Despite the downward trend, real estate is still insane in Canada. To be honest, I haven’t been paying much attention to the headlines as of late, but it seems like everyone is a real expert these days. Talk to any homeowner, and they’ll tell you about how much their homes have gone up in value [...]
Last week CityNews reached out to me for comment on RBC’s Housing Trends and Affordability report. I had not read the report so I asked for a little bit of a backgrounder. The reporter explained that according to the report, people in Toronto were spending 72% of their income on housing. He wanted to get [...]
It was just over a year ago that I purchased my first home and with it came my first mortgage. As a personal finance expert, I was quite familiar with mortgages, so there were no surprises for me. However, many first-time homebuyers may not be familiar with the process of getting a mortgage which is [...]
You’ve decided that this is the year you buy a home, but have you ever thought about how to prepare to be a homeowner? This will likely be the largest purchase of your life, so you won’t want to rush things. Owning a home is a serious decision, so you want to get it right. [...]
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of FSCO. All opinions are my own. Earlier in the year, my wife and I had bought our first home. Because we had done our research and had been saving diligently, we felt confident when we reached out to our realtor. After speaking to our [...]
If you’re thinking about buying a condo, you’ve probably asked what do condo fees cover? Generally speaking, condo fees (or strata fees) cover building maintenance, amenities, and utilities. Condo fees aren’t cheap but it’s the price you’ll have to pay if you want to buy a condo. The tricky thing is, what condo fees cover [...]
I love to shop around! Nothing excites me more than getting the perfect deal, but it’s also about the right fit. Ever since my wife and I moved into our home, we spent hours picking out the paint colours and furniture. Honestly, I didn’t care that much, but this is our home, so I understand [...]
When my wife and I bought our home, we made the decision to not to go over $450K. We were approved for much more (like $1 million plus), but it was just way outside of our comfort zone. Even though we had a huge down payment, we just didn’t feel comfortable borrowing a ton of money [...]
A few months ago I wrote about how I bought a condo. Despite how much I prepared, there was no way for sure to tell what would happen after I closed. Well, some things went according to plan, but some other things came up that were a bit annoying. As a money guy, it was [...]
For most people, getting a mortgage is a must when purchasing a home. It's a pretty straight-forward process, you borrow money from a lender so you can purchase a home. Despite how "simple" it sounds, there are plenty of mortgage mistakes to avoid when you're making an application. The biggest mistake is arguably not getting pre-approved [...]
