*** Please be gentle. We are young, have made mistakes, and are very much still learning how to manage money. ***

My partner and I have been actively house hunting for our first home for a year, and we’ve finally found one we want to put an offer on. Stupidly, most of our savings for a down payment are in a TFSA and RRSPs that have historically done very well, but obviously that is not the case currently! The timing of everything is awful. All our savings for a down payment are investments that are currently super down…

We were planning to transfer from our TFSA to our FHSAs (we each have a couple years worth of contribution room) at the time we need to put the down payment, so we get the FHSA tax break. We were also planning to withdraw from our RRSPs at time of down payment so that we can reinvest those funds (to be more easily accessible in the future, like in a HISA). RRSP repayment minimums would be achieved without changing our current contribution habits.

Is there a way to minimize the damage here? Or is buying a house right now just a terrible idea? I know withdrawals from RRSPs and FHSA don’t HAVE TO go towards the down payment so long as you meet the withdrawal criteria (ie are buying a first home)… Maybe we could withdraw from RRSPs but to reinvest in TFSA and hope to recover some of our losses over the next few years? Any other suggestions on how to minimize losses when all investments are tanking?

Numbers: - TFSA savings: were around $40k last month, now at $35k this morning - RRSP savings: were around $113k last month, now at $103k this morning - FHSA savings: pretty much $0 - FHSA contribution room: $32k combined (idea was that we could transfer TFSA funds into this account the day before down payment needed to utilize tax break) - Down payment needed: around $45k

Edit to clarify my question: potentially withdrawing from TFSA and RRSPs during mega stock market plummet that’s happening right now. How bad of an idea is this? Is it worth unnecessarily withdrawing from RRSPs (utilizing Home Buyers Plan) to reinvest them somehow?

As the title says. My husband and I have been in the same rental for several years. It’s a whole house (small bungalow, but no basement tenant), large yard, great area, and for only $1700 per month. The landlords are also great people. It’s an unheard of deal in our city, and we feel very lucky.

Our dilemma: we have always wanted to be homeowners. We’re both in our early 30s now, and have a son. We mostly want more space (our current place can’t even fit a kitchen table), possibly a garage, and really just to make our home ours. On both sides, none of our immediate family members have ever owned a home either (generations of single parents or divorcees), so we’re on our own if we’re to make this happen.

Buying a house would be significantly more money in the city we live in (large Canadian city). We got a mortgage preapproval, and we’d be looking at $3000 per month MINIMUM in home expenses (including land tax), let alone maintenance. This would be for a very average detached house with ~$100k down payment.

While we’re tempted to take the plunge (we make decent money, have decent savings, and could afford it), it feels “dumb” to give up our deal of a rental. At what point should a family give up cheap rent to buy a house?

Any insight would be appreciated 🥺