How far would you go to be mortgage-free? Or maybe a better way to say it would be, how small would you go? I have recently discovered the blog Hooked on Houses. Julia writes about all things house-related, from unusual listing pictures to movie houses to random house...

The Ontario Court of Appeal released a decision a few weeks ago that could have far-reaching effects for home sellers and realtors in Ontario. The decision, Krawchuk v. Scherbak, involved a first-time buyer who purchased a home in Sudbury. The sellers filled out an...

I see a lot of people who are buying their first homes. They have often done the math, and determined that it makes financial sense to buy. It doesn’t always, though. If you move around a lot for work, for example, closing costs might make buying impractical. Buying...

A few weeks ago, I guest blogged on LiveHigh.com about closing costs for condo buyers. Last week, I was invited back to guest blog about closing costs for condo sellers. You can read my post here. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to guest blog on this site....

Chris Jaglowitz blogged last week about the 10th anniversary of Ontario’s Condominium Act, 1998. Now, you may be saying, “1998 was 13 years ago.” However, as Chris writes in the post, it took over two years for the Act to come into effect, making it 10 years old this...

I was recently asked to guest blog on LiveHigh.com, a website dedicated to condo buyers and owners in the Greater Toronto Area. The four main points to remember: your down payment; tax and condo fee adjustments; legal fees and disbursements; and Land Transfer Tax and...

I frequently get asked this question: what does the seller have to tell me about problems with the home? The short answer is: nothing. In Ontario, there is a caveat emptor or “buyer beware” system for real estate. While sellers are prohibited from actively hiding...

I have a confession: a guilty pleasure of mine is Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s show, Til Debt Do Us Part, which I watch very regularly (even though I may claim it’s only because it’s on while I’m at the gym). On the show, Gail commandeers a family that is struggling with debt,...

A few weeks ago, I blogged about adverse possession. Adverse possession is only possible in one type of land ownership: the Land Registry system. In Ontario, parts of the province, particularly in the north, have always been in the Land Titles system, while the...