In my home office, I have three large IKEA bookshelves. I acquired them separately over the years, but made sure to always buy the same exact model and finish so that, now that they are in a row on the same wall, they look like a beautiful, built-in shelf, where all...
Latest News
Real Estate
Leasing to own
In the Barrie area, we have several adult communities; most notable are Hoe Doe Valley, Big Cedar Estates and Sandy Cove Acres. All of these communities are comprised of communal areas and, generally, mobile (or otherwise movable) homes. Sometimes, the land is owned;...
Closing time
There are a lot of important considerations before you confirm that you have enough funds to be able to close: down payment, legal fees, moving trucks, etc. Here's another: tax adjustments. Depending on where you live, your city will charge property taxes every so...
Rentals to be assumed
Most people (in Ontario, anyway) rent their hot water heaters. What happens when you sell your house? Most agreements will provide that the hot water tank rental is to be assumed by the buyer. Generally, this is quite simple; if your rental is through Enbridge, as...
Toeing the line
In Ontario, most purchases close without an up-to-date survey, because most buyers purchase a title insurance policy at the same time that they buy the house. What happens if you find out after the fact that your neighbour's property encroaches onto yours? Generally...
Property assessments
Last week, I received my 2012 property assessment notice from MPAC. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation assesses property values every four years for the purpose of determining municipal taxes. They do this through an analysis of sales, and focus on five...
Some what-ifs
I read this interesting article earlier this week in the Globe and Mail. The basic premise is what might happen if the federal government decided to make purchasing a home more expensive by requiring much higher down payments - essentially, getting rid of the five per...
Renting to own
You may have heard of this scenario: a seller wants to sell their house, and is willing to take rental payment for a set period of time with the tenant to have a first right to buy at the end of the period, usually one-two years. Good for everyone, right? Well, maybe...
Rent or own?
I read this article the other day at the Globe and Mail and found it both interesting and practical. The author goes through a number of reasons why, even though she could technically afford to buy a house, she is choosing to continue renting for the time being. There...
Registration
There are a lot of things that real estate lawyers do: searching title, checking for liens, looking at surveys, and, of course, actually registering the transfer. A common question: what exactly is registration? In Ontario, we have electronic registration through...