What Can an Accountant Afford to Buy in Ontario?
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We know that buying a home isn’t easy – especially on your own. In this series, we want 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 Ontario, the average starting salary for an accountant is $98,057. Compared to most professions, this is a great starting salary. If you were earning this amount of money and didn’t have any major debts, you could certainly afford to buy your own home. Want to see what an accountant can afford to buy in Ontario? Let’s take a look.
After running the numbers through our mortgage affordability calculator, we can see that an accountant earning $8,171.42 per month could afford a home priced at $606,487. This figure is calculated with a 20% down payment ($121,500), an amortization period of 25 years and a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.48%. 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 on our site. For now, know that an accountant earning this salary has a number of buying options throughout the province.
Property #1: Downtown Condo
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Asking Price: $588,800
Features: 3 Bed, 2 Bath
Approximate Square Footage: 1,500
Property Taxes: $3,038/year ($253/month)
Maintenance Fees: $87/month
Parking Spaces: 1
If you want to live in a condo in the city, this three-bedroom condo on Bay Street might do the trick! With new upgrades and an open concept, this condo feels more like a home than an apartment. With a 20% down payment ($117,760), a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.48% and an amortization period of 25 years, your monthly mortgage payment for this condo would be $2,347. Add to that your property taxes and monthly maintenance fees and you’d be paying a total of $2,687 each month to own this condo.
Property #2: Suburban House
Location: Kingston, Ontario
Asking Price: $569,900
Features: 4 Bed, 2.5 Bath
Approximate Square Footage: 1,800
Property Taxes: $3,038/year ($253/month)
Parking Spaces: 2+
If you live in a city outside of Toronto, you’ll find there are plenty of homes well within your price range. In Kingston, this four-bedroom home comes with more than 1,800 square feet of living space. With a 20% down payment ($113,980), a 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.48% and an amortization period of 25 years, your monthly mortgage payment for this home would be $2,271. Tack on your property taxes and you’d be paying a total of $2,524 each month to call this home your own.
In the end, it’s up to you to decide if you want to be a city dweller or suburban home owner. And no matter what you’re looking for, most buyers face the dilemma of outweighing the features they want in a home versus the price they can afford. Fortunately, accountants in Ontario have a number of options to choose from, so they can comfortably enter into the journey of homeownership.