Everyone
has an opinion about your first home purchase.
Sometimes those opinions are sought out and sometimes they are
volunteered. Some of them whether sought
or volunteered are openly accepted and others are judgemental and narrow
minded.
Anyone
who is in the process of buying a home, whether it is their first ever or tenth
is required to take into account many variables. Usually the number one factor in purchasing a
home is affordability. Can you afford
the mortgage and all the fun extra costs that come with owning a home? As a renter my entire life, it was important
for me to be aware of and prepared for all of the extra costs associated with
purchasing our first home. Five years
ago I would not have thought about the differing property taxes depending on geographic
area or strata fees associated with owning a condo or townhouse. Not to mention those strata fees can be
ridiculous depending on the age of the property. I wouldn’t have known about CMHC costs or lawyer’s
fees. I did know about insurance but
definitely didn’t have a clue how much it would cost. All this and I haven’t even gotten to the luxury
extras that are probably included in your rent right now like hot water, heat,
cable, internet and in our case due to my aunt being my land lord; toilet
paper, coffee filters and paper towels! Don’t
forget if you are buying brand new there are those pesky taxes thrown onto the
list price.
I’m sure
for most people this is common knowledge and you are thinking to yourself, who
is this ditz! I think for those of us
who have always rented and never really thought they would own a home on their
own, when it comes time to buy, the extra costs can seem overwhelming. I was 26 and in my first year of College when
I met my husband. I had basically come
to terms that between my student loans and drinking my way through my 20’s it
would be a long time before I was ready to buy my own home if ever. These days it is very difficult to own a home
with one income. Oh sure a one bedroom
condo it pretty attainable for most but still it takes time to save that down
payment.
Back to
the point: once you have ascertained what is affordable for your income other
factors come into play. Geography: where
do you want to live?, commute time, tolls, family, work, friends amenities etc. It would be way less expensive to move to Mission
or Abbotsford but are you willing to drive further, and isolate yourself from
friends and family just to get a bigger house for your money? This isn’t’ Texas, size should not be the determination
of value.
In our
case the number two and only factor that really matters in our search for the
perfect first home is that my husband’s daughter, my stepdaughter lives in
Coquitlam. Right now we don’t get nearly
enough time with her due to the fact that having her more during the week
involves driving 45 minutes to an hour the wrong direction in rush hour to get
her to school hopefully leaving me with enough time to get to work. Not to
mention the poor thing then has to get up at 6am to get ready. When searching for our first home we are
fully aware that because of where we want to be located our list prices are
going to be 10-20% higher than other reasonable neighbourhoods.
Oh and
did I mention that everyone has an opinion.
“Don’t buy a townhouse if you can manage it” recommends one lovely
friend. “Do you know what you could get
if you bought in Abbotsford” suggests another well meaning person. “That same place would cost you way less in
Maple Ridge” mentions another. All very
valid points, however every one of those scenarios comes with a “but”. We could buy a four bedroom three and a half
bathroom house built in 1979 within our budget BUT we already live in Pitt
Meadows and hate the commute and how long it takes to even just get to the
grocery store. We hate that everything
in Maple Meadows closes at ridiculous hours during the week and Lougheed
Highway completely bottlenecks after the Pitt River Bridge. Oh and did I not mention that we want to see
MORE of our kid not less. Built in 1979,
guess I know where all of our income is going over the next ten years:
Renovations! So this is how every conversation has gone. Everyone has great points and yes it is up to
us to decide what works best for our family.
What we have decided is that being close to those we love and care about
is most important and increasing our chances of doing that is the best decision
for us! We are more than happy to hear
everyone’s opinions and take them all into consideration, but please just
remember; it’s not just about space and money to us. Some things are just more important than all
of that!
