The Globe and Mail published this article a couple of months ago on the possible real estate bubble in Canada. Essentially, the author and those she spoke with raised concerns about the overall debt load of Canadians, and our ability to hold on to our homes when...
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Real Estate
Buyer be aware
I often read Mark Weisleder's posts on the Moneyville website. This one in particular caught my attention: a realtor claimed an $11,000.00 commission from a couple after they signed a buyer agency agreement with him and then subsequently purchased a home through a...
Survey says
Someone asked me an interesting question the other day: what happens if there is a mistake in the survey and I don't find out until after closing? 20 years ago, when you bought property in Ontario, your lawyer would have done a full certification of title. There would...
Biting the hand that feeds you
Just before the end of last year, Moneyville reported on an agent who sued her former clients after a deal went bad. Essentially, the issue became the cost of staging the house when the owners took their home off the market because they could not sell it for a price...
High and low
A client recently asked me, out of curiosity, how high up and down she would own when her first home closed. Essentially, at common law, you own "up to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth". That being said, in many jurisdictions there are limits that have...
Cooling the market?
The Globe and Mail published this article a few weeks back about proposed new rules from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions regarding refinances and new mortgages. Essentially, the Office is proposing that banks be required to take a much...
Locking in a decade
Roma Luciw, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, published an article on Monday about the recent surge in popularity of the ten-year mortgage. There are distinct benefits to locking in for an extended period of time, especially now, with historically low rates that...
Mortgage wars!
The Globe and Mail published an article last week about the latest round of price cuts on Canadian mortgages. Bank of Montreal has reduced its rates again, offering low five- and ten-year mortgages. In response, the other big banks in Canada have followed suit,...
Checking on your home inspector
TheRedPin.com posted this article a few weeks ago about what home inspectors do and do not check when doing the inspection on your home – or rather, what they are and are not required to check. The list is quite informative, especially if you have not bought a home...
Time to jump into the market?
The Globe and Mail ran this article a few days ago about home ownership becoming more affordable. According to national statistics, house prices in the largest markets - Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal - all decreased in the last quarter. This combined with still...