Without commenting on the obvious (parents gifting you your down payment) I can tell you how we did it.

• Both my wife and I had condos, sold and made okay profit at the time (6 years ago) nothing like the last few years in anticipation of us getting married/buying a house

• Bought at a really hard time for first time buyers when they instituted things like the stress tests in 2018. Everyone was rushing the market in 2017 to make it in before the new rules. This took out a lot of our completion at the time which meant no bidding wars. It also meant we were being approved for less (like everyone else) but that was okay with us. We were able to negotiate a really good price on a townhome

• 2 years later and our townhome is now worth 250k more. This combined with the amount we’ve already paid down on current mortgage will give us a sizable down for the next home. Plan to sell in a year or 2 and then eventually move into more of our forever home

The GTA is a sh!t show for sure but it’s not impossible. You just have to make the right move at the right time and really scope an area for potential (Hamilton, Whitby for instance you can still buy cheap) The key is that first property. The biggest problem is when people want it all and they want it right now, even if they can’t afford it. My wife and I both make pretty good salaries but we are not rich by any means and neither are our parents. We saved our down and just plan on trading up each time.