Hi, and welcome. Please feel free to take your time and explore the many links in the column at the left. Whether you're interested in finding a property somewhere in Durham, simply exploring the different kinds of neighborhoods Durham's Lakeshore Communities have to offer, learning about the buying process, or just curious about the Real Estate market, there's a lot to see here.
This is an umbrella site, bringing together several websites featuring the communities that range along the north shore of Lake Ontario, just to the east of Toronto, as well as specific neighborhoods, and homes For Sale in each of those communities. Starting with Pickering, then moving east to Ajax, Whitby , Oshawa, and beyond, Durham's Lakeshore Communities offer a comparable variety of lifestyle opportunities as the city of Toronto, but with more space, often larger homes and lots, and easier access to rural features like farmer's markets (right on the farms!), nature preserves and conservation areas, and open waterfront and beaches.
And several of these communities offer access times to Downtown Toronto that are similar to access times from some of Toronto's more popular neighborhoods (like Leaside, north Toronto, and many others) but without some of the safety concerns so common today in the changing city. My wife and I live in Whitby Shores (see side-bar) and she can be in her Toronto office within 45 minutes of leaving our front door.
Best of all, home prices in many of Durham's communities are significantly lower than in Toronto. Imagine living close to the lake, parks, and nature preserves, yet still being as close to downtown as many areas in the city.
To learn more about Durham's Lakefront, and the communities it offers, click on Durham's Lakeshore Difference in the side-bar at left.
Best Homes Durham
You might want to see some Homes For Sale while you're here, to see what the prices are, and what sorts of properties are available in a given area. To look at homes that are currently For Sale, go to the Best Homes Durham section in the sidebar at the left.
Click on the Featured Listings to see properties that are featured by my office this month. Most of these properties will be in one of Durham's Lakefront Communities (Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa, or Whitby), but some may be from Toronto or beyond. You may find that the system lists the properties from the most expensive downwards. You can change the order to ascending price by clicking on the Refine your Search link, and also set any other search criteria you would like while you're there.
To view a wider selection of Homes for Sale in a specific community, or to search with specific criteria, select the Search Thousands of Local Homes link in the Best Homes Durham box. You can use this feature to search for properties anywhere around the GTA, and in some other areas of the province as well. To narrow in on Durham's Lakeshore Communities choose the green East block, and then click a checkmark into the boxes for the areas that interest you.
Pickering: E12, E13, E18
Ajax: E14 and E18
Whitby: E15 and E19 (for Brooklin)
Oshawa: E16, E19 and E17 (for Courtice, just on the east side of Oshawa)
The system works well, but it isn't perfect, so if you are having trouble finding the types of properties you want, or finding that the ones that do come up don't meet your criteria, please send me a note at barry@barrydbriggs.com and I'll get back to you with some assistance, just as soon as I can.
