The shrewd first-time buyer

Melissa Carr, a 37-year- old communications professional from Vancouver, always knew she’d own a house. But in Canada’s most competitive housing market in 2008, finding the right place was a long and difficult process. “We’re a young family. Me, my husband, and two children. I grew up in a family of homeowners and was always told the one life asset one should strive for is a house. It was always ‘ land, land, land.’ So that was the goal.

“We bought our first house in Vancouver about 12 years ago, sight unseen, for under $250,000. We rented it out and that covered the mortgage and allowed us to save while we lived elsewhere. We sold it a year later and made $ 70,000 ( profit), but we still couldn’t afford to buy a house on the west side, where we had always lived and wanted to stay.

“We bought a condo there instead. Two years later, our daughter was born. We sold the condo when I became pregnant with our son and searched for another house. It had to be under $700,000, but there was really nothing on the west side for that price, so we began looking in East Vancouver. That was in 2008.

“The search took four months. We made offers on houses but always lost out. Then we found a 100-year-old wooden house that had been a rental for a long time and needed renovations. The basement suite was disgusting. I told our real estate agent, ‘ This is going to be the next neighbourhood for millennials.’ He said, ‘Oh, I don’t know about that, kid.’

“We made an offer right away, $70,000 over asking, no conditions. We felt crazy at the time, but it was affordable and we had money saved so we could renovate. Our house has doubled in price, far beyond what we ever imagined, and the neighbourhood has turned out to be great.

“We’ve been lucky. We went from starter house to forever house in a pretty short time. We got in early. But we had a plan that we followed, and we’ve always lived within our means. No big toys, no big trips. There’s security knowing we have this long-term investment.”

WE GOT IN EARLY

Melissa Carr