This is How She Does It: Vancouver Millennial Became a Homeowner Before 25

Occupation: Employed by the House of Commons
Age: 26
City: Vancouver
Marital Status: Single
Salary: $65,000
Life Changes: First-time home buyer

As a teenager, I never actually had access to any of my money because my parents were always saving it. They're like, ‘No, you don't need it’ and ‘You want to go out with friends we'll just give you some money to go and do whatever you want to do.’ And then when I was 18 my father went into kidney failure, so his health declined and he stopped becoming the principal breadwinner for our family. I ended up becoming that with my job at an accounting firm. So what happened was that it's my mom, myself, all our money's being pooled into a joint account.

So my expenses are very nominal. I'm not living by myself and paying rent by myself. It's like a collective household income. So I don't have the independent expenses of living by myself. I am there with both my parents, my two younger siblings. My expenses are probably about $50 a week for miscellaneous expenses.

I was working full time when I was 18, like right out of high school at an accounting firm as a receptionist. And then I moved up to an administrative coordinator. I was there from 2011 to 2015, so four years. What happened was in my early twenties, I was pretty much-saving everything at that point. So when I turned 23, there's like collectively between my Mom and I there’s almost a hundred grand just sitting there and we're like, okay, let's buy a house.

My mom and I are both the title holders because we are both working full time and we qualified for the mortgage. The goal was to live there initially, but we found a really decently priced rental property in Vancouver, so we ended up staying here. Now the property is rented and maybe pay about out of pocket $400 a month in property taxes but the rest is covered by rental income.

Unless you're buying a brand spanking new house, there's always going to be work that needs to be done.

There are all these maintenance things because it's an older house and it, things like that where you're just like, I can't save for my vacation because it's going to go towards the pipes that need to be fixed. There's always some it needs. It sounds really whiny and first-world-ish. But when you're like in your mid-twenties and your friends are all going out, and just like I haven’t gone anywhere, I’ve done nothing except saving money.

It's been a point of contention with like a couple of my friends who don't get it because their parents don't need their money. All the money that they make as a professional is theirs. They could buy a Gucci bag and it's not a problem. Versus, I don't even have enough to buy a Gucci bag if I wanted one because everything's tied up in equity. I think I'm at a point in my life now where I've been very honest with them and I said, ‘look, we have two very different life experiences.’ You’re not responsible for making sure that your parents have a roof over their head and your sick dad is taking care of, but I am. So we're going to have two different approaches in life and that's totally fine.

I think right now my friends are just as a place where they're like, ‘Oh my God, how do you own a house?’ And I'm like, ‘I didn't do by myself. It was a trade-off.’ People who say you can have it all, either have an obscene amount of money or haven’t really lived life. You can't have it all at one time.

If you want my honest opinion, I don't think I do very well on my own. I tend to be an impulsive spender. I always want very material things that I probably shouldn't want or have. I think my family curbs that for me very well. My mom likes to joke that if it were up to me, I'd probably just have a bunch of Louis Vuitton bags and nothing else to show for it. And she's probably not wrong.

It’s more of an ongoing debate or discussion that can go on for months at a time. I know for purchasing the house, the leadup was a solid 6 months. It’s always a joint discussion and then the final decision is up to the signatories, which at this point are my mother, myself and my sister.

Parents are constantly like, ‘Well, are you getting married soon? Do you have a boyfriend?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I don't. I'm sorry. That's what happens when I work 24-7, Dad. I can't really meet anyone.’ My hope is that if and when that happens — and this sounds really cynical and jaded — but a prenuptial agreement would be mandatory. It's not that I don't believe in true love and happily ever after. When you've spent your entire 20’s trying to secure your future, let's make sure that you've protected that asset. So whenever that comes up, I'll have to like drop in there; ‘Hey, by the way, you're going to have to sign this and I'm happy to sign anything for you as well, because this is not being split 50:50.’

I would really like to travel cause that's something I feel like I've missed out on. It's not just me, it's both of my siblings. We really just want to see the world. I think we've been so busy building our nest that we kind of forgot that there's a whole tree to see.

I know in 2021, my siblings and I have decided we are 100% going on a road trip to Seattle. They're getting an NHL team and I want to see the Vancouver Canucks play there. When we can, we splurge on a hockey game. My siblings and I want to see Europe, like Spain, Greece, Portugal and France. The goal is in the next five years because my brother will be working full time and help contribute to the household and then the egg nest can grow.

Talk about money and know what you're worth is. Try to have an idea of what your colleagues are getting paid because if you don't know, it can be used against you. You could be the best worker but not be compensated accordingly because you haven’t asked for more money. When you're asking for a base salary at a new job, always ask for more than what you think your worth because you're probably underestimating yourself.

I know I was making roughly $30,000 working at an accounting firm at 18 and with (my current job), I was asked ‘What do you envision your salary being?’ I was like, somewhere around $60,000. That's almost double what I was making. I thought I’d probably land somewhere in the $40’s, but I landed above that. Don't be embarrassed or shy about it because if you can't state your worth in a confident manner, how are they supposed to believe you?