A follow-up post about searching for our first home

So we are progressing on our property search.

I have contacted a Mortgage Broker that I used about 4 years ago during my first (unsuccessful) property search when I lived in my hometown. I liked working with him, so have asked him to help us with our pre-approval. We also are meeting with a Realtor today who, funny enough, I connected with on Twitter. I like that he specializes in condos in the area that we’re looking in, enjoys working with first time buyers, and is young so he can relate. I’m hoping he works out, but I have a good feeling about him. BF and I want to check out some open houses this weekend.

One major goal of the condo I neglected to mention was the fact that we’re hoping to keep it as a rental property once we decide to move onto a bigger home. The rental market in this particular area is strong: on a SkyTrain line, popular college within walking distance, up-and-coming neighbourhood with lots of shops and restaurants, and it’s affordable. I lived and worked in this area before I moved in with BF, so I have a good feel for the neighbourhood.

For those that were wondering, BF has a ton of DIY skills. He renovated his friend’s entire house last year, built most of the furniture and did major renovation on almost every room in the place we currently live in, and has a workshop full of tools. I feel fully confident that he will be able to do any renovation or repair we want to do to whatever future place we live in.

Another comment asked a few times was about getting a lawyer involved because BF and I are not married. While we are considered common-law now, we both fully understand the need to get everything put into writing. So yes, that will be happening.

Also, I want to thank everyone for their comments. I was especially interested in the comments that some people left about buying a bigger home if we could afford it. Here are my thoughts: getting ourselves into a townhouse that would be appropriate for the next 10+ years of our lives would cost around $500k. Maybe more. The Vancouver area is expensive! And while we could afford the payments now, I don’t see why we would pay for more home than we need for the next 4-5 years of our lives. Especially when our goal is to keep the condo and rent it out in the future. Not only will buying a larger home result in a much larger mortgage payment, but it will come with more expenses as well – like higher taxes, maintenance, heating, etc. Owning a home for us is a huge goal that we have been working towards for years, but it’s not the only goal we have. And I would hate for us to take on a larger mortgage payment and miss out on everything else. All of the extra money we will be saving by taking on a condo and a smaller mortgage will go towards traveling before we have kids, paying for a wedding, saving for early retirement, and stashing money away for a down payment on our next place.

Like I said before, we aren’t in a rush. I want to enjoy the process, because the idea that I could one day become a homeowner has been one of my biggest motivating factors to getting myself out of debt. And now that we’re finally ready, I’m so excited.