Interest rates lowering bar for Stress Test?
Posted on Aug 13, 2020 in Mortgages
The “stress test” is back in the news. This time, it’s positive news, at least relative to its last few news releases.
This time, it means mortgages will be slightly easier to qualify for and that means borrowers will be able to spend slightly more on a house and still qualify for the mortgage.
A story on cbc.ca details how — in theory — the most rec...
When is home ownership for singles?
Posted on Aug 10, 2020 in Buying a house
You’re single. You’re thinking about buying a home. You’re uncertain, because it’s something you’ve never done. And because you’re single, any conversation about whether it’s a wise move starts like this:
“Self, what do you think?”
Here’s a couple of things you might like to inject in that one-way conversation:
One, you need to check off all the boxes...
Getting that house ready for listing
Posted on Aug 04, 2020 in Selling tips
Summer is often for one of two things: vacation or fixing up the house and yard. Since vacations can be somewhat abbreviated this year…you know what that leaves.
For the homeowner getting a home ready to list on MLS, there may not be a choice.
Fix-up time it is.
That sometimes raises major questions concerning how to give the house more “curb appeal...
Capital gains tax and real estate profits
Posted on Jul 27, 2020
Here's a story that's likely to prompt some discussion among homeowners:
Should there be a capital gains tax on profits from selling your principal residence?
Everybody's sure to have an opinion, and that includes The Financial Post, which a few days ago published this story on the subject:
What we'd like to know...
What makes neighbourhoods beautiful
Posted on Jul 15, 2020 in Neighbourhoods
It was the incomparable Mister Rogers who gave “neighbourhoods” their nicest definition, when he sang from the TV screen to little children: “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood…”
Mister Rogers has been gone for 17 years now but neighbourhoods will live forever. In real estate, clients are always in search of beautiful neighbourhoods for that...
Hong Kong: time for watching and waiting
Posted on Jul 08, 2020 in Real estate market
The latest news from Hong Kong is that there is another Great Wall in the making.
They’re calling it the Great Firewall.
It's an apparatus that limits online activity in China and, now, Hong Kong.
According to an article in The Guardian the law “gives authorities the power to demand individuals and service providers remove content, or access to conten...