During a recent visit to New York, Simon Henry chatted with a real estate broker who was trying to negotiate the sale of a Manhattan apartment to a wealthy buyer from China. The seller refused to drop below $5.2-million (U.S.) and the buyer was equally adamant that he wouldn’t go above $5-million.

The frustrated broker couldn’t understand why the buyer was being so intractable. The Chinese businessman explained that he was buying the apartment for his daughter to live in while she attended school and he insisted on strictly adhering to the budget he had set.

“Anything over $5-million, I’m afraid it will go to her head,” he said.

As the co-founder of the Shanghai-based real estate portal Juwai.com, it’s the type of anecdote that Mr. Henry hears

Kamloops and the Thompson-Nicola region is facing a rental housing shortage, but compared to the rest of the country the area is not fairing too poorly.

According to the Canadian Rental Housing Index, in the region there are 53,375 renter households and of those 10,995 people are renting accommodations. That represents 21 per cent of the population as renters, with a median household income of $37,384. The average rent in the area is $835 including utilities. Of those renting, more than 48 per cent of people spend 30 per cent or more of their income for housing. Another 2,425 people spend more than 50 per cent of their income on housing needs, representing 22 per cent of all renters.

The number of renters living in overcrowded conditions represents

While you save up your down payment, take these 5 steps to get you closer to closing.

For renters planning to buy a home, preliminary steps like creating a budget and saving for a down payment are obvious. Here are five more advanced steps toward moving out of your rental and into a dream home of your own.

Understand the full cost of home ownership

As a renter, a single rental fee covers your monthly housing payment. But as a homeowner, four main factors go into your monthly housing payment: principal, interest, taxes and insurance (P.I.T.I.). Understanding these costs will help you determine how much house you can afford.

Together, principal and interest comprise your monthly mortgage payment, with the principal paying down your loan balance