Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Owning a Home

Owning a Home is Not For Everyone is an article by Ben Carlson on his site of A Wealth of Common Sense. Ben Carlson gives the pros and cons about buying a house and whether it might be worthwhile to rent. Some of the basic stuff would apply to us and Toronto.

I grew up living in houses. First, I lived as a kid in the Pape/Danforth area. I loved living in this area. Then when I was a young teen my parents moved to what was then a suburb of Thornhill. They loved it because we had a half acre lot. I hated it. There was nothing to do and I had to go to High School via the TTC to Thornhill Secondary School. The buses ran every 40 minutes in rush hour as I remember.

After I graduated from Grade 12, my parents went on holidays and I moved to Toronto and got a job and refused to go back home. My parents go over it, eventually. I was lucky because this was 1964 and a woman having a degree did not help much in business. I started at $54.00 a week. A woman with a degree started at the same time and got a few more dollars a week than me but did basically the same work as me. (Of course, men at that time were hired as Management Trainees.)

I was lucky because I worked for a Life Insurance company that would pay for any College or University course an employee would take if they passed the course. I took fully advantage of this going to Ryerson and taking some math and computer courses and then to U of T for a variety of courses including accounting. I ended up in a good IT job.

When I moved back to Toronto, I used shared-accommodation ads in the Toronto Star to find roommates. I shared a number of 2 bedroom apartments with 4 other girls, until I moved to where I am now which is a three bedroom that I started off sharing with 2 other girls. It was great fun sharing an apartment. I am still friends with some of the women I shared with. I discovered I loved apartment living.

When I decided to live with my future husband, I was only living in the 3 bedroom apartment with one other girl. My future husband moved in and my girlfriend moved out. Because it was a three bedroom apartment, it was no problem staying when I got pregnant.

I must confess I did have a cottage at one time. I bought it with the life insurance I got paid after my husband died. My sister was a school teacher at the time and she offered to look after my son for each summer if I got one in her area, which was Kingston. I sold it when my son was older and did not want to go to the cottage anymore. I must admit that when I had it, there was always something that needed repair each year. But in the end, I sold it for more than I paid for it.

I think about buying a condo every once in a while, and maybe someday I will. But I love apartment living and I love the area I live in. I think whether your rent or buy has a lot to do with your preferred life style. I would never buy a house, but I might consider a condo in the right area.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Barclays PLC ADR (LSE-BARC, NYSE-BCS) ... learn more. Next, I will write about SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF) ... learn more on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

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