Re-thinking the Summer Cottage On Lake Simcoe

The Ontario Lottery Corporation has a great commercial where a retired couple buy a cottage on the lake and give their adult children keys to their own individual cottages across the bay.

Such a wonderful idea but these days you would need to win a lottery to purchase just one waterfront cottage. Have a look at some of the real estate listings for Lake Simcoe and you’ll see what I mean. We’re talking some serious pocket change to buy a waterfront cottage, not to mention the higher taxes that go with the high purchase price.

Security & Safety Concerns With Secluded Lakeside Cottages

Then there are the security issues. As much as people love the idea of a secluded lakeside cottage in the woods, the reality of leaving your investment unattended for weeks or even months at a time does not make for a worry-free lifestyle.

Younger families are also wary of being too close to the waterfront, and rightly so. With a waterfront cottage, parents of small children can’t relax their vigilance for even a moment. Again, that hardly makes for a relaxing weekend at the cottage.

Economic reality and some other factors are causing many people to re-think the summer cottage. They still want a place to getaway to, but they want some neighbours and access to community emergency services like police, fire, ambulance and a decent hospital. They want it to be close to Toronto, not a six hour drive pushing through weekend traffic – and they don’t want to pay a half a million dollars, thank you very much!

A Sensible Choice – A Summer Home In A Neighbourhood That Is Near The Beach, But Not Right On The Water

Instead of an isolated waterfront cottage, why not consider one of the semi-detached homes offered for sale by my friends? The children can safely play in the huge backyard and when you are in a mood to supervise them more closely it is just a five minute walk to the park and the beach on Lake Simcoe. The homes are located in a Willow Beach neighbourhood where many people live year-round, so there are plenty of neighbours to keep an eye on the place when you’re back in the city.

The newly-renovated homes are a fraction of the price of a waterfront cottage, and would provide all the enjoyment the exception of a true waterfront view. Is that direct view of the lake worth an additional three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to you?

Nope… not to me either.

Take a drive to Willow Beach and have a look at one of the homes listed on this blog while thinking “summer cottage”. Or buy both halfs and rent one out while maintaining the other as your summer home.

Willow Beach is a wonderful community to spend the summer!

Ontario’s Highway 404 Expansion: How Much Will It Raise Keswick & Willow Beach Home Values?

Click for larger size

Highway 404 is the commuters’ lifeline from north of Newmarket to Toronto. It currently ends at Green Lane at the north end of Newmarket, but construction is in progress pushing the highway north to Keswick and then to the south of Willow Beach towards Pefferlaw. Here is a paragraph from an August 2007 Ontario Government press release that told about the expansion:

“A $2.6-million contract was awarded to Toronto Zenith Contracting Limited of Concord to build a northbound bridge over Green Lane. Work should be complete by the end of this year (2007).

This is the first of a series of projects to extend Highway 404 north to East Gwillimbury. Over the next five years, Highway 404 will be extended by 13 kilometres from Green Lane to Ravenshoe Road. The existing Green Lane partial interchange will also be upgraded to include new ramps to the north, and new interchanges will be built at Queensville Sideroad and Woodbine Avenue. New bridges will carry Highway 404 traffic over Mount Albert Road and Boag Road and Doane Road traffic over Highway 404.”

The above map shows the two phases of construction. I couldn’t find an official map so I put in the routes myself after referring to the press release and this government map. Please be aware that my drawing is only my best guess in translating the press release. (If you can find a “real” map I’d appreciate a copy.)

The red line shows the expansion that will be completed by 2012. The green line shows the next phase.

The new bridge at Green Lane is complete and there is some big construction currently going on at Mount Albert Road, so the government means business with the 404 expansion.

Keswick Home Owners Talking About Highway 404

The temporary closure of Mount Albert Road for widening associated with the 404 expansion has everyone talking. It is one thing to read a press release, but when you can see tangible progress, that is exciting. The other morning I stopped in for my usual black-no-sugar at the Woodbine Tim Horton’s in Keswick and everyone was talking about what the expansion of the 404 would do for house prices.

When the highway reaches Ravenshoe Road in south Keswick, it should knock 20 minutes off a commute to Markham. That, combined with the 4 lane widening of Woodbine Avenue from Keswick to Ravenshoe (which is already happening) will make the entire commute much easier and quicker.

Click for Greater Toronto Map

How much will a completed Highway 404 impact Keswick home prices? Some folks were guessing a 5% or 10% kick on top of whatever else happens in the market. As for me, I wouldn’t be surprised if it works out to an even greater amount. With more and more people moving north from Toronto, and the Green Belt restrictions preventing more subdivisions to the immediate north of Newmarket, Keswick and Willow Beach become the next stop in the expansion of the GTA.

Those who already own homes in Willow Beach in 4 years will profit. Those who buy then will pay more.

That’s my opinion, what is yours?

Escape From Toronto To Willow Beach, Lake Simcoe – You Can Do It Too!

Two years ago, the Mrs. and I escaped from Toronto to a small community on the southeast shore of Lake Simcoe. We used to live in a highrise condo development in west Toronto where all we heard on the balcony were sirens and the rumble of the city. Even on the best days, the horizon in Toronto had a brown tinge and by the time I finished clawing my way through the morning traffic it took me 65 minutes to get to work on a good day.

Now I commute to work from our home in Georgina Township on the south shore of Lake Simcoe and it takes me 50 minutes on a bad day: but there are no bad days when you get to come home to an oasis near the water. You couldn’t pay enough money to get us to move back to the city. When we sit out in the backyard after work we hear birds. I never realized how many birds there are until we moved out of the city. On a summer evening we see stars. Real stars like we never saw them before.

My neighbours Marcel and Kathy purchased and renovated the two homes listed for sale on this blog, and when they put them up for sale I offered to set up this blog to let people know about the homes, and also about the community where we live. In the next little while I’m going to tell you about why my wife and I love our new life in this town, how we made our decision to move here and some of the attractions of living in Willow Beach.

I hope you enjoy our articles and photos of Willow Beach. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section and we’ll try to answer them.

That’s it for my first article. Now I’m going to take a walk along the lakeshore and unwind. I’ll try to post a new article every few days. See that photo at the top? That’s Willow Beach at the end of the street where the homes are for sale.

Given a choice, where to you want to go for a walk after work? …. Willow Beach or Yonge Street, Toronto?

I thought so!

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time.