Thanks sdr! I agree roughly with your calculations. There is also the PMI which for a 500K loan, with 10% down, is likely to be about $400/month. Property Taxes are likely to cancel out the mortgage interest tax deduction, or so I gathered – but it’s better to not count on that. Yes we are looking to have no or low MRs and definitely low HOAs – if any.

We were also leaning toward borrowing 5% from the 401K…and have some cash (roughly 6 months of P&I) on hand – assuming that the house will not need immediate remodelling. (We’ve seen some older houses in PQ and RB in very good shape for that price).

Still the amount we will pay for housing will be a bit staggering – more than $1500 than our current rent….Just wondering if it’s worth buying at all…