If you are buying a house that is not on municipal water, you will want to be very careful about the water system. If you are on lake water, you will want a filtration system to be able to wash with the water, but will want to have water brought in to drink as testing...
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Real Estate
How much of a deposit is legally required?
This week’s post will be short and sweet, because the answer is 0. You technically don’t have to put down a deposit at all; the contract is binding as long as you will be paying something at the time of closing. However, most sellers will not accept an offer unless...
Are you approved? Are you sure?
I have had many clients over the years who have struggled, often up to the last few days before closing, to get their financing in place. Sometimes, they simply left it too late; other times, the rug was pulled out from under them unexpectedly and they were left...
Suburban sprawl
I live in Barrie, a small city about an hour’s drive north of Toronto. Well, an hour when there isn’t too much traffic, and given how close we are to the city, that means not during prime commuting times morning and evening. Barrie has a very high population of...
It’s standard
When you get a mortgage, you will be signing a lot of paperwork. One of the documents you will sign is an acknowledgement regarding the standard charge terms of the mortgage. Standard charge terms are, well, standard. They set out, in extensive detail, the terms of...
Vendor take-back
I have clients who bought a building a while ago to use as an office. They have been in business for a long time, but commercial lending is much stricter than personal lending. Fortunately, the seller had no mortgage, and was content to give my clients a mortgage back...
Changing up a new home
When you buy a brand-new home from a builder, the agreement often states that certain features can be changed at the builder’s sole discretion, such as flipping the house to a mirror image floorplan, adding or removing garage access to the house or a basement walkout,...
The perils of creditor insurance
Often, when I receive mortgage instructions, they contain a form for the clients to sign regarding creditor life and/or disability insurance. Creditor insurance is one of my least favourite things. There are many problems with creditor insurance. First, it is...
A final walkthrough
Most purchase agreements provide for one or two additional visits after the agreement has gone firm, usually to take measurements for furniture and to check on the progress of any agreed-upon repairs. Another good time to have a walkthrough? Right before closing....
Talk to the hippo
Many people think that buying is automatically better than renting; this is not always the case. However, it can be tricky to figure out whether buying a house is in fact better for you, so I love tools that make it easier to figure out if you’re ready to own a house....