Soaring house prices have made Canadians wealthy on paper, but what are households giving up in order to make their mortgage payments? As part of our package on the financial squeeze being felt by Canadian homeowners, we profiled six families across the country to see how they are coping.
Arleta Keppler says a mortgage-free retirement is out of her reach, although she isn't disappointed.
Ms. Keppler says that while she isn't obsessed with paying down her mortgage, she has managed to chop more than $60,000 from what had been a mortgage of roughly $260,000 in 2009.
She enjoys dining out, attending shows and travelling. "I like to live the good life," Ms. Keppler said.
Nevertheless, she has compiled a cash emergency fund of $30,000 and she is grateful that her workplace's health benefits include sick leave and disability coverage.
"As a single person, I've thought if I needed to, I might have to hire a home nurse to come in if things got really bad. I haven't had to, but if a rainy day came due to bad health, I have a contingency," she said.
She and her then-husband did renovate the upstairs suite with the idea of potentially renting it out to their daughter, if she ever needed a place. But their adult daughter ended up marrying and moved abroad.
Ms. Keppler, a labour representative for a large health-care union, occupies the main floor of the house built in 1911 near downtown Victoria. A professional couple in their 30s live in the rental suite upstairs. "No matter whether I have renters or not, I am able to handle my own mortgage," she said.
Ms. Keppler now has visions of an ambitious renovation project. "I really like the neighbourhood," she said, emphasizing that condo living is not for her and she enjoys her large backyard.
Photo by Chad Hipolito for The Globe and Mail
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