Joel DyckReal Broker SK Ltd.
Saskatoon · From the topic map

Should I live in one unit and rent the other in Lakeridge?

Living in one unit of a Lakeridge property and renting the other, sometimes called house hacking, can work financially because CMHC's insured lending framework treats an owner-occupied property more favourably than a pure rental, allowing a minimum down payment of 5 percent on the first $500,000 rather than the larger down payment an investment property typically needs.

Living on site also makes you a landlord under the Residential Tenancies Act for whichever unit you rent out, with the same notice, deposit and dispute-resolution obligations any other Saskatchewan landlord has, even though you share a building with your tenant. That relationship works best when it is set up formally from the first day, with a written lease rather than an informal understanding between neighbours.

The financial case depends on the same numbers any rental analysis does: the rent the second unit can actually command, your mortgage payment, property tax, insurance and a maintenance reserve, weighed against what living there costs you compared to buying a single-family home outright instead. For some buyers the reduced housing cost is the real win, more than any profit from the rental unit itself.

Whether this makes sense for a specific Lakeridge property comes down to that property's numbers and your own tolerance for being a live-in landlord, not a general rule. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

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