So I am thinking about buying my first house/town house/condo this year, preferably in spring/summer. I am 25, living at home still, single, debt-free, have been working full-time as an accountant for 3 years (Just became a CPA), and have saved up a good amount for a down payment. Based on preliminary research I can get a mortgage for probably around $300-350k and afford a down payment of 5% or 20% (I hear to do one or the other for interest rates).
I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on where to even start this process and what things to keep in mind. Some people also think renting is a better idea as I am single and am not married to my current employer or Calgary. I don't like the idea of relying on a renter if I went house route. So I think a town-house is more appropriate and if there is space I would just rent to a buddy for cheap on a monthly basis just to pocket extra cash. I'd like to have a dog as well. A condo would be easier for just me though and probably cheaper.
Congrats on your CPA. I just realized I got my designation almost 5 years ago to the day (give or take a week).
Anticipate 2-3% of the value of the place you are purchasing for furnishings and other purchases. In a $300K place that's like $6-9K of stuff like bed, mattress, pillows, blankets, sofa, table, chairs, kitchen stuff/small appliances, cutlery, cups, plates, towels, toilet paper, laundry basket... etc.
IKEA has a ton of this stuff, but IMO you're better off going to Winners/Costco and purchase for durability as much as possible over just getting stuff for the sake of having it. It's better to think of certain things as something to upgrade later than something to replace later. For instance, crystal glasses from Winners will cost you $2-3 each vs $1 for a clear glass at IKEA, but the glass ones are super fragile and can break easily. The Crystal ones are nicer and can handle so much more accidental abuse without damage and you're far more likely to never buy glasses again if you get $20 worth of crystal glasses vs spending that every 2 years or so to replace the stuff you break. I nabbed 4 Mikasa glasses for $10 at Winners 5 years ago, grabbed extra over the years to have more glasses in general and I'll probably never need to get nice glasses for drinks or water etc. for the rest of my life. It'll cost you far less in the long term to have a base of good stuff from the get go.
Condo prices are cratered and townhouses are selling at a good discount. IMO, the biggest thing to worry about those are condo fees. Keep an eye on whether you think the condo fees are artificially low and will spike in a few years. For your budget, I think it's decent for a townhouse. I'd suggest targeting something in the 10-15+ year range (still nice) and pocket as much cash as possible to enjoy your home in. Being house poor sucks. Pay off your mortgage aggressively and it'll give you a ton of options in the future.
My first place was in a condo downtown that I paid around $195K when the housing market was hot. I stayed there around 5 years before moving to a brand new townhouse in Tuxedo and now a larger single family home. There are pros and cons. I still miss things from Condo bachelor lifestyle and then the brand newness of the townhouse and the location of both were nice (not suburbs).
I think $300K might be enough to target 10-25+ year old townhouses in the inner city range. $400K might be enough to target stuff around 5-10 years old in the inner city. I lived in a brand new townhouse in Tuxedo for about 5 years until recently and it cost me just shy of $500K. That townhouse would be worth around $420-440K right now with condo fees less than $200 a month (snow shoveling, insurance and grass cutting only) and fees unlikely to increase for the foreseeable future.
Check out this listing
Something like this is a little older, but still very nice due to refresh. I think you can do a little better, but it'll give you an idea if you are in the right ball park with a $300K budget. IMO you should be able to do nicely in a good location with that amount. $350K isn't necessary unless you truly fall in love with something a bit nicer and are willing to rough it out a little bit house poor style.
But man... something like this... So sexy.
Check out this listing
This listing is sick! Too bad condo fees are $780 a month.
EDIT: Don't forget to look into the first time home buyer credit via your RRSP and look into how to leverage it to the maximum (you need 90 days to maximize it if you haven't been regularly contributing to the RRSP I believe). Also, be aware of the realtor you choose. Some realtors are legit hoping to make you happy and hoping the good experience you have with them turn into a referral to someone else who needs a realtor. The vast majority are just sales people and some realtors are straight up sleezy.
Mortgage wise, True North was a reasonable experience with good rates.
