One of the things that scares me: buying a house. Not because it's scary to have a house (I want one), but it's the cost. Apprently they are at a record high. Does that mean we should hold off for the prices to come down? Are the prices coming down?? If not, should we buy now while we still can?
*sigh* Who knew that we'd be dealing with "grown up" stuff like this. Now to get back to grapevine and mls (which is horrible by the way).
Hmm, the prices will not go down for sure, but the rate at which the prices are increasing for sure will. Ottawa is actually one of the cheaper cities in Canada. In Vancouver the average price of home is around 500K, Calgary 350K and Toronto about the same I think. So, either way, the sooner you buy something the less money you are losing. Take it this way, you pay the interest rate of 5% on your mortgage, but house prices went up 5% in a year so there is your money back. Meanwhile, you are not paying for the rent and all the money goes toward the house, even if you are paying $800 for the rent and a mortgage is $1300. My advice, if you can afford it - go for it.
ReplyDeleteDon't buy a house because, it's an investment, or because it makes good sense for your money. Buy a house because it's really nice to have something to call your own. Something with a yard, something with more than 1 floor, and more space then you could hope to get in an apartment. If your rent is $800, but your mortgage/taxes/utils come out to $1300, then you will probable have quite a bit more space in your new house, than you did in your apartment. Plus you'll have a yard to put a barbeque in.
ReplyDeleteI think too many people focus on investments and rate of return when buying a house, when, no matter what you buy, you'll always be better than renting, because when you rent, you spend all that money, and have nothing in the end.