Are we ready to be homeowners?

I'm not so sure.

We really can't stay where we are because of the lack of space and the fact that we technically only have one parking spot. When Pearl called to tell us that the lease on her parking spot was up for the year and if we wanted to renew she wanted $150/month (we paid $100/month last year), that really lit a fire under us to get out of this apartment. Right now Mike is parking in a lot around the corner for $70/month but he's really reluctant to walk over there to get his car and we've been carpooling every day lately. Plus, no matter how much we protest about getting "stuff" as gifts for the wedding, inevitably it will happen and we honestly don't have any place to put anything else. The Toronto Star had an article yesterday saying that housing prices are going up 12% every year, which means that even if we waited another year to build a bigger downpayment, we couldn't possibly keep up with this inflation so it's better to buy now and stop renting as soon as we can. Also in the back of my mind is the fact that neither of us has a permanent job at the moment. I know we will eventually, but for now we don't. So is this really a time to be getting a mortgage? And the wedding... oh the wedding... many bills are to come in the next few months.

We got pre-approved for a mortgage yesterday. We were basically given what we asked for, at a rate of 5.3%. I don't know if this is good. Most people think so and a very slight few think we may be able to do better if we go through a mortgage broker.

Today we are going to a preview event for some condo townhouses on the Miss/Oakville border. It's the same builder as the high-rise we live in now, but it's unique in that all the units are pre-built. Mike and I took a drive there last week and made it around the circle twice before the security guy stopped our car and told us that we can't be in there due to the construction still going on. They look nice from the outside. They're nothing like our dream home, but they are nice enough and I think the real value is what will be inside in the finishing. It will be fine for our first home. Affordable too, finally! It just baffles me that it costs less to buy a brand new home than to buy one that's 5-10 years old in the same square footage.

We viewed the model homes for two communities up the street from us a couple of days ago. The 3 bdrm units were selling for upwards of $380k! The houses were really nothing special either. There wasn't anything we could afford in the whole place.

Yesterday we drove all the way north to another condo community by the 407. Their prices were more reasonable. Actually, $10-20k less than what we'll be looking at today... but once we got there we found out why - they are under a busy flight path for Pearson airport and beside a slew of power lines! It's hard to pass up nice places at good prices, but I think it's just not safe to live near planes and powerlines for a long time and it will be harder to re-sell the house later on too.

So that brings us back to the preview event today. I don't much like the high-pressure sales tactics... we are being given a preview because I pre-registered a long time ago, and the houses go on sale Saturday morning! Can we decide on buying a house in 48 hours? Yikes. However, I don't think we'll be able to get a better deal than this any time soon. Decisions, decisions....