Owning a Home is Becoming More Expensive

You don’t have to be a resident of Toronto to know that residential property prices are continuously going up. While inflation is expected, the fact of the matter is that home shoppers are getting the shock of a lifetime when they look at the sticker price of the average starter home. In addition to real estate prices going up, being a homeowner, in general, is becoming tougher on multiple fronts. For a lot of people, owning a home is taking longer than expected and many more compromises have to be made. Explore when owning a home is becoming more expensive and see if you can make the journey to homeownership more manageable for yourself.

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Making Concessions During the Home Shopping Process

As real estate prices have gone up, homebuyer expectations have gone down. Couples originally looking to purchase a three or four-bedroom house on a modest plot of land have instead been turned toward condos and townhouses. Home shoppers looking to shorten their commute to work regularly consider changing their places of employment or even consider working remotely. The truth is that home costs are going up, and they are rising faster than expected so it has become difficult for shoppers to save what they need to purchase comparable properties. 

Why Home Insurance Is a Big Consideration

If you intend for your residential property to be a long-term investment then you cannot go without home insurance. In fact, many homeowners’ and condo associations require buyers to keep home insurance on their property at all times. There is one problem though. It’s getting more expensive to insure your home. Expect to spend a bigger portion of your paycheck on home insurance as everything about being a homeowner is becoming seriously challenging. At the same time, you aren’t powerless to manage home insurance costs. There’re steps that you can take such as getting quotes or reducing the amount of coverage you keep on your property. Also, realize that many different home improvements can have a significant impact on homeowners’ insurance rates.

The Flipside of Rising Residential Property Costs

Just as owning a home is becoming more expensive, selling property is becoming a lot more lucrative for homeowners. It is very unlikely that the real estate industry in Canada or North America as a whole is going to see a slump anytime soon. This means a couple of things for homeowners. Number one, you are going to see the equity in your home go up a lot faster. Number two, if and when you do decide to sell your home, you should be able to get a lot more for your property than you initially purchased it for. This makes moving into a bigger or more expensive property a lot more feasible.

Overall, pretty much every tangible good has become more expensive over the last few years. Home costs are expected to rise, which makes the reality of being a homeowner more expensive as well. The good news is that you can still manage your expenses by doing things like buying a distressed property, installing solar panels, or putting in a state-of-the-art security system to keep your overhead low.