Real Estate Toronto Canada

Toronto Homeowners Should Never Pay For Work Upfront

Some recent news out of the United States has shone light on two important and financially dangerous aspects of having work done around or on your home. One issue is that if a company is paid upfront for all of the work, there is little recourse for homeowners if the company goes out of business before the work is completed. The other is that contractors usually pick up materials on credit with companies and use your home as collateral. This way when they don’t pay their tab, the supplier can come after homeowners, and sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars.

When working with contractors, Toronto homeowners should do their research.

One roofing company shut down in the middle of several projects after completing only half of the work but getting all of the pay, while a swimming pool installer did the same, but now homeowners are being targeted by subcontractors looking for payment for services rendered, even though the homeowners already paid the company in full. They’ve also received letters from concrete companies saying there’s a pending lien on their home for supplies, despite the fact that they also paid for those very same supplies already.

Never pay for a full contracting or renovation job completely up front. A deposit is usually necessary, but avoid any company or individual that requires a complete payment upfront. Do your research on companies before you hire them, and ask for references. Most importantly, follow up on those references and ask the company’s other clients how well the project went, what the workers were like and whether there were any unexpected problems or fees and how those issues were resolved.

How Can Toronto Homeowners Protect Themselves From Being Pulled Under With A Sinking Contracting Company? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

The biggest news this week on the housing front, was that existing home sales fell 27.2% in July. The June results were also downgraded, and now the inventory of unsold homes on the market is about a 12.5-month supply at the current rate of sales, up from an 8.9-month supply in June. A healthy real estate market usually has 6 months of supply or less.  New home sales also fell 12.4% for the month, to a level not seen since 1968. If you add in all the distressed homes that aren’t on the market, yet, this adds to the softness. Part of this picture is skewed, though. Housing is a mess, but part of the reason that sales are down now is because many of the buyers who would have normally bought in the last few months, already bought earlier in the year in order to take advantage of the home buyers tax credit. The extra supply of homes on the market is putting more downward pressure on home prices. The good news in all this bad news is that there are buyers out there, sitting on the fence and waiting for the right house at the right price. These buyers are motivated by bargains. I expect to see a small pop upwards in sales over the next few months as some of the fence sitters take advantage of the lower prices and low mortgage rates.

In other news, orders for durable goods, items expected to last three or more years, rose 0.3% in July mostly a result of some big commercial aircraft orders. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the total output of goods and services produced in the economy, increased at an annual rate of 1.6% in the second quarter, lower than the 2.4% increase initially reported. The biggest market mover for the week wasn’t a report, though, but the reaction to a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. In an economic summit at Jackson Hole Wyoming, Bernanke talked about the state of the economy and how the Fed is prepared to step in again if needed to add further liquidity to keep the avoid a double dip recession. News stories have come out over the last few weeks about how the Fed is divided about what to do, and when. Some Fed Governors want to hold back and are more concerned with long term consequences, while Bernanke is said to be more willing to act now. His comments were interpreted as a sign that the Fed is contemplating another round of quantitative easing, pumping more money into the system, possibly through buying more treasury bonds or mortgages. The finger is on the trigger, but nothing is likely to happen unless the economy takes another turn lower.

The effect of all this on mortgage rates this week is that mortgage rates are still near their best rates ever, but volatility is high and rates are as likely to worsen as go lower. Even as mortgage bonds have improved, mortgage rates haven’t. On days that mortgage backed securities have a good day, the wholesale lenders hold their rates or improve just a little. When mortgage bonds have a bad day, the wholesale lenders jump at the chance to raise rates (or more likely the pricing which determines the rates). Some of this is due to a normal cautious nervousness when rates are at previously uncharted highs. Part of this is because all the lenders pipelines are full, and they aren’t as hungry for new business when they are near capacity now. As some of the loans close, and more room is available, we may see some improvements, but for those waiting for the next leg lower in rates, it may be a long wait. There is a lot of activity this week, including the most watched indicator the employment report which will be released Friday morning.

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** 5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans – Call for Quote

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

Call for information on no-cost VA Streamlined Refinances

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company

In the first two weeks of August, there was a 29 per cent difference from the same time last year as well for Toronto existing home sales.

Home sales across Toronto are down, but it was to be expected.

In July, existing home sales across Canada fell 30 per cent when compared to July 2009, with Ontario and British Columbia pulling down averages across the board and taking the blame almost entirely according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Home buyers seem to be sitting on the fence with slightly higher expectations because of the booming market and lower prices earlier in the year and all of the current uncertainty is leading to hesitation for sellers when putting their homes on the market.

Even the Bank of Montreal recently released a statement in response to the latest numbers saying that it seems anyone who was going to buy a home this year had simply done it already.

While the decline is a bit more than was expected, sales in 2009 were high above the expected trend, leading to a larger-looking decline than reality would suggest. The ups and downs are a normal sign of a healthy market.

Regardless, the ebb and flow of the real estate market doesn’t change how people move, be it for a new job, lifestyle changes or any other reason. Your Toronto real estate agent watches the markets carefully and can help you determine the best course of action with regards to pricing your home so it sells.

Current Toronto Real Estate Cooling Is Just Inevitable Due To Earlier Boom is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

How come everyone wants a piece of my pie and I can’t ever seem to get a piece of theirs? I’m sure plenty of us feel that way. Years ago I knew a girl who moved to northern British Columbia with her boyfriend. Nature freaks – both of them! (Good thing too, or they might not have survived!) Now I’m not talking northern B.C. like Prince George or Prince Rupert, but Atlin. And not even Atlin, they lived way outside of Atlin, just south of the Yukon border…..in a TEEPEE!! They bathed in a hot spring and got a great deal of food from the local indians!! Now if that is the way to keep a piece of your own pie, then I say, “You can have my pie”!

There is a better way. At 1.85%, a variable-rate product today may look as attractive as ever, but the five-year fixed-rate closed mortgage is falling fast. Brad Vokins, Mobile Mortgage Specialist with RBC Royal Bank is quoting a five-year-fixed-rate at 3.64%. What if the banks reduce the long-term rates even more!

In the past variable rate mortgages have benefited the consumer far better than fixed-rate mortgages, but the time may be turning. the central bank has raised rates a couple of times now and will likely continue to raise rates. No one expects that the next five years will follow the past five years, so you may be able to argue that it is a good idea to lock in now.

Bank of Montreal is forecasting another 25 basis point move in September and says rates will climb another 1.5 percentage points by the end of 2011. If this is correct, by 2012, the variable-rate products out today would come in at just above 3.75%, if the discounting remains the same. And some banks are forcasting that the variable-rate product you can get today will end up at 6% by 2015. Fears of such a scenario are driving people into fixed-rate products again. That, plus new mortgage rules that make it easier to qualify for a mortgage if you go for a fixed-rate product with a term of five years or longer.

The Bank of Canada is doing what it said and increasing rates. The prediction is that the increases will continue, so now is a good time to consider locking in for a term. It makes sense, but with variable rate still under 2%, it’s easy to see why people wouldn’t want to lock in. If you are secure in your financial situation, you might just want to keep riding the variable wave.

There just never seems to be a clear answer on whether to lock in or stay variable, but this much is clear. Mortgage rates are low. Really low. And with them so low, it’s a great way for you to increase your piece of the pie. Take advantage, negotiate the lowest rate possible, then keep your payments a little higher and watch the principal amount of your mortgage decrease every month. You’ll be mortgage free in no time!  Then throw a big party and eat your own pie!

This week the National Association of Realtors announced some grim news – existing home sales were off 27.2% in July, the worst reading in 15 years. Though this news is grim, it isn’t surprising. The real estate market has been hit hard and with employment high, it isn’t likely to turn around soon. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind that put this number into fuller context:

• First time home buyers bought in force earlier in the year to take advantage of the tax credit. So many buyers who would have otherwise been in the market now, have already bought. July’s numbers were worse than expected, but sales came in stronger earlier in the year.

• Real estate is seasonal. Home sales usually peak in the Spring time, dip in the Summer and then there is usually a smaller increase in the fall. Traditionally, Summer is one of the slowest times for real estate sales. First time home buyers often buy in the Spring after getting their tax refunds, and families want to buy earlier to make sure they allow time to close and be in the house before school starts in late August.

But no matter how you spin it, these numbers are low. This is bad news if you are a homeowner and you are planning on selling your home soon. There are so many people who own a home now and need more space, but are stuck in their current home and have to sell before they can buy. The number of homes for sale has risen, even as home sales have dropped, so the inventory of homes for sale is high. This puts more pressure on home prices to drop even lower. But there is also a good side to this, but only for those who are still on the sidelines and haven’t bought a home yet.

I am seeing contracts on homes in areas I know well, where the prices are going back in time to where they were 10 years ago. With so many homes and so few buyers ready to move now, it is a true buyer’s market, and the home that are selling are selling at great prices. Add to this that mortgage rates are at all time lows, and this means that mortgage payments are going even further back in the time machine. Affordability is the key to any recovery now, and I do expect to see some increase in sales over the next months. And for those who do buy, homes are now more affordable than they have been in years. And in the long run, this is a good thing.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago FHA Mortgage Company

If you’re lucky enough to own a piece of downtown Toronto real estate, you can just sit back and watch the waterfront area grow.

A Waterfront Toronto conceptual drawing of Queens Quay, looking east.

Toronto’s new Sugar Beach is just one part of the city’s waterfront revitalization projects. Plenty of thought has gone into it: Pink umbrellas, imported sugar-like sand and well-thought out landscaping.

However, next to Sugar Beach and marring the picturesque landscape is a boxy, uninspired building – the Corus Entertainment headquarters, a generic green glass office building.  While the design is sustainable, it doesn’t quite suit the beachy atmosphere. Locals have been quite critical of the area’s architecture and the fact that it already has the whole no swimming thing going for it, being completely fenced in from the water itself. It’s not a place where Toronto residents can beat the heat unless they want to head towards the giant fountain. Still, the area used to be a parking lot.

Sugar beach is the second urban beach in the city. The Queen’s Quay streetcar line still needs to be extended to get the average biped there, but if you’re on a bike you can get there relatively easily. It’s just one more element in Toronto’s growth as a waterfront destination.

Along with selecting Hines as the real estate company to develop the next great Toronto neighbourhood, Waterfront Toronto has several projects on the go including the Lower Don Lands, the West Don Lands, East Bayfront, Port Lands, the Central Waterfront and the Gardiner area.

Those curious about the waterfront projects can check out the Waterfront Toronto website, which has a listing of projects that are underdevelopment, in the planning stages and recently completed.

Watch the Toronto waterfront area grow! is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Jabber is almost as fast as lightning.

Do you ever wish you could get instant notification of when your favorite bloggers update? Or even when a new comment is published on their blogs? If so, you might want to use a service called Jabber to make your blog conversations as fast as lightning (well, almost as fast).

With Jabber, you get split-second delivery of new blog posts and comments — for any WordPress.com blog you want to follow. This means there’s no need to wait for your RSS feed to update, or to use blog email subscriptions.

There are endless ways that Jabber might be used, but here’s a real-life example straight from WordPress.com headquarters. Of course, being a blogging company, our staff uses a lot of different team blogs to track information and to communicate. By using Jabber, we get instant notification when someone has published a new post or comment — and in return, one of us can respond right back. Often, these threads become full-on conversations, almost as if we’re in a chat room. However, because we’re using WordPress.com, we have a stored and searchable record of the conversation. It’s a super-fast, super-efficient way of communicating online.

Using Jabber requires that you have a WordPress.com account and use a Jabber client. You then connect following our instructions, and presto: instant communication.

Starting today there is a new way for your readers to share the posts on your blog with friends. This feature allows you to add sharing functionality from a range of services to the bottom of your blog posts.

Here’s a quick video introduction:

To begin with we have the following services for you to choose from. If there is a service missing from the list, don’t worry! You can add your own custom services as well.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Press This
• Reddit
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• Email to a friend
• Print

You can control these new options in your dashboard by going to Settings > Sharing.

You can choose which of these services you want to display and in a range of different formats. If you have the custom CSS upgrade you can go even further and choose your own icons and layout. We have also added stats for all activity around this feature so you will be able to see what content people are sharing and on what services. Check out the sharing support article for more information on getting setup. Note: We will also be realizing this as a WordPress.org plugin next week.

The Globe and Mail published a great article this week for Toronto home buyers and what to ensure is included in any real estate contract. Of course, your Toronto real estate agent will know the terms and conditions that should be included in your contact, but it never hurts to know what to expect and what not to leave out during the home buying game.

What you shouldn't forget in your Toronto real estate contract.

Making an offer conditional on the sale of an existing home

If the money obtained from selling your current home is necessary to purchase the second home, make your offer on the home reflective of that, with an appropriate one- to two-month timeframe so the seller isn’t waiting around forever.

What’s staying or going

Even if it’s nailed down – unless it’s in writing – that stove or light fixture that the seller said he’d leave for you might not be there when you walk into your new home for the first time. Anything verbally agreed upon should still be in the contract.

Who’s paying for what

There are many different fees that are tacked onto the home buying process, among them: land transfer tax, title fees, notary fees and closing costs. The contract should state the amount the buyer wants from the seller to cover these things, if at all.

Home inspection clause

It’s not uncommon for a home buyer to make an offer conditional upon being satisfied with the results of a home inspection. This will allow the buyer to easily back out if there’s some serious hidden problems with the home that will necessitate an expensive repair, or the buyer can instead make an offer that is less the repair costs.

Toronto Real Estate Contract Basics For Home Buyers is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

The big story of this last week was volatility. Most of the reports last week gave weight to the slowing economy theory. Home starts declined again this week and are now down to the lowest number since 1968. This is still the overhang from the bursting of the housing bubble, and we won’t see a significant degree of new starts until the economy is on the upswing and a good portion of the extra housing units have been absorbed (make that homes are selling again). Weekly unemployment claims were up again, with nearly 500,000 new claims. This number is a whole lot better than the worst of the crisis, but the claims are growing again (mostly because government paid census workers are off their jobs), so this adds more doubts of a real recovery. Probably the most influential report released last week was the Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey. This is a measure of business activity in the Philadelphia region. It was expected to show a slight increase in activity, but the results came in with a decrease of 7.7% from the previous month, much worse than expected. In addition to all the news in these reports, stocks were lower, too. So mortgage rates should be lower, right?

Usually, bad news for the economy means good news for mortgage rates. But right now, even though rates are at all time lows, rates are holding, but volatility is increasing. Mortgage rates are determined in good part by activity in the mortgage backed securities (MBS, a type of bond) market. With all the bad economic news over the last months, there has been a flight to quality with investors leaving riskier investments and putting their money in safer spots. The safest investment of all is considered to be US treasuries, and mortgages, being backed by the US government, come in close behind. The chart below shows activity in the MBS market over the past month. Each figure is one days worth of trading. The green figures show that prices improved over the course of the day (trending toward lower rates) while the red marks show deterioration in the days prices (higher rates). Look at the last week’s activity. The longer length of each figure means there was a big trading range for the day, and the preponderance of red means a nervous market. So what gives?

I think there are two things working here. First of all, investors are rethinking the risk in these bonds. By buying MBS they are taking on a fixed rate return over a long period of time. If stocks dive or other investments have negative returns, this is a wise strategy. But the return is so low, and rates have fallen so fast, that there is concern from some that we are in a bond bubble. If any hint of inflation comes out, these returns will quickly evaporate. So all of a sudden investors are getting cautious and holding off and reconsidering their positions. Another big factor is that a lot of these bonds are bought by mortgage companies to hedge their production. One big risk for consumers, is that with rates as low as they are, the mortgage industry is running close to capacity. We are in a big refinance boom again, and our pipelines are fuller than they have been since the beginning of last year. When this happens, mortgage companies often control their volume by pricing higher. I do my personal banking at one of the mega banks that are trying to control everything. Whenever I go into their lobby I always check out their marquee sign which tells their daily mortgage rates. We are always priced lower, usually by an 1/8 or a quarter of a point on the best conforming borrowers. I stopped in last week, and the rate on the sign was 3/8 higher in rate, plus a point in fees (each point is 1% of the loan amount). The difference here is jaw dropping. If you took on a $300,000 mortgage through them on these terms, that means an extra $3,000 in up-front costs, and about $60 more per month in payments. But there is a strategy to this. These rates tell me that they are overwhelmed with business, and can’t handle extra volume. Instead of putting up a closed sign and not taking in any additional applications, they raise the rates to slow the flow of inbound business. Wholesale lenders are doing the same thing, though not so drastically. What this means to you, if you are in the market to refinance or take on a new mortgage, is that these rates may be as good as it’s going to get. At least for a while. A lot of the bad news is already baked into the system, and there may be more risk on the upside. Rates are great, and I expect we will stay in this range for a while, but if you are waiting for rates to drop even further, you may have a long wait.

 Here are the current Chicago Illinois Home mortgage rates for an A+ (740 Fico or above), full doc single family home purchase or rate/term refinance on a 45 day rate lock, with 0 points, and no origination fee, best FHA rates assume a 660 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 620. Mortgage rates in other states may be slightly different, give me a call and I will give you an accurate quote for your particular situation. The conventional and FHA rates are based on the highest conforming loan amounts, which give the best pricing. Again, there are many factors which affect mortgage rates and your ability to be approved for a loan. These rates may not fit your situation and this is just a sample of the programs that are out there. If you would like a quote for your personal situation, or to get pre-approved for a mortgage, give me a call or contact me (Illinois mortgage company) and I will take the time to find the rate and program that is best for you:

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** 5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans – Call for Quote

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

Call for information on no-cost VA Streamlined Refinances

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company

Calculated Risk, one of my favorite financial blogs, found some interesting information released by the census bureau in the American Housing Survey. I found some surprising and interesting information in the report. Among the findings released are:

So why are there so many home owners who might benefit from a refinance who stayed with their original mortgage? I can think of a few reasons:

1. They don’t know that they can lower their payment – this is a possible reason, but only if they are hermits who don’t have access to the internet, radio or mail. We are all subjected to constant advertising, and over the last 10 years mortgage advertising was impossible to avoid.

2. They don’t think it is worth it to refinance – this is much more possible. I still hear people say that you need to lower your rate by 2 full points before it makes sense to refinance.  At one time you needed to pay up to 3 points (each point is worth 1% of the loan balance) in order to refinance. Now, we can usually do no cost refinances with larger loans ($200,000 or up, usually), and even with smaller loans the cost to refinance is reasonably low. The real key is again the pay back period, how long it takes for the savings from refinancing pays back the cost of refinancing, and then comparing this to how long they plan to stay in the home.

3. They don’t think they can be approved – I know there are people who realize that rates are lower and they could get a better rate than what they currently pay, but they doubt if they could qualify. In many cases they are right. It is tougher to qualify now than it was a few years ago. But if they have the same mortgage they had back in 1999, and they qualified then, there is a good chance they could qualify now. I have conversations all the time with people who are in excellent shape who think they are in far worse shape than they are.

Another reason may be that for most people, getting a new mortgage is just not on their radar screen. They know what their payment is now, and if it isn’t painful enough that they need to do something about it, it is easy enough to put it off and not do anything. So there are a lot of home owners who could still benefit from the refinance but haven’t. And chances are, they won’t.

Peter Thompson                              630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Refinance

It was announced yesterday that Waterfront Toronto has officially chosen the Hines Toronto real estate firm to develop the Next Great Waterfront Neighbourhood. The new neighbourhood will be on 10 acres of waterfront land between Parliament and Lower Sherbourne Streets, south of Queens Quay Boulevard.

The Toronto East Bayfront area currently.

The currently underutilized land will be turned into a mixed-use neighbourhood with 1,700 homes, retail and plenty of entertainment destinations for the East Bayfront area.

There was heated competition for designers and corporations bidding for bragging rights to help develop the land, which is the largest area ever developed by Waterfront Toronto. Hines won approval from the Toronto city council after putting together a design team that includes a leader who worked on the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lampur and the World Financial Center in Manhattan.

The revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront and putting the city on the map as a true waterfront destination continues! And not forgetting the cold winters, this waterfront area will have a winter garden and intimate nooks and crannies for visitors to escape the weather. Another architect working on the project also mentioned that they are aiming to make the area “the most walkable neighbourhood in all of Toronto.”

An artist's rendering of the future Toronto East Bayfront area.

The entire project is expected to be completed by 2021, but the project will be constructed in phases, with some buildings being ready for occupancy by 2014.

Waterfront Toronto Chooses Next Great Toronto Neighbourhood is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

As Realtors® we often forget how intimitating it can be to buy or sell a home. We do transactions and discuss the industry daily and forget that not everyone lives and breathes real estate. So this blog is hopefully a refresher course for those who need it and a few helpful tips for those new to the exciting world of home ownership.

It’s all over the papers that the market is cooling (and it is, but the sky is not falling….but that’s another blog!) and with a cooling  market it is that much more important to create a plan before jumping into the market.

Our neighbours to the south have experienced a housing burst but thankfully, we have not. More conservative regulations helped to prevent people from getting in over their heads. Yet another reason to be glad to be a Canadian!

But the market is different now than it was so anyone buying a house needs to be extra careful they have all their ducks in a row. Here are six things to remember to ensure you end up with the house of your dreams.

1. Build your team – You need a knowledgeable real estate agent, lawyer and mortgage broker. (Hopefully this is where you decide to call me! But really, just make sure you choose someone you can trust to help you make the decision that is right for you at this time in your life.)

2. Get a pre-approval – Having a great mortgage broker on your side can give you great peace of mind. They will lock in your mortgage rate for up to 120 days. Keep in mink that pre-approvals are almost always subject to certain conditions that you will need to meet before financing is confirmed. To protect and ensure that you can afford to buy the house of your dreams, it is a good idea to have a condition for financing on any offers to purchase a house.

3. Set a budget and stick to it – It’s hard not to let emotions take over during the home buying process. Your pre-approval amount is what the bank is willing to lend you and may not necessarily be an amount you can comfortably afford to pay, after taking into consideration your lifestyle needs. Do you have an active social life? Do you enjoy eating out? Are you planning on having kids? Are you saving for your RRSPs? When a bank provides an approval, they are based on CMHC guidelines, not the costs associated with your lifestyle.

For example, your financial institution will examine your gross debt servicing. Your monthly housing costs should not exceed 32% of your gross monthly household income. Housing costs include monthly mortgage payments, taxes, heating expenses and half of monthly condominium fees (if you are buying a condo). Your mortgage lender will also examine your total debt servicing ratio. This is your entire monthly debt load and it should not exceed 40% of your gross monthly income. This includes housing costs such as property taxes, heating costs and condo fees and other debts such as car payments, personal loans and credit card payments.

4. Factor in closing costs -  Far too often people are surprised when they get the final statement of adjustments from their lawyers and are left scrambling to come up with thousands of dollars to cover the shortfall. On top of the purchase price, there are also land transfer tax and legal fees. For example you must pay the Provincial Land Transfer Tax (first time buyers are eligible for a rebate), lawyer fees, maybe land taxes and an oil tank fill up. If you are buying in a new development, you may also be responsible for development charges, such as education levies and fees for enrolment in Tarion Warranty Corporation and installation of hydro meters. My advice? When negotiating the purchase of a new home, you should put a cap on all these extra charges. For example, if you capped all your developments charges and levies at $3,000, this is the maximum the builder could charge you at closing time, regardless of what the actual fees should be.

5. Title Insuance – Title insurance and identity theft coverage offer peace o fmind and protection. Although real estate title fraud is far less frequent than other forms of identity theft, it is a violation that can have devastating and long lasting effect on its victims.

And finally, once you are happy and settled in your new home, the journey is not over, it is just beginning. The goal is to pay off your mortgage as soon as comfortably possible. Try this:

6.  Bump up frequency of your payments – To save substantially on your interest costs and pay off your mortgage faster, set your payments to rapid weekly or bi-weekly mortgage payments options instead of monthly. The total outlay is only slightly greater than if you coose to pay monthly, but the impact on the bottom line is amazing. For instance, if you started with a 25 year amortization, by making rapid bi-weekly payments you would pay off your mortgage in 21. 4 years instead of 25. This saves tens of thousands of dollars in interest costs!

Regardless of where we are in the economic cycle or how robust the real estate market is, we all need a home, Finding the right home to suit your budget, your lifestyle and your aspirations is always a challenge. But with the right team, the right tools, a little patience and a little luck, you may be moving into the house of your dreams sooner than you ever imagined!

Like all of the other Toronto real estate numbers and predictions, those of an economic variety that deal with rising and falling interest rates should be viewed on a long-term basis while basing a decision on many different reports, not just one.

Toronto real estate financial forecasts can help guide mortgage borrowers.

Economic forecasts are another set of numbers and predictions that anyone planning on getting involved in a Toronto real estate transaction can look into. Major economists from a variety of Canadian banks will often create predictions about the economy and interest rates that home buyers and home sellers can use to determine their real estate financing.

When reviewing interest rate predictions, prospective homebuyers should gain a general consensus of interest rate forecasts and not focus on just one report by one institution. Generally, several banks or lenders will conduct their own, separate research and some might have different numbers and opinions.

Canadian Mortgage Trends recently conducted an interview with one of Canada’s leading economic forecasters, Sal Guatieri, the senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. Guatieri suggested the same, that those looking to borrow should take the time to look at all of the interest rate forecasts across the board, and not just one.

The financial situation of a homeowner is much more important than interest rates, as homeowners in a stronger position can navigate through the choppy waters of rising or falling interest rates more easily. Or, they can choose a fixed-rate mortgage, but all signs have historically pointed to variable-rate mortgages being cheaper in the long run.

For more information on Toronto Real Estate statistics, see our previous post.

What Do All Of These Toronto Real Estate Numbers Mean, Anyway? Part Two is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Ever wish you had a blogging assistant who helped you write posts that are full of great links, photos, and tags? Wish no more: We’ve partnered with the folks at Zemanta to give you a hand at quickly jazzing up your posts.

Once you’ve activated Zemanta, you’ll see several new widgets on your edit screen that let you quickly add recommended links, photos, tags, and articles. With just a few clicks your post goes from simple to snazzy.

How to Activate Zemanta

To add Zemanta, go to Users > Personal Settings in your Dashboard. You’ll see a new option near the end of the page that lets you add Zemanta to your posts. Click “Help me find related content (images, links, related articles, and tags) to use in my posts.” Hit “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page. You can turn it off at any time.

How It Works

Here’s how Zemanta looks in your edit window. (In this example, I’ve opened and dragged the Zemanta “Recommendations” widget up next to my text box.) It’s giving me a set of recommended photos, articles, and one link to add to my post.

I then clicked a photo I liked, as well as an article and the recommended link. Zemanta automatically adds them into my post as I click on them.

Here’s how my post looks after it has been spiffed up by Zemanta:

A Few More Details

If you don’t like the results Zemanta is giving you, you can hit “refine” to see a new set of recommendations. And if you’ve changed the topic of your blog post, hitting “update” will give you new choices. You can use as many of the Zemanta recommendations as you like, or you can ignore all of them — totally up to you!

Currently, Zemanta works on English-language blogs and can only be used in the visual editor mode. It’s not available on private blogs. Photos recommended by Zemanta are copyright-cleared, but we urge you to check out the photo’s license if you have any doubts (you can do that by hovering over the photo).

Please see this page for more helpful details on how Zemanta works, as well as our Support document on Zemanta.

Enjoy!

We are continuously striving to provide up-to-the-minute statistics on Toronto’s real estate market as we see them. Statistics are regularly released on either a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly basis, so there’s lots of information for potential or current homeowners to pick through when researching the home buying or home selling process in Toronto.

Toronto real estate statistics can be confusing at times!

These statistics are released periodically by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Toronto Real Estate Board, various Canadian banks, Toronto condominium statistics companies like Urbanation, Statistics Canada and the Canadian Real Estate Association.

All of these numbers from so many different, authoritative sources can get confusing. Not to mention that media outlets are handed press releases for the majority of these Toronto real estate statistics containing ready-to-use quotes and basic information, which they pepper into their articles which they are free to put their own positive or gloomy headline on depending on how they spin the numbers. If an article has about two, solid and well-worded quotes, it’s most likely information just pulled from a press release. If the article reads like a conversation or contains various “so-and-so told our media outlet exclusively” bragging rights, there was some in-depth reporting involved.

Back to the numbers.

Monthly statistics are informative, but less important than the trends over several months in which we can see a clear decline or increase. If one month posts 3,000 new home sales and the next month records 2,800, the headlines may say that “New Home Sales are Declining!” and then lay blame somewhere. It does not take into account that the previous month had 4,200 new home sales, and the month before that had 2,700, just like the ebb and flow of anything that’s dependent on a number of external factors.

If monthly home prices go up, it’s better for investors as they’ll see a higher home value and an increase on the return on their investment. If home prices are down, first-time and prospective actual home buyers will be looking forward to taking advantage of lower prices.

When sorting through the jumble of statistics, take the numbers in context. If home sales are down now, it’s not all doom and gloom because the spring was a record-setting real estate boom in Toronto with the end of the recession and the pressure to snag a home before the new mortgage rules, rising interest rates and Harmonized Sales Tax were implemented. Look at the overall trends for several months at a time, and most reports will contain year-over-year comparisons to provide a better feel of how the market is doing.

What Do These Toronto Real Estate Numbers Mean, Anyway? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Are you tired of clutter? Are you looking for a theme that puts the focus on your content and gets out of the way? Meet Oulipo, our newest theme. Oulipo’s clean, grid-based design and elegant typography make it perfect for a one-page announcement site, a photoblog, a journal… or anything else you choose to showcase.

Example showing Oulipo’s light color scheme and beautifully simple layout.

You’ll notice the unique placement of the left-side menu: it’s pinned in place. This keeps the site title, description, and main navigation in view at all times. A screenshot isn’t good enough—see it in action on the Oulipo demo site.

Make Oulipo your own with your choice of light or dark color schemes, background color, header image, and custom menu. Tip: If you choose a dark-colored background, switch first to the dark color scheme in Appearance → Theme Options to take advantage of contrasting text and border colors.

Example of Oulipo’s gorgeous dark color scheme.

The simple beauty of this theme is a sight for sore eyes. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Designed by Andrea Mignolo, Oulipo is now available for WordPress.com and, for self-hosted WordPress.org sites, from the WordPress.org Themes Directory.

For those of you who have been dreaming of an easier way for your readers to share your posts on Twitter, that day has come. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve added an official Tweet Button as an option for all WordPress.com blogs.

How it works: When one of your readers hits the Tweet Button, they will be shown a popup that includes a shortened link to your post. Readers can add in a quick message, and then hit “Tweet” to send the post to their Twitter feed as a tweet — all without leaving your blog.

Additionally, each time a reader tweets your post, you’ll know it: The tool keeps a live tally of tweets, so you’re never in the dark about how your blog posts are performing in the Twittersphere.

To enable the button on your blog please visit the “Appearance > Extras” menu and select the “Show a Twitter Tweet Button on my posts” option.

The Toronto Star recently announced that the bedbug infestation numbers in the city are rising. Bedbugs aren’t limited to low-income apartments or housing, but Toronto real estate that includes upscale houses and condominiums. However, in situations like these as well as in hotels, the problem is underreported because of the stigma attached.

Traveling is one way bedbugs can infiltrate your Toronto home or condo.

In 2003, Toronto Public Health received 46 reports of bedbug issues, while this year to date Toronto Public Health’s bedbug hotline has received over 1,300 calls.

Soon, the city of Toronto will be releasing information to property managers on how to deal with bedbugs properly in apartments and condominiums. Currently, they are not required to disclose anything to future tenants or residents and unless the infestation is extreme, the condo owner will have to pay for extermination himself.

However, homeowners have to deal with the issue themselves in every case. In most cases, someone can get bedbugs by bringing them into a home after visiting an infested hotel or a friend’s house, or if you are a tradesperson who regularly visits other people’s home and then brings them back to your own. Similarly, used clothing and furniture can contain bedbugs.

They can and do bite, leaving the victim with itchy red welts or even more serious allergic reactions. Aside from the bites, signs of bedbugs include rust-coloured specks on bed sheets, an offensive smell, shed skins as well as spotting the bugs in the crevices of your mattress or other parts of your home. They are visible to the naked eye and are about the size of an apple seed.

Bedbugs typically require professional attention, and a pest control company can go over your next steps with you. Clothes, furniture and any other soft surfaces that may be infested will also have to be quarantined, specially cleaned at a very high temperature or thrown away.

Bedbugs In Toronto Homes – What to do? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

For those of you who have been dreaming of an easier way for your readers to share your posts on Twitter, that day has come. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve added an official Tweet Button as an option for all WordPress.com blogs.

How it works: When one of your readers hits the Tweet Button, they will be shown a popup that includes a shortened link to your post. Readers can add in a quick message, and then hit “Tweet” to send the post to their Twitter feed as a tweet — all without leaving your blog.

Additionally, each time a reader tweets your post, you’ll know it: The tool keeps a live tally of tweets, so you’re never in the dark about how your blog posts are performing in the Twittersphere.

To enable the button on your blog please visit the “Appearance > Extras” menu and select the “Show a Twitter Tweet Button on my posts” option.