Credit Mortgages and Finance

How can you master your credit score and ways to improve it.

Found 141 blog entries about Credit Mortgages and Finance.

Kamloops first time home buyer10 tips for first-time home buyers in Kamloops

How to navigate the real estate market

Home buyers are currently caught in a storm of low inventory, high demand and tight credit availability. 

In these market conditions, even simple tactics or connections a potential home buyer can have could make the difference between owning a home or not.

1. Know what you can afford  

House downpayment

When looking for a new home, make your search more effective by knowing how much home you can afford. Carefully calculate the overall monthly payments. Be sure to include additional costs like property taxes, property transfer tax, insurance premiums, homeowners insurance, homeowners' association dues (if applicable), etc. Look at your monthly budget to understand how…
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Million dollar houseA million-dollar home but a property in a state of neglect and a bare-bones lifestyle that doesn’t fit your wealth.

In today’s housing market where the average price detached home is now $1 million in Toronto and $1.8 million in Vancouver, it’s becoming increasingly common to see seniors living in poverty even though they have enough home equity to lift themselves out of it. Across the country, the average price of a home reached a record $442,857 in 2015 — much of that wealth an untapped resource.

“I’ve seen people who are eating cat food but they own a $1.5 million home,” says David Batori, the broker of record with Toronto-based Re/Max Hallmark Batori Group Inc. ”Some of these seniors just don’t have any idea what their home is worth because they

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So you want to get started investing. Now is the best time to set yourself up for a comfortable financial future, but there are a few tasks you should tackle before putting your money to work for you. These tips apply to any investment, whether it’s in real estate, tax liens, or the stock market.

5 Financial Steps to Take Before You Invest in Real Estate

Emergency fund1. Fill Your Emergency Fund

Your emergency fund is a pool of savings you set aside to pay for emergencies. It’s self insurance for things you can’t insure.

Whether it’s a major car repair, unexpected medical bill, or the loss of a job, having an emergency fund can help bridge the the financial gap. Instead of turning to high interest credit cards for funding, you can turn to your emergency

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Province focuses affordability towards Canadian buyers of new homes, paid for by hiked luxury home tax;also promises collection of data on overseas buyers

First time buyersIt doesn’t matter if you’re a first-time buyer or not – the province is focusing the much-needed affordability measures in its 2016 BC Budget towards buyers of newly built entry-level homes, Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced February 16.

In an unexpected move, which had been widely predicted to be a cut in Property Transfer Tax (PTT) specifically for first-time buyers, de Jong announced that buyers of new homes up to $750,000 in value will no longer have to pay PTT (although GST still applies), effective February 17. This exemption is available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents

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How can you make money from your home?

Interesting article from the United Kingdom.

Make some cashIn simpler times, people threw Tupperware parties or took in lodgers. Now they run pop-up supper clubs or rent out spare rooms on Airbnb. Some do it for fun - there’s nothing like cooking for strangers or doing a bit of towel art on Egyptian cotton duvets - but most people do it for the money.

There is a growing sense that home is not just an appreciating asset, but a means to make ends meet, part of the global “sharing economy” that allows us to trade our private spaces as easily as selling collectables on eBay.

But first you need the right house: with an eye on income potential, you might look for extra guest rooms with en suite bathrooms, outhouses (perfect

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Secondary suites are a form of rental housing that is typically affordable, ground-oriented and market-based.

Basement suiteSecondary suites, a common feature of larger, older homes in several Canadian municipalities, have been in existence for many years but became illegal in some jurisdictions when zoning bylaws set stringent requirements for the type of housing that could be accommodated in low-density areas. Since the 1980s, secondary suites have been recognized by policy makers as one of the most cost-effective ways of providing affordable rental housing and are an important part of the Canadian housing stock, especially in urban areas. Secondary suites make up close to a fifth of the rental stock in Vancouver and Edmonton. They are also an important source of

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Kamloops House For RentRenting property can be a lucrative way to make money but make sure you know the rules..

In Toronto, in 2012, apartments rented for approximately $25 to $35 per square meter, and in Montreal, $21 to $28 per square meter, according to Global Property Guide. However, rental income can also be as simple as renting the spare room in your personal residence. “Even if you’re renting your basement apartment to a student, this is considered rental income, and it must be declared,” Caroline Thompson, president of Thompson Accounting and Tax Inc., explains. “However, you don’t need to charge the goods and services tax. It only applies to commercial property.”

Share of Ownership

Before you can determine how much of the rental income to declare, you need

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As tax season approaches, now is the time to educate yourself on some of the lesser-known tax deductions and credits you might qualify for.

Tax and your moneyThat’s especially true if you want to save some money or score a return. Here are six surprising options that could score you some major money.

Employment expenses

Many people think that only self-employed individuals can deduct work expenses on their tax returns, but that’s actually not the case. If you are salaried or commissioned and your employer requires you to pay expenses to earn your employment income, you can deduct those costs.

The following qualify and can be deducted under employment expenses on line 229 of your tax return:

  • Accounting and legal fees (applies to commission income only)
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Mortgage Terminology

To Understanding common Mortgage Terminology  we have to start with the basics:

What is a mortgage?

What is a mortgageA mortgage is a word that has been in the English language since the late 1300s and comes from the French “mort,” which means “dead,” and “gage,” meaning “pledge.” Therefore, a mortgage, in the real sense of the meaning of the word, means that the security pledged to the mortgagee for the debt will be taken from him if he fails to pay the debt, and will, therefore, be “dead to him upon condition.” on the other hand, the mortgagee fulfills the obligation to pay the debt, the pledge is dead. Either way, something dies.

A dictionary definition is much simpler and tells us that a mortgage is a “temporary, conditional pledge of

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The current commodities crisis has opened a new avenue of home sales, the purchasing and selling of foreclosure property.

Buying a Kamloops ForeclosureThere can be profit in dealing with undervalued foreclosure property but there are pitfalls that must be taken into consideration. If your an investor and have the ability to make repairs/updates if needed on a foreclosure then maybe this is something that you should look at.Often houses that end up in foreclosure have a lot of "baggage" with them. Sometimes it can be a house that's not finished and will need more work, permits etc. to finish and some houses are left in a condition that make them unlivable.

With low interest rates at the moment there are opportunities for people to buy a foreclosed property but an experienced

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