Originally, the couple set their sites on buying a place in Toronto. But there was one caveat: They wanted to avoid the condo market (the maintenance fees and mystery neighbours, more specifically). \u201cSo we started looking at houses and we quickly discovered that it was very, very<\/em> expensive,\u201d she says with a laugh. They also love to travel and weren\u2019t prepared to forfeit their lifestyle to make it work. McPhillips had been invited on a few press trips to Airbnbs and hotels in Prince Edward County, and picked up on the exciting energy bubbling in the region. \u201cA lot of new businesses were popping up and I really saw an entrepreneurial spirit growing here and a younger community coming together,\u201d she says. The vineyards, gorgeous landscapes and farm-to-table eats didn\u2019t hurt either. Plus, more room for her pup Keith to run around.<\/p>\n They eventually bought the first house they looked at. \u201cWe ended up looking at probably eight more houses but we just kept coming back to this one,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a new-build with tons of charming custom detailing on two-and-a-half acres of land.<\/p>\n Despite the fact that 20 percent of the Canadian population are their own bosses (at least part-time), qualifying for a mortgage when you\u2019re self-employed is easier said than done. Your lender will need to see your income, in the form of taxes, over the last two to three years. \u201cIt’s a little bit hard when your income is coming from all these different clients, and you do different types of work,\u201d says McPhillips, who has brand partnerships on her plate, along with freelance writing, workshops, e-courses and more.<\/p>\n In addition, many entrepreneurs write off their expenses to minimize their taxes payable, which make their net income appear lower to lenders. And when you don\u2019t have a steady paycheck, that income can fluctuate \u2014 even if it\u2019s trending positive. \u201cLast year was a very transitional year for me,\u201d says McPhillips. \u201cI was kind of moving out of brand partnerships and I was saying no to a lot of work.\u201d Shifting her business in a new direction temporarily skewed the numbers \u2014 at the exact moment they were looking for a pre-approval.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually owned a house years and years ago with an ex. And it felt like they literally handed us a mortgage because I wasn\u2019t self-employed,\u201d she says. Her husband is also in the process of securing his permanent residency, which added to the complexity. They ended up working with a mortgage broker and finding a decent interest rate with Manulife. \u201cIt was the process of back and forth and them needing things everyday that almost gave me a heart attack \u2014 literally right up until the day we signed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The entrepreneur also had to overcome the fear of starting over and swapping the hustle and bustle of Canada\u2019s largest city for a slower way of life (and internet connection). A well-intentioned comment spurred some understandable self doubt: \u201cAren\u2019t you worried that you\u2019ll become irrelevant now? Like, that your business won\u2019t survive now that you\u2019ve left the city?\u201d McPhillips shared in her newsletter that despite the comment feeling like an initial punch to her gut, she sees things differently now: \u201cWell, it’s now been two months since I moved from the city, and what I’ve come to understand is that this wasn\u2019t an upheaval of my life – it was simply a pivot. And instead of fear it, I choose to lean in to it.\u201d<\/p>\n McPhillips shows her audience what\u2019s possible. For many entrepreneurs who are grinding it out in Toronto and hitting homeownership walls thanks to affordability issues, the next wave may feel inspired to follow in her footsteps. The WiFi may be painfully slow, but her homeownership journey only showcases the power of online-based businesses. \u201cThere have been a few people who told me, \u2018I actually started following you because you made the move from the city to do this thing,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Lauren McPhillips makes Prince Edward County look like an entrepreneurs paradise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":196142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2019-09-30T17:16:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"2e82a9de-d707-428f-a323-a28227296d1e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2019-09-30T17:16:40Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ALoKp3tcHQo-jI6KCJyltHg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/u48r14.digitalhub.com\/sections\/09b86915-7d2b-3acd-915b-b215002d01b7"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11108],"tags":[11211,11163,3595],"coauthors":[10245],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/This-Renegade-Love-Toronto-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: Bettina Bogar <\/a>from thisrenegadelove\/Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/This-Renegade-Love-Living-Room.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: thisrenegadelove\/Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/This-Renegade-Love-PEC.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: thisrenegadelove\/Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/This-Renegade-Love-in-PEC.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: thisrenegadelove\/Instagram\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n