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MORTGAGE OVERLOAD

Soaring house prices have made Canadians wealthy on paper, but what are households giving up in order to make their mortgage payments? As part of our package on the financial squeeze being felt by Canadian homeowners, we profiled six families across the country to see how they are coping.

Name and age: Timothy Turner, 53

Location: London, Ont.

Family description: Widower. Two daughters, one living at home

Price paid for home: $610,000, earlier this year

Outstanding mortgage balance: $498,000

Non-mortgage debts: About $10,000 as a result of recent renovations to prepare the property for tenants.

Biggest monthly non-housing expense: Groceries

Are you regularly putting money away for savings or investments? Saving about $500 a month

If you had to find $3,000 for an emergency, where would it come from? Line of credit

Biggest joy you have as a homeowner: Tackling renovations to restore the Victorian character to the house.

Biggest financial regret as a homeowner: No regrets, but concerns that “things may get away from me.”

Timothy Turner, 53, sees a lot of potential in the old Victorian duplex he bought earlier this year, but restoring the charm and getting one part ready for tenants has come with hefty costs.

Repointing the brick alone was nearly $10,000, and then there were repairs to the back deck and picking up some furniture for himself. So far, it has been manageable, but he has some lingering concerns.

"Let's say a rafter breaks, or something major on this house goes – I'd worry that I'd have to have some room in the line of credit that I don't have. That's the big thing," Mr. Turner said.

There are some areas where Mr. Turner doesn't mind being frugal. "One of the ways of scrimping is to make as much food as possible, freeze it and don't order pizza." He likes to cook large portions on Sundays – squash soup is a favourite. That not only saves on eating out costs, but also cuts back on the unhealthy salt and fat pervasive in most fast food, he said.

Still, for Mr. Turner, some life experiences are worth spending on. Right now, the part of his monthly savings that's not going toward RRSPs is channelled into his travel fund. This spring, he will set off on a five-week walk through northern Spain, following the path of a religious pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago. It's a major trip that will mean taking some time off work.

"I'm going to take four extra weeks and not get paid and go out and do Barcelona, and I've got a friend in Santorini, so I'll go visit there," he said.

He's also planning more repairs and design changes to his home. "Like many old houses, it has been renovated way too many times," he said. The latest renovations veered toward industrial modern design, including a graffiti art fireplace. He hopes to restore some of the original character in the coming years. "I'm going to try to do most of it myself," he said.

Photo by Mark Blinch for The Globe and Mail




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