Finding a houseboat in a housing crisis
Toronto Star|April 20, 2024
Writer Kate Fincham found her place in Toronto for just $340,000 by moving onto the water
HOWARD AKLER
Finding a houseboat in a housing crisis

Kate Fincham lives on a $340,000 houseboat moored at Bluffers Park Marina in Scarborough. Like many young buyers, Fincham was discouraged by Toronto's imposing housing market, until she came across a blogTO post about a houseboat for sale.

It’s become very expensive to get into the housing market and the dream of buying a home appears unattainable for many. What can you do to be able to purchase a house? In our ‘Affording a Home’ series, we look at different ways others have done it and at resources that can help.

It was one of those shockingly warm days in February when Kate Fincham took her kayak out for an early morning paddle. The light was gentle, the water placid. A classic Canadian cottage scene.

Except it was in Scarborough.

Fincham, a 35-year-old content writer, lives on a houseboat moored at Bluffer's Park Marina. The sunrise paddles are part of a lifestyle far different from her previous one, when, in 2020, she and three others shared a house near Trinity Bellwoods. “I really liked living there, but I was ready for my own place.”

Of course, like many young buyers, she was soon discouraged by Toronto’s imposing housing market. Never mind the million-dollar homes. Even an entry-level condo was out of her reach.

“I figured I’d be a renter for life.”

Then, she came across a blogTO post about a $ 340,000 houseboat for sale. Fincham, who had sailed around the world as a teen and worked on a yacht after university, was surprised to learn that Toronto had houseboats.

Curious, she checked it out and was immediately wowed. The 625square-foot space had an openconcept living area and loft bedroom. “I was never so certain that this was the place for me,” she says.

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