I was lucky enough this past weekend to spend time with some very good clients of mine at their cottage.

I sold their house in Oakville, Ontario in the fall of 2017 and I managed to find them a gorgeous cottage near Bobcaygeon close to Peterborough. When I was there I asked them if they had, or are having any regrets about leaving the big city.  They admitted that they wish they had done this years ago. They love the peace and quiet and the general friendliness and pace of cottage life.

This got me thinking about a question I’m frequently asked. Where are people going when they sell? It all depends upon the age of the homeowners - if they’re in their thirties to mid-forties: Burlington, Carlisle, Ancaster, Guelph, Waterdown and even Fergus seem to be popular destinations. Properties can be, but not always, slightly cheaper and usually people will trade in the tighter quarters of a small lot home in a Milton or Mississauga subdivision for added space and more land.

If homeowners are a little older, part of the baby boomer generation, they’re packing in life in the big city and either buying a “cottage like” property or moving to their existing cottage permanently. They’re sitting on a lot of equity in their GTA homes and that equity can buy a lot of cottage if you manage to buy in a cheaper location. We can assume Muskoka is not really added to this conversation as the properties up there are worth a fortune. With the internet and the ability to work more from home, it’s much easier to bring the work to you rather than having to go to the office on a daily basis. Even if they sell and move up north before retirement, coming into the office a few days eek can be a reasonable tradeoff for spending hours in traffic daily.

So if you’re thinking of investing in property, thinking out of the GTA might not be a bad bet. A permanent move to the cottage is becoming a very popular trend.