If you wanted to buy a house in Hamilton but could only afford $140K, where would you buy? (realtor.ca will give you an idea of house prices for those unaware.)

International Village, Landsdale, Gibson all seem to have detached (or semi detached) houses for sale in the under $140K range. These houses are almost all north of King Street. My brother understands he won't be living in a dreamily safe area but would like to get an idea of how bad these areas are to live, if they are okay or pretty bad (which is subjective I know).

Also, I'm hoping to find a good Realtor who won't be turned off by someone who can only afford a $140K house, a realtor who lives downtown would be ideal but I realize that may be a pipe dream.

http://www.realtor.ca/map.aspx?&vs=V...43.25634765625, -79.86746978759768;curView:;curStyle:r;leftMin:false;rightMin:false;chkSchl:false;chkTran:false;chkPol:false;chkMed:false;chkWrk:false;chkFire:false;chkAll:false

your brother's got a good plan. Check this place out: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1052967416

$129 K, steps from the park and pier 8, close to James N, and it's got a 180 foot lot depth!!! I almost want to buy it. This town is crazy. There are lots of crooked houses in the north end but you can't really go wrong at that price. With the plans for the waterfront and Rheem lands I have no doubt this area will increase drastically in value.

Cheap quality homes on Victoria.
 

It is definitely not a pipe dream. Check out Victoria St., it is close to downtown, close to the hospital and prices are cheap! I just bought a legal duplex for $150,000 with a garage! Across the street there is another legal duplex for sale on a large lot for $109,000 which needs a little work.( http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1882190012) Tons of improvement in the area. Good luck!

Thanks everyone, this information really helps! I'm also curious what the rental market is like in Hamilton, I haven't researched vacancy rates yet but I'm curious if it's easy to rent an apartment in these areas? My brother would want to put some work into that duplex if he does buy it in order to make it more appealing, but he would want to make sure he can recover any money he puts into it first.

Any idea how much a 3 bdrm house (side by side duplex) would rent for? And how much would a room rent for on average in these areas? I've been checking kijiji but it's difficult to get an idea from that.

Thanks everyone, I realize my brother needs to spend some time in Hamilton but this information really helps narrow down some areas he will be looking into.

A house for $140k really isn't a problem in Hamilton. There's some really cheap houses in the Central neighbourhood west of Bay that are very close to downtown and in a relatively safe area.

Does anyone know if Hamilton has any incentive programs for owners or landlords to fix up their property in the core areas?

The City and Scotia Bank can help with the down payment

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...eNovErvM3Ugs3A

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...Nz_vQQzEPw-1Tg

This is available to I guess the "undesirable" areas in Hamilton. Ward 3 to 5 I'm guessing.

Hamilton Downtown Property Improvement Grant Program: http://www.investinhamilton.ca/downt...s/#improvement

Hamilton Downtown Multi-Residential Property Investment Program: http://www.investinhamilton.ca/downt...ms/#investment

Hamilton Heritage Property Grant Program: http://www.investinhamilton.ca/downt...rams/#property

Sounds like now is a good time to buy. Hamilton house prices specifically downtown should not be going down, whatever happens to the housing market. They are undervalued already. Those in the gentrifying areas should be going up in the future. I would try to get in before the central bank tightens the belt on lending, as it will make buying more difficult on a budget.

Actually this Spec article on Burlington running out of growth room has to be good for Hamilton real estate:

Burlington not on growth ‘autopilot’ anymore

Burlington’s all grown up. Now it’s time to grow from within.

The city across the bay has experienced strong and varied growth as greenfield after greenfield along the QEW, and key corridors such as Harvester and Upper Middle and the services roads have seen office buildings and high tech manufacturing sprout like dandelions in spring.

But that easy path to economic growth is about to close. The city is running out of industrial and commercial land, and that means it has to rethink its approach to its economic future.

“We’re not on autopilot anymore,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “The dialogue has changed. We don’t have ample land for residential or employment development. As a community … we need to have a multipronged strategy.”

Burlington’s challenges have sharpened its urban planning focus.

The municipality is committed to keeping a 50/50 split between urban and rural lands while a facing shrinking employment and residential land supply. At the same time, Burlington needs to maintain economic growth.

...

Because while the city’s residential growth has slowed to a near crawl — the slowest in the GTA, in fact, at a projected growth of 176,000 to 195,000 in 19 years — its economic growth must keep pace.

...

Thanks everyone, my brother looked at 102 Victoria tonight but it's a no go because it's in need of so much work including a complete electrical redo that it's not worth even the low ($102K) asking price.

Does anyone mind if I paste realtor.ca links here just so I can get feedback on the areas the listings are in?

And is all of Barton (or close to as in a block or two of Barton) pretty much a bad area for crime?

I wouldn't mind you posting Realtor links, but my opinion probably won't be worth much! I seem to like everything I see online, and then get disappointed when I see it in person.

As for Barton St and crime, here are all the HPS arrests reported on their website for the past month. source

Thanks Matt, that helps, amazing how many blue dots are west of Wentworth and North of Main.... is that typical anyone here know?

My brother has upped his budget to $160K and is open to a single family residence as long as it has a garage for him to 'tinker' in. Seems garages are not that common so he may have a search ahead of him.

It seems there's a few houses here in there south of the greenbelt near the Rail yards that are around $170's to $180's which is too bad because it's just above what he can realistically afford and I don't want him going too far into debt and getting himself into trouble if he loses his job.

This is one I was thinking of, it needs work but seems to be in a nice area: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1953184561


For renting out rooms in a house is there a more desirable area of the city? I'm asking because if he can easily rent out a room or possibly two that may enable him to get a house in a nicer area.

You can get a pretty good deal East End for 160K around the Parkdale area...I would stay away from the Victoria and Barton area myself,

Barton from James to Gage is sketchy...Barton/Lottridge is the worst area along that stretch at the moment for crack addicts, a young women stumbled into the hood of my car as I was stopped at the Lottridge/Barton Lights yesterday...she then decided to walk into traffic...LOL I will see this daily in that area..

Thanks again! Where does the better area start as you head east? WOuld this house be in an okay area? I noticed on street view some sort of pedestrian/cycling route not far from it, any clue what that is?

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...dKey=587775255

suggestion....
 

I think i would prefer to choose an area south of Main between Ottawa and Parkdale.... what about the Rosedale area?

Rosedale would be so nice! But there is nothing in that area for under $160K :( and certainly nothing with a garage. I shouldn't say 'nothing', there is one house for $154K but it's right on Main near Park Row. But it's in need of a fair bit of work for that price.