Rarely in life do things go as planned, especially in real estate. In a perfect world, when buying a new home, most people want to take possession of their new house before having to move out of the old one. This makes moving a lot easier and allows you time for painting or renovations prior […]

We know – more changes?! How can that be! With this ever-changing landscape, mortgages continue to get more complicated. This next round of changes is predicted to take affect this coming October 2017 (date not yet available). These new rules contain three possible changes, the most prominent being the implementation of a stress test for […]

This is part two of our mortgage basics series. It is a good idea to revisit the basics when looking at a complex thing like a mortgage. There can be misunderstandings which crop up. The mortgage process can be very stressful as you wait for some anonymous entity top decide whether or not you are […]

In part one of this two-part series, we will look at the types of insurances you will hear about during the mortgage process. Sometimes it is a good idea to revisit the basics when looking at a complex thing like a mortgage. There can be misunderstandings which crop up. The mortgage process can be very […]

Did you know that 30% – 40% of couples who get divorced so so over money. Divorce isn’t cheap either, so now is the time to fix your fighting and your finances! Are second mortgages a good idea? Sure, as long as you have an exit strategy and how it will get paid off at the least amount of […]

Just because you are a Canadian citizen living abroad doesn’t mean that you are exempt from the rules for foreigners buying real estate in Canada. Foreign ownership applies if: • You don’t reside in Canada for more than 6 months a year (even if you are Canadian) • You don’t report your working income to […]

For many people, saving enough for a down payment on a house is not an easy task. (You can’t rely on finding One-Eyed Willy’s treasure like they did in the Goonies movie, either!) Once you have an idea as to how much you can afford on your home, relative to your salary and monthly costs, […]

In the midst of the booming real estate market in Canada (mainly in Vancouver and Toronto), many Canadians are entertaining the idea of downsizing in order to sell their homes at a high value and purchase a smaller home or condo at a lower price. Is downsizing the way to go? What are the costs […]