By: Wajiha Maruf

Being a first time homebuyer is nerve wracking because housing prices are touching the sky. Finding  an appropriate and livable house is a challenging process. My parents and I went through numerous real estate agents and visited houses in Laval, St. Laurent and West Island. To live in these areas you need at least $400,000 to purchase a three to four bedroom house. Moreover, these houses were quite old and required a lot of renovations.

My family has lived in Ville St. Laurent on rent for approximately four years; this experience gave us the independence to enjoy the coziness of a home without the burden of ownership. And being Muslim, our first priority is always to have a mosque located near home. In Ville St. Laurent, we had the mosque, and more, halal grocery stores and a number Pakistani families living in the area. However, we were paying $1000 in rent, which is not at all beneficial in terms of generating equity.

For this reason, we began house hunting and came across houses in the St. Laurent area; I was disappointed with the high prices being offered. Most of the bungalows were approximately 40 years old and had vinyl all around, hardly an investment in the future.

Image source: Flickr