In Vancouver’s volatile market, determining how much you can afford is key and will affect all your other home buying decisions. Your three main expenses to consider are your available down payment, your mortgage and the completion costs. The current interest rates will affect what you can afford for your mortgage.

For a conventional mortgage, you must pay at least 20% of the purchase price as a down payment. However, you can find mortgages that require as little as 5% down that are fully insured by CMHC and Genstar.

The Home Buyers' Plan, a federal government initiative lets eligible home buyers withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSP to buy/build a qualifying home. Couples, partners or roommates can withdraw up to $50,000. Once the RRSP is repaid, home buyers can participate more than once.

New downpayment rules went into effect February 15th, 2016: for any portion of a house price over $500,000, buyers now need to provide 10 per cent downpayment for an insured mortgage. The minimum downpayment for the first $500,000 remains at 5 per cent.

Most homebuyers will need a mortgage. We can calculate how much you’re eligible to borrow based on your income and level of debt. And if you’re one of every six British Columbians self-employed, have no fear, you can still qualify. An online mortgage affordability calculator is also a useful tool to determine how much you can afford.

Don’t forget about the additional costs you’ll need to budget for when buying a home. These include mortgage insurance, taxes, legal fees, house insurance, inspection reports, appraisal and survey fees. If you are a first time homebuyer, you may be exempt from the Property Transfer Tax.

Once you’ve got your budget fully in hand then its time to start thinking about location. Where you live is as important as property you choose so start by deciding on neighbourhood you’d like to call home and why.

Things to think about when you’re deciding on a neighbourhood:

• Do you have children that are school age, or will be soon?
• Do you have a vehicle or do you rely upon car sharing and transit?
• Are you downsizing from a larger home in a different area? Or upsizing from a condo or apartment?

Once you’ve determined your key requirements we can quickly source information about potential neighbourhoods, pricing trends and community info to help you hone in on areas that best suit your requirements.

The type of hope you want – be it a condo, townhouse, single family house, or new build – is the next thing you’ll need to determine. The best place to start is our ideas and tips on finding the right home for your lifestyle.

Happy House Hunting!