Run the numbers before the numbers run you.

Affordability showed they could be approved for well over the price they had in mind. Instead of shopping at the ceiling, they set their own limit from the monthly payment they were comfortable with. Down payment showed that opening two FHSAs and adding the Home Buyers' Plan would let them reach 10% the following spring rather than in two years. Closing costs reminded them that both first-time buyer rebates applied in Toronto, which shrank the cash they needed on closing day. On the condo they chose, the Home X-Ray sent them to the status certificate first.

They ran Closing costs twice, once for the sale (commission, legal fees, any mortgage penalty) and once for the purchase (land transfer tax on the new price), and put both on the tool desk side by side. The Mortgage tool showed what carrying two homes for a month would cost if the closings didn't line up. Notes held every question for their lender about bridge financing. They listed first with a longer closing date, then bought with a closing set a few days after the sale.

Before the offer date, they worked through the Home X-Ray and booked a pre-inspection, so they could offer without a condition. In the Mortgage tool they ran the payment at the asking price, then five and eight percent above it, and decided their walk-away number at home, not at the table. Knowing an appraisal could come in below an over-asking price, they set aside cash to cover a gap. Their offer was not the highest, but it was clean, firm and on the seller's preferred closing date.

At the same price, the condo's monthly fees changed the picture: Affordability, with the fees and each home's property tax entered, put the townhouse ahead on monthly cost. The Home X-Ray on the condo flagged the reserve fund study and any planned special assessments as questions; on the townhouse, it pointed to the roof's age and the permit history. Rent vs buy, run over a seven-year horizon, favoured buying either way.

Rent vs buy, with a realistic rent and a modest investment return, showed buying only pulling ahead after several years, longer than they expected to stay in the city. So they kept renting, opened an FHSA and contributed the full amount each year, and set a date to run the numbers again. Down payment showed when they'd reach 20% and avoid default insurance altogether.