Selling your home

As the summer approaches, Canadians from coast to coast are getting ready to indulge in the ultimate homeowner’s pleasure: renovations. And what better way to finance that marble countertop than a home equity line of credit (HELOC)?

By Erica Alini National Online Journalist, Money/Consumer  Global News

HELOCs are loans where the borrower’s equity in her or his home acts as security. And they are Canadians’ preferred financial tool to pay for large home improvement projects, for a few reasons.

First, they allow homeowners to borrow large amounts of money. Do you have $100,000 of equity in your home? You might be able to get a HELOC for close to that amount — and that should be plenty for, say, most kitchen redos.

Second, because the bank can

Canadians just aren’t interested in buying homes the way they used to be.

That much is clear from the annual RBC Home Ownership Poll, which was released Monday. It showed that only a quarter of Canadians plan on buying a home in the next two years, down from nearly 30 per cent in 2016. It’s a trend that comes as Canada’s average home price has climbed to almost $520,000, up 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Many Canadians still believe that buying a home is a good investment, but potential buyers are delaying their purchases in the hope that prices will come down, the RBC poll showed.

“For many Canadians, buying a home is a financial and personal milestone – often the biggest investment

New mortgage insurance rules introduced by the federal government last fall to cool the housing market have led to a sharp drop in insurance volumes for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. as fewer home buyers qualify for mortgage insurance.

CMHC said total insured volumes fell 41 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, including a 23-per-cent drop in homeowner insurance volumes and an 87-per-cent decline in the volume of portfolio insurance, which is bulk insurance purchased by financial institutions for their portfolios of uninsured mortgages.

The numbers unveiled on Tuesday offer a window into the impact of the government’s new rules, suggesting they have led to a significant decline in the number of people qualifying for insured mortgages under the

These days, knowing how to sell a house isn't as simple as sticking a "For Sale" sign on your lawn.

Times have changed—and the good news is the market is currently in your favor. It’s undeniably a seller’s market. In other words, buyers are demanding homes, but there isn't much inventory on the market. Plus, half of home buyers are worried about future rising interest rates and looking to lock into a home soon. As a result, there is pressure on buyers to submit offers quickly, and to offer full or even above list price.

All of this puts sellers squarely in the driver's seat—which can be a lot of pressure if your GPS is broken and you don't know how to navigate this new world. Consider this your crash course in getting up to speed.

Rule No. 1:

Canadian Airbnb hosts and the Canada Revenue Agency

Contrary to popular belief, Airbnb hosting is not “free money”. In the eyes of the taxman, it’s rental income. That status, however, depends on a number of factors I’ll describe in this section.

Of primary importance is that hosts are documenting expenses and retaining receipts to reduce the impact of tax assessments, come CRA filing time. Credit card receipts don’t cut it with the Agency, as these don’t identify specific items purchased. You need to present the CRA with an actual receipt. This includes receipts for all the little things that make your property special – bathing products, toothbrushes, a selection of special teas, or coffee. That means that hosts are on the hook for every single

Numbering around 80 million, Millennials now represent the fastest-growing generation of consumers in North America.

Statistics tell us that those born between 1980 and 2000 are a tough sell – being location-unaffiliated and cash poor means they’ve been written off as a generation of renters. But don’t be fooled: young people are more eager to get on the property ladder than you might think. In fact, Millennials now account for one in three home buyers. That figure is set to explode as we edge into the next decade.

What is true, is that Millennials have different attitudes about home buying than any other generation of home buyer. So, while a Generation Xer might value stability and look for a home they can live in for a decade or more before

Homeowners often list their homes by themselves in the hope of saving thousands of dollars in commission. But is this actually a saving?

The term For Sale by Owner (FSBO) is quite self-explanatory. It describes the process in which an owner has made the decision to sell their own home. Homeowners usually decide to pursue this route in the hope of saving money in real estate commission. But is this initial commission saving actually a saving? There are myths and misconceptions about selling your own home.

Although it is possible to sell your own home and save on real estate commissions, there can be obstacles associated with this personal undertaking.

• Pricing/savings. Can the initial attraction of saving on commission mean underselling

If you’re selling a home, you’ll want the best possible representation.

Buying a home is a big step, but then again, so is selling a property. The most important thing when listing a home is finding the right real estate agent to get you the most money possible and ensure a smooth, stress-free process.

Before You Start

First off all sellers should take a look at the Working with a REALTOR® brochure, available on the BC Real Estate Association website (bcrea.bc.ca). This is a great introduction to what a certified REALTOR® does, what their legal and fiduciary duties are, and how you can best work with one.

Interviewing Agents

To ensure your agent is the right fit for you, sellers should interview one or more agents before signing an

Canadian homeowners carried an average of $190,000 in mortgage debt in 2015

This according to a Manulife Bank of Canada survey. That’s a lot of money to owe a lender and thousands of dollars in interest to pay over the life of a mortgage.

One way to limit the amount of interest you pay is to pay off your mortgage faster than your agreed upon amortization schedule. Quickly paying down your mortgage will reduce the principal and thus reduce your interest charges. More money for you, less money for your lender.

Fortunately, there are several ways to pay your mortgage off quickly that require almost no effort. Let’s take a look at them below.

Choose Accelerated Mortgage Payments

Accelerated mortgage payments are the oldest trick in the book and

Have the recent government changes effected your home buying choices?

Call it the gap between what you have to pay and what you can afford to pay — it’s going to be considerable when you qualify for your next mortgage. Now the question is what should you do with that money?

Ottawa tightened mortgage rules in October and the one requirement that has disrupted the lending world is the stipulation that consumers qualify based on the Bank of Canada posted rate for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage.

That rate — it’s based on the most common posted rate of the big six banks for a five-year fixed rate mortgage — has been stuck at 4.64 per cent since the government announced the new measures in October 2016. Qualifying with that rate is a heavy burden and