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After learning their landlord was selling the house they’d rented for five years, Amina, 48, and Mike, 49, decided they didn’t want to put their two teenagers through another move. It was time to buy.
In May they purchased their first home: a four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached house in East Vancouver for just over $2-million. They put down just over 50 per cent, leaving them with a $1-million mortgage.
It was a decision more than 20 years in the making, although for much of that time, the couple weren’t convinced buying was the right move.
For more than two decades, Amina and Mike watched Vancouver home prices climb higher and higher, and wondered whether they had missed their chance to become homeowners. So instead of stretching their finances to buy, they kept renting, investing their savings and enjoying the flexibility that came with not having a mortgage.
The couple, who’ve been married since 2004, worried about getting caught up in bidding wars and overpaying for a property.
“We felt like we had missed the boat,” said Amina.
Self-employed Toronto woman, 42, rejigged her finances to buy a condo
Their most recent rental, a detached house in East Vancouver, cost them $3,800 a month, well below what they believed it would cost to own a comparable property in the same neighbourhood. Before that, their monthly payments were around $1,800, then $2,400 and then eventually $3,000.
Amina is a lawyer and earns $230,000 annually. She’s held her current job for 17 years. Mike, an engineer, makes $130,000 and has been in his position for 13 years. Both work in the public sector and have workplace pensions.
“We have enjoyed our lives, but we both grew up in immigrant families that had to work super hard,” Amina said.
Both were also financially savvy. By the time they were ready to buy, they’d accumulated enough to put more than a million toward their first home.
For their down payment, they withdrew close to $68,000 from their combined first home savings accounts (FHSAs) and $120,000 through the Home Buyer’s Plan, which allows eligible buyers to withdraw funds from their RRSPs.
The couple also received $250,000 from their families, including $225,000 from Amina’s mother after she sold a property and $25,000 from Mike’s mother. Mike said they had enough investments to cover the down payment without the family assistance, but doing so would have meant dipping further into their savings.
The remainder came from their accumulated cash and investments, including guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). Even after putting down such a large sum, they said they didn’t have to touch their TFSAs or exhaust their retirement savings.
Yellowknife couple spent 18 months house-sitting before they bought their first home
They’d already moved four times before this in 12 years, largely because of property sales or landlords deciding to move back in. With their children getting older, the thought of starting over somewhere else was becoming harder to accept.
Their son, who is not yet 15, has already lived in five homes, Amina said.
When their landlord accepted an offer in February, the couple got serious about house hunting. Within a week, they’d hired a realtor, toured homes and submitted an offer.
Their new home was initially above their preferred budget of $1.7-million, but it had been extensively renovated in 2019 and was close to their son’s high school.
It also includes a ground-floor rental suite with an existing tenant – a perk that made stretching their budget justifiable. The suite generates just over $1,500 a month and down the road, it could also house their parents or children.
The couple considered buying a cheaper home in the suburbs but both work in Vancouver and wanted to avoid longer commutes, while their teens were reluctant to leave their neighbourhood. Moving farther out would also likely have meant buying a second car.
Meghan, 26, bought a St. John’s townhouse and pays no more each month than she did in rent
With a $1-million mortgage at a three-year fixed rate of 3.84 per cent, they pay $2,333 biweekly. Their mortgage has a 30-year amortization period, although they hope to pay it off sooner through additional lump-sum payments.
The prospect of having debt well into their 70s isn’t ideal, but both qualify for full workplace pensions at 60, which gives them some confidence they can manage the payment, even after they stop working.
After decades of renting, the family is finally getting used to the small freedoms of home ownership. “I can put in hole in the wall versus command strips,” said Mike.
The bigger reward is knowing their children won’t have to move again because a landlord decided to sell.
“You can’t put a number on that,” said Amina.
Costs
Purchase price: $2,078,000
Down payment: About $1,078,000 (51 per cent)
Legal fees: $1,800
Moving costs: $3,000
Property transfer tax: $40,000
Monthly ongoing costs
Mortgage: $2,333 biweekly
Home insurance: Roughly $290 a month
Repairs: None
Property taxes and utilities: $3,200 for the remainder of 2026
Advice: “Don’t feel pressure to buy before you’re financially ready.”
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.
Are you a first-time homeowner who would like to share their story?
My First Home is a regular series in The Globe and Mail that looks at how buyers are entering the real estate market. Where are they saving and for how long? Are they getting family help? And where and what kind of homes are they buying? We’d like to hear from first time buyers from a diverse range of backgrounds, geographic locations, and housing situations.
If you’re a recent first-time buyer of a home in Canada and would like to participate, fill out the form below or send an email to Roma Luciw at rluciw@globeandmail.com. Please include your name, age, email as well as where and when you bought, how much the home cost and how you made it happen. If you fit the profile, we could contact you for a profile and yes, you can remain anonymous.