What Can a Dental Hygienist Afford to Buy in Québec?
Flickr: armymedicine
Buying a home on your own is one of life’s biggest milestones. In this blog series, we’re going to look at the average starting salary of a profession, assume the buyer has no major debts and calculate what they could afford to buy in their city or province.
In Québec, a dental hygienist can expect to earn an average starting salary of $36,448 – $3,037 per month. If this salary seems low to you, you’re right – dental hygienists are not paid as well in Québec as they are in some other provinces. However, if you are earning this salary and don’t have any major debts, you could still consider homeownership. Want to see what a dental hygienist can afford to buy in Québec? Take a look.
After running the numbers through our mortgage affordability calculator, a dental hygienist earning $36,448 a year with no major debts could afford a home priced at $238,473. This figure is based on a down payment of $48,354 (20 per cent), an amortization period of 25 years and a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.29 per cent. Your maximum affordability is determined using your income and expenses. Lenders run your numbers through two debt service ratios – the gross debt service ratio (GDS) and the total debt service ratio (TDS) – both of which are explained in more detail on our site. For now, know that $238,5473 doesn’t buy much, but it doesn’t leave you out of the market in Québec.
Property #1: Condo
Location: 1331 Rue D’Argenson, Le Sud-Ouest (Montréal), QC
Asking Price: $235,000
Features: 1 Bed, 1 Bath
Approximate Square Footage: 805
Property Taxes: $2,186/year ($182.17/month)
Maintenance Fees: $126/month
Parking Spaces: 0
This beautiful one-bedroom condo is conveniently located just 10 minutes outside of the heart of downtown Montréal. If you enter the price of this condo into our Québec mortgage payment calculator using a 20 per cent down payment ($47,000), a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.29 per cent and an amortization period of 25 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be $918. When you include other monthly costs, such as property taxes ($182) and maintenance fees ($126), $1,226 of your income would go towards housing each month.
Property #2: Suburban Townhouse
Location: 225 Tsse Jacques-Léonard, Montréal, QC
Asking Price: $229,500
Features: 3 Bed, 1 Bath
Approximate Square Footage: 1,750
Property Taxes: $1,875/year ($156.25/month)
Maintenance Fees: $341/month
Parking Spaces: 2
If you would prefer to live in a more spacious home, this beautiful suburban townhouse gives you the opportunity to have a larger property in a quiet neighbourhood outside of the city. Using the calculator once again with a 20 per cent down payment ($45,900), a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.29 per cent and an amortization period of 25 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be $896. When you include the property taxes which are $156.25/month, you could pay just $1,052.25 for a home that is only a 25-minute commute to the downtown core.
When preparing to buy a home, you often have to balance what you want with how much you can afford. For most people, this involves making concessions and prioritizing the features they want. One common concession is moving outside of the city in order to purchase a larger home. If you are willing to commute, it could be a sacrifice worth making. However, if you want to be within walking distance to work, a downtown condo might be the better option for you.