Priced out of Halifax, this single mom bought land and built herself an off-grid home | Canada Voices

Mariam’s path to homeownership has been untraditional, shaped by a pandemic-era surge in Halifax housing prices.

The 42-year-old single mom lives in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom off-grid home that she built herself on 38 acres near Bridgewater, N.S. She has no mortgage, no utility bills and financed it all without borrowing from a bank.

“I needed to have some agency in the midst of all of these massive global shifts,” she said. “If I have a little pocket in the world, maybe I’ll feel a bit more secure.”

Before moving to Bridgewater, Mariam spent about 15 years renting in Halifax. She had lived in apartments, including a housing co-op, before renting a four-bedroom house for $1,800 a month, with total housing costs reaching roughly $2,500 after utilities. Her original plan was to purchase that home through a rent-to-own agreement with her landlord.

But when the pandemic arrived, the owner decided to sell instead. Halifax’s housing market transformed during the first year of lockdowns as record-low interest rates and a surge of buyers from other provinces pushed resale home prices up 10.9 per cent in 2020, after years of much slower growth.

What was discussed as a $350,000 purchase suddenly became a listing for about $500,000.

“To me, that was an unbelievable amount of money,” Mariam said, who had already spent years living frugally and had managed to save about $35,000.

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So instead of stretching her budget for a traditional home, she widened her search to include cottages, cabins and vacant land within 90 minutes of Halifax. Most affordable listings disappeared within days, she said, sometimes before she could even submit an offer.

Eventually, she found a listing on Kijiji – a 38-acre property with a small 10-by-10-foot cabin, an outhouse, a chicken coop and a driveway. The seller was asking for $65,000.

Mariam negotiated the price down to $50,000 by offering to pay cash. She completed the purchase in November, 2020, paying around $1,500 in legal fees to transfer the deed.

Coming up with that money had required years of piecing together income from multiple sources. While working in office management for a non-profit earning roughly $54,000 a year, she rented out a spare bedroom on Airbnb when her children weren’t home to help cover housing costs.

During the pandemic, she supplemented her income with freelance consulting work and launched the East Coast branch of a small bakery business she co-owns with her sisters.

Mariam kept money in separate bank accounts, which made it less tempting to spend.

“It was just about out of sight, out of mind,” she said. “The digital equivalent of just putting money under my mattress, really.”

The final $15,000 came through a mix of loans and gifts from friends and family.

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But the land purchase was just the beginning. To have a place to live while planning and building her home, Mariam bought a partially converted school bus for $6,000 and connected it to the cabin. She, her youngest child and her partner at the time lived there for two winters before she began building a permanent home.

She worked alongside a friend she hired for about $30 an hour, relied heavily on volunteer help from friends and used discount supplies. She estimates spending roughly $70,000 to build her 650-square-foot home with two bedrooms and a bathroom. She invested about $10,000 in solar panels rather than paying an estimated $30,000 to connect to the electrical grid.

More recently, she spent another $10,000 to dig a well after years of relying on rainwater collection and water hauling.

Growing up in a low-income family that moved frequently, she attended 13 different schools as a child. Having a permanent home, she said, provides a sense of stability she never had growing up.

“I can’t imagine ever getting rid of the place,” she said.

Purchase price: $50,000

Down payment: None, bought outright in cash

Legal fees: Approximately $1,500

Monthly ongoing costs

Mortgage: None

Home insurance: None

Utilities: None (off-grid with solar)

Property taxes: $12,000-$14,000

Additional costs

School bus: $6,000

House construction: $70,000 (with labour)

Solar power system: $10,000

Well: $10,000

Firewood: $1,200 (lasted more than one winter)

Advice

Mariam recommends keeping an open mind about what homeownership looks like. Consider alternative properties and think realistically about what you can learn to repair or build yourself.

“Being willing to engage with those unknown places changes everything.”

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the people profiled. Are you a first-time homeowner who would like to share their story? Send us an e-mail.