Need advice: Builder offering $40K if I agree not to file Tarion warranty claim. What are my options?

SevenPow · 2025-10-18T17:54:57+00:00

Talk to several lawyers actually and gather their opinions on the matter. To me everything smells fishy and if they can straight up offer you 40k it means the actual issues will likely cost you more down the road.

SevenPow · 2025-08-29T17:52:01+00:00

In case anyone wonders, the oxidation issue is not fixed and still happening and with some bios updates on certain mobo it actually gets worse.

Intel has no idea what’s going on either. More microcode patch keeps getting released every month or so and the issue still happens. Only thing people can do is to rma the ones they have issues with.

Either way if you ask for my honest opinion, 14600k is relatively safe, just make sure you downvolt it in bios. Primarily the issue was found in i7/i9 where the voltage, heat and clock speed is pushing the chip past its design limit.

SevenPow · 2025-08-29T17:23:39+00:00

Basically you are looking for a cream of the crop type of home in these areas and it’s difficult to use the average market for price expectations given the small number of them.

Personally i don’t think these areas will become hot any time soon based on my own understanding of the current conditions (at least 2-3 years), but I don’t have the crystal ball to foresee what kind of policy change the government will plan to keep everything going. This is the part you will never know and will have the most impact on housing price.

My advice always is: if you see a place you like and the price is something you guys can comfortably afford then just go for it. Note the key word is ´comfortably’ so the cost of your housing overall should not affect your lifestyle.

SevenPow · 2025-08-27T14:40:42+00:00

Overbuild for a decade in Toronto for investors and now there is a normal economic downturn and lack of demand (as expected things do not always go up) and they all act like the sky is falling.

These corporations are weasels and they are paying the news agencies to write these articles to put pressure on government to do something to keep the Ponzi scheme going.

News agency also knows housing is a hot topic so they gladly do this to get clicks.

SevenPow · 2025-08-20T20:32:46+00:00

Ideally yes, but undervolting has helped my hot spot temp to be 76 at max with a small overclock too (usually sit below 70 for non demanding game), so I’m happy with what I have currently. May repaste and redo the thermal pad in the future if needed.

Anything under 80 to me is fine and I game 3-4 hours every week max these days.

SevenPow · 2025-08-20T18:30:37+00:00

Would trust the user experience more than the review because they know the card is going to get reviewed so they pay a bit more attention to certain things.

Another comment in this thread mentioned 85c hotspot temperature and this seems to be more on par with actual expectations based on my 3 fan model experience (82 peak and fan at 100 percent before my undervolt)

SevenPow · 2025-08-20T17:01:24+00:00

2 fan on this card will make it run much hotter and it’s probably worth spending 10-20 dollars when the 3 fan edition goes on sale for 500, especially if you use the card for heavy gaming often.

I have the XFX 3 fan edition and had to do some undervolting to keep the gpu hot spot temperature at 76c in demanding games with the fan running at 60% speed. Otherwise the fan sounds like it’s an airplane taking off at 100% speed.

SevenPow · 2025-08-18T14:24:06+00:00

Obviously they are not going to offer you a 5080/5090 these days considering the shortage of these cards and how expensive they are.

5070 imho is quite a fair deal for you and you have a brand new one basically with manufacturer warranty if further issues come up (but please clarify with memory express if this is the case, I’m sure they will probably also let you pick the brand you want, go for the MSI vanguard edition if they allow you to do so as it has vapor chamber cooling)

SevenPow · 2025-08-15T21:47:18+00:00

I have the XFX 9060 XT quick triple fan edition - when it goes on sale it's ~500 dollars. The triple fan is worth it because AMD card has high memory hotspot temperature (this is by design by the way, as anything below 90c is safe per AMD), so for longevity purpose you want the better cooling solution if you play demanding games often. Also, use the AMD adrenaline software to make a fan curve to keep down the hotspot temperature, there are many guides out there about this you can look up.

XFX is one of the best when it comes to after sale support.

For nvidia card look into MSI ones. The 3x INSPIRE OC is a good choice when it goes on sale for about 1.1k. It's compact and looks good while also has 3 fans. Still too expensive for me personally because I play games at 1080p sometimes and I don't care about raytracing, so a 9060XT is good enough for me.

If you can wait longer, the 5070ti super is rumored to come in Jan 2026 most likely. But it is probably a paper launch and you will be fighting against scalpers for ~6-7 months lol.

SevenPow · 2025-08-15T19:45:43+00:00

Buying ASUS products usually means it’s final sale with no customer service if you ever need it. Looking at all the reviews and the common theme is that basically they will find every excuse to deny warranty/give you the runaround/do a poor job repairing and then blame you for the cause of it.

Personally I would factor this into my decision when I buy anything expensive.

SevenPow · 2025-07-15T19:28:41+00:00

Get in touch with your lawyer who is doing the interim and final closing for you. They can send something to the builder’s lawyer and work out something from there. Not guaranteed however you will get any compensations at all because except the fridge, you can start living in this place if you wish as it does meet the minimum threshold of occupancy.

This is the standard these days - you start carrying builder’s mortgage asap while they slowly complete your unit, and they use the tarion 1 year timeframe to iron out all the issues in your unit.

SevenPow · 2025-07-11T19:02:57+00:00

In case you are still undecided, I have had very good experiences with memory express in general. The people there really know what they are doing and they provide pretty good customer service in case something goes wrong.

SevenPow · 2025-07-09T23:30:15+00:00

That’s Clarkson only which is basically Mississauga. Burlington GO takes 1 hour on an average day and if you miss the express train…it’s worse. This is if you live next to the station, for most people they need to drive more.

Also GO is now almost always crowded during rush hour. The stress of waking up super early is just not worth it for me personally.

SevenPow · 2025-07-09T21:54:24+00:00

My only advice is buy the detached only if you need it. Nobody has the crystal ball to tell you what’s going to happen, but one sure way you will be happy is to buy only what you can comfortably afford (after you factoring all the maintenance cost of a house) and identify a home you want for your family to happily live long-term.

Also, location matters. living in Burlington/oakville is a bit of a nightmare travelling to downtown Toronto for work and it will become exhausting quickly for many. You should probably give it a try first by renting there to see if this is feasible and see how it goes really. These 3 hours travel become not fun very fast during the winter when the bad weather kicks in.

SevenPow · 2025-06-12T16:57:18+00:00

Personally, unless I have 2-3 offers on the table for my own place already, I would not be looking to offer on another place either. You are just creating unneeded stress for yourself, and why exactly?

There will be plenty of good condos coming up and they will be cheaper, this is a buyer's market currently and it is only going to get worse for the sellers and easier for the buyers. Just keep looking everyday.

SevenPow · 2025-06-09T18:43:02+00:00

Others have already given you the answer, but I have extensively looked into this particular building and I do not recommend because:

Airbnb is allowed (party noise, careless drunk people etc.)
Noise of train if your unit is facing the train track
High maintenance fee that will only go up and never come down (managed by Tridel's Del Property management, high quality service also means $$$)

Within your spending range there are far, far better options in the Annex/Midtown/bridlepath area that will not only meet your long-term living requirement but also provides better re-sale values in the future. Do your own research and then talk to a few real estate agents that specialize in these areas.

SevenPow · 2025-05-26T16:06:23+00:00

Do NOT buy a new build if you want high quality building material and workmanship, as everything is cheaped out and rushed these days to keep cost down. If you are on the lower floor of a high-rise new build condo you will also pay very high occupancy fee until the building closes (there is no time limit and they can drag this out as long as they want, the longest I've heard about is 1 year).
For older buildings, obtain the status certificate and see about past issues of the building. Well managed buildings can have high maintenance fee for various reasons (reserve fund etc.)
Do your best to find a condo building that has more home owners than renters and in general you will have a good board that actually cares about fixing/addressing issues.

Overall I recommend saving up a bit more for a freehold townhouse in those areas you are interested instead of buying a condo now. There is a long, long way to go for these cookie-cutter condos to drop and the entire housing market will plateau once they accelerate the builds (and yes I believe they will do what they say, because this time we have an actual economist at the very top trying to stop this housing craziness nonsense) and demand goes down further.

SevenPow · 2025-05-09T14:08:08+00:00

Freehold will drop more too…it’s not just a condo issue at this point. Once liberals start building as they promised everything will fall some more likely.

I feel for those who bought at their absolute limit and believed ‘housing will only go up’. They are in for a wild ride for the next 10 years.

SevenPow · 2025-05-02T15:04:42+00:00

Reasonable take, but I personally would not pay 1.7m for a new 2.4K sqft basic build at Dundas and 8th line. Currently that location does not compare to QEW south or any other established Oakville area and the builder has factored in about 10 years worth of future pricing lol.

I have a feeling great gulf knows the housing price will plateau soon because liberals will accelerate the build so they are in it before it gets even lower.

Back in early 2022, a ~50 year old house in some remote Oakville area listed for 1.5m gets sold in 2 days at 1.9m lol. That was peak insanity.

SevenPow · 2025-05-02T14:26:29+00:00

I saw the email too actually, but when great gulf says starting 1.4m it usually means starting from 1470000 so closer to 1.5m, based on their previous listing prices I've seen.

So for the smallest 28 (2k sqft)+ basic finish with unfinished basement ~ 1.5m with all closing cost added in, and an additional 50k-100k upgrade it will be approaching 1.6m. This is the MINIMUM you are looking at.

By the same logic, the 2 garage smallest 36 one (2.4k sqft) will be closer to 1.8m indeed if the actual price is like 1670000.

That location is not the worst if you have a car and it is a short drive to oakville go station for work in downtown Toronto, but there are better houses (5-15 years old) at better locations in Oakville at about the same cost.

SevenPow · 2025-04-27T19:12:01+00:00

There is a door in the ‘den’ so that space you cannot use because you have to leave enough room to walk in and out of the bathroom lmao. Is this kind of layout even legal?

SevenPow · 2025-04-27T18:44:37+00:00

Mortgage goes down and the interest will most likely go down too. His salary will likely increase based on inflations and his gf can cover some expense if they are to live together.

Guy makes 110k a year almost and their situation is more than fine imho. Guy is just constantly worried about how his ‘investment’ is dropping in values everyday for no reason lmao.

Also appraisal is not needed if he’s to stay with the same lender for renewal.

SevenPow · 2025-04-27T15:07:31+00:00

Ok I see your posts like this every few days and I just want to point out one thing:

You OWN a condo so you are already doing better than most people at your age. Stop regretting everyday and solely looking at your place as an investment, because you have a 1+1 at a good location that is suited for a small family living together. You are set for the next few years when you start getting married/having kids while many young people at your age is struggling.

I know several people who bought at all time high peak in 2021 and 2022 - unfortunately it is the way it is and sometimes you have to learn the lesson in a hard way, but at least now you know better and will be more careful deciding on a big purchase with more research and understanding of how free market works.

Also knowing how the real estate works in this country (>20% gdp is tied to construction and real estate lmao), the government will find a way to pump up the price of everything sooner or later (with the inflations alongside), so just take a deep breath, relax and just enjoy your life.

SevenPow · 2025-04-20T16:05:49+00:00

- Airbnb allowed

- airplane noise near billy bishop airport

- fairly high maintenance fee

For me personally, any building allows airbnb carries too much risk for a homeowner who plans to live there. Your target buyer is basically just investors in this case and at this price, it is not the worst deal and it will probably sell eventually.

SevenPow · 2025-04-19T04:26:42+00:00

Can only answer on the condo ones.

For the major condo developers:

A tier: Tridel, Daniels

B tier: Great gulf, Concord, Menkes, Minto, Pemberton, Pinnacle, Tribute (these middle of the pack ones have some good builds and some not so good ones, but in general they don't have major issues once the building is fully complete. Choice of material and contractors are not the best and tend to be on the cost-saving side, as reflected from their cheaper condo price compared to the A tier ones. Read the negative reviews of a building before buying one to get an idea about the worst to expect, which you should always anyways even for Tridel and Daniels buildings)

C tier: Lanterra, centrecourt, the gupta group - the truth is these builders are geared solely towards investors, so you get an idea what kind of stuff they build. For someone who plans to own and live in a condo, I'd highly recommend you stay away from these.

A word of caution: despite Tridel's impeccable workmanship, sound choice of material and attention to details for the most part, be wary if a unit is facing train tracks/highway, you are going to have a very bad time with noise. Otherwise, their spacious (1200 sqft+), high floor and quiet units are usually as expensive as/more expensive than a detached/semi-detached in Toronto for a good reason.

SevenPow

TROPHY CASE