LiViNG - Georgia Straight

long as you don’t mind the
commute,” says Sam, who
works for Sutton Group –
West Coast Realty. “The
numbers are great—you
can get a brand-spankingnew
home in a nice neighbourhood
for $200,000.”
Many $400,000 pads are
also staying on the market
longer and eventually dropping
10 percent. Interestingly,
though, we’re not seeing
a whole lot of movement in
$500,000 listings.
There are other challenges
for single-income
newbies. The industry
maximum of a 40-year
amortization period has
also dropped. If you buy
right now, you’re probably
looking at a 35-year mortgage,
but most experts expect
that to go as low as 30
in the near future. And having
to dole out more cash
per month in a shorter period
means it’s going to be
tougher for a single person
to obtain a mortgage. Under
those circumstances,
lenders would prefer two
peeps on the title. But overall,
the consensus seems to
be it’s a great time to get
into the market.
“I think everybody got a
really nice ride,” say Sam
of sellers and realtors who
made a killing with the skyrocketing
prices of yesteryear.
“But the numbers are
going back to where I think
they typically should have
been in the fi rst place.”
And as for waiting for
marriage before taking
on a mortgage, Sam feels
that’s just not the best fi nancial
decision to be making.
“That used to be an
order of things,” says
Sam before adding: “But
not anymore.” -
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