Now it is the BANKERS telling the Government to cool it:
The Globe and Mail reported Saturday that the heads of the country's six largest banks privately told Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney in November that they fear a potential collapse in house prices and the ensuing potential for economic damage....
Tightening mortgage rules could prove a challenging move politically as it could negatively affect the value of Canadian homes.
So I had this crazy idea over the holidays...I'd see if I could find anyone who wanted to buy my house that I've owned for 5 years, who would then rent it back to me. My rationale is that I don't really want to move right now, but I am convinced that the real estate market is in for a tumble. My house has gone up exorbitantly since I bought it, and I see an opportunity to sell it at or near the peak, rent for 2-3 years, and then buy back in. If...
We can clean this thing up one last time and sell it. Usually that would mean in less the 6 months real estate prices will go up substantially.
Would someone be able to figure out the approximate return on this Townhouse for me.
Bought in 1994 $115,000
DP $35,000
Upkeep maintenance etc. $5000
Payout to clear title was about $22000 last year
Recapture I think about $7500 maybe $10,000
Worth about $200,000
My wife and I have about $400,000 saved up, we're 30, live modestly, want to buy a bungalow in suburbia and make babies. In Montreal we should be able to get what we want, including renovations, for $250,000. I keep reading on these forums that it doesn't make sense to buy a house cash in this day and age, you tie up all your money and interest rates are at rock bottom rates. Everyone says to invest your money if you have a large lump sum and...
TORONTO - Friday, January 9, 2009 -- TREB Members reported 2,577 sales in
December 2008, compared to the 4,646 recorded during the same month in 2007, and
the 4,447 recorded in December 2006,
I have a client who has 2 kids going to the same university. They are thinking about buying a property and putting it in the kids names so they avoid capital gains( Make it their principal). Obviously they would loose the ability to write off interest on the mortgage and they would not be claiming the rents on their returns.
Has anyone seen this work? any pros or cons I may be missing....thanks
I am thinking about buying a 3 br, 2 bath, double garage 2004 house in Las Vegas for an income property. I'm looking at the $100000 range, and I would pay cash. It would likely be a foreclosed property that would need several thousand in upgrades/repairs prior to being rentable. The house would rent for $1000 per month approximately. It would be property managed, seeing as I live in Canada. I understand Nevada is a tax-advantaged jurisdiction...
How does making your mortgage payment bi-weekly save you money? I got a letter in the mail from the bank that says paying our mortgage payment bi-weekly instead of monthly could save us $40,000 to $100,000 in interest and reduce our mortgage term by 7 to 9 years without refinancing. How does this work?
Looking for checklist of things to do to buy vacant land without me (as buyer) or seller needing to engage lawyers.
Also, how (I am assuming I should) do I confirm that seller has no liens? Can CRA put lien land I might buy from seller if seller has outstanding income taxes?
Can municipality put lien on land I might buy from seller if seller has outstanding property taxes (either on the land selling me or other property he has)?
I was introduced to Financial Webring Forum when one of my articles what referenced here. This looks like my kind of place to hang out :)
I have a significant interest in real estate investing and development as a way to increase wealth. While looking for my first (cheap) house I stumbled on a property that could be redeveloped. When I bought my second and third places I specifically refined the strategy.
Split from RRSP HBP by ModeratorK.
I'm just now debating if I really want to use that full $25K towards a home purchase. E.g. I'd like to keep some in my RRSP but that's a whole other debate.
Actually, its not a whole other debate at all ... its the same mortgage vs. invest debate that applies to your monthly extra cash flow.
The best argument for using HBP is where it can reduce or eliminate CMHC premiums by boosting your downpayment over...
I'm hoping to get some input from different view points about what the best decision would be for me regarding a mortgage.
I plan on living in the house I'm in for the next 5 years and am 5 years into a 25 year mortgage. my renewal is coming up and some of the options I have are:
Variable 2.25%
2 year fixed 3.5%
4 year fixed 4.24
5 year fixed 4.44
Based on those numbers, what do you think would be the best route to take. The 2.25% is...
I'd like to re-visit the question of whether it is best to rent a home or to buy a home. I'm looking at it purely as an investment. I know some people get a psychological benefit from ownership, I don't.
We know that under the right circumstances, buying a home can make you money compared to renting. As long as the cost of interest, plus taxes, plus maintenance is less than what you pay in rent, buying a home makes you money.
Hey everyone, been a while for me, but I'm still around.
There are a lot of commercial buildings vacant, for sale, or lease and we know why. Its making me think its a good time to invest a little in the commercial side of things, probably inside of a TFSA. But where to start with the DD? Anything attractive right now? What are your feelings in general about commercial REITs?
Just floating this as a thought experiment which may have relevance to me sometime in the next decade, but not immediately.
It seems to me on this board, whenever the question invest / contribute to RRSP or pay down the mortgage? is asked, the more likely response is to pay down the mortgage. Or if you must invest, pay down the mortgage and borrow back to invest for the tax benefits.
So let's say I am an investor, with a certain dollar value...
Hrm bit off topic, but I have this peculiar situation with a tenant;
A fellow rented my commercial building last year and tried to make a restaurant out of it, failed and now I just rented the place to someone else (he's making a pizzeria).
The first tenant built a hood for the kitchen along with ventilation leading to the outside. To build it, he had to make holes a bit all over in the exterior walls and ceiling of my building.
I read some article last week where the writer said it would make more sense to rent vs buy in Vancouver or Victoria. He didn't explain how a person figures that out, but I suspect it has to do with rent being less the mortgage+taxes+etc..
Would someone be able to explain the math to determine which option makes more sense, is there some 'rule of thumb' real estate investors/buyers use?
I keep thinking that appreciating house values will slow...
I have a tenant in my apartment who has a TD Chequing Account and I have an Envision Financial LOC Account. He currently pays me cash and the odd cheque but I would be interested in doing an EFT or some other form of money transfer if possible. I will be asking him to do post dated cheques if I don't find something else that works.
What is the best way for him to transfer rent payments monthly without getting charged extra fees?
CMHC - Canada's Breaking Point - at the America Canada website.
I don't know what to make of it - it is not an area of finance I have ever visited before. The article suggests some very scary consequences - and appears to be well documented and thought out.
I welcome any informed comments and assesments ...
A bit (w my emphasis) ... Even at the zenith of the US housing bubble, prices peaked around...
I have about $38K and less than 4 years left in my mortgage and I need to borrow money for renovation. The secured line of credit would be ideal if it would not add another monthly payment to the already existing load. Is refinancing my mortgage the only way to go? The problem I see with that is, of course, the cost of the procedure itself and, more importantly, the fact that I am having difficulty coming up with the exact amount...
We are looking to buy a house right now.
Does it make more sence to go with a fixed rate or variable?
We are locked in at 3.99% fixed, a few people said that a variable rate would make more sense right now. I am not sure what would be best.
I am current considering renting out a condo. I currnetly live in this condo, but bought a new one, so am cnsidering keeping this one, and living in my new one, instead of selling my current condo. I owe approx $40,000 on the mortgage and the condo is worth approx $140,000. I have a few questions:
1. What is an acceptable profit margin? Lets say my expenses are $900/month (450 mortgage, 350 condo fees, and 100 property taxes), and I rent for...
I am not sure whether this belongs here, or in Finance, but Picard's thread on tasers supports what I have been saying for years, that cities will become more dangerous, older people easier victims, and that a move to a smaller community with accessible Health Care and within easy distance of a major city would be a prudent move.
TO's Garbage Strike is just another mark of a continuing breakdown in Social order as the needs and wants of...
I stumbled upon this investment opportunity a few months ago, and started looking into it a bit further - thought I would see if anyone here has had experience with this sort of investment.
The investment seems to revolve around pooled funds being used to buy farmland in SK, and then collect income from leasing the land and regular farming activities. Also possible to get income from mineral rights and oil exploration. The company has done 3...
Like the proverbial flapping of a butterfly's wings that sets off a storm thousands of kilometers away, the turmoil in the U.S. home mortgage market this summer is beginning to directly affect the fortunes of companies that would not seem the least bit connected with the mortgage industry.
From Kyle Bass, managing partner of Hayman Capital Partners , a hedge fund manage, who is short:
I know this topic has been discussed before but I was looking for advice for our particular situation. We have 2 variable rate mortgages at prime - 0.75% (currently 1.5%) & are considering locking in one or both. It looks as though we could get a 5-yr fixed rate at ~4.15%.
Mind you, fixed rates do seem to be rising despite prime being held steady but it seems to me that locking in for 5 years doesn't make a lot of sense as in 5 years time,...
I don't get this whole cottage thing in Canada. Seems like every Canadian defines one of these things as some sort of dream achievment.
In my view it forces you to spend your vacation time there instead of seeing some interesting part of Canada or another country. Then there's maintenance and worry about theft, fire etc. Then there's usually a boat involved plus an insane drive up the 400 etc. Finally your sought after peace is often...
I've been quite lucky in real estate and managed to built up a healthy down payment on my current home which is valued at over 800K. My mortgage on this house is still fairly large at 500K. I always debate if I should sell and cash in or wait long term since the neighboorhood is still an upcoming area and the house will continue to go up.
My main reason for selling would be that with my profit I could buy a house cash and would no longer...
Hey gang, looking for some advise for a first time home buyer.
I am 30, and buying my first home. The mortgage will represent approximatly 60% loan to value.
I got some quotes today, variable at prime + 80 bps (3.05% all in) or fixed at 3.90 for 5 years.
I just wanted to get the gangs thoughts on which route I should go. My thinking is, rates can only go so much lower, and I feel that their is significant risk of interest rates jumping...
You know what I've just realized? I've never seen a thread about real estate investment here in FWF. Most of the investment discussion is centred around stocks and bonds. There are discussios about RRSPs, inflation, etc and there are even a couple of gold bugs. But the closest thing I've seen to real estate is a thread about the Smith Manouvre and the merits of buying a home vs renting.
My son (and perhaps my daughter) are in the early stages of looking for a condo home..........but neither will qualify for any kind of mortgage under any conditions. So good ol' Dad will have to help out!
So I'm wondering if the home is in joint ownership (Dad & son), would be son qualify for the First Time Home Buyers' tax incentive? (And there may be other incentives out there as well.....such as the Land Transfer Tax?).
We're currently looking to sell our condo; and to purchase another home in 1 or 2 years (we're in Vancouver)
In the meantime - does anyone have suggestions on how to protect ourselves from increases in real estate prices during the time that we'll be out of the market ?
Is investing in REIT's a reasonable approach?
We just don't want to be in the situation where prices spike up again after we're out.
Does anyone have any experience with these from a Canadian point of view. Specifically:
- Setting up a US bank account.
- Setting up a corporation there/here.
- Have you taken in any seminars and purchased there goods...worthwhile?
Any information is great.
Thanks.
A day after signing a $787 billion stimulus bill, Barack the Blessed announced another $275 billion in new programs to help hard-pressed homeowners and stop the slide in home values.
Evidently, the bulk of this measure will be done under his Executive Powers.
The programme includes provisions for: making refinancing easier for 4-5 million homeowners; reducing monthly payments to no more than 31% of monthly income for another 3-4 million...
I sold my Toronto house and plan to visit New Jersey in November to rent an apartment. Since I have neither a job there nor a credit history, I'll look like a class A risk to landlords.
Should I be prepared to give them cash up front for the entire year? Would they do automatic debits to my Canadian Visa card? Can I postdate American Express Traveler's Cheques?
I was thinking to get my credit history from Equifax Canada and also bring...
I'm aware of some incentives in the recent federal Budget for 1st time home buyers......but I seem to recall that there were other incentives already in existence?
A friend of mine is about to buy her first home - does anyone have any info on incentives available to 1st time buyers??
Suppose you have the opportunity to rent an apartment in either of three buildings. They are on the same block, and the apartments are of equal quality. The costs are identical.
Building A is privately owned by a few people and they deal with all the management. Building B is held privately by a property management corporation. Building C is owned by a REIT that trades on the TSX.
Would this fact make you lean towards one building or another?...
Donovan Bailey is advertising a 50 Year Amortization for Mortgages, and hopefully other lenders will follow suit.
A payment schedule such as this will allow many more people to get into the R.E Market, and since most people move several times, at the end of the day, many will trade down and end up Mortgage Free.
The TD Bank does not hold their mortgage specialist accountable for the things they promise – even when you have it in writing. They could care less about you. Avoid using the TD Bank.
I recently negotiated a mortgage with a downtown Victoria TD Bank mortgage specialist. I have worked with this specialist before on other mortgages. I travel up to 75% of the time so my wife has power of attorney to sign documents for both of us. I do all the...
What are MacroShares?
A MacroShare is like an ETF in that it trades like a stock every day and offers investors fundlike exposure to an index. But what makes it unique is we offer a pair of securities at once--what we call a Macro up and a Macro down. Anyone looking to benefit from an increase in the index that we are securitizing buys the up Macro and anyone looking to benefit from a decline in that index buys the down Macro.
Just got my MPAC re-assesment on our house in Toronto. Apparently, it's up >30% in 3 years (jan 1, 2005 - jan 1, 2008).
There is no way we'd be able to sell our house for the assessed value-- not on Jan 1, 2008 and certainly not now. Talk about marking to make-believe.
As an added bonus, I can't get a hint from the MPAC website as to how they arrived at the number b/c of multiple errors from the IBM WebSphere Portal (must be from everyone else...
I've just received a brochure to attend a seminar on Tax Deductible Mortgage Plan. When I did a quick search I found a couple of links one about the Smith Manoeuvre. Has anyone delved into this? Any thoughts on this type of mortgage plan? Thanks for any information.
if i bought a house (closing date November 30) and now I change my mind.
can i just 'cancel' the deal via my lawyer and just lose the deposit ($4000) ?
or will i be i deeper trouble (sued)
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