STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

Melody Gaukel is a 30-year-old single woman who has just purchased her first home — an east-end bungalow. The deal closes next week.

Good thing, small package

It was love at first sight when Melody Gaukel pulled up in front of a charming 70-year-old, two-bedroom bungalow in Toronto's east end.

She had been looking for her first home for less than a month and it was the fourth house her real estate agent had shown her that day in late February. As soon as they pulled up to the curb, she knew it was the one.

"I'm still in a bit of shock, I think," says the 30-year-old Gaukel. "I had heard all these horror stories that it was going to take months and all these things could happen. I anticipated it taking a little longer," she says.

The 600-square-foot, pre-war bungalow has a big kitchen and, although the bedrooms are smaller than those in the apartment she now rents, the basement is unfinished.

"I see the potential in the house. If I decide to stay long-term I could put some money into it and make it something bigger if I wanted to," says Gaukel, an account supervisor for a Toronto-based public relations firm.

"I'm happy with the whole process and glad I took my time. I had looked at about 10 properties all total."

She bought the house for $287,500 – which was below the asking price – something almost unheard of in the city's popular areas. "It went on the market that morning and I put an offer in that night and, while there were negotiations, I still got it for below asking."

Gaukel, who says most of her friends own condos, is among a growing number of young, single women buying homes.

"There's been a huge surge of women buying real estate on their own in the last three or four years," says Dianne Usher, vice-president with Royal LePage, Johnston and Daniel Group in Toronto. "Unlike prior generations, there are more women in business, they're not getting married out of high school or university, and they have growing financial independence."

Usher says women are more likely than men to buy a home while still single.

"They have an entrepreneurial spirit. They want to get themselves settled financially, have an asset," she says. "And they are influencing buying power tremendously."

Although building a financial nest egg is one reason women invest in real estate, for many, it's also because they've had enough of the renting game.

"I was tired of hearing my neighbours over my head," says Gaukel. "But I also wanted something to call my own. Everyone kept talking to me about the financial investment, but at the end of the day, I just wanted some place that I could call my own."

And while there are always concerns about paying the mortgage if the economy goes bad, Gaukel says she is confident she can manage.

"I looked at my finances and my employability and thought, `I can do this.' Even if I'm unemployed for a few months, it will be okay," she says. "Even though the economy is in flux, I can risk it. My parents went through major recessions and made it."

Gaukel took a measured approach to home buying. She first met with a real estate agent last September to go over the ins and outs of house hunting. She asked a lot of questions of her agent, a mortgage broker and just about anyone else who could answer her queries.

"My agent was great. He spent two hours with me answering all my stupid questions and when we ended the conversation, I said, `Okay, don't call me until January.' I said I needed some time to deal with it and get ready.

"I would occasionally send him an email to ask some questions but, on Feb. 2, I sent him an email and said, "Okay, I think I'm ready.'"

By Feb. 28, she found the house. Because she had done her homework, she was able to move quickly, and that included having her mortgage broker on board with what she could afford.

"It's very empowering. When it happens, you think, `Wow, I just did that!' It was a high I'd never had before."

Gaukel had lived in condo buildings as a tenant before, so she knew she would prefer a detached home.

"This house definitely has a lot of character and it's well kept up. It has a huge yard with a clothesline. I'm looking forward to having friends over in the backyard," she says.

Her friends call the house Gaukel's "cottage in the city." When she started the process, she thought she might buy a vacation property and continue renting, instead of trying to buy a home in the hot Toronto market.

"But I realized I wouldn't get any first-time home buyer benefits out of it because it wouldn't be my primary residence. That kind of changed my plans along the way," she says.

She offers this advice: "Definitely take the time to ask a ton of questions of friends and family. I had never asked my parents about their mortgage but I did. It was not unusual for me to go to a friend's for dinner and say, `I know this is awkward, but how much did this cost?'"

Investing in her own future was the reason 26-year-old Mary Dalli decided to buy a semi-detached home in Oshawa.

"I have been living with my parents and didn't want to move out only to be paying someone else's mortgage," says Dalli, an office co-ordinator with a technology company in downtown Toronto. While moving to the suburbs will add to her commute, Oshawa housing was less expensive.

"I looked on and off for about six months. I wasn't in any hurry and didn't want the pressure to have to buy right away," she says.

The house she bought for $186,500 was built in the early 1970s. She takes possession in August. She was attracted by the size of the master bedroom; a large porch and the fact the home doesn't require a lot of work. "I'm planning to knock down a wall and open up the kitchen a little."

Dalli says the only thing she found stressful was that she thought she had financing approval from her local bank branch – they even gave her a price to keep in mind while hunting.

But when it came time to make the offer, the bank insisted she had not been pre-approved and wanted her parents to co-sign the loan – something she was hoping to avoid.

"That's when I got two brokers involved and, soon enough, the financing conditions were waived," she says.

Despite Dalli's experience, Usher says lenders aren't as discriminatory as they used to be towards women buying real estate on their own.

Vawn Himmelsbach also had that "love at first sight" experience, but hers was more conceptual.

Fed up with renting, she was walking in her neighbourhood when she noticed a billboard for the Minto Skyy condo development at Pottery Rd. and Broadview Ave.

The project, which is being constructed as a "green" building, is slated for completion by August 2009. Himmelsbach, 34, decided to buy a condo there last summer, attracted by its location near both the subway and the Don Valley Parkway.

The building also has a concierge and 24-hour security, which she appreciates. And since she doesn't own a car, she may make use of the on-site car share program. "I did purchase a parking spot, though, and intend to rent that out for about $200 a month."

And while a new condo requires a larger deposit than a resale home – 25 per cent – she says buying a condo not yet built was cheaper, and she gets to select decor that fits her tastes.

The 565-square-foot, one-bedroom unit has floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony. At $230,000, it was an affordable option for the self-employed freelance writer.

"I wasn't willing to eat macaroni and cheese and give up travelling just to own property. I'd love to have a yard but I don't really need one right now."

When it came to financing, Himmelsbach found the first bank she consulted "discouraging," since it appeared her mortgage payments would be about $2,000 per month.

"I guess I was a small fish in a big pond to him. I dealt with PC Financial instead and my mortgage payment will be less than what I'm paying in rent now," she says, adding the condo fees will be $240 for the first three years. "My overall expenses will be just a little more than they are right now."