October 1955 — Vol. 36, No. 10 —
On Owning Your
Home
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Our standard of thinking in Canada has risen
above regarding a house as a roof over our heads. We require
that it be capable of becoming our home, our castle.
To have a home of your own means building a secure haven
where your family may have peace in the midst of the world's
tumult: where the art of living together works itself out
in co—operative effort as well as in affectionate feelings.
The rewards of becoming a home owner are great in terms
of happiness if the project is handled wisely and well. Most
of the troubles associated with building or buying a house
arise from ignorance and insufficient planning. When you know
what to look for, it is possible for you to avoid the troubles
and secure the greatest benefits.
A good house is one that is adequate for the size of the
family and that provides a maximum amount of comfort for the
dollars spent. It should be in keeping with the financial
status of the family, suitable to their social outlook, and
it should, as far as possible, anticipate changes in size
and composition of the family.
A careful study of every member of the family (which will
be found interesting in itself) to ascertain needs and desires,
shaken up with a good measure of common sense, imagination
and ingenuity: that is the first secret of home—building.
Not all people are home—owners because of sentiment,
though the aspiration to own one's home is still a strong
factor. Some seek ownership because of the enhanced standing
it gives them in society. Others look upon home ownership
as the only way to keep their families together and to bring
up children according to the ancient codes of parental responsibility.
Many go in for home ownership because of the economic advantages
they see. A house that is clear of mortgage, or on which the
mortgage has been substantially reduced, is a defence against
adversity. It is a valuable possession in old age.
A family is not wise if it tries to raise its apparent social
status by building a stately mansion beyond its means. Many
hundreds of years ago, Cicero, the great Roman writer, put
it this way: "the master ought to bring honour to his fine
seat, and not the fine seat to bring honour to its master."
Who should build?
After a man reaches the point where he feels his family
simply must have a home of its own if it is to enjoy contentment
and satisfaction, he becomes money—minded. Can he afford
it? There have been many ways prescribed for finding out,
but no general prescription fits all cases. One thing is certain:
burying your head in the sand doesn't help. You must face
the facts.
As a general rule, if you can make the required down payment,
and if all the carrying charges and the upkeep of the house
can be covered by a monthly payment no larger than the rent
you can afford, then the investment is within your means.
It is wise to make as careful and well—informed estimate
as you can of what the costs will be. More home builders have
come to grief through taking on more than they could afford
than through any other cause. It is not good enough to accept
a general estimate that a man is able to buy property up to
two—and—a—half times his yearly income, or
the rule often quoted that you can afford to spend up to 23
per cent of your gross annual income on the repayment of the
loan, including interest and payment of taxes. What you can
afford must be figured out in relation to obligations you
already have, your plans for your family's future, the sort
of social life you wish to live, with its attendant expenses,
and the cost of living.
If you are to avoid headaches and heartaches, you should
check these points before buying a house: have you reasonable
stability of income and good prospect of its continuance?
Is your income adequate to buy a house suitable to your family's
needs and prospective needs? Have you a reserve fund for extra
expense and temporary distress? Take into consideration, too,
your family's habits, thrift, ambition and expectations, the
probable burdens members may be called upon to bear, and the
economies they will make.
Booklets to help you
Every person who is giving serious consideration to building
a house should study the guide books and handbooks that are
available freely.
A series of booklets illustrating attractive houses designed
by Canadian architects especially for Canadian requirements
may be obtained free of charge from the Central Mortgage and
Housing Corporation or from any approved lender. The booklet
on bungalows and split—level houses has pictures and
plans of 72 houses, and the booklet on two—storey and
1½—storey houses has 47 pictures and plans. The booklet
Building Standards is similarly available. A C.M.H.C.
list called Publications Presently Available suggests
28 booklets and leaflets covering many aspects of building
and ownership. Two booklets, Mortgage Loans for Home Building
and Home Improvement Loans, issued by this Bank,
tell how to finance your new home or improve your old home
under the National Housing Act, 1954.
In addition, there are scores of helpful booklets available
from commercial companies, such as hardware, lumber, cement,
electrical, plumbing, house furnishing and building firms.
These booklets, examined before you start to build, will save
dollars and add satisfaction to your house.
Government action
Our shortage of houses has been accumulating since the early
years of the century, but it did not reach acute proportions
until the last ten or twelve years. Our birth rate, which
was 20.4 per thousand in the five years preceding the war,
has not been below 27 per thousand since 1945, and has increased
steadily until in 1954 it was 28.5 per thousand - about three
per thousand higher in every year than the United States figure.
Formation of new households, each demanding living space,
has been added to by immigration, but marriage and births
and immigration are not the only factors involved. People
become dissatisfied with their present living quarters. New
materials and methods make new houses more attractive. The
open spaces around cities beckon. Improved highways make commuting
easier. Better economic conditions and low terms of payment
bring home ownership within reach of thousands who in other
times would not have thought of building.
Unlike the government of Shakespeare's time which tried
to keep population within bounds by outlawing new buildings
and prohibiting the sub—division of old ones, the Canadian
Government has made impressive efforts to stimulate housing
construction.
Action started in 1935 with the Dominion Housing Act, which
offered financial assistance to those building houses for
owner occupancy. The purpose was twofold: to build more houses,
and to provide jobs and incomes. Central Mortgage and Housing
Corporation was set up as a Crown Company in 1945 to administer
a revised Housing Act, to undertake jointly with provincial
governments the assembly of land and the construction of housing
projects; to own and manage rental housing units built for
war—workers and veterans; to conduct housing research
and to co—ordinate community planning in Canada. Some
provincial governments have aided housing by independent or
joint measures.
There were 58,000 new housing units started in the first
half of this year, an increase of 25 per cent over the same
period last year. Much of this increase was achieved by extending
the opportunities of ownership down the income ladder, and
by making mortgage loans available at any bank.
Mortgage loans
There is nothing derogatory about having a mortgage on your
house. Of the 1,654,045 owner—occupied dwellings counted
in the census, 478,740 had first mortgages and 38,265 had
both first and second mortgages.
A house costs more today, comparatively, than it did a generation
ago, largely because it has ceased to be a simple shell. Look
at the conveniences, perhaps taken too greatly for granted,
that have been added: bathrooms, electric wiring, oil burners,
kitchen cabinets, and so on down the line to weather stripping.
It is not so easy, now, to save the money to buy a house
for cash, and so home ownership involves a decision to undertake
a long—term credit purchase. By pledging your proposed
house and land as security you may obtain a National Housing
Act loan from a government—approved lender with these
features: an amount equal to a high proportion of the value
of the property; a moderate rate of interest; a repayment
period of at least 25 years, and convenient monthly payments.
Details and examples of the payments on various—sized
houses are given in Mortgage Loans for Home Building.
How to go about it
There is more to building a house than is indicated by a
picture and a floor plan. We have to start at the foundation,
not at the cornice.
Neither Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation nor the
lender undertakes to recommend contractors. You have to make
your own investigation into the quality of the work a contractor
does, his financial responsibility, and his record of performance.
A written agreement should be drawn up, telling the agreed
price and the method of payment, the specified time of completion,
rights and responsibilities of both parties, methods of settlement
for incomplete or unsatisfactory work, liability insurance
and any other details that your architect or your solicitor
may advise.
There should be a clear statement in writing about "extras".
The wisest plan is to have one person responsible for ordering
them, and he should put in writing to the builder the specifications
and agreed price. Costs can be increased frighteningly by
little changes and additions, like moving a piece of plumbing
several feet from its planned location; enlarging a window;
building an extra cupboard or counter in the kitchen; using
special hardware, and so forth.
Your house represents a major investment, and no stone should
be left unturned to avoid hazards. Your purpose is to obtain
the maximum of advantages and happiness with the minimum of
unpleasant features. If you are compelled to make compromises
with your ideal, do so with your eyes open.
What do you want?
Your preliminary survey should not be skimped. This is the
time to make sure that your house, your property, and the
neighbourhood will be as near as possible to what you desire.
Do not jump to conclusions regarding your needs and wishes.
Tradition, past environment, personal ambition: all these
affect your decision, but they must not be allowed to depose
common sense. You need to think primarily in terms of the
usefulness to you and your family of the new house. It must
fit your personal life pattern.
Here are some factors to be considered when choosing the
location and type of house: has it attractive surroundings
and a good appearance? Is there play space for children, safe
and untrammelled by rules to be careful of flowers? Will your
children—be satisfied, in their contacts with neighbouring
children, with the allowances, the clothes, the furnishings,
you can afford? Are your neighbours your sort of people? Can
you enjoy social life in that neighbourhood without becoming
involved in too expensive entertainment?
These are fundamental questions, inescapable facts of living,
that are far more important than whether the house has sliding
walls and rooms that can be extended by the mere pulling of
a zipper.
Now you are ready to talk to an architect. He will be pleased
to learn that you have definite ideas about what you want.
His expert assistance will help you to avoid irreparable mistakes.
He will advance his own ideas and show you some of his plans.
What he tells you about the possibilities of gaining your
heart's desire in your house may be disappointing, but now
is the time to discover what is wrong with your ideas.
Style and size
Good taste in the choice of a house is as obvious as good
taste in dress. Both will emphasize convenience and comfort.
Most home—owners prefer single detached dwellings (66.4
per cent at census time). Whatever style of house is selected,
it should be well—proportioned and pleasing to the eye.
The materials in it should conform to the types found most
weather—worthy in your part of the country. Stock plans
may be used (NHA plans may be bought for as little as $10
a set) and trimmings and painting can give your house individuality
without groping too obviously for novelty.
He is a wise builder who takes into consideration the probable
future needs of his family. A house with two bedrooms may
be adequate now, but how about additions to the family: children
or a dependent relative?
A survey reported in Lillian D. Millar's book Homes
for Canadians, published in 1946, found that one—third
of all owners planned to make additions to their houses to
meet the needs of their families. One urban house in eight
had someone sleeping in rooms other than bedrooms; in many
houses the living room became a bedroom at night.
This does not mean that a builder must anticipate future
needs to the point of providing now all the rooms that may
be needed then. Instead, he may choose a house plan that provides
a way of adding rooms without spoiling the style or convenience
of the house and without excessive costs due to structural
difficulty.
A house is to live in
Think over the activities that go on in your home, and plan
what space will be needed.
Members of your family have conflicting interests. Some
activities will be noisy, like wood—working or saxophone
playing; some will require quietness, like study, listening
to hi—fi music, reading, writing; games and dancing have
their own space requirements. The nearer you come to satisfying
all desires in some degree, the better chance you have of
building a home that will keep your family together.
Your kitchen is the focal point of much of the activity
that takes place in your home. Some advocate the compact "planned"
kitchen, while others desire a spacious room. Well, as Dunham
and Thalberg say in their book Planning your Home for
Better Living, "It is true that a chef in a dining car
performs wonders in the close confines of his tiny workroom,
but we doubt very much that any woman would be happy with
this type of kitchen in her home if she could arrange to have
a larger one."
One thing is certain: ample counter and cupboard space is
desirable. Few housewives complain about having too much.
Herein a fundamental mistake is being made: the space allotted
to kitchen storage is being related to the available wall
space instead of to the actual requirements. Principles of
efficiency commonly applied in building factories and offices
could well be carried over into kitchen planning, using function
and efficiency as the points of judgment.
Storage is a major problem. Miss Millar remarks that some
new houses have tiled bathrooms, built—in bathtubs and
pedestal basins but have not nearly enough storage space to
keep household and personal belongings out of the way and
in good condition. Some have no spot to keep a baby carriage,
a garbage pail, a vacuum cleaner. While 80 per cent of urban
families who have rugs own a vacuum cleaner or a carpet sweeper,
only 15 per cent have a proper place to keep it. How many
houses have provided for the children's bicycles and express
wagons? Some garages are filled with such things, while the
car sits outside. In the living room, there is no space out
of sight for card tables, phonograph records, sheet music,
ash trays, musical instruments, flower containers not in use
and games.
In earlier days people used basements and attics for storage
of out—of—season clothes and for furniture not needed
at the time. Today, attics are merely under—the—roof
air spaces, without adequate access, and basements have other
uses. Many home owners look upon the basement as a place for
recreation or hobbies. Indeed, for some people, Thoreau may
have been right when he said "The house is still but a sort
of porch at the entrance of a burrow."
Quality and lastingness
The quality of material and workmanship going into your
house are worth watching. Personal attention, frequent visits
to the building site, will assure the owner that he is getting
the best for his money.
A house is an assembly of many bits and pieces, about 30,000
different kinds. There are levels of quality in all these
things, just as in wool blankets or office equipment.
You do not have to buy the best, with all the fancy trimmings,
but you should take all reasonable precautions to see that
you get the best your money warrants. It may hurt to put your
money where it doesn't show - in the water pipes and furnace,
for example - but you will save in the long run because of
freedom from the trouble and expense of ripping open your
house to replace the equipment at some future time.
This brings up the matter of repairs, responsibility for
which is one of the disadvantages of home ownership. Some
people dislike house maintenance because of its intrusion
on other interests, while others enjoy it because of the sense
they gain of contributing something personally to their home.
Repairs that require special knowledge and skill should
be performed by qualified persons, but many repairs can be
undertaken by anyone who is handy with tools or is willing
to learn. Maintenance may become a hobby, and there are many
books leading the novice step by step through the work.
Some people are unduly worried about the "aging" of a house.
It is right to choose materials with lasting qualities, and
to care for them by cleaning and painting at the proper periods,
but normal aging is rather attractive. It is not a sign of
dilapidation when the clapboards weather, the shingles become
streaked, and the bricks blush from exposure to the sun. A
well—built house that is the seat of gracious living
is like a fine person in its ability to grow old gracefully.
It is wise to make regular inspections of vulnerable places
and equipment, so as to anticipate trouble and apply remedies.
According to Care and Repair of the House, a publication
of the United States Government Printing Office, there are
42 essential parts of a house to be checked periodically.
More than a shelter
Your home is not just a pile of bricks and lumber fashioned
into a shelter from the elements. It can be a stack of dreams
come true, a place of contentment and serenity.
All the dreams will not come true suddenly or perhaps soon.
They will materialize from time to time as the result of planning
and work by architects, builders, craftsmen of many sorts,
the people who finance your costs, and you yourself.
Basic to your success in achieving the home you desire is
planning. Whether it be an old—time cottage with flagstones
and eaves, a fireplace for the winter and a little garden
for the summer, or a big house suitable for many children,
set in spacious grounds and with luxurious appointments and
room for guests, you must plan it. We hope that this Monthly
Letter will help in that planning.
Published by RBC Financial Group. All editions from the RBC
Letter collection are available on our web site at www.rbc.com/responsibility/letter.
Our e-mail address is: rbcletter@rbc.com.
Publié aussi en francais.
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