They definitely need to teach this in school. We don't equip students with this type of knowledge and many of them don't even know what a mortgage is! So much has changed since the first condo I bought and this time, we had around 1 week's notice for closing (presale). STRESS. Thank you for sharing your experience Raisa, I know it will help others!💕
This is so informative. I think I'm going to be in a similar situation as you soon, so it's nice to hear how the process looks and how much I should expect to invest into it. Thank you for your transparency and for acknowledging how many stupid questions there will be! Side note - I'm originally from Mississauga too and moved the Victoria, BC so I was shook that you're from there!
I ended up buying this year, although the interest was 6.5%. We just got nervous of going for more years of not finding anything and we have a whole house for the same price as rent which is a minimum $2,000 a month in the northeast
Congrats on the home purchase and thanks so much for sharing some of the details! I am curious, how did you factor in the opportunity cost (ability to invest the money you otherwise had to use to pay off the home), maintenance costs, projected HOA expense changes over time?
Congrats on the home purchase! 🎉 My partner and I recently bought a condo too (in Ottawa)! Do you think this will be your forever home? Would also love to see an apartment tour at some point, if you're interested in filming one. 😊 I love seeing how other people decorate!
I know this video is based out of Vancouver, but currently went through the same situation with renting a condo out here in Toronto, so this was super super helpful! Same thought process in that we could no longer justify continuing to rent at these prices, so we decided on going the buying route. We haven't hopped into the market yet because Toronto is disgustingly expensive lol so we decided to move back to our parents' place (super grateful that we even have this option) until we find a place we love. Although we have savings, we wanted to continue to stack more & just make sure that finances aren't too tight on a monthly basis. One "stupid" question haha .. are you allowed to open up an FHSA even if you're not already at the stage of purchasing? Are there penalties? I guess I can always ask the bank, but figured I should give you a try haha. Thank you for your transparency because I'm such a noob with all this & it's all so overwhelming & scary tbh. If you have any recommendations of a real estate agent and mortgage broker out here, that would be amazing!
Hi! Yes I definitely think you can and should open an FHSA to start saving up for your first home -- I think you can put in up to $8k per year and total $40k. There's also tax benefits to contributing to your FHSA. Good luck and I'm so excited for you to embark on the home buying journey, I know you and your partner will find the perfect home! I do know some Toronto agents, send me a DM on instagram and I'll send you their profiles :)
Raisa, you mentioned Olympic Village but I'm just trying to get a sense of what you purchased to compare to where we are out near UBC (relocated from Ontario - Guelph, ON - so moved from SW Ontario as well but in summer 2022). So, you purchased a 1 br condo around probably 700 sq ft from the sounds of it. And this is Olympic Village or False Creek Leasehold land? Can you give the general range you pay for monthly strata fees? Even a very rough range but I'm guessing $550 or $600? I'm just trying to gauge to compare apples to apples to things where we are even though we are also in Vancouver. It's pretty common for the housing market to have it's own microcosm of sorts around a university. Usually less volatile but a bit higher due to supply issues. Our money is making money as we are much older and needing to purchase and pay off in less than 10 years. Also, highly recommend Karl's Mortgage Calculator. This is the best I've seen online and completely free. (It does not have an app that I am aware of, it's just a website). I'm just a fan of it (and not affiliated in any form or manner or anything else; heck, I don't have any clue who Karl even is lol) versus any bank or other site related calculators. Heidi in Vancouver
I did! To do it without penalty, you need to make sure you open an FHSA account if you don’t already have one - I used Wealthsimple. I also had my RRSP with Wealthsimple so I just transferred the funds directly. During tax time, they send you a T slip that indicates to the govt that you moved the money from RRSP to FHSA to buy your first home. I recommend doing a quick google search but it was pretty seamless for me!
