I do not need to celebrate. It is a bitter taste, because I did not like what I had to do even though I later accepted it. I saw an opportunity of a lifetime with the condo market shaking in late 2020 and the vaccines not yet arrived. I knew that the vaccines would eventually work and the production would be astronomical. At the time I would have preferred to rent forever but several factors collided including a unit near family that made ignoring it financial suicide. If I had not bought I would have taken the chance I could never buy in the GTA and though under rent control I did not want lack of action to define me. I have always been a glass half full person instead of glass half empty. So I took the chance. And now it's 2022.

Generally you want to "celebrate" achievements or hard work not a stroke of luck. Yes there was more than luck involved and a lot of people would argue those who take the risk should get the gains. But it's not good to dance on the financial graves of those who didn't risk. Only by the slimmest of margins did I make it. Perhaps I will write a book one day. Most definitely it could have gone the other way.

But luck or circumstance shouldn't be what you build policy on. It should be possible for the vast majority of people to accomplish what I did, not just me, and not just a one off or barely. I can tell you how to do it and the path you have to take but I don't think it should be that hard or the only path. Increasingly it requires specific knowledge, risk taking, market timing and sacrifice.

I will take advantage of the home equity and make another small fortune but I will take no pleasure from it. It is simply survival in a world that demands growth and is changing faster than anyone realizes.