Average mortgage load for the average Calgarian?

[Choice]

Hey guys,
Just wanted to get some thoughts on the average mortgage for the average joe living in Calgary. I'm mulling over a move that will tack on $150K+ to my current mortgage.

Checked out this site:
http://www.canequity.com/alberta/calgary-mortgages.htm

Not sure how accurate the $213K is after considering the average home is around the $430K mark. Plus a downpayment between 10% to 20% for most folks. So maybe around the $350K figure?

[Masked Bandit]

The average also takes into consideration the people that are mortgage free and the people that bought 15 years ago and have $15,000 left to pay off.

I think you may want to look at it as a factor of your household income. In our case the mortage is about 2.5 years the total household (pre-tax) income.

[Vanish3d]

All I know is that anyone that didn't buy a house prior to the big boom (like myself...) is completely FUCKED!
the cheapest OK house you can get now is 300K and thats nothing great. Plues need downpayment

Mortgage payments on 300K is around 1800 a month, + property tax + utilities + home insurance, you are looking at a total of over $2500 a month

If you are making 50K a year then you are clearing (after taxes and decuctions) approximately 2800/month .... so that means you have 300/month for EVERYTHING else (unless your wife/gf works). A lot of people dont even make 50K /year specially now.. so ya... we are screwed

[ragu]

Originally posted by Vanish3d
All I know is that anyone that didn't buy a house prior to the big boom (like myself...) is completely FUCKED!
the cheapest OK house you can get now is 300K and thats nothing great. Plues need downpayment

Mortgage payments on 300K is around 1800 a month, + property tax + utilities + home insurance, you are looking at a total of over $2500 a month

If you are making 50K a year then you are clearing (after taxes and decuctions) approximately 2800/month .... so that means you have 300/month for EVERYTHING else (unless your wife/gf works). A lot of people dont even make 50K /year specially now.. so ya... we are screwed

wrong. Mortgage on 300k is 1400 per month and I only know 3 couples where both partners don't work. You gotta get your shit straight....buy stuff that you really want and need. Dont waste money and all. Its not hard to save up for another down payment, move up and put your previous house on rent.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Vanish3d
A lot of people dont even make 50K /year specially now.. so ya...

If you chose a safe industry, not attached to oil/gas, then you're still making $50k+. Hell my wife makes that, and she has no post-secondary education at all.

Also, once again in a mortgage thread I have to remind people... the average first home buyers age in Canada is 31... NOT 21. We saw a very abnormal time, in which young people were getting paid exorbitant amounts of money, and were fortunate enough to get in the market.

You aren't screwed if you didn't buy before the boom, you just have to face the fact you missed out on a great opportunity, and will actually have to EARN your house.

(yes, pre-boom buyer here, but I KNOW it was pure luck, I wasn't expecting to buy until my late 20's, my wife and I just kind of fell into buying a good house, at a good price)

[bulaian]

Originally posted by Vanish3d
All I know is that anyone that didn't buy a house prior to the big boom (like myself...) is completely FUCKED!
the cheapest OK house you can get now is 300K and thats nothing great. Plues need downpayment

Mortgage payments on 300K is around 1800 a month, + property tax + utilities + home insurance, you are looking at a total of over $2500 a month

If you are making 50K a year then you are clearing (after taxes and decuctions) approximately 2800/month .... so that means you have 300/month for EVERYTHING else (unless your wife/gf works). A lot of people dont even make 50K /year specially now.. so ya... we are screwed

you've got to be kidding me... i'd rather be buying or building a house right now. builders are offers thousands of dollars in upgrades to build a new house

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Choice
Not sure how accurate the $213K is after considering the average home is around the $430K mark. Plus a downpayment between 10% to 20% for most folks. So maybe around the $350K figure?

Maybe if everyone bought their first house yesterday.

[Choice]

So pretty much agreed, anyone buying post-boom nowadays is looking at mortgage probably around $300's to $400's. Had a coworker who's mortgage broker told him $400K was about the middle of the road.

Got to admit, being tied to a 25-30 yr mortgage is pretty depressing. But, that's the cost of living - not a whole lot we can do about it.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Vanish3d
A lot of people dont even make 50K /year specially now.. so ya... we are screwed

People who make under $50k/year will have to accept that Calgary might not be a good place for them to own a single family home with just one income.

Perhaps consider a condo in the suburbs if you don't like renting anymore.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by Choice
Got to admit, being tied to a 25-30 yr mortgage is pretty depressing. But, that's the cost of living - not a whole lot we can do about it.

Yes, you can move where the cost of living is lower. You just have to have an understanding of what it is you wish to obtain in life... be it money, a big house, a nice view, semi-retirement, etc.

I'm moving to Vancouver Island next summer, to Campbell River, one of the last remaining centres on the Island with a low cost of living... forget slaving away in Calgary for the next 25 years, that's not my idea of a good time at all. I'm timing the move to coincide with my 10 year anniversary in Calgary... it's been a good place to live, but it's time to move on.

Of course, I won't be making the same kind of money, but I'm going for the lifestyle, not the money, otherwise I would just stay here.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by ragu


wrong. Mortgage on 300k is 1400 per month and I only know 3 couples where both partners don't work. You gotta get your shit straight....buy stuff that you really want and need. Dont waste money and all. Its not hard to save up for another down payment, move up and put your previous house on rent.

It can work man. I always point to my fob cousins. Don't go out, don't eat out, don't buy clothes. They eat at work (restaurant), wear hand me down clothes, drive a POS car, rent out the basement etc. I know this is harder to do for most who grew up here so just saying.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by Choice
But, that's the cost of living - not a whole lot we can do about it.

You could always rent (and wait).

[whodiman]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


If you chose a safe industry, not attached to oil/gas, then you're still making $50k+. Hell my wife makes that, and she has no post-secondary education at all.

Also, once again in a mortgage thread I have to remind people... the average first home buyers age in Canada is 31... NOT 21. We saw a very abnormal time, in which young people were getting paid exorbitant amounts of money, and were fortunate enough to get in the market.

You aren't screwed if you didn't buy before the boom, you just have to face the fact you missed out on a great opportunity, and will actually have to EARN your house.

(yes, pre-boom buyer here, but I KNOW it was pure luck, I wasn't expecting to buy until my late 20's, my wife and I just kind of fell into buying a good house, at a good price)

Two things I couldn't help pointing out.

1. There are way more single income families than you think. I personally know of several.

2. Salaries under 50K is also very common and in fact the majority of the salaries are below that.

There are tons of people who come here who don't have good language skills so regardless of their PHD, are making very little money. Where my wife works only the managers make more than 50k which is less than 1% of the staff. In fact, during Xmas I work part time at a job where most of the staff have a HOUSEHOLD income of under 50k. I don't think everyone knows how blessed they are. The last thing they are thinking about is having enough to buy a house.

[sputnik]

Why should one who makes $50k/year automatically insist that they should be able to afford a house on that income alone?

Since when was owning a detached single family home a right just because you make $50k/year?

At the end of the day, if you only make $50k/year you will probably need a second income to buy a house.

However you should be able to find condos in the suburbs without any problems. There are lots of 2 bedroom condos under $200k in Calgary.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by sputnik
Why should one who makes $50k/year automatically insist that they should be able to afford a house on that income alone?

Since when was owning a detached single family home a right just because you make $50k/year?

At the end of the day, if you only make $50k/year you will probably need a second income to buy a house.

However you should be able to find condos in the suburbs without any problems. There are lots of 2 bedroom condos under $200k in Calgary.

the simple fact that 5 -7 years ago, you could easily buy a house with a 50k Salary, and with the sudden and extreme shift in the housing market, it priced people out of the market so fast, most could not react to it.

Hell, in '01 when my parents built a house with double attached garage for $188k, i thought they were friggin nuts, but last i heard, it has sold for $430k 2 years ago.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by spikers
the simple fact that 5 -7 years ago, you could easily buy a house with a 50k Salary, and with the sudden and extreme shift in the housing market, it priced people out of the market so fast, most could not react to it.

Hell, in '01 when my parents built a house with double attached garage for $188k, i thought they were friggin nuts, but last i heard, it has sold for $430k 2 years ago.

Calgary was also severely underpriced prior to the sharp rise in prices that began in 2006.

You couldn't "easily" buy a 200K on a 50K salary either. Back in 2004 when I bought my first place, I was making 50K and had a $200K mortgage and it was a $1200/mo payment, not including property taxes, insurance & utilities, which brought that figure up around $1,800 a month.

At the time, I had a $450/mo car payment too, so getting qualified was very difficult and I had to do a little manuevering just to get into the place.

Yeah, it was possible to buy in with a $50K salary provided you had no other bills to pay, but that isn't typical for most people. That's why I took in renters, who have been there for 5 years now, and have paid off a good chunk of my mortgage, in addition to giving me the flexibility to buy a 2nd home, a full rental.

Really... who wants to be house poor? That's just dumb.

You can do fine in Calgary on a $50K mortgage... but you have to adjust your sights a little. You can scoop up semi-detached homes in the NE between the $200K & $225K mark... quite a few of them... or like was suggested... go further out and get into a condo.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by spikers


the simple fact that 5 -7 years ago, you could easily buy a house with a 50k Salary, and with the sudden and extreme shift in the housing market, it priced people out of the market so fast, most could not react to it.

Hell, in '01 when my parents built a house with double attached garage for $188k, i thought they were friggin nuts, but last i heard, it has sold for $430k 2 years ago.

However most people that were making $50k back in 2001 are probably making close to double that now.

Nowadays you can make $50k with almost no education. The base level IT techs are making $50k where I work and they do little more than fix computers and printers. Back in 2001 they were probably making under $30k.

Welcome to Calgary.

If you want you can move to a city with cheaper houses. However my guess is that you will probably be paid much less to do the same job.

[sputnik]

The thing to consider...

The housing market is self correcting.

If houses are too expensive, nobody buys them and prices go down.

[Chandler_Racing]

Originally posted by ragu


wrong. Mortgage on 300k is 1400 per month and I only know 3 couples where both partners don't work. You gotta get your shit straight....buy stuff that you really want and need. Dont waste money and all. Its not hard to save up for another down payment, move up and put your previous house on rent.

Have you taken into consideration amortization period or interests rates?

There really is no "right" amount without those factors.

[spikerS]

price correction or underpriced is bullshit, it was all about greed.

calgary is calgary, not toronto, not vancouver or montreal, and thankfully not edmonton either.

I am not going to debate the scenario, but the "undervalued" and "price correction" arguments are the biggest cop out out there.