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home
Kulka in her
investment property
turned family home
Duplex
Owner
Jenna KulKa
edmonton
Jenna KulKa has a
Carillon Cameron on the
patio of her garden suite
strong work
ethic, a head for numbers and a
supportive family—which helps
explain how the high school math
teacher was able to purchase her
first home at just 23.
“I was so proud when I got the
keys two years ago,” the AMA
member says, reflecting on her
three-bedroom new-build duplex
in the south Edmonton Glenridding
Heights community. “The hard work
and tears and sweat—it all paid off.”
Fewer people in their 20s are
buying homes, according to Jason
Provencher of Bridgewater Bank,
a Calgary-based subsidiary of
AMA that specializes in mortgages.
Figures from the 2016 Statistics
Canada census show the rate of
home ownership for people in their
30s is also lower than it was for baby
boomers at the same age. And the
number of home sales in Alberta
has been trending down for the
past four years. The Canadian Real
Estate Association reports that, as
of August 2018, sales had fallen six
percent below the same period in
2017. Sure, high prices make pur-
chasing more prohibitive, but there’s
also a culture shift: Today’s 20-some-
things change careers, relocate or
travel before settling down.
But for Kulka, buying was a no-
brainer: She secured a permanent
teaching position immediately after
university, and she’d been saving for
a downpayment since her first job
at age 14. She lived with her parents
through school and her first two
years as a teacher, squirrelling away
money while paying off her student
and car loans.
Provencher says it was the right
move, noting that lending institu-
tions typically look for two types
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AMA InsIder
WInter 2018
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