The Myplace Playbook // 085

Hey Everyone,

It’s October, and if you have kids in hockey, you’ve probably already been reminded that the registration fee was only the beginning. The skates that fit in March don’t fit now. There’s a tournament out of town (every other weekend?!?), which means a hotel, gas and feeding somebody who apparently burns through a full meal between the rink and the parking lot.

Then your kid announces they need a new stick while holding what appears to be a perfectly good stick. There’s an explanation involving the flex. You’re going to hear all of it.

By the time you’ve looked at the team calendar and added up a few weekends, that first registration payment starts to look quite reasonable. And somewhere in the middle of all this, the truck needs winter tires.

I bring this up because when people start thinking about buying a house, the first question is usually how much they can borrow. It’s a useful number to know. But there’s another number I want to talk about before anyone starts booking showings.

What payment leaves enough room for the life you actually live?

A lender looks at your income, debts, credit and the property when assessing your application. The amount you may qualify for is useful information, but it doesn’t decide how you want to spend the rest of your paycheque. A pre-approval won’t tell you how important those hockey weekends are to your family, or how often you want to visit your parents, or whether you’re willing to give up the summer trip to get another bedroom.

Those are your decisions. They deserve a place in the conversation before you fall in love with a kitchen.

And the mortgage payment is only part of what the house costs. Property taxes, insurance, utilities, any strata fees and money for repairs all need room in the budget. So do savings and the expenses that don’t show up every month. A tournament hotel still costs money even if you booked it in a month when everything else behaved itself.

Start with what actually lands in your bank account, look at where it goes over the year, and be honest about what you want to keep doing. For your family, that might be hockey. For someone else, it’s skiing, the boat, or having enough left over that an unexpected bill doesn’t ruin the month.

You’re allowed to buy less than you qualify for. There’s no requirement to spend the full amount, and choosing a lower price range can be a very deliberate decision. You might happily live with an older kitchen if it means the rest of your life still fits the budget.

There will probably be compromises. A house you love may be worth changing some spending for. The important part is deciding that yourself, with the full costs in front of you, while you still have choices.

If you already own and have a renewal coming up, this matters too. Look at what the proposed payment would leave you each month. If it’s going to squeeze things, that’s worth a conversation before the renewal date arrives.

So if buying is on your mind, hit reply and tell me the monthly mortgage payment you’d feel comfortable with. I’ll help you account for the other housing costs and work through what that could mean for your price range. You don’t need to arrive with the whole thing figured out.

Enjoy the weekend. And if you’re spending it at the rink, I hope the fries and gravy are decent and the stick makes it through Sunday.

-Andrew