Saving for a First Home While Paying for Hockey? Here Is What a $400,000 Place Really Costs Each Month

It is Monday morning. The rent just went out again, the hockey registration reminder is sitting in your inbox, and you are wondering if owning a home is something that happens to other families.

We get it. We are at the same arenas. In the example below, a hockey family finds out in five minutes what a first home really costs each month, and the number is closer than they thought.

What is happening locally

Norfolk County has been working through a big water and wastewater funding challenge, and Port Dover has a known water capacity issue. When servicing is tight, fewer new homes can get built, and that keeps the supply of starter homes tight for first-time buyers. Delhi and Nanticoke have tended to be the more affordable entry points. So waiting for the perfect moment can be its own cost.

The family and the real numbers

Two parents, one kid in hockey, one in dance. They rent for $1,900 a month. They have found a $400,000 home and have about $20,000 saved, which is 5 percent.

With 5 percent down the mortgage is $380,000, plus about $15,200 in default insurance that gets added to the mortgage. That makes it $395,200. At an example rate of 4.45 percent over 25 years, the payment is about $2,176. Add roughly $450 for property tax and heat, and the total is about $2,626.

Let me be honest. That is about $726 a month more than the $1,900 rent. It is not nothing. But the reframe is this. Rent buys you nothing at the end. In the first year of that mortgage, roughly $4,100 of the payments goes to principal, which is you paying yourself. And the rent will keep going up.

Make it easier

Two moves can shrink the gap. First, a First Home Savings Account lets you put in up to $8,000 a year, and it is tax deductible. For a couple that is real tax back. Second, a bigger down payment cuts the insurance. The lender will also test you at a higher qualifying rate, in this example about 6.45 percent, so we check that early and not after you fall in love with a house.

Sometimes the answer is yes now. Sometimes it is yes in 12 months with a plan. Either way you leave knowing your number, instead of guessing.

We never want you to say no to your kids and their sports. Once you are in your home, I introduce you to my partners who help you protect it and keep building wealth. I coached my own kids, and I want to be your coach for years, at the same arenas.