Canadian Moms & Moms to be!

[Tiff]

My parents have always said to try and buy the cheapest house in the best area. And if you can't do that, there's nothing wrong with waiting.

 

[Vickie]

We are a long long way from buying, especially in our area, it's just way to expensive here

My kid is napping and I didn't have to force her Actually I didn't really want her to sleep but she went down on her own and I only realized it once I figured out how quiet it was upstairs and went to make sure she was okay

 

[Maggs]

Oh Vickie...hope she isn't a pain going down tonight for you! Sit back and put your feet up and have a cup of tea in the peace and quiet now

And may I do a happy dance please...

Because...my flights are booked for Canada this summer!!!!

Mom booked hers, then emailed to say there wasn't many seats left so I hurried to book mine and it turns out she just didn't scroll down on the page as there was stacks left. But anyway, flight for Jack and I is booked. Travelling on Icelandair via Reykjavik. Mom is coming here for 12 days, then I fly back with her. I'll stay for a couple of weeks before DH joins us then we'll stay 2 weeks more. So I'll be there a month and Mom will get a whole 6 weeks with Jack and we are getting him baptised while we're home too!!!

 

[readynwilling]

Thats awesome Maggs!

 

[ryder]

House prices and mortgage rates are actually lower right now and it is a great time to buy. Housing is only going to go up once the economy improves.

Thanks for the info maggs... Is your hubby in the airforce? I live near an airforce base that is expanding now.

 

[Newt4]

Yay Maggs and a stop in Iceland exciting. Thats in my top ten places to go.

 

[Maggs]

House prices and mortgage rates are actually lower right now and it is a great time to buy. Housing is only going to go up once the economy improves.

Thanks for the info maggs... Is your hubby in the airforce? I live near an airforce base that is expanding now.

No problem, anymore questions, just ask away! No he's not in the airforce, he works as an auditor for aircraft technical records. Maintains the records, etc for airlines, private aircraft, banks & leasing companies.

 

[Sarahkka]

Joss - depends on where you are. Prices are lower here, rates are lower, but shelling out close to $400k for an older house that needs a lot of work is not affordable for the average household. You only have to look south to see how fast bubble markets can go bad. And even with economic improvements in the US, they are still not sure they've seen the bottom of the market. In your area, houses are affordable and lending rates are low, so if you can take advantage of that, it is awesome (and I'm super jealous! ) In most major cities, it hasn't been a good time to buy for a good five years. Prices are way too out of line with income. It's not sustainable and historically, has always corrected back to that magic 3.5 number. There has been massive government manipulation in the market (look at 0/40, 5/35 mortgages and super low interest rates) which has allowed a flood of buyers who would not have qualified to buy otherwise. This is great for the banks, as they are making an absolute killing in interest on those high risk loans (which are not risky for them as CMHC, which is funded by the taxpayer, insures the loan for them and assumes all the risk). It is not great for the consumer and is the biggest reason Canadians are at record high levels of household debt. Flaherty, BoC, lots of financial gurus like Gail Vaz-Oxlade - all of them have been urging Canadians to get the debt under control because most households are so close to the line when it comes to the debt they are trying to service that it will take the slightest shift upwards in rates for people to be facing defaults on their mortgages. I am unlike a lot of people in that I see real estate here in Calgary (and in our other major cities) as very risky. You can't time the market, but you can interpret data and use it to assess risk. After doing that, I agree with the more cautious voices on real estate.
So even if the markets do go up, as they usually do in the spring, I doubt it will be a permanent rise. Contrary to popular belief, real estate does not always go up. And even if it did, I am comfortable with my decision to live cheaply and rent.
If I lived where you did, I would buy, too. Because doing so wouldn't put the rest of my financial health at risk. That's been my reasoning for a long time now. I've thought a lot about it, done a lot of research, etc and at the end of the day, renting has been a great choice for us.
I think the only wrong choice is when people borrow more than they can afford and completely screw themselves just so they can have a house. And even then, I wouldn't care at all what other people did if they weren't being financed by my tax dollars through CMHC.
Sorry for the novel! Just trying to explain my reasoning.
And let me emphasize again - this is a choice that is good for us. Everyone is different and there are lots of "right" ways to be smart with money.

 

[Sarahkka]

Maggs - yay for all the plane tickets, etc! That will be a great visit!

Vickie - Simon is the biggest anti-napper ever. Hannah not only naps, she puts herself to bed? I could weep...

 

[Newt4]

I agree with you sarah, if we didn't have such a huge down payment we wouldn't of bought. Our rule is our rent/mortgage has to be 35% of my husbands pay per month after taxes. Other wise its just to risky. When we moved here from Kamloops we took a 15,000 loss because of a drop in the market.
House hold debt is becoming a huge problem in Canada. I think there should be a financial management class in high school.

 

[Sarahkka]

Newt, you are wise. That used to be the standard for lending. It's been proven over the decades to be the cut-off. If you are spending more than 35%, you are in higher risk territory, for sure. I read an article recently that said that most Albertans are around 50% now. So, half your pay every month just on the mortgage. That doesn't leave that much for groceries, gas, and all the rest, eh?
I think Calgary is bad, then I hear about the new average price for a SFH in Toronto - almost on par with Vancouver at $800k. Can you imagine the monthly payments? How the hell are people doing that? Because the household income is still around $90-100k. That's less than what we make and we are hesitant to get into this market!

On a nicer topic - what a gorgeous day today, eh? We were out playing in the puddles for ages! I got some great pics of the boys all serious with their little sticks poking away at drains and slush and whatnot. Now I have to find time to upload them.

Info meeting on a preschool tonight. It's supposed to be a really good one, so hopefully I can get Simon registered. Actual registration is next week and they always run out of spaces, so planning to get in line two hours early with another dad from playgroup. He got the scoop that we need to be there that early. I'm just hoping it's not -30 or something. Springtime in Alberta can be very erratic.

 

[Vickie]

Average housing prices here are closer to 350-400K. No way can we afford a mortgage on that, especially with a very minimal down payment. True we *could* move into a condo for around 180-200K but you still have the maintenance fees on top of the mortgage and honestly we prefer to rent and live in a townhouse or house than to buy and live in a condo with no back yard or access to close playgrounds

I'm not going to lie and say it wouldn't be nice to buy but we are in no way shape or form ready to do so right now and probably won't be for a while and I'm okay with that as well.

Sarah she generally doesn't put herself to bed unless she's sick so I'm just kind of waiting to see what tomorrow brings Glad you and the boys had a good day! It was gorgeous here yesterday but yucky and super windy today. Sunday looks nice though! Good luck getting into the preschool

Yay for booking your flights Maggs! That must be so exciting for your mom

 

[ryder]

vickie- out of curiosity, how much is rent in toronto?

Ya sarah, I realize Alberta is really bad for housing costs. Out east is the cheapest to buy in, Ontario isn't bad depending on the area and Alberta and BC are expensive... Although I know there is a slight wage difference in all those places as well... One of the girls who's journal I go to sometimes is in alberta and they only paid 250k for their place and it looked quite nice to me But it is likely like here and depends on the area.

Most people I know from work and play groups spend bettween 200-300k on houses.... We weren't approved for much though which is why we are looking at cheaper houses... And while the one I posted is nice, it is cheaper because its in an inconvenient area for more people, so the market value is just less.

 

[Vickie]

I'm not sure what the rental prices are right now. When we last looked 1800 for 2 bedroom in downtown TO. When we lived downtown we paid 1200 for a one bedroom condo which was considered a great price.

 

[Sarahkka]

Calgary, Canmore, and For McMurray are the worst for crazy high prices in Alberta. And bedroom communities to those areas are better, but then you've got a big commute.

 

[Vickie]

anyone have fun plans for the weekend?

We're thinking of taking Hannah back to learn how maple syrup is tapped Sunday since the high is forecast at 15 Of course I say that and we'll have some weird storm blow through

 

[sun]

Ryder - We moved from TO because OH got a good job here and it is so expensive there. We rented a 1-Bed+den downtown for $1450/month and it was a great place/decent price (Roncesvalles area). When we moved we bought a house for less monthly than our rent in TO. We do plan to move back, but I can't see being able to afford a place for many many years!

Sorry to butt in to the conversation! I do read the thread, just don't post much.

 

[Vickie]

Sun, you should post more

 

[sun]

Sun, you should post more

I do try, but I can't usually keep up with this thread lol! I think it's the fastest moving one on BnB.

Also we're thinking of doing the sugar shack this weekend too! I loved it when I was a kid - especially the maple syrup on the snow mmmmmm!

 

[ryder]

ya I imagine calgary is worse... I dunno though, im looking at Alberta mls and it doesn't seem that horrendous there are quite a few decent looking homes for under $300k.... but it also looks like there is so huge inconsistency is market value of homes there, there are some really great places priced comparable to here and then there are ones im seeing that are ridiculously priced LOL