Real Estate
I’m Single. Can I Afford To Buy A Home?
Canada is in a full blown housing crisis. While much of the housing conversation centres around sky high prices in Toronto and Vancouver, affordability issues stretch across the entire country. The average home price in Canada was $650,140 as of August 2023. This is especially problematic for single Canadians. Canada’s single population has increased steadily…
Read MoreMy House Was A Lousy Investment (Or Was It?)
As we get closer to moving into our new home (and selling our existing one) I decided to look back on the financial return of our home purchase. I wish I hadn’t. On first glance, I think my house was a lousy investment. We haven’t put our house on the market yet, but we will…
Read More4 Steps To Help Your Adult Child Buy A House
Housing has always been expensive. But these days, getting your foot in the door in the Canadian real estate market is a more significant challenge than ever before. With prices increasing steadily for nearly 30 years, it’s unlikely that your adult children may be able to afford a down payment if they live in a…
Read MoreLock-In or Ride It Out: The Variable Rate Mortgage Dilemma
I’ve always been transparent about my mortgage strategy. I prefer to select a deeply discounted variable rate (prime minus 0.80% or better), but if that’s not available then I’m happy to take a 1 or 2 year fixed rate mortgage and wait for those discounted variables to return. We’ve been in our house for 11…
Read MoreIs Renting Throwing Away Money?
Young people face a lot of pressure from their parents and peers to own a home. Canadians in general have a high rate of home ownership at around 68%, and in many cases homeowners have seen tremendous growth in real estate prices for the past few decades. For these reasons many people believe home ownership…
Read MoreRenewing Your Mortgage This Year? What You Need To Know
It’s an interesting time to be shopping for mortgage rates. On the one hand, the Bank of Canada’s emergency rate cuts have slashed its key lending rate to 0.25 percent. The big banks followed suit, dropping their prime lending rates by 1.5 percent. On the other hand, bond yields have dropped to historic lows, which…
Read MoreBuying A House? Here Are Your Down Payment Options
Housing prices are ticking up again, with the national average price for homes sold in September reaching $515,500, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association’s latest report. Rising prices puts prospective home buyers into a dilemma when it comes to saving for a down payment. Putting down the minimum five percent on a $500,000 home…
Read MoreRenting In Retirement
Canadians value few things more than a home that is owned outright. This might be especially true for retirees. The thinking seems to be that once your mortgage is paid off, your housing expenses evaporate. Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth. The alternative, renting, is often frowned upon. Renting is seen as…
Read MoreAn Inside Look At Private Mortgage Lending
I’ve always been a bit of an odd guy. While the rest of my friends were off having fun immediately after high school and going off to higher education, I intentionally took a job working overnights at a local grocery store because it would kill my social life. If I didn’t have distractions then I…
Read MoreShould You Use An Online Mortgage Broker?
When I wrote about my mortgage renewal strategy last week a reader asked if it was a good idea to visit a rate comparison website and simply select the lender with the lowest rate. No doubt if you frequent these sites you’ll have noticed the lowest mortgage rates tend to come from online mortgage brokers…
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