Six-figure income as skincare influencer helped this Torontonian buy her first home at 26 | Canada Voices

Wendy became a homewner at the young age of 26, in February of 2024. She bought a 650-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in midtown Toronto for $760,000 where she now lives with her fiancé.

Wendy works as a medical radiation technologist but earns a significant amount of money as a beauty and lifestyle influencer, creating skin care videos, product reviews and sponsored social media content. That online income stream, she said, is what made buying early possible.

“I don’t think I would have been able to get to that point without content creation,” she said. “Not at this age.”

Wendy started posting and creating content online in 2020 about her skincare routine, favourite products and day-to-day life while she was still in university. At first, it was a side project. But during the pandemic, as skincare and beauty content surged online, the work became more serious.

“Basically my career just exploded, and I was able to earn mostly from that,” she said.

In 2021, she earned about $50,000 from content creation. In 2022, that rose to roughly $100,000. By 2023, she was making about $200,000 online. In 2024, the year she bought her condo, she said she earned more than $300,000. Her income as an influencer has fallen off since then and now, with her health-care day job, her combined income fluctuates between $150,000, to $300,000 annually.

Although Wendy loves her online business, she still wants to work in health care. “It’s great that I always have my medical field job that’s always dependable. Working that job provides basically a very steady income for me every month, no matter what happens with content creation.”

The condo itself was a compromise. Wendy originally hoped to buy a townhouse, but listings she saw were often priced around $1.2-million or more. Lower-priced options were farther from Toronto or older homes that might require costly repairs. She wanted to stay close to downtown for both work and events, but not in the busiest core. Midtown felt like a middle ground.

It took Wendy four years to save a 20-per-cent down payment of $152,000. During that time she lived with her parents, which allowed her to set aside more of her income.

“Being able to live at home to save like 80 per cent of my paycheques … that’s unheard of,” she said.

She also used registered accounts strategically. Wendy maxed out her first-home savings account contributions for two years, building $16,000 that she later withdrew for the purchase. Simultaneously, she invested in index funds and stocks in her tax-free savings account and personal accounts.

With a five-year variable term mortgage of 5.75 per cent, Wendy and her fiancé were paying more than $5,000 a month just for housing. They split that cost down the middle, relying on her high but unstable content-creation income and his salary, backed by the steady flow of her hospital shifts.

Thanks to a drop in interest rates, their mortgage rate is now 3.7 per cent. The payments feel more manageable with biweekly payments of $1,885. However, Wendy still feels the weight of the decision to buy, especially knowing she likely couldn’t sell her condo today without losing money.

Beyond the mortgage, condo fees, utilities, and internet, she pays extra for parking and a locker. The biggest surprise though was the land transfer tax. Even with the first-time buyer rebate, the bill still came to roughly $14,000.

Overall, Wendy says ownership has brought peace of mind. She doesn’t worry about a landlord selling the unit or asking tenants to leave. She values being able to decorate freely, live with her pets and build a home with her fiancé.

At the same time, she is candid about timing. Since she bought, prices in some parts of the market have fallen. In hindsight, she says waiting might have saved money. But she does not see that as failure, only proof that there is no perfect moment.

She and her fiancé expect to stay in the condo for about five years before moving to a larger home, especially if they start a family.

Costs

Purchase price: $760,000

Down payment: $152,000 (20 per cent)

Home inspections: Waived

Land transfer tax: $14,000

Monthly ongoing costs

Mortgage: $1,885 biweekly

Home insurance: $40 monthly (bundled with $250 car insurance)

Utilities: $130 electricity and water

Condo maintenance fees: About $500 monthly

Locker: $60 monthly

Parking spot: $225 monthly

Advice: Buyers should not compare themselves to others or feel pressured to buy before they are ready. “As glamorized and as easy as it may look from the outside, it definitely isn’t the case,” she said.

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the people profiled. Are you a first time homeowner who would like to share their story? Send us an e-mail.