Do Single Home Buyers Face More Challenges Than Couples? – From your Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Do Single Home Buyers Face More Challenges Than Couples? – From your Friendly Mortgage Broker

If you’re a single person and thinking of buying a home, you might be wondering if it’s time to buy a home and what sort of obstacles you could face when applying for a mortgage. As a Vancouver mortgage broker, you will find the following information helpful if you’re single and thinking of taking out a mortgage.

Single people are now much more populous than ever according to the most recent census information provided from Statistics Canada. There are actually more single people who live on their own than married or common law couples who have children. They now make up 27.6% of people of Canadian households and this of course includes Vancouver.

With today’s low mortgage interest rates, buying a home or condo has become a fairly attractive investment prospect for single people. Instead of shelling out a hefty chunk of your income on monthly rent which gives you nothing back, you can invest in a property and reap the awards of building up equity in your home and making money down the road as property appreciates in value over time.

The disadvantage is that the responsibility of ownership and being able to repay the mortgage falls squarely on your shoulders alone. So, if you get laid off from your job and haven’t built up some reserve capital, the going can get quite perilous.

Many experts suggest that you should really only consider buying a property if you feel confident about your future employment prospects. They also suggest that it is also a good idea to only buy a home if you plan to be staying in Vancouver for any length of time such at least for the foreseeable next 3-5 years.

The main reason for the time factor in staying in a city is largely due to the expenses involved in buying a home or condo. You can end up spending as much as 2% of the value of the property you are buying for closing costs.

If you think you might be only staying for a couple of years, and have to sell, you won’t really have gained much from the appreciation on the property and could end up losing money on your investment because of these costs.

Also, you have to consider the down payment you will have to foot. To avoid paying mortgage insurance on top of your closing costs along with the mortgage payment itself, you will need at least 20% as a down payment. As a sizable down payment could put a big hole in your savings, and as ownership adds to your overall monthly expenses, buying a property could have a pretty big impact on your lifestyle.

Careful thought and a lot of extra diligent planning should go into buying a home or condo if you’re single.

Lenders also tend to give a very careful scrutiny to a single person with only one source of income than they do with couples who have multiple sources of income.

You will also need to consider your lifestyle when buying a property. A house requires a lot more extra time and expense to maintain than a condo for example. But, if you’re thinking of buying a condo than remember you will have to pay out extra monthly expenses in condo fees since the building owners are providing all the maintenance.

Many experts suggest you should be prepared to spend as much as $500 – $600 more than you are paying on rent when buying a property, so this needs to be budgeted accordingly.

You should also be prepared to have a potential co signor lined up before you apply for a mortgage, because it is often more common that the lender will require you have one if you are single and considered somewhat borderline on your ability to repay.

If you’re single and need some valuable mortgage advice then come and talk to your friendly Vancouver mortgage broker because we may be able help you out.