The story of how a Toronto couple packed up their life when the pandemic hit & headed to the country but now wonder if they've made a terrible decision.

An article was recently released by TorontoLife.com titled "A Quiet Place - Leaving Toronto seemed like a good idea at the time" which shares the tale of a writer (David) & his wife (Pam) and their home near Trinity Bellwoods Park.

To summarize the article as briefly as possible (though I suggest you read the full article for better content):

  • Lived Downtown for 35 years at Trinity Bellwoods in 3-storey Victorian home which they purchased for $300,000 in 1999
  • Husband (David ~ author of article) is a writer with a less-stable income but a fairly active social lifestyle ~ attended a lot of events
  • Wife (Pam) works at CityTV with very steady income and is quite intertwined with local community & events
  • Their home started appreciating at roughly $100,000 per year
  • Began using the house to borrow money for renovations, vacations, car, etc.
  • Racked up a mortgage of $900,000 from all this borrowing

Then COVID hit

  • Started seeing more articles of people leaving Toronto to get more interior & exterior space
  • Began mulling over the idea of selling their home & moving to the country
  • Pam received a buyout package from her work which removed anything holding them to the city
  • Sold their home in November 2020 for $2.5 million
  • Questioned if he had made the right decision as they left the city for a town of 1600 people west of Hamilton
  • Renting a "ranch-style" home for $2800 per month (wanted to rent to see if they liked this new lifestyle or go back to Toronto) that is surrounded by farmland & trees
  • No real human contact for the most part since moving to the country
  • In one year of living there, they never received an invite to anyone's home or event
  • Missing city life in general, but particularly the diversity & quality of restaurants, cafes, bars and groceries along with the ability to bike around & have a community-feel

Rylie's Reaction

There were three primary things that stood out to me in the article.

The first was that this theme of leaving the city life to enjoy more space in the country has been romanticized for a while (basically ever since Toronto real estate started getting expensive) but was really accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdown as people increasingly saw outdoor space as the most important luxury of all.

Throughout the year of 2020, Toronto experienced a loss of 50,375 people who moved to surrounding areas like Oshawa, Kitchener, Georgina, etc.

When you look at the average sale price of these communities, it's easy to see why people would want to make the move.

In June 2020, the average home sale price in Toronto was $1,022,138.

In Oshawa, the average home sale price was $577,791.

Out in Georgina, you'd be paying an average of $718,539.

The combination of a lower purchase price & more interior/exterior space became a very attractive option for many people who were a part of a workforce that increasingly found themselves working from home due to the pandemic.

While it is easy to get caught up solely looking at the purchase price of the home, there are many additional costs that need to be accounted for when moving out to these suburban/rural areas.

The biggest cost in terms of money & time comes from commuting to these areas and with traffic even worse than when the pandemic started, these costs are rising exponentially.

Second item that stood out to me was how easy it is for people to start using their home like a credit card to fund a variety of purchases which can range from a home renovation to a car to a vacation.

Something very rarely mentioned when you first buy a home is the fact that you can remortgage that property in the future if you want to pull some of the equity out of it.

This can be extremely beneficial if you plan to stay in your home for a while as it can be one of the cheapest ways to fund a home renovation, but it is reliant on you paying the money back or being willing to give up that amount if you do sell the property.

It can be a very slippery slope though as evidenced by the author of the article since you can keep justifying the borrowing as the property is appreciating at a healthy rate every year.

Ultimately you are chipping away at the amount in your pocket when you do go to sell the home in the future, so be very conscious of how much equity you take out of your property.

The final theme that stood out of me is the fact that many people find it extremely difficult to leave Toronto because of the amazing lifestyle that it provides.

Obviously in the darkest times of the pandemic when all forms of entertainment & dining weren't allowed to operate, the energy & vibrancy of the city disappeared.

For many people (including the author of the article), it was in these dark times that they questioned their love of the city but in all honesty, it wasn't a fair judgement to make as the city wasn't exhibiting all of it's best qualities due to no fault of its own.

Toronto was always going to rebound from the pandemic, it was just an uncertain timeline as to when it would return.

Now that cases are down & vaccination rates are up, "normal" life has somewhat resumed.

The streets have life in them again. The bars are full. The cafes are spilling onto the sidewalks. Fitness classes are operating again.

Toronto has come back to life.

As evidenced by the end of the article, the author was having regrets leaving the city for exactly these reasons.

While you can have all the space in the world out in the country, you can't replicate the energy, diversity & community-feel that Toronto offers.

Summary

My Jiu-Jitsu coach always taught me to assess, assess, then attack.

I think it's very fitting for this TorontoLife.com article as it reminds us to truly process a situation before making a monumental decision that could drastically impact your life.  

There are numerous factors that make up your overall lifestyle & you want to make sure the option you choose works for how you want to live now but also in the future.

Would you ever leave Toronto for more space in the suburbs or country?

Let me know in the comments below!

Rylie C.