HOME SWEET HOME COSTS MONEY Buying a house to make a home for you and your family can be a stressful time for anyone, especially when it’s your first home. We no longer wanted to rent any more so looking for our first home was something that came fast and furious for us. With […]
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BUY MY HOUSE…… There are reasons why I won’t buy your house for sale unless it was up for sale at a fantastically low price and here’s why. Since spending months looking at open houses only a few years ago before we bought our current home my wife complained that I was too […]
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DO YOUR RESEARCH Buying an investment property is a big decision and one that you must do your research into first before saying you want to be a landlord. Today one of my fans Allyson shares her story of wanting to finish her education and buy an investment property to get her into the […]
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KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GETTING INTO When looking at buying your first house or your dream house, picking a house flip or choosing to renovate should be a question you ask yourself. As a household we’re not generally what you’d call nosy but sometimes going to see an open house can give you great ideas when you see renovations in real life. This is always an excuse for the wife to put on her shoes and drag me out because she’s seen another house that we must go and see. I’ll agree with her on some things and not on others. You don’t have to agree with each other on everything, which would be boring.As a husband, I will take interest in what my wife has for ideas around the house because 99% of the time I will be the one doing the install. Having an interest and input on what can and can’t be done makes dream renovations a bit more realistic. Looking at interior design magazines can give you great ideas but having a look at other houses and the renovations that have been completed is a good indication what would add value and sometimes what would be […]
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THE SECRET IS…THERE IS NO SECRET! Becoming mortgage free is not an easy task so I won’t make it out to be something that it’s not. In fact many things have led to us becoming mortgage free in 5 years which I want to discuss with you today since many of you have emailed me. Ever since I blogged about wanting to pay off the mortgage early I’ve had fans email me wanting to know if there were any secrets. I thought I’d wait until we actually became mortgage free to fill you in just how we did it. No, we didn’t win the lottery or get money from family or friends we earned every last bit of it. If you read our net worth update for April last week you already know that we were excited to tell everyone that we were finally saying good-bye to the mortgage payment. I promised you I’d let you know what we did and what problems we met along the way. I thought the best way would be to get my good friend Michael Anthony Lloyd a mortgage expert who blogs at www.homehappy.ca and has blogged here before to share a bit […]
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DON’T GET CAUGHT SINKING YOUR SHIP Being house poor doesn’t necessarily mean that you simply have no money but it can mean that you have too much house you can’t afford. House poor can also mean you have too much stuff, no money and/or piles of consumer debt that you are struggling financially to make ends meet. The term “poor” means so many things to everyone that the only way to describe it from a financial perspective would be lack of money. Some people may not consider themselves poor until starvation kicks in and they have to go to the food bank or when they reach the point of bankruptcy. Others may take on a different view but no matter what poor means to you it’s not a place that people “dream” of. House poor is not easy living You might consider yourself house poor when you can’t pay your mortgage which could be for a variety of reasons. There are also plenty of poor people living in the ritzy part of town who are struggling to take control of their financial situation. I think there are many misconceptions of the word poor and the only person […]
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BE PICKY WHEN HOUSE SHOPPING Typically we like to buy quality when we shop which included shopping for our home. This is why we scoured every available neighbourhood around our city for the best deal. The only thing we don’t like is paying full-price which meant we had our work cut out for us. Thankfully, it worked out in our favour. When buying a house you want to make sure that if you are buying a $400,000 house that the neighbourhood matches the price tag or you might struggle to sell as fast as you’d like down the road. This is why we hear over and over not to over-renovate but then again a smaller house in a bigger neighbourhood might have more luck finding a buyer than a house that costs far more than smaller surrounding homes. Today I have an email from a guy who is a first-time home-buyer with his wife and wants to know if they should spend the money and get the biggest house they can or a smaller house but in a more expensive area. Note: If you have a question for me please send me a detailed email similar to below so […]
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THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS FLOODED WITH AGENTS READY TO SERVE YOU Finding the perfect fit real estate agent to work for you and your housing needs is not a task to take lightly. You want a real estate agent that knows all about the latest real estate trends and who will guide you in the right direction. Find a real estate agent who will be just as excited as you are to see a Sold sign as they are to close a deal. A happy client who sends referrals and returns as a customer in the future means the agent went above and beyond. You want this real estate agent working for you, but how do you find them? Whether you are a first time home buyer or have had your feet dipped in the real estate market don’t rush to find a real estate agent. Taking the time to hand-pick the best real estate agent in your area that works best with you is key to your buying and selling success. Not everyone wants to hire a real estate agent as they choose to go it alone with for sale by owner or buying a house privately. […]
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DON’T MISS THE OBVIOUS WHEN LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL REAL ESTATE Whether you are buying or selling a house with a real estate agent or for sale by owner (FSBO) NEVER trust a real estate listing. I’ve invested in real estate since I was 21 years old when I bought my first house and a second at age 24. I’m not in the game of real estate to become a monster property millionaire but what I do know is that not all real estate listings are created equal. Finding the best real estate agent that will work for you isn’t an easy task but when you do remember that none of us are perfect and mistakes can happen. As a homeowner or buyer beware of any errors that could cost you thousands of dollars over the long haul once you move into your new home or sell your house. The last thing you want is your house sitting on the market for months because of en error no one is catching but potential buyers. If you want to add value to your house either you lower the price to gain attention or you add renovation/unique home perks to […]
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THE TAX MAN HANGS AROUND FOR LIFE In February like clock-work we get a letter in the post from the city about our new tax rate along with payment dates for our property tax bill. Whether it’s paying for income tax, property tax, product tax or anything that says tax you know you’ll never get away with dodging it. Which is why there are two certainties in life: death and taxes Every year the property tax bill gets higher and higher but that’s expected I suppose since it goes to pay for various things in the community such as municipal services, police, fire, transit and so on. I received an email from a young couple in the process of buying their first home and they wanted to know what the best way was to pay for their property tax bill. Dear Mr.CBB, My wife and I are just finalizing the sale of our new home and were wondering how we should pay for our property tax bill in order for our budget to balance. What else is there that we need to know about our new property and our tax bill? Thanks for any tips. -Chris and Angela If […]
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BUYING A HOUSE IS MORE THAN JUST SWEET BUTTERED WORDS How confident are you about every property listing you choose to visit that the house description will be 100% accurate? Probably not that confident and I don’t blame you. A property listing may be close to accurate but it may also be buttered up just a bit to motivate you to put an offer in on the house. Real Estate trends seem to be important big-ticket accessories for buyers and sellers but even then what is being sold should be what is depicted in the property listing. Have you really fallen prey to these marketing tactics in the real estate industry? Probably because they’ve been used for years because there’s no standards apart from, “Sell that house” as fast as you can. Does granite in a bathroom or kitchen turn on your buyers excitement? Make sure the granite counter-top that you may end up owning and paying big bucks for is the real deal! Buyers remorse is a sad place to be especially when you should be excited about your new home purchase. I read an excellent blog post that every real estate agent and private seller should read- […]
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DON’T BE A FOOL TOWARDS THE SHIMMER AND SHINE IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET The most expensive house in the world is the one you are living in or contemplating purchasing. Owning a home becomes your world even though some people consider a roof over their heads a house and never a home. Buying the most expensive house on the block is not something I would do unless I was paying cash or was 100% certain that I could maintain it even through unforeseen circumstances. The problem is that there are people who aren’t considering what could happen which could promote a for sale sign on their property. Plus, if you think those are expensive homes now just wait and see what happens if you find major issues with the home down the road. Be ready to part with money you thought you had saved for something more than surprise home renovations. Whether you buy a cheap house or an expensive house you are now holding something expensive that could cost you even more. The hometown living vibe is slowly being lost Many families are being forced to move away from their hometown mainly Toronto and Vancouver […]
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YOUR OPEN HOUSE IS A CANDY STORE FOR POTENTIAL OPEN HOUSE THIEVES. Open house signs seem to be flooding the real estate market these days especially during the Spring, Summer and Fall months when the weather is nice in our neighbourhood. A successful open house means that you’ve had potential buyers come through, nothing was broken, nobody was injured and you didn’t get robbed due to open house theft. Open houses today are met with homeowners and real estate agents being more cautious than they once were because open house theft continues to happen every single day. Do you really need an open house? You don’t need to have an open house but if you want one it’s important to know what you’re getting involved in especially security risks. What is an open house listing? Once you’ve established that you want to sell your house and you’ve signed all the papers and met up with your agent at their real estate office you may consider an open house. The same rules apply if you are a for sale by owner representing yourself because now you’ve got to do the legwork to make sure you protect your investment. […]
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BEFORE YOU SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS ALREADY MADE THE MISTAKES. Let’s just say we know someone who took on home ownership without much exploration but wishes he had done so to avoid the mistakes he made. Mr. Mistake has a child who stays with his mother alternate days through the week so the house is pretty quiet on the off days. At first we thought he would invest in buying a smaller house for the two of them to live in but that didn’t happen. The house he purchased was a 3000 sq ft. two-story home finished top to bottom however it wasn’t to his liking so he took on huge renovation projects. With the help of friends and hired help from Kijiji he got to work. He met lots of characters along the way responding to his Help Wanted ad online but hired very few. Saving money was the idea although not always the smartest when hiring people you don’t know. Even today he will tell you not to bother hiring online even if they come with a resume in hand. If the job goes wrong good luck trying […]
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