1 week Ago By Tracy Hanes Special to the Star
The buyers: Jessica and Patrick Herzog What they wanted: A family-friendly home and neighbourhood where they could raise their daughter Maddison, three, in proximity to their jobs and extended family. The home provider: Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area https://habitatgta.ca/ In search of affordable rent, the Herzogs, who both grew up in Oshawa, moved to the town of Lindsay, an hour away.
In 2023, their landlord told them he was selling the house, leaving them scrambling to find a rental they could afford. Jessica had felt isolated in Lindsay and missed having family support close, and they wanted to move back to Oshawa. She is a travelling nurse and Patrick works long hours as a chef.
The family moved in with Jessica’s grandfather in Oshawa for a year, and it seemed like a good opportunity. The Herzogs wanted to save money toward a down payment. With her nursing skills, Jessica could help care for her grandfather, taking some pressure off other family members.
Maddison’s childhood bedroom was turned into a room for her, and parents moved into the outdated basement rec room that Herzog calls “the dungeon,” with cement floors and no carpet. They were living out of boxes and had no separation between their bedroom and living area. The search: The Herzogs weren’t able to save the money needed for a down payment to be able to afford to buy a home in Durham Region and didn’t want to move away from extended family.
Rentals were hard to find, and expensive. The basement living situation wasn’t ideal. Then Jessica’s mother saw an advertisement for a Habitat for Humanity housing development in Oshawa and urged them to apply.
“Our application was declined the first time, but we really hustled, paid off all our student loans and significant debt. I was determined to do whatever I had to do for my family.” The purchase: The Herzogs’ second application to Habitat was successful and they moved to their new three-bedroom stacked townhouse with balcony November 14.
They were among the first of 50 families to move in, who will live in the Habitat GTA/Durham Region Non-Profit Housing Corp. (DRNPHC) complex in central Oshawa. The Herzogs’ townhouse is one of 26 affordable ownership units built for Habitat partner families, and the other 24 are affordable rentals for DRNPHC families.
The community is a model for how to build more inclusive neighbourhoods. It’s built on land that was surplus owned by the city, made available to Habitat GTA for significantly less than market value. The Government of Canada’s Affordable Housing Fund and Rapid Housing Initiative (aimed at increasing affordable rental options), as well as Habitat philanthropic donations, helped fund the build.
Habitat families purchase their homes at fair market value and obtain a first mortgage from one of Habitat’s lender partners at a lower interest rate, but still have to qualify based on income. Habitat GTA provides a second mortgage for the difference between the first mortgage and market value of the home (similar to a down-payment) and qualifying families put in 500 volunteer hours. Mortgage payments are initially set at 32 per cent of household income.
Ene Underwood, CEO of Habitat GTA, says, even though Oshawa was one of the least expensive housing markets in the GTA, the average home price is still $800,000, so the notion that it’s affordable no longer applies. To purchase an $800,000-home would require a household income of $160,000 a year, plus a 20 per cent down payment of $160,000. With average rents of $2,000 to $3,000, families like the Herzogs struggle to save for a down payment.
“Households like Jessica’s and Patrick’s might be able to have enough saved (for a down payment) 10 years from now, but we are trying to help families like theirs get their home now, to benefit Maddison while she is growing up,” says Underwood. In the future, if the family is in a position to buy a home in the regular market, their current home will be sold back to Habitat and they will share the equity gained. Another family can move into the Habitat home.
Most partner families come from rental units, so by moving into a Habitat house, they are freeing up a rental for someone else, says Underwood. “Our model gives families the financial possibility to move into the housing market, and provides a relief valve for the entire system,” says Underwood. The verdict: When they got approval to buy a Habitat home, the Herzogs were ecstatic.
“We’re not only keeping our own family together, we have a whole support system,” says Jessica Herzog. “We are fortunate enough to live less than a kilometre from my parents, so they are able to care for Maddison when we need them to, and they love that. I’m also close enough to help out with my grandfather.
” Maddison loves her room, and her parents bought her a big girl twin bed, and she has all her toys in there. “We are absolutely loving having three bedrooms and three bathrooms. We were so used to fighting for time in the one bathroom at my grandfather’s place to get Maddi ready for daycare in the morning and me ready for work,” says Herzog.
“Patrick and his nephew are very close and he comes over all the time to play video games with Patrick, and he says ‘the spare room is mine.’ ” She’s on the road a lot with her job and it’s convenient that their home is very close to highways and her office at the Oshawa Centre. Her husband is less than a kilometre away from his job.
“I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic since I was a young child, and I’m close to my clinical team and specialists. Maddison also has some medical concerns and her specialists are close, too,” she adds. They are saving wear and tear on their car, spending less on gas and saving money, so are able to save money for things such as dance lessons for Maddison.
“Patrick and I are all about giving back in any way we can,” says Herzog. “We are thrilled we’ve had the opportunity to own a home, and the Habitat requirement for partner families to put in volunteer hours aligned with the type of people we are.” (Habitat partner families are required to put in at least 500 volunteer hours with the organization).
To donate to Habitat for Humanity GTA, click on https://habitatgta.ca/donate/.
