Maria Mak/Burnaby Realtor - 6 key things to consider before buying your family home

There comes a time in every parent’s life when the home they have loved for years suddenly feels too small.

It may happen with the birth of their first child, or it might not happen until baby number two or even three makes an appearance. But at some point, it does happen. These small bundles of joy require a surprising amount of stuff, which can suddenly make the space you are living in feel too cramped. You start daydreaming about more bedrooms, a second bathroom, maybe even a yard.

When the time does come to upsize your family home, here are some things you should definitely consider.

Bedroom Placement

You know you want a three-bedroom home, but what’s also important is where those three bedrooms are located within the home.

If you have young children, you’ll probably want to have all those bedrooms located on the same floor. If the master bedroom is located on the top floor and the other bedrooms are located on the main, you will have to contend with stairs in the middle of the night, and possibly your children’s fears of sleeping on a different level than you. And if one of the bedrooms is located in the basement and yours is two floors above, forget it. You won’t be able to hear young children if they wake up in the night.

However, if you’re a family with kids in their teens, a bit of separation between bedrooms could be a great solution for you.

Proximity to Work

When you have a family, you want to spend your time with them. If your commute to work takes an hour and a half each way, you are spending three extra hours per day away from your kids for a total of 15 hours per week. That’s a lot of time.

If you can manage it, buying a place a little closer to work, or more conveniently located near transit, could mean many more happy hours spent with your family instead of sitting in traffic.

Neighbourhood

You can change the flooring in your home, but you can’t change your location. It’s important that when you step outside your front door, you are in a neighbourhood you and the rest of your family really like. Whether you’re looking for a sense of community, convenient transit, proximity to amenities and parks, or anything else, it’s important to choose a neighbourhood that will feel like home for you and your family for years to come.

Schools

You probably didn’t think about this before having kids, but now that you do, of course you want them to go to a good school. Perhaps you want a specialty school that focuses on a certain interest. Or a school that offers French immersion, Mandarin, or another language that is important to you.

Before you buy a home, spend some time learning about the catchment and the schools in it. What you learn may confirm just how awesome the neighbourhood really is – or it could lead you to decide that this just isn’t the right neighbourhood for your family.

Outdoor Space

Not every young family can afford a house (or even a half-duplex) in a hot urban real estate market like Vancouver. If you’re in one of these markets, a great alternative is a condo or townhome– and with a little luck, you may score one with a large balcony or patio.

Some complexes have a shared yard or courtyard large enough for your kids to run around and kick a ball, but regardless of whether yours does or not, it never hurts to look for something located a short walk from a public park.

Restrictions and Bylaws

If you are looking at buying an old house to tear down or renovate substantially to make it fit your family’s needs, be sure to check with the city first to make sure that your plan is feasible and won’t be prevented by any local restrictions or bylaws.

These are some of the key considerations for families looking to upsize, but of course there are many others. Discussing your needs, desires and preferences with your partner and your kids, and then with your Realtor, will help you choose the home that’s best for you and your family now and for years to come. 

Maria Mak has been helping her clients in Metro Vancouver and Burnaby for over 25 years with a big heart and with a big smile, contact Maria and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty or visit her website www.mariamak.com, you'll be smiling too!

Premium Real Estate services - *Maria Mak- Metro Vancoucer Realtor/ Burnaby Real Estate Consultant - Sutton Centre Realty*

*Premium real estate services - Maria Mak/Metro Vancoucer Realtor/ Burnaby Real Estate Consultant - Sutton Centre Realty.

Maria has been serving her clients in Metro Vancouver for over 25 years with a big smile, with a big heart, most importantly with passion.

Contact Maria and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty or visit her website www.mariamak.com for all your professional real estate services, you will be smiling too.

On June 1, 2015, mortgage default (MDI) premiums went up for homebuyers who finance their purchase with less than a 10 per cent down payment.

Higher CMHC premiums: much ado about little

On June 1, 2015, mortgage default insurance (MDI) premiums went up for homebuyers who finance their purchase with less than a 10 per cent down payment. This will have little effect on housing affordability or access to mortgage financing. Why?

First off, the hike in MDI premiums is small and limited. It doesn’t apply to mortgages currently insured by CMHC (or applications before June 1st regardless of closing date). Moreover, it doesn’t affect homebuyers with down payments of 10 per cent or more.

What about buyers with less than a 10 per cent down payment? Their premiums went up by 0.45 per cent to 3.6 per cent. The average buyer putting down less than 10 per cent takes out a mortgage for $250,000, finances their purchase with a five-year mortgage rate, and amortizes the loan over 25 years. Let’s use these assumptions in a purchase financing scenario.

Let’s conservatively assume a discounted five-year mortgage interest rate of 2.79 per cent (buyers can currently do better than that) and a five per cent down payment. Under these assumptions, the recent increase in MDI premiums means this buyer is facing higher monthly mortgage payments in the amount of $5.

Some housing markets are more expensive than others, so let’s consider a scenario where the mortgage amounts to $450,000. Using the same financing assumptions as the previous scenario, the recent increase in MDI premiums translates into an increase in monthly mortgage payments of less than $10.

The difference in the amount of equity after five years in both of these scenarios is also negligible. In each case, assuming the market price remains static, buyers will have accumulated an equity stake of between 16 and 17 per cent, with the new higher premiums reducing equity over that time by less than 0.5 per cent.

Imagine if lending regulations were tightened so all home purchases financed with a five-year mortgage interest rate required buyers to qualify at the five- year benchmark rate instead of the contract rate (as at the time of writing, the benchmark rate is nearly 2 per cent higher than the conservatively discounted rate used in the scenarios as above). Or, imagine if the minimum down payment was raised. These regulatory changes would have a drastic effect on the housing market.

As for the effect of the limited and targeted increases in MDI premiums for buyers with less than a 10 per cent down payment? Few potential homebuyers will be sidelined by them. The scenarios above show they amount to one less cup of coffee per week from your favourite coffee shop.

Thankfully, not all moves to tighten mortgage regulations are created equal and the most recent increases are unlikely to derail the housing market. Of course, we remain vigilant and will continue to focus on preventing the kind of big-picture tightening in mortgage regulations that threaten to do so.

Beautiful free standing 3 years young restaurant (property + business) for sale $ 1,100,000

Maria Mak- Burnaby Real Estate Agent - Beautiful free standing 3 years young restaurant (property + business) for sale $ 1,100,000

130 seat restaurant on 33x130 lot situated minutes from beach, tourist promenade, & major resort & hotels. Well designed 2245 sq ft building has high vaulted ceiling, air conditioning, washrooms, generous & well equipped kitchen plus an extra 350 sq ft outdoor covered balcony. 

Currently serving simple but well received menu, recipient of the 2013 Excellence in Culinary Award. Liquor license, suitable for other menus as well. 

It caters to group functions. It is an ideal family run business that prides itself in building a meal from scratch. All foods are prepared in house from fully fresh products & special recipes. All baking is done on site. 

Contact Maria Mak @ 604-839-6368 or visit her website @ www.mariamak.com for more details.