# How long did it take you to save up for your first house?



## Montrealer (Sep 13, 2010)

Like the title says:

How long did it take you to save up for your first house, condo, property?

I ask because I look at the prices of properties these day's and with 10% only you need at least $40,000.00 for a decent house in the suburbs.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My husband and I took 5 years two months to save up for our first house which we paid $160,000 for in 1991 .We put down 10% plus all the closing costs ,this it was $23,000 total at that time.
We also needed money for new appliances and some other furniture as well.


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## Montrealer (Sep 13, 2010)

Wow, $160,000.00?

These day's your lucky to get a one bedroom condo at that price point.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I should add back in 1990 we were only earning about $43,000 a year combined ,paying $640 a month in rent plus had two cars to pay insurance ,gas and about $600 in monthly RSP payments. The two cars cost us combined $25,000 and we had concentrated on paying these off before we bought a house as back then we knew we could not carry car loans and the mortgage etc.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Our first mortgage was with First Line Trust and was 8.75% ,It was a very nice house and had a finished one bedroom apartment/inlaw suite .The people who bought it from us recently sold it for $297,000.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

I saved up only 5% down on our first house, took about 9 months if I remember correctly, maybe closer to a year.

It was a new townhome in the burbs in ottawa. $170k


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

When I decided to buy a house, I just used $20k HBP from my RRSP which resulted in a 11% downpayment. 

I already had the money in my RRSP so I didn't really save for the down payment.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I took about 25 years to save up for a 20% downpayment on our first house ;-) Although most of the big savings occurred in the last six years, when I was renting a very cheap apartment ($525/month for three bedrooms, and this was from 2002-2008), so during those years I really socked money away.

I hate paying interest so much that if I had my druthers I would have saved up until I could have bought the house in cash, but when you live with someone you have to make compromises. I pay more in interest on our mortgage every month than I ever paid in rent, and that's with 20% down and a 15-year accelerated mortgage. But at least I'm building equity, that's what I keep telling myself.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

If I didn't buy Real estate and pay interest on mortgages I would not have what I have today.We consider it Forced savings


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## Montrealer (Sep 13, 2010)

> I took about 25 years to save up for a 20% downpayment on our first house ;-) Although most of the big savings occurred in the last six years, when I was renting a very cheap apartment ($525/month for three bedrooms, and this was from 2002-2008), so during those years I really socked money away.
> 
> I hate paying interest so much that if I had my druthers I would have saved up until I could have bought the house in cash, but when you live with someone you have to make compromises. I pay more in interest on our mortgage every month than I ever paid in rent, and that's with 20% down and a 15-year accelerated mortgage. But at least I'm building equity, that's what I keep telling myself.


Trust me Brad, being in Real Estate as a profession and just general knowledge, I can tell you that it's the best investment you will ever make, you are building wealth, equity and will be able to use your investment as an option to retire or equity to invest in the future.

Real estate is the way to go!!!


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## chantl01 (Mar 17, 2011)

It only took my (ex)husband and I about a year to save up 10% for our first home, which was a townhouse in the Ottawa suburbs. Cost in 1989: $102,500. Try finding anything in Ottawa at that price now - although I have to say that in the first seven years we owned it, it actually dropped in value! Remember that next time anyone tells you that real estate will always increase. 

We were also helped by the fact that at the time, being in Ontario, we could take advantage of a special program that existed to encourage first-time buyers (long since extinct):
_Ontario Home Ownership Savings Plan. Ontario taxpayers who are about to purchase their first can get a tax credit of up to $2,000.00 per year deposited in a Registered Home Ownership Savings Plan (RHOSP). To qualify:

a single person must earn less than $40,000.00 per year;
spouses may earn a combined maximum up to $80,000.00 per year before they cease to qualify._


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

For my spouse’s (then boyfriend) first place, but he had used his HBP, and was fortunate to have a loan from his parents to get it up to the 20% down. He wasn’t really looking to buy a place, but through a contact, a good deal came up, and he bought it on as an impulse. Things were really tight, and he had just started working a ‘real’ job. It was one of those great deals that worked out well as the values have more than tripled since we first bought. We rented it out, while we found a larger place we rented until we could save up for another down payment (so really our first house as a couple) For our first place together when we got married, we saved for just under 4 years to come up with a large down payment. It was about 28%. I was quite worried about having a mortgage, as most people in my family, saved really well, and just bought their houses in cash. We weren’t great savers though. So we were able to buy our place for $274K with $75K down at the time, about 2 years before the big housing spike. In hindsight, it was the best thing we were able to do. I don’t know if we would have ever been able to save the cash to buy outright once the boom hit, and there was now way we could have saved another $200+ in cash in less than 2 years.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

Well, I bought the house at 22, and started delivering newspapers at 9 .. so about 13 years. Now the actual money from 9 to 17 didn't add up to much, but the attitudes that were developed helped enourmously for the 18 to 22 age years when I had real earnings from a real job.

hboy43


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## petea4 (Dec 24, 2010)

Bought my first house(duplex) at 22 and single. Worked through my early teens and saved. Was 289k, and for the banks numbers I put down 25%. They approved a HELOC for the remaining 75%. The seller took back 20k of that 25%, at a fair rate for 2yrs. The bank didn't know of the seller taking back the 20k until after the deal closed. They were pissed, but the deal was done.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

I did not save, just decided to buy, went with girlfriend, $26,000 and had about $5,000 in bank, bank lent the rest.

I would go to land auctions on a week end, bid on the land, write a cheque, go to the bank on Monday to borrow the money to cover the cheque, 1974 , it was a land boom.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

Bought a duplex in Kitsilano in 2004 for 475K...I had sleepless nights for weeks after purchasing. Put 200K down, carried 275K at 4.3%. It was tough for 5yrs, then better. I'd never buy in the Vancouver market now..way too expensive and not much for your money


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

I'm obviously older than most of you who have been posting in this thread. My ex-husband and I bought our first house - brand new, 3-bedrooms - in Coquitlam (a suburb of Vancouver) in 1965 for $15,500. The builder wanted a $1,500 down payment, but we talked him down to $1,200, which was all we had. We sold that house in 1978 for $120,000 and paid $169,000 for a nicer house in a better neighbourhood. I paid cash for that one, making up the difference with stock option benefits I had made at my job.

Around 1980, the real estate market dropped drastically, and my new house dropped iin value to about $120,000. In 1989, following my divorce and remarriage, values had increased again, and my new husband and I sold that one for $190,000 and had a new home built in Surrey for $180,000. That's where I still live today, but my house is now worth about $500,000 (1800 square foot rancher style).

I remember worrying that my ex and I had really over-extended ourselves when we bought that first house!


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

In 1975 I made $8,500 per year. Put $5K, that I'd saved over the previous 5 years, down on a $28K house at 12%.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

My wife and I saved 100k (55 for the house) by the time we were 25. I won't deny there wasn't help. My father in law gave my wife 25k for school, and she went and paid for it herself. Our wedding/honeymoon was a money making proposition as well, we finished that off about 8-10k up. I'd say we took 7 years to save the rest.


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## iherald (Apr 18, 2009)

Montrealer said:


> Wow, $160,000.00?
> 
> These day's your lucky to get a one bedroom condo at that price point.


In Toronto you're lucky to get a parking spot and locker for this price!


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## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

I started saving $500/month when I started my first job after university. Used those savings, plus I liquidated ~$20k from various investments to buy my first house 1.5 years later. Once the deal closed, my parents gave me $25k, which was really nice as it allowed me to put 20% down and avoid CMHC fees.

If I had asked my parents for money to buy a house, they probably wouldn't have given me any money. Since I saved up on my own (while living in a ratty apartment) and bought a house on my own, they surprised me with extra money after I had committed to buying the place. I think that's a much better way to be gifted items from your parents.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

My spouses parents did something similar with the down payment. My spouse had the majority using his HBP, but not quite enough. My spouses parents had actually saved up the money that they charged him for rent over the years, and gave back some of it. I thought this was great, as there was never an expection of help, but they felt that he had shown great responsibility and were worthy of the some help. 

I used to be against charging rent on my own kids, but we've decided now that if our kids aren't in school, they will be charged rent, and we will do the same of giving it back, providing they have learned the value of money, and some life lessons.


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## v_tofu (Apr 16, 2009)

Been saving since i was 15, so about 14 years. $50k for 20% downpayment for a $250K house. Avoid all the CMHC fees and what not. This was in 2009.

I haven't been making as many double payments as I would like though 

Now that the wife is off Mat leave hoping we can start paying off this debt load alot faster


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

Our first house was a 3bed 3bath end unit freehold townhome. We paid $143k in 1996. It took us about 10 months to save a 10% downpayment + closing costs. We started saving as soon as I finished school and started working. We lived in a cheap apartment with a beater of a car and lived off his income while saving mine for the downpayment, closing costs, moving costs, etc.


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## loggedout (Dec 30, 2009)

I don't intend to ever buy a house.


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## Financial Cents (Jul 22, 2010)

I paid $240,000 for my first home 10 years ago when I was 27.

Home was in Stittsville (just outside Ottawa). 

Saved up $25,000 as a down-payment (just over 10%).

I'm now living my fourth home, 10 years later, age 37. 

Purchase price was $400,000+ on current home and down-payment was about 25%.

Very interesting to read what everyone has done here, good question for the forum! 

http://www.myownadvisor.ca/


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Montrealer said:


> Trust me Brad, being in Real Estate as a profession and just general knowledge, I can tell you that it's the best investment you will ever make, you are building wealth, equity and will be able to use your investment as an option to retire or equity to invest in the future.
> 
> Real estate is the way to go!!!


Actually I doubt real estate makes as much sense as you state. I have probably made 10 times more in the equity markets than I have in real estate. Have lots of personal use RE which we enjoy. Never view it as an investment though. To make RE work as an investment you have to lever it to he hilt. Not my style.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

loggedout said:


> I don't intend to ever buy a house.


I don't intend to ever buy another one. Houses are a PITA and a terrible investment class.

hboy43


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

Still have yet to buy a house and refuse to buy anything in this overpriced Toronto market. I could only afford a condo here anyways, and I want a detached house. Contemplating a move to another city (maybe St Johns or Halifax) where prices are reasonable.


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## DanFo (Apr 9, 2011)

I only had 5% down (house was 147K) took me a year to save..... but had to get out of the place i was renting if i valued my sleep.... that was in 2004 the mortgage insurance basically negated the down payment when it was added to the mortgage....I've doubled my reg bi weekly payments and make extra contribs when i can.....


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

I started saving around age 20,thats when i begin getting serious,it took me 8 yrs to save up my down payment,i bought a standard lot just outside the city,with a older home on it(bought for the lot),and tore the house down,had the lot paid in full and than got approved for a construction loan,im fortunate my dad was a home builder for the first 20 yrs of his working life and relyed on him for alot of connections.

I actualy move out on june 1st of this mth,going into a rental for the short term,not sure what im going to do,either get into a remodel,or buy a lot again.


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