Hello, I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US and I'm considering purchasing a cottage in Ontario as a long term investment and somewhere to retire to. I don't know a lot about real estate but I'll do my best with my questions in the hopes that someone here is knowledgeable regarding the circumstance.
For some background, I'm looking to buy a cottage around the $750K CAD mark. I have enough in savings to safely buy in cash but with mortgage...
I am trying to find out how I would discover the sale price of a home that gets sold without using a Realtor, in Ontario. This is a condo in Toronto.
The home sale is currently pending. The person responsible for selling the home is responsive to most questions, but ghosts me whenever I ask about the (approximate) sales price. I don't know if anything nefarious is going on, but this type of behavior tends to arouse suspicion. I have a 1/3...
I hope everyone is not overly suffering during the pandemic! I have upcoming house repairs of about $80,000, I have oodles of equity in my house, an excellent long term credit rating etc, but I have reduced my income so I need to make some changes.
What I want to do is have my present mortgage increased by $80,000 to cover home repairs, up the amortization period to 25 years (or more), reduce monthly payments to the lowest...
Finding a place to live in Vancouver remotely has proven to be difficult so I thought I'd post here for some suggestions. First I was thinking of renting in the Vancouver core so that I could bike to work and be close to everything but then I realized that with the plague in full force and my work being WFH (I'd only need to go in once a month at most) there really is no point in paying premium rent prices to be in the Vancouver core area....
So I am currently living in a Toronto building where I pay, let's say $X/month for a 1-bedroom under 500 square feet. And I have been getting frustrated with the building over time.
I had a particular building down the street in my sights but the rent was always too high. 1-bedrooms started at $X+100, and 1+dens started at $X+300.
In December I noticed prices started dropping as low as $X+25 for 1+dens, so I went for a viewing. The unit she...
I'm buying a condo which costs about one tenth of my net worth (assets minus liabilities). However, I'm not currently employed and have only a modest amount of income from my assets (mainly ETF investments). A few banks have already told me they can't give me a mortgage due to government regulations even though my net worth would be much higher than the mortgage amount. So, here are my questions:
hi, I saw various postings about best rate for an unsecured LOC, and the ones under borrowing for investment, but can anyone share recent experience on best HELOC rate & terms?
The situation is we're closing on our retirement house, which would have no mortgage except this HELOC, and let's say the HELOC is 25% of the value.
In terms of rate, Scotia (historically our lender) is quoting me bank prime, is anyone getting better/care to share?
Wondering if people have thoughts on Addy Invest which lets you invest in Canadian real estate development projects one project at a time in increments of $1. Crowdsourced funding and once funding is complete, project goes ahead. They provide all the due diligence and documentation in advance for you to review prior to investing.
Here's the latest project
And you can see past funded projects on their site.
We are planing to purchase a house, and my husband and I would probably be going this weekend to check a few house. But since we are purchasing home for the first time, we need advice on what all should be checked before the purchase. Also have been looking for a good mortgage provider for first home buyers. Have heard of The Financial Forum, here in Ontario. Would probably be fixing a meeting with them soon too. Could use some suggestion and...
I'm in my late 30s and most of my friends/family have bought homes in the Ottawa area where I reside. Over the last few years, they have seen the price appreciation on their homes increase by $100-200k in suburban areas.
I've been a renter for the last ten years and pay about $1,100 per month. I'm single and don't have any kids so it's only me living in a small apartment.
I live in a large 1 bedroom rental apartment (not condo) near downtown Toronto and I pay $1,100 for rent including all my utilities and parking. My rental contract with the building management is an old contract. I've been in the unit since 2004 and the building is rent controlled, which is the reason why I pay such low rent. My next door neighbours in my building who have recently rented and moved in, pay over $1,700 for the exact same...
After hearing I really have no idea why everyone doesn't use a broker from 3 clients this week alone, I got really curious and maybe this financially literate forum can help me out a little. I put together a list of what I think is holding people back from using a broker, but I'll wait to see what everyone thinks first. So please chime in, I'd love to hear your thoughts, good and bad.
Even before getting into the industry, when I bought my...
Hi all, looking for some advice from the more experienced RE investors here on the feasibility of purchasing an older condominium or townhome vs. a newer build.
For background - I’m a first time homebuyer looking to purchase a property in the Metro Vancouver area to live in for at least the next 5 years. As you’re all probably aware, prices are quite high in the area, so been mainly looking at condos and townhomes. Found a few places which the...
As a Canadian, is there a good resource that explains the considerations including including taxation, if one buys a property in the United States?
I would not be looking to change my Canadian residency but also want to be fully aware of any tax obligations or consequences that might be triggered via the CRA or the IRS on owning a property in the U.S. I would look at buying in a state where property taxes are not outrageous and hopefully not...
Looking at how the housing market is currently in Ontario. I'm wondering if it is worth investing in a house (existing or new build).
The change in price for some of the areas in ontario is really hard to believe, but it is the truth. For example, 3 story condo's showing a change of 51% ( compared to last year.
I sometimes feel that there is a bubble in ontario overall, but it has been going for so long and the shortage of houses on...
My situation now is I currently have a rental property that I bought 4 years ago in Ontario and there is roughly $220,000 owing on it. It has a fantastic set of tenants who are going to be there for a long while (at least 15 years probably longer). The mortgage is in my name.
I also have a house in Alberta that is paid for. It was a starter home with a value in today's market around 280,000. I have out-grown the Alberta house and am thinking of...
Long time ago, I read from an article that you can lend money from an incorporated business, to someone (ie family member) related to the company director, for the purpose of buying a real estate property. For example, let say I m the sole director of an incorporate business in ON, my brother wants to purchase a house. Instead of getting a mortgage from a bank, he can it from my business. I can't seem to the information anymore. Does anyone know...
I signed up with a builder few months before the pandemic to a build a house. Pandemic started and I Lost my job before closing so couldn’t close but I did get a contract job now builder is pushing me to close now but I am not sure if I should proceed with the closing. Is it even worth moving to a bigger home which is more than twice the cost of my current home. My current home is all paid off. If I back off now I’ll loose my deposit and such....
In our late 70s, my wife and I have been planning to build a 3,000 ft2 home on a 4-acre parcel being severed from 5 ½ acres that we own in a small community in southern Ontario. We plan to finance the build using a margin account loan (prime + ¼ %) then sell our current home, also severed in the land division process, to pay the loan. A third lot also severed would not be sold in the foreseeable future.
Years ago, I got a realtor to add me to an automated email feed of property listing, contract, and sales data out of MLS for one neighbourhood. I can't ask him this curious question because he's retired and sailing the ocean blue.
Almost all of what comes off the feed is in round numbers. Place lists at $699,995, price reduced to $679,995, sells at $655,000, that sort of thing. The sale price is always a round number; it ends in at least two...
My mother moved from her house to a senior's home in mid-February of 2019. She sold her house at the end of May 2019. Thus she paid property taxes for five months but occupied the house for 1.5 months. She paid rent on the senior's apartment for 10.5 months.
What are the guidelines about declaring her principal residence on the tax forms?
I often hear people say that paying down your mortgage aggressively only guarantees you the return of the mortgage rate. So if your mortgage rate is 3% then that's a guaranteed return of 3%.
However, should one not factor in the fact that the 3% return is tax free, unlike returns on capital gains, interest and dividends? So in reality that 3% on your mortgage could really be the equivalent of more like 4%, depending on your marginal tax rate...
We are almost at the end of our mortgage term and are negotiating new rates. I presently have a couple of offers but my question centres around interest payments over the term of the mortgage (5 year fixed term)
I am considering the strategy of longer amortization (25yr) to manage risk but will pay it off in 9 years assuming life does not go sideways.
If I choose a 25 yr amortization @2.57%, the interest is approx $36k over...
OK so I'm just going to throw it out right now that I screwed up. I found myself in a high pressure situation and I signed on the dotted line. Living in Vancouver, need a bigger house, found one we liked on its opening open house weekend. It's a non-managed strata, three units (triplex), and is a new build still under construction but almost finished.
We wanted to make an offer which were being accepted the next day (Monday) at 5:30...
Hi all - I was wondering if anyone here has experience trying to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent and has gone to an LTB hearing to do it? How did it go, and would you have any advice for me?
My story - as concisely as possible without omitting any important details: I purchased a condo on April 1, 2019 and assumed a tenant who had already been living there since Feb, 2019. The original landlord (seller) took many deposits from the...
Hello FWF,I used to think buying was the best option but now I'm not so sure. I'm sure this question has been beaten to death before but I wanted some fresh input on my situation. I have some cash saved that could be used as a downpayment but I'm not convinced I'd be better off financially in the long run buying rather than continuing to rent. Here are my details and fyi in case it matters, this scenario is based in Brisbane Australia:
Hi everyone. Time for a little arm chair financial planner/tax accountant.
Hypothetical question where Person X wants to decide between owning a house, or buying a commercial property where he/she will live and rent out a big portion of. Let's ignore the personal details such as a house is a home for peace and quiet, while living amongst your tenants creates a whole different set of issues. Lets narrow it down to finances only please.
New to this forum. I'm wondering what others on this forum would do if they have a home that is mortgage free. Considering all the media on a housing bubble;
1. Would you sell your home and re-invest into other investments? What other investments?
2. Or stay in the home and continue to save, but realizing that if there is a correction the home will also depreciate?
I'm not ready to retire as i'm in my mid 40's, in Alberta.
Hi All
I need some advice regarding a property purchase. One of my kids will be purchasing a small condo and I want to provide the down payment . They have access to an unsecured loan at a decent interest rate to pay for the balance of the purchase price. I am thinking that I will be the bank and place a private mortgage on the condo to protect my $$. My question is : how best to structure this private mortgage. Should it be: a demand loan ? ,...
I'm new to investing, and just learning about it before jumping in. I'm wondering how to accurately compare paying off my mortgage quicker with lump sums vs. investing in index equity funds.
This is my thinking so far, and I'd love to hear corrections and things I'm missing.
I have a mortgage at 3%, so paying it down is equivalent to earning a guaranteed 3% real return.
Suppose I invest in funds with a 0.5% MER, and that the Bank of...
I'm a Canadian with property and insurance in Canada. However, I plan on moving to the USA and want to make sure my properties can be insured as a non-resident (landlord). It's hard to find a company who will do this. Does anyone have any tips?
Do you know a broker or company that does this?
Or a strategy (e.g. keep an address in Canada for the purposes of having insurance for properties in the country)?
Say that Alice and Bob are siblings, who are each named in the will of their Aunt Eve to receive half ownership in a house. Bob does not own a home and would be eligible for the RRSP Home Buyer's Plan (HBP) were he to purchase one. Here's a few hypothetical assumptions/questions I can't seem to find answers to:
Bob and Alice don't own their halves of the home until the date title is transferred by the executor during the settlement of Aunt...
I am currently considering subdividing 2 acres off my 4 acre property (which I have resided on for 20 years). The reason to do this would be to build a new home on the subdivided property. Once complete, I would like to sell my old home and acreage, and move in to the new one. Would there be any income tax implications on the sale of the original property?
Me and my husband jointly own our home and have been considering a reverse mortgage for a while now, as our incomes have decreased substantially, and we pretty much decided we were okay with the tradeoffs to be able to continue living comfortably in our home/city. However, we kept postponing starting the application process, and now my husband needs to go out of the country in a couple of weeks and he'll be gone for a long while. I'm just...
It's annoying that new appliances are so flimsy. They are designed to last only as long as the warranty period. When they break down they can't be repaired so you have to buy new ones.
Canadian gov't should be looking at right to repair too. Maybe this should be brought up during the election campaign...
I recently heard of Manulife One, it's some kind of blended product that mashes your mortgage and credit balances into one account that you can pay into. Anyone have experience with this? I'm a little suspicious of blended products but I don't know the numbers....
I am receiving an inheritance of about $420,000 and I would like to use this to kickstart my property portfolio and eventually work up to owning the property of my dreams (house + acreage). At the moment I am living very cheaply in a tiny house on wheels, and my partner is experienced in construction so could do any removations. I live in Squamish where properties are pretty much $800k up.
Option One: Buy the worst house in the best suburb in...
My parents have their principle residence in Ontario and also own a summer use cottage in Ontario. The cottage is opened on the May long weekend and closed on the Thanksgiving weekend. During the summer my parents spend most of their time at the cottage. The cottage is never rented out. During the winter, we have locals occasionally visit and clear snow of the boathouse roof as necessary. The cottage is very rustic and was built in the 1920's...
Hi, I have been renting a house in the GTA for multiple years, and the landlord has decided to sell. By buying the house direct from the landlord, we can save on the commission, but as someone who’s never purchased real estate before, I’m feeling a bit lost. Most of the online guides assume a realtor, or extensive knowledge of real estate transactions - I have neither. So I was hoping someone would be able to provide some guidelines and...
Would anyone be able to explain how I would go about getting a mortgage drawn up? I would be the lender and already have the buyer. Actually the house already sold and we had lawyers draw up a loan to cover part of the sale price. It was supposed to be short term, but it looks like it might take a while. The buyer is not related to me. With the buyer's agreement I'd like to convert it to a mortgage so I could use money out of my RRSP for the...
I am exploring the idea of doing some commercial real estate investments in Ontario -- ideally outside of GTA.
Any ideas on where I can go about finding commercial real estate listings? I am looking for something small to begin with; ideally a retail unit for sale that I can rent out (or is already rented out) to a small business.
I am only familiar with Zolo, Realtor.ca, etc. but they seem to excel in residential only.
I'm putting the cottage on the market in a few weeks. It's been a great ride, and it was a wonderful place when the kids (and grandkids) were growing up, but it has outlived its purpose. For the last two years we've done little except come up, do chores, and go home. The family all have busy lives to lead and the cottage is no longer part of their priorities. I'm not blaming anyone. It's just the way it is.
We're cleaning out the place, taking...
I am Canadian Citizen leaving in the US. In July 2018 we purchase a condo in Ontario and rent it out as a non residents of Canada.
I have been remitting to CRA 25% of the gross rental income and planing to file the Return for Electing Under Section 216.
I have been reading a lot of information about claiming CCA to reduce tax on the rental income.
I need help with a couple of questions, could anybody kindly advise?
Assume that you are considering a mortgage loan in Canada and that you are a good credit risk. Specifically, assume that your down-payment will be substantial. Assume that at companies you've worked in there have been layoffs of peers but in each round you have not been personally affected and assume that it has been in the news that your profession is one in which there is a shortage of professionals.
Some of you have a lot of business experience so I wonder if you would know if you can sue a bank in following situation in small claims for breach of contract for not following through with their offer to renew a mortgage in a reasonably timely manner.
Here's the situation. Last May my son's mortgage was coming due. He shopped around for and found the best interest rate at the Bank of Nova Scotia. They locked in an interest rate - There is no...
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