Protect Yourself in 2020

I just read a great legal tip worth sharing. Many people date documents in this way: Day/Month/Year. When you date a document this year, it would be prudent to use all four digits for the year. If you enter a date like 06/01/20, someone could easily modify this date to 06/01/2017 or any previous year […]

Posted in Buying and Selling, Home Finance, Living

The B-20 Mortgage Stress Test One Year In

It’s almost a year since the B-20 lending regulations came into effect where borrowers for a conventional mortgage were required to pass a stress test (with a mortgage payment using an interest rate that is the greater of 5.34% or their actual mortgage rate plus 2%.) If a borrower wanted to switch lenders to get a better rate, then they must […]

Posted in Home Finance

Tax Time Advice

While the sale of your principal residence has not had any tax implications in the past, 2016’s changes to reporting should be taken seriously. If you don’t report the sale on your income tax return, you could be subject to a fine up to $8,000. While the CRA may reassess your tax returns going back […]

Posted in Buying and Selling, Home Finance, Income Properties, Uncategorized

Shifting Housing Markets – Buy and Sell in the Same Market

Did you read the Toronto Star article on April 7th about the Oakville real estate market? We certainly made the news. While it’s important to realize that sensational headlines sell papers, the message of shifting markets is accurate and the content is food for thought. They talked about the buyers who purchased new builds from Mattamy […]

Posted in Buying and Selling, Home Finance, Local News, Market Evaluation, New construction

Changing Mortgage Rates and the Housing Market According to RLP

Dominion Lending Centre Mortgage Agent Jeff Dickson sends us a weekly rate minder. It’s clear from his more recent mailings that both the posted rates and the preferred rates are on the rise. His recent report attributes some of the upward pressure on an unexpectedly strong US jobs report. With January job creation exceeding estimates, […]

Posted in Buying and Selling, Home Finance

OSFI Will Be Introducing a New “Stress Test” for Uninsured Mortgages (greater than 20% down payment) Effective January 1, 2018.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released new guidelines for the mortgage industry, which include a “stress test” for uninsured mortgages. Home buyers with 20% or greater down payments will need to qualify for their mortgages using the higher of the average 5-year posted rate (currently 4.89%) or 2.00% higher than their actual mortgage […]

Posted in Buying and Selling, Home Finance