Purchasing a home is super exciting. It’s also a little bit scary and stressful. But with Manulife One, we were able to open opportunities in the housing market that I had never considered, or thought was possible. Let me tell you my story.
I met my husband Kyle at a work function about five years ago. He was the friend of a co-worker and we really hit it off immediately. Three years later, we got married and eventually purchased a two-bedroom condo in Langley, BC. Now, two young boys later, we desperately needed more space. Sound familiar? Yup – we had outgrown our home in the space of 5 years. We found a perfect three-bedroom home in a nice area in Abbotsford, and our offer was accepted.
That’s when it started. Morning sickness. Baby number three was not part of our plan. As we got closer to our possession date, we crunched the numbers and since we both made similar incomes, our monthly cash flow was going to be severely impacted. Luckily, a friend told me about Manulife One and how she was able to pay her mortgage off quicker. I ran the numbers through the Manulife One Calculator and quickly opened an account. By adding our regular income to our Manulife One account, we can reduce our debt faster as we pay less interest over the long haul.
Our new home cost us $959,000. We needed to borrow an extra $349,000. After adding our car loan of $7000, our total debt came to $356,000. Next, I was able to reduce this by adding our savings of $9000, resulting in one debt of $347,000. Manulife One provides cash flow freedom by letting us make interest only payments during the maternity leave. Once I return to work, we will be able to get back to paying off our principal much faster than with a conventional mortgage! Unlike some friends who incurred a lot of credit card debt while on maternity leave, we did not have that added fear.
Bottom line: We are now able to pay off our home in 9 years, rather than 16!
And the best part: No stress during my maternity leave. Kyle and I can virtually cruise for the next year without worrying about our monthly expenses. It also left room for renovations when we needed them.
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