The first step to buying your first Vancouver home: get over yourself already

by Carolyn Ali on Jan 24, 2011 at 12:59 pm

After much bellyaching about how I’m sick of renting, I’m finally doing it: looking into buying my first home. Who knows? I might actually be able to afford it. I’m thinking of it like window shopping—I’ll just duck into the housing market for a look-see.

The thought of making the biggest purchase of my life basically terrifies me, so I started today with baby steps. A quick Google brought me to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. They’ve got a ton of publications, like Home Buying Step By Step, the Condominium Buyers’ Guide, and Bringing Home Ownership Within Reach. You can read em on-line, or download the PDFs.

They’ll also send you free hard copies by mail, which I opted for with a tinge of guilt for my environmental sin. But I figure I need references kicking around the house for this one. And besides, if I have them mailed rather than download them, I can put off reading them till they arrive and watch How I Met Your Mother tonight instead.

So I went through, clicking publications for my shopping cart just like regular on-line fun. I enjoyed the “Free”, “Free”, “Free” notations next to each publication, and my final checkout total: $0. (Minus my tax dollars at work, that is.)

There. That wasn’t so scary. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

Carolyn Ali blogs for renters, buyers, and dreamers at Real Estate Refugee, where this post originally appeared. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali.

Comments (11) Add New Comment
No Condo in the 604
Jan 24, 2011 at 1:35 pm
prospective buyers really need to read these blogs for info on why buying is NOT smart right now.

www.vancouvercondo.info
www.greaterfool.ca
www.housing-analysis.blogspot.com
http://fishyre.blogspot.com/

renting is by FAR the better option right now for most people. you are not just "buying", you are purchasing DEBT, massive piles of it.

no, i'm not a single, bitter renter. i've got a decent salary, no debt at all, reasonable rent that allows me to enjoy all that Vancouver offers without being a mortgage slave, a six-figure downpayment ready to go (split up into cash and nice investments), but i can't justify it in Vancouver.

1
1
Rating: 0
Carolyn Ali
Jan 24, 2011 at 2:25 pm
I hear you, No Condo. I'm quite skeptical about buying into this market at all. But I've been ruling it out for so long I figure I should at least look into my options and do some research before dismissing the idea of buying.

Renting in Vancouver has its own, very large problems. I have to move, so I'm exploring all options.
0
0
Rating: 0
Steven M.
Jan 24, 2011 at 9:47 pm
I dunno if I'd advocate buying into the height of a pretty serious bubble. With mortgage terms being reduced and interest rates rising, buying real estate in Canada is a pretty risky venture.
1
0
Rating: +1
Second Nation
Jan 25, 2011 at 6:55 am
Congrats to the writer for considering a large step in her life. A lot of folks get paralyzed with decision-making and then nervously rub their hands together for decades.

To folks who want to keep renting, thank you. I'm always happy there's a lot of people willing to rent my basement suites. Keep telling yourselves "now isn't the time to buy!".
0
0
Rating: 0
???
Jan 25, 2011 at 9:22 am
Why don't you write an article on the problems with being a renter then.
This would be a lot more interesting.
0
0
Rating: 0
Carolyn Ali
Jan 25, 2011 at 12:43 pm
My blog, Real Estate Refugee (http://rerefugee.com/), is all about the problems with being a renter. It's about being caught in the space between renting and buying, and trying to look at options in a positive way.
1
1
Rating: 0
Friso Halbertsma
Jan 25, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Of course there is no one simple answer for everyone, but now is actually the BEST time to purchase (and I'm not even a realtor). The real estate market is in a low, after many years of explosive growth, so the dictum of buy low/sell high applies. Unlike Spuzzum, Vancouver will always be a desirable place to live, and over time the value graph points upwards. True, you incur debt, but after 20+ years at least your own property as an asset -not just made your landlord rich.
0
1
Rating: -1
Scott Blackstone
Jan 26, 2011 at 7:46 am
Friso: but what happens when interest rates go up? What if they 5% by the end of the year? 10%? Then people will be walking out of their homes, leaving their keys in the mailbox and you can buy their house in 2 years, not 20.

It's happening all over the states right now: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/25/us-home-prices.html
1
0
Rating: +1
Fan'o Truth
Jan 26, 2011 at 12:19 pm
The first step to buying your first Vancouver home: get over yourself already


I don't mean to be unduly sensitive, but the wording and tone of this headline says it all. Anyone who is genuinely shocked by Metro Vancouver's high price levels is being implicitly portrayed as unrealistic, unsophisticated, and silly. It's a neat way to defeat the argument that prices are too high without having to actually defend that price level.

1
1
Rating: 0
petr aardvark
Jan 26, 2011 at 1:41 pm
it may be happening all over the states right now Scott - but Vancouver is one of the few markets that is still growing - due to the Asia Pacific region, if you think housing is expensive look at Hong Kong.
1
1
Rating: 0
Scott Blackstone
Jan 27, 2011 at 8:06 am
petr aardvark wrote: "if you think housing is expensive look at Hong Kong"

Yeah, Hong Kong is in a pretty severe bubble too. I wouldn't buy real estate their, either.

1
0
Rating: +1
Add new comment
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.