The news these days tells us that people are clamouring for property in Vancouver and Toronto. While other markets in Canada may not be as heated, they are still active. With all this interest in real estate, especially the way it is depicted in the media, it is presented as if anybody can get into the market. It is almost forgotten by some that the first-time purchase of a home is not as easy as it is made out to be. No one should ever overlook that buying a property for the first time means making a huge investment. It means finding a truck load of money for a down payment.
For many first-time home buyers, that money comes from family members. Mostly mothers and fathers. Sometimes one spouse or the other has the capital to put up for a couple’s first foray into the housing market. Even then, the spouse’s money often originally comes from their family. Some media suggest that from one-third to 40 per cent of all first-time buyers get family help to buy a home. I think that is far underestimated and it’s closer to 50 per cent or even more.
That still leaves half of first-time buyers who must get their down payments the old fashioned way, by saving for years and years. Many Canadian couples do that. Some families go all in together. Uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers and sisters, everybody chips in to save for the down payment of a big house for all. This is, I think, becoming more common.
First-time home buyers are lucky. They are lucky to have a family that is able to help them, or they are lucky to have jobs that permit them to set aside money for a down payment. They are lucky to have the education necessary to get a good job that will pay them enough money to do that. Even if they don’t have a good education or a completed apprenticeship to a profession, then some still get lucky by finagling a good paying job. Chances of that happening without a good education or apprenticeship are slim but it can happen. With luck.
If you are lucky in this way, you must never forget that there are millions of Canadians who are not. Do not take your good fortune for granted. A lot of people don’t have family to help them. A lot of people don’t have a good education, even a basic education or a chance at an apprenticeship. A lot of people only have enough money to live month to month and even day to day. There are so many in our society who are disabled and cannot earn money. There are so many in our world who unable to do any work. Many just aren’t as lucky as others.
In a recent newspaper article, a very bright young man was featured. He lived in the suburbs of a major city and spent two hours commuting each way to the downtown area to work in a fast food restaurant that paid him minimum wage. On weekends, he worked at another fast food outlet, again for minimum wages. He was an excellent worker, very good at his job. He lived frugally and just managed to get by after paying his rent and buying groceries. He had no education, no family to help him and no prospects of a better job. The most amazing thing about this young man is that he was very happy. He had come from another country where poverty was far more severe than anything he was experiencing in Canada. He thinks he’s lucky. He couldn’t even afford a car, let alone a house.
This young man was very inspiring to me. It made me think of how many people I have come upon who have good jobs but do haphazard work, yet get away with it and still collect a very good wage. It made me think of how many people I have met who took for granted that their mom and dad helped them buy a house and still complained that they couldn’t get one as big as they wanted or did not find one in the location they wanted when they first entered the market.
There are a lot of rules and regulations that a Realtor must carry out today to get their license and keep it up to date. I wish that one rule was at the top of the list. It would be that Realtors have to tell their clients right after they buy their first home, “You know what? You’re damn lucky to get this place!”
Heino Molls has been the Publisher of REM, Real Estate Magazine (formerly Real Estate Marketing), since 1989. Previous to REM, he worked as an executive at the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), and at the Toronto Star. Contact Heino by email or call 416-425-3504 x2.
