I can't wait until this real-estate market collapses.......

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I think I get what you're trying to say here housejunk, but your thread title comes across as ugly and bitter, given that a market crash would probably mean that many Calgarians would be under water financially. A crash would also mean the economy here has taken a dive which kills the entire town. I fail to see how any of this makes Calgary a better place....

It comes across as further bitter and ugly when you say you own a detached house pre-boom in freaking Kensington, which means your place is worth 600,000 - 800,000 right now at least. Boo-hoo..... As mentioned above, there plenty of ways to extract your current house wealth, some that don't require you to leave the Kensington area.

Rather than be amazed at housing prices... I'm more amazed at what some people are bringing home in salaries now....

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Your parents were in exactly the same position as yourself at one point . . . . and probably saying the same thing as you were.

They put in the time, eventually paid off their mortgage, levered their extra savings into other properties . . . . and thirty years had passed.

You're not willing to put in the time. You want it now. Impatience. That's your problem.

Cowperson

The thing is that the longer a place like Canada is settled and established the more difficult it will become to afford housing. If I went to the UK and wanted to buy a house good luck to me. People over there who are land owners usually require some type of help from their families who have been established there for 5 or more generations accumulating wealth.

Chances are that housejunk will stand to benefit from the fact that his parents own a lot of property's one day and saw a large increase in value. It's been happening in other countries for century's where they keep moving the wealth forward to the next generation.

Young people today do have a tough time getting into their first house especially with today's prices. Theres also so many other things out there to take your money from you like cars, credit cards, cell phones, student loans, loans to go to Mexico, interest free loans for T.V. etc. It's as if creditors are too willing to put people into debt for their own good. I compare myself to other people I know who are my age and think I'm doing well. I had more than 10% down on my house, I only have one vehichle loan and it's a 4 year loan, and just took a L.O.C. to do a few home renovations. But than I realize I'm probably further in debt than my parents ever were in terms of total dollars. Still that doesn't mean I can't have it all paid off in 10 years. I might have to pay more to get things, but I also have a lot more knowlege and information available to me in terms of how to build wealth than they did too.

[firebug]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Your parents were in exactly the same position as yourself at one point . . . . and probably saying the same thing as you were.

They put in the time, eventually paid off their mortgage, levered their extra savings into other properties . . . . and thirty years had passed.

You're not willing to put in the time. You want it now. Impatience. That's your problem.

Cowperson

My father frequently tells the story of the near divorce their first Calgary home purchase caused.

He could see no reason how a home could be worth that much money, and the deposit cheque was the most difficult one he ever wrote.

The deposit was $500 for a $20,000 home in Lake Bonavista in 1972.

I also recently heard that over a 15 year period that calgary's average annualized growth in home prices was not that extreme and ranked 9th in Canada.

~bug

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

I think I get what you're trying to say here housejunk, but your thread title comes across as ugly and bitter, given that a market crash would probably mean that many Calgarians would be under water financially. A crash would also mean the economy here has taken a dive which kills the entire town. I fail to see how any of this makes Calgary a better place....

It comes across as further bitter and ugly when you say you own a detached house pre-boom in freaking Kensington, which means your place is worth 600,000 - 800,000 right now at least. Boo-hoo..... As mentioned above, there plenty of ways to extract your current house wealth, some that don't require you to leave the Kensington area.

Rather than be amazed at housing prices... I'm more amazed at what some people are bringing home in salaries now....

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but you hit the nail right on the head.

[Sample00]

for what its worth,
here is something that some of you might want to check out.

http://www.albertarein.com/

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Sample00

for what its worth,
here is something that some of you might want to check out.

http://www.albertarein.com/

Are you involved with this program? No offence, but the website looks like a scam. Or possibly a scammola. You sure I wouldn't be better off just sending one dollar to Happy Guy?

[fredr123]

Okay, rather than just bitching about how I've missed out on the real estate boom maybe I should do something about it.

How does a mid-20's guy with a wife and a baby on the way with about $50k in combined student loans, 3.5 years left on a car loan, living in a basement suite, making a combined yearly income of about $75k (until maternity leave at least) turn things around and get on board in today's hot real estate market in Calgary?

Oh, and please don't say work hard, save money, invest wisely and be patient. I want a solution now, dammit!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Okay, rather than just bitching about how I've missed out on the real estate boom maybe I should do something about it.

How does a mid-20's guy with a wife and a baby on the way with about $50k in combined student loans, 3.5 years left on a car loan, living in a basement suite, making a combined yearly income of about $75k (until maternity leave at least) turn things around and get on board in today's hot real estate market in Calgary?

Oh, and please don't say work hard, save money, invest wisely and be patient. I want a solution now, dammit!

I think that the key here is how much money you can put on a down-payment. If you can scrap this together somehow then you can get into the market. Chances are that while the cost of a home is more than renting, it doesn't have to be much more. I moved to Calgary from a smaller city, and when we made the purchase it hurt. But over time it gets easier and you make due by living within your means.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Are you involved with this program? No offence, but the website looks like a scam. Or possibly a scammola. You sure I wouldn't be better off just sending one dollar to Happy Guy?

ahh nope, not a scam.
it provides very good information about the Alberta Real Estate market.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

The thing is that the longer a place like Canada is settled and established the more difficult it will become to afford housing. If I went to the UK and wanted to buy a house good luck to me. People over there who are land owners usually require some type of help from their families who have been established there for 5 or more generations accumulating wealth.

Chances are that housejunk will stand to benefit from the fact that his parents own a lot of property's one day and saw a large increase in value. It's been happening in other countries for century's where they keep moving the wealth forward to the next generation.

Young people today do have a tough time getting into their first house especially with today's prices. Theres also so many other things out there to take your money from you like cars, credit cards, cell phones, student loans, loans to go to Mexico, interest free loans for T.V. etc. It's as if creditors are too willing to put people into debt for their own good. I compare myself to other people I know who are my age and think I'm doing well. I had more than 10% down on my house, I only have one vehichle loan and it's a 4 year loan, and just took a L.O.C. to do a few home renovations. But than I realize I'm probably further in debt than my parents ever were in terms of total dollars. Still that doesn't mean I can't have it all paid off in 10 years. I might have to pay more to get things, but I also have a lot more knowlege and information available to me in terms of how to build wealth than they did too.

I'd have more sympathy for that argument if my father hadn't started at absolutely zero - our family once lived in a small shack that later became our one (1) car garage - and if I hadn't started at absolutely zero myself.

My father built a duplex in a small Alberta town in 1962 for the seemingly outrageous price of $13,000 . . . . he needed a long, long mortgage for that one.

It's all relative.

And no, if I have wealth today in my hilltop aerie southwest of the city, I don't feel that its an "illusion" since its certainly real and certainly more than zero . . . and I certainly remember what zero looks like. It's also worth more than the house I originally owned in Wildwood in Calgary in the 1990's just as that was certainly worth more than the house I owned in Grande Prairie in the 1980's.

Scratch and claw, make your priorities, put in the time . . . . I also remember the early 80's when it seemed like everyone around me was getting rich when I wasn't. I know all about that feeling.

Sorry, I'll acknowledge its a tight market right now but I really don't have much sympathy for this at all.

Put in the time.

Cowperson

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Sample00

ahh nope, not a scam.
it provides very good information about the Alberta Real Estate market.

Well then they're keeping overhead low by resisting the allure of fancy, well-designed websites...

[Lurch]

As a counterpoint hinted at by some, home ownership is on the rise in Canada and has been for the 30 years that I could find statistics. Home ownership is at 67% today, compared to 63% in 1991. Perception does not fit the reality in this case. Further, home ownership is actually higher in many European countries than Canada and the US (Spain, UK, Ireland, and Belgium are near 80%.)

[Slava]

I have to say that I agree with Cowperson here. I am young and in the middle of building something from nothing....it certainly has its moments!

But the fact is that there are a lot of people my age or younger who think that they should have a nice home with all of the toys and be able to take a vacation every year and not have to put in the time to get there. The reality is that while your parents afforded this type of luxury they took years to get to that point. If you own a home now with hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity then you have an enormous advantage to do what you want to do in life.

[Tron_fdc]

Man, I feel sorry for people who aren't in the market. I can't imagine trying to put together enough cash to buy nything right now.

My sister has been trying to buy a place for a year now, and it's at the point where she might have to split a mortgage with 2 other people in order to raise enough money to do it, seeing as they can't find a house that's "OK" for less than 350. I bought my first condo with a friend 6 years ago for $120k......the same condo right now is almost 3 times that amount. I thought $120 was robbery at the time.

If I was a mid 20's bachelor I think I might work up north for a year, save some cash, and then take off to somewhere more affordable. Even the interior of BC seems cheper right now! Move to Elko or something, or into an old home in Sicamous. Even with all the BC tax it's gotta be a cheaper place to live than here.

[Lurch]

If I was a mid 20's bachelor I think I might work up north for a year, save some cash, and then take off to somewhere more affordable. Even the interior of BC seems cheper right now! Move to Elko or something, or into an old home in Sicamous. Even with all the BC tax it's gotta be a cheaper place to live than here.

Interestingly, this is exactly how my grandfather purchased his first house and quarter section, except it took 3 years not 1. Three years in a remote logging workcamp, supporting a wife and kid back home who he never saw for months at a time. But I guess that's the point - it was never easy as much as people want to believe otherwise.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by photon

Pretty much no one did. I knew people what were predicting a run up due to the economics of the province, but not the 40+% we saw.

This year is going to be similar as well, January saw a 5% increase in single family homes in Calgary already. CMHC (who is usually ultra-conservative in their predictions) is even calling for 38% for 2007.

November and December saw a bit of a downswing (as it always does), and that would have been a decent time to buy. Otherwise I don't think anyone would be making a mistake even if they bought now.

No and that's my mindset - that if I don't buy now, a year from now it'll be even worse.

Basically the decision point I'm at is buy now, or come to terms with the fact that I will be leaving Calgary in the next few years to become a home owner elsewhere.

My main concern right now is that if I do this now, I will leave myself with little to no margin of error. I work in an industry that is highly unstable and I could find myself out of work without much notice (and I realize that job stability is very uncommon now so this is nothing particulary unique) - that concerns me, when I will have to basically take my nest egg down to virtually nothing to make this happen.

If I choose instead to rent for a year, I can add to my savings and then sometime down the road in the next couple of years take that savings and take it to another market where I can get way more house for my buck.

Decisions decisions.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by photon

You just answered your own question. Rather than complaining about the strongest economy this country has ever seen in its entire history, take advantage of it. Take some equity out of the house, invest it in some other real estate, and profit from it. It's not like this kind of economy or opportunity comes along very often. There's tons of people who will give you a 50% stake in real estate and you have to do nothing other than invest your cash.

Because the crash you hope for isn't coming, not for a good while at least.

Listen up people... This guy gets it.

As for the crash, don't hold your breath Housejunk. Prices aren't coming down because all they did and are continuing to do is adjust themselves to where they should be.
I was going to go on about prices in Vancouver and Toronto, but photon done went and beat me to it.

Photon, my crystal ball tells me that you're going to be well off by the time you retire (and that'll probably be younger than guys like housejunk).

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

No and that's my mindset - that if I don't buy now, a year from now it'll be even worse.

Basically the decision point I'm at is buy now, or come to terms with the fact that I will be leaving Calgary in the next few years to become a home owner elsewhere.

My main concern right now is that if I do this now, I will leave myself with little to no margin of error. I work in an industry that is highly unstable and I could find myself out of work without much notice (and I realize that job stability is very uncommon now so this is nothing particulary unique) - that concerns me, when I will have to basically take my nest egg down to virtually nothing to make this happen.

If I choose instead to rent for a year, I can add to my savings and then sometime down the road in the next couple of years take that savings and take it to another market where I can get way more house for my buck.

Decisions decisions.

The thing is though, that if you believe that the housing market will continue to be strong, then job security shouldn't be that big of an issue.

If you lose your job at least you have increased equity in your home which you could presumably sell at a profit and take with you somewhere else. If you don't lose your job then you are still going to save money on your home now, and if you decide to move elsewhere anyway, you still have the increase equity in your home to take with you.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fredr123

How does a mid-20's guy with a wife and a baby on the way with about $50k in combined student loans, 3.5 years left on a car loan, living in a basement suite, making a combined yearly income of about $75k (until maternity leave at least) turn things around and get on board in today's hot real estate market in Calgary?

My cousin and his wife just bought a house with no money down. For the first 12 months his mortgage payments are something crazy like $1800, then they settle down to $1400. They bought in November, and their house value has easily gone up by $30K.

Talk to your parents or grandparents. Do they have money they have sitting there waiting for them to pass away to will to you? Would they be willing to part with some of it, or give you some sort of loan to get you on your feet?

I watch prices where I live in McKenzie Towne, and they are already back on their way up. Do whatever you can now to get in on the ground floor, and then you are insulated.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

No and that's my mindset - that if I don't buy now, a year from now it'll be even worse.

Basically the decision point I'm at is buy now, or come to terms with the fact that I will be leaving Calgary in the next few years to become a home owner elsewhere.

My main concern right now is that if I do this now, I will leave myself with little to no margin of error. I work in an industry that is highly unstable and I could find myself out of work without much notice (and I realize that job stability is very uncommon now so this is nothing particulary unique) - that concerns me, when I will have to basically take my nest egg down to virtually nothing to make this happen.

If I choose instead to rent for a year, I can add to my savings and then sometime down the road in the next couple of years take that savings and take it to another market where I can get way more house for my buck.

Decisions decisions.

We found a really nice basement suite for really cheap. We've decided, at least for the time being, to continue being renters. Because of the cheap rent, we've been able to pay down our debts a lot faster than many. We haven't put much at all into savings but focused on reducing debt. Our hope is that as our debt goes down, savings will go up as will my income. At some point we'll be in a position to enter the market... just not for a couple years.