Covid Restrictions

[ericjon262]

Well, I told my apartment landlord I'd be out by July 1st, so I really need to find something so I don't end up homeless...

oh shit! you better hurry and find a place! I don't know about up there, but here in the states it can take a while to close on a house!

[pmbrunelle]

Could be a month or two between the offer and closing (I'm also going to be clumsy with this process since I've never bought a home before). Luckily I have about 15 vacation days I can take this spring to sort things out.

Today was the last day I had to make up my mind before my apartment lease would be renewed from July 1 2021 to June 30 2022. I didn't want to carry the burden of rent+mortgage, and two utility bills.

In Québec all apartment leases begin on July 1st, so it's a crazy moving day where many folks move, and moving company prices are about twice the usual amount. I'll try to move a bit before that...

[ericjon262]

Could be a month or two between the offer and closing (I'm also going to be clumsy with this process since I've never bought a home before). Luckily I have about 15 vacation days I can take this spring to sort things out.

Today was the last day I had to make up my mind before my apartment lease would be renewed from July 1 2021 to June 30 2022. I didn't want to carry the burden of rent+mortgage, and two utility bills.

In Québec all apartment leases begin on July 1st, so it's a crazy moving day where many folks move, and moving company prices are about twice the usual amount. I'll try to move a bit before that...

that last bit has me tripping... What? you mean every lease expires on the same day by law or something???? Why?

[pmbrunelle]

that last bit has me tripping... What? you mean every lease expires on the same day by law or something???? Why?

It used to be a law that leases had to expire on April 30, something about not kicking out people during winter, which would be cruel. Even today, if you don't pay your utility bill in the winter, they can't cut you off in the winter.

In the 1970s, they realized that there were many children having to move before the end of the school year (causing a disruption), so leases were made to end on June 30.

There's a convention where even though your lease ends at June 30 23h59, and leases begin on July 1 00h00, people are expected to sleep overnight in their old apartment (so they aren't homeless for the night), and then move out the following morning. July 1 is Canada Day, so people don't have to take time off to move.

It's not a law anymore, but the tradition stuck.

Landlords love it, because there's no gap in rent payments between tenants.

For tenants, their new apartment is likely to become available just as they need it.

[The Dark Side of Will]

From another forum, regarding housing bubbles:

This is happening in Atlantic Canada as well, we're seeing lots of people giving up on Ontario and driving our housing market through the roof.

that last bit has me tripping... What? you mean every lease expires on the same day by law or something???? Why?

Kind of like CA's requirement that all seasonal fuel sales stop by a given date, but the alternate seasonal blend can't be sold until the next day... Guaranteed formula for twice yearly supply chain shocks that spike fuel prices... and somehow the government escapes blame.

[The Dark Side of Will]

It's not a law anymore, but the tradition stuck.

Landlords love it, because there's no gap in rent payments between tenants.

For tenants, their new apartment is likely to become available just as they need it.

I guess the moving expense would be too much to rent some trucks in the US and drive them up to Canada to rent into high demand that day. Sounds like a great opportunity for arbitrage... somehow.

[pmbrunelle]

Yeah, it's a pretty hectic day.

You can call/reserve a moving company, and while the truck is on its way to your home, someone can simply flag it down with a wad of cash (bigger than you agreed to), and then the truck never shows up...

Locally, what makes sense is to repurpose other types of trucks (tow truck for example) for moving on that day.

My plan if I can't find anything decent before moving day is to move all my stuff into storage, and then move in with my parents. After moving day, the market will cool down.

I saw three homes yesterday, all having some sort of problems:
1. Electrical panel was outdoors, with wiring exposed to rodents. Door between garage and workshop too small to pass a car through, and difficult to enlarge.
2. Located at the top of a very tall cliff, on soil. Soil appears to be settling, risk of landslide. Cracks on cinderblock wall as if the soil underneath is already giving way...
3. Roof trusses supported by load-bearing wall on back of house, and by columns+beam on facade, creating a front porch area. Beam is wavy, as if the columns are sinking into the ground.

[ericjon262]

sounds like a good list of houses to avoid! LOL!

[pmbrunelle]

oh shit! you better hurry and find a place! I don't know about up there, but here in the states it can take a while to close on a house!

Offer accepted:
https://www.centris.ca/en/houses~for-sa ... ew=Summary

Pros
Close to highway if I want to go work in Trois-Rivières, 15-minute walk from present employment
Basic shell of the home seems to be in good shape
Roof is low and shallow enough that I can climb up without being afraid of falling off and dying
Municipal water + sewer service
The lot on the left side of the house is included in the sale; good spot to build a detached garage.

Cons
Vermiculite attic insulation, possibly contaminated with asbestos
The whole basement is a mess and needs to be demolished
Upstairs is also a mess, but less so.
I found a package of warfarin (mouse+rat killer) in the attic... it might predate the current owner, who wasn't aware of any infestation problem
Previous water infiltration problem in the basement (why the bottom of the sheetrock was removed), but owner had French drains redone in 2019.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Congratulations again!

The oldest pest control is still the best... get a couple of cats. My then g/f picked one up at my grandmother's house in 2014. He was 6 months old and had been living in the "wild" and being fed by a neighbor. He's left many small dead things (and a few not-so-dead things) on my kitchen floor over the years since. I don't think he found any of them in the house, though.

My current place had water infiltration in the basement... I reworked all the down spouts to dump water several feet (a meter or two ) from the foundation and haven't had problems since I did that. A whole lot of avoiding water infiltration is just keeping water away from the foundation.

[ericjon262]

Congrats! looks decent, need some elbow grease, but looks like a bunch of it is easily fixable. Any shop space other than the basement?

[Honest Don]

From the outside it looks like concrete block foundation, but one of the basement pics suggests brick?

[pmbrunelle]

Only shop space is the basement for now. Will need to build a garage for working on vehicles, but there's plenty of room for that on the adjacent lot.

Foundation is made from concrete blocks.

The brick is the bottom part of a chimney that isn't used anymore; it was used for the oil furnace (now electric resistance / heat pump).

[Honest Don]

Only shop space is the basement for now. Will need to build a garage for working on vehicles, but there's plenty of room for that on the adjacent lot.

Foundation is made from concrete blocks.

The brick is the bottom part of a chimney that isn't used anymore; it was used for the oil furnace (now electric resistance / heat pump).

Ah.

Probably not on your map just yet, but any idea what lumber prices are like in Canada right now?

[pmbrunelle]

Probably not on your map just yet, but any idea what lumber prices are like in Canada right now?

Through the roof!

$9 for a 2x4, $80 for a 4x8 sheet (for 3/4" IIRC) of plywood...

[ericjon262]

Probably not on your map just yet, but any idea what lumber prices are like in Canada right now?

Through the roof!

$9 for a 2x4, $80 for a 4x8 sheet (for 3/4" IIRC) of plywood...

prices have at least doubled in washington state, a year ago, I could get a 2x4 for about $2, now they're at least $7 it's nuts, and going to make building a house/shop hard for me when I move.

[pmbrunelle]

Starting tomorrow, the CNESST (that's the equivalent of OSHA in Québec) will require full-time medical-grade mask-wearing at all workplaces (for those who aren't stuck working at home). The only exception is during mealtimes.

Curfew in my area is 21h30 - 05h00, but in areas where the virus has returned more strongly, the original 20h00 - 05h00 hours have been restored.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Not that it helps you, but I snagged a couple of boxes from these guys: https://www.unitedstatesmask.com/

[pmbrunelle]

Employers have to provide any required PPE, so I don't have to go hunting for medical masks at the workplace.

However, for my own use, I like to wear an N95 mask when sandblasting (rare instance where I go clean-shaven), since I don't want to be breathing in too much silica dust.

Since the pandemic, N95 masks have become harder to come by... their original uses seem to have been forgotten.

[pmbrunelle]

I moved into the house a week and a half ago. Been busy with house stuff, and I'm still living out of cardboard boxes.

Still doing the "bare minimum" things needed to live comfortably, such as replacing light bulbs that exceed the power ratings of the associated fixtures.

The previous owners liked vinyl flooring... I thought otherwise. There appears to be hardwood slats on the entire main floor.

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Even though my lease would have ended June 30, my apartment landlord found a new tenant to take my unit in June, so we agreed to end the lease early and I got to save the last month of rent.

Weak proof that a Fiero owner lives here:

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Over on the left side is the spot for the garage. Not sure when I'll get to that, but I will.

This is how my dad put my wheel balancer into my truck:

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The main floor of the new house is at a convenient elevation; it's quite close to the loading height of my truck, so I can move things in/out rather easily.

I also have a Harbor Freight tire mounting/dismounting setup. Not the best thing, but OK for beater wheels.

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The provincial government lifted the curfew.

However, medical-grade masks are still required when working at the workplace.