Buying Your First House: Starter Home or Forever Home?   If you’re a first-time home buyer, you may be wondering: Should you purchase a small starter home to get into the market now, knowing you may grow out of it in a few years? Or, should you stretch your budget — or spend more time saving — to get a “forever home” that will take care of your long-term needs? Here are some factors to consider as you weigh whether to get a home best suited...

Home Renovations You Really Shouldn’t Do Yourself From Trendir  Home renovations are expensive, which is why many homeowners will attempt to tackle them themselves. Nonetheless, we all know that can be a risky situation as well as an expensive one if the renovations are done incorrectly. Although there are renovations that homeowners can do on their own, there are some that should just be left to a professional. In the hands of unskilled professionals, the following...

The Main Factors That Affect the Price of a Home   Median home sale prices have risen on a year-over-year basis for 52 consecutive months. In June, they reached yet another all-time high. Sure, from a macro view, we all understand that it’s a matter of supply and demand — not enough homes for sale in the major employment centers. But what about your house, or the house that you want, in the city where you live? What drives the price of a specific home in a specific...

2020 Property Assessment Notice From Mortgagebrokers.ca MPAC mails more than 875,000 notices, nearly half of which reflect changes in ownership across the province. If you recently moved, changed your school support or made changes to your property, your notice is on its way. We are continuously reviewing properties. You may have received a Notice for one of the following reasons: change to property ownership, legal description, or school support; change to the...

Bank of Canada plans to keep interest rate near zero until 2023 By CBC NEWS Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, says the country's economic recovery from COVID-19 will be uneven. (David Kawai/Bloomberg) The Bank of Canada says it has no plans to change its benchmark interest rate until inflation gets back to two per cent and stays there, something it says isn't likely to happen until 2023. The central bank said Wednesday it has decided to keep its...

These Pandemic-Related Housing and Design Trends Aren't Going Away Ana Durrani Hispanolistic/Getty Images Home trends come and go, but social distancing and staying at home have ushered in a new way of life—and some of those changes have spurred home trends that are likely to stick around well past the COVID-19 era. “The idea of what is necessary is changing,” says Camille Thomas, a real estate matchmaker and lifestyle expert in Jackson Hole,...

Price Isn’t Everything: How to Handle Multiple Offers When Selling a House   Live in a hot real estate market? If you’re selling your house, you might be lucky enough to receive more than one offer. If so, it’s a good idea to let potential buyers know. That way, they can tailor their offer with the competition in mind. You’ll then need to evaluate each offer fairly and consider advice from your real estate agent to choose the best one. Here are strategies...

...

Best Smart Home Products The pros at Reviewed.com share their top product picks, including "smart" bulbs, locks, smoke detectors, and more This Old House   Best Smart Bulb   Best Overall: Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit (Gen 3) Across the board, the Philips Hue smart bulbs topped all of our tests thanks to an easy setup, a robust suite of features, and an intuitive app. Additional support with smart assistants like Alexa,...

...

Title Insurance Revisited Title insurance has now become such an essential part of a real estate transaction in Ontario. It is crucial to know what a standard policy in a purchase transaction covers; and more importantly, what it does NOT cover. What is title insurance? Title insurance protects your ownership interest (i.e. title) of your property from losses incurred as a result of unknown title defects or other covered matters that exist at the time of your purchase, but are...

Home Improvement: DIY or Hire a Pro? There’s something appealing about the idea of a do-it-yourself home improvement project. By tackling a job yourself, you can save money on labor costs and enjoy work that’s been done with your own hands. But the reality is some projects are better left to the experts. Professional contractors can handle tasks that are complicated, time-consuming or downright unpleasant. Whether you plan to spruce up your entire home or just...

6 Ways to Build Your Home Equity (and Savings) Faster A home purchase brings together so many things under one roof: dreams, shelter, status, maybe a passport to better schools and neighborhoods. And one more thing: It gives you a forced savings account. It does that by letting you build home equity, which is the difference between your home’s market value and what you owe on it. Your equity increases with each house payment you make. When home prices rise, your equity...

How to Plan for Homeownership as a Millennial Courtesy of Realtor.ca If you’re a millennial considering buying your first home, congratulations! You’re probably excited until you remember: houses are expensive and—regardless of your current financial situation—you’ll likely need to save money to afford one.   This can be intimidating for anyone but, according to a recent survey, millennials in particular say it’s become more...

Working from home: what are the stakes? Courtesy of Actualis   With the pandemic, thousands of employers and workers have been discovering the many facets of working from home (WFH). Will telework be the way of the future? A key question for business owners. What will happen to working from home after the COVID-19 pandemic? More and more people are expecting companies to offer employees the WFH option at least part of the time. Health considerations aside, this decision will...

  A Record-Breaking Month for Canadian Housing Markets Courtesy of Realtor.ca With COVID-19 restrictions being lifted across Canada, home buyers and sellers have been busy! National home sales and new listings have continued to increase since June, with July seeing more home sales across Canada than any other month in the history of the Canadian Real Estate Association’s (CREA) database–which dates back more than 40 years!   As encouraging as the...

Over 40% of first-time home buyers in Canada can't afford a house without their parents' help, report suggests A Bank of Montreal report suggests first-time home buyers are increasingly turning to the 'Bank of Mom and Dad' Tyler Anderson/National Post TORONTO — A Bank of Montreal report suggests first-time home buyers are increasingly turning to the “Bank of Mom and Dad.” BMO’s 2015 Home Buying Report found that 42 per cent of first-time...

  Price Per Square Foot Survey 2020       Media Release     National real estate survey finds home prices holding steady, sales coming back after decline early in pandemic     Vancouver (August 24, 2020) – An annual report out from CENTURY 21 Canada today reveals house prices across Canada are maintaining their strength, while the...

  by Ryan Hyland Rotary and its GPEI partners celebrate a monumental achievement, say global eradication of wild polio is possible with the continued dedication and persistence of Rotarians The World Health Organization (WHO) on 25 August announced that transmission of the wild poliovirus has officially been stopped in all 47 countries of its African region. This is a historic and vital step toward global eradication of polio, which is Rotary’s top...

Everything You Need to Know About Bathroom Renovations REALTOR.ca Team   Struggling to find content to share on your social media pages? Stop scrolling through Instagram and Facebook. All you need is REALTOR.ca. Our consumer lifestyle blog, Living Room, offers content including home improvement, market trends, DIY projects, neighbourhood guides and profiles on unique homes. Living Room publishes exciting new content four times a week...

Real Estate Rebound: Record-Breaking Numbers for REALTOR.ca, National Home Sales What a difference a few months makes. July saw more homes trade hands in Canada than any other month in the history of CREA’s database going back more than 40 years. That coincides with REALTOR.ca visits being at an all-time high, with unique visitors increasing by more than 46% compared to the same time last year. Home sales are up 30.5% across Canada, with 62,533 units sold in July 2020...

CMHC’s New Underwriting Criteria: What Changed and What it Means for Home Buyers The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has implemented new underwriting criteria (eligibility requirements) to apply for homeowner transactional and portfolio mortgage insurance. Introduced earlier this summer, these new adjustments from CMHC come as a precaution while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact consumers in the real estate market and many other aspects of...