Couple declined family help and bought a $770,000 Pickering townhouse on their own
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- Julia and her husband bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom freehold townhouse in Pickering, Ont. for $770,000 in March, putting down $52,000 (~6.75%) after declining family financial help; Julia cited "a pride thing" and wanting their own sense of accomplishment.
- The couple earns about $160,000 combined annually and saved across RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, and cash accounts, with Julia maximizing employer RRSP matching and automating transfers from each paycheque; her share of the down payment was roughly $26,000 after liquidating most of her savings.
- Zown, the salary-based brokerage they used, rebates part of its commission to buyers; the couple received 1.25% back (~$9,625), which almost entirely offset their ~$10,000 in closing costs — though the rebate drops by 0.25% in Ontario if buyers use their own mortgage provider.
- Their search lasted nearly five months, with Julia estimating offers on at least five properties and frequent outbids, including one seller countering roughly $70,000 higher; they originally tried for a Toronto one-bedroom-plus-den condo in 2023 but balked at private-lender rates.
- Monthly carrying costs now run about $3,300 on the mortgage — roughly $600 more than their previous North York rent — plus ~$130 insurance and $200–$300 in utilities, a step-up Julia described as "a little bit more of a squeeze."
Why it matters: For first-time buyers competing in the GTA, the Zown rebate mechanism covered virtually all of this couple's ~$10,000 in closing costs — a concrete lever that turns brokerage choice into a down-payment-adjacent saving, on top of the disciplined multi-account savings the article emphasizes.
