Many first-time buyers are debating whether they should continue to rent or should they buy. It’s also a consideration for those entering retirement age that are thinking of downsizing out of their home to a condo or apartment. But what makes more sense to rent or to buy? There are some big advantages to rent in certain situations and some even bigger advantages to buy a home.

Answer these 7 questions to know for sure if you should buy or if you should rent.

 See our First Time Buyers page for more info including Government incentives for first time buyers

1. Do You Have Enough Cash Saved Up?

The first question we need to look at is the financial implications of buying or renting. In order to purchase a home or condo, the banks will generally

When a Seller decides to move, the house isn’t new anymore; but to a new Buyer, the house is new.

Expectations can be different, depending on who’s the Buyer; and who’s the Seller. So how does this work in practice? Most Buyers and Sellers are cooperative, but there can be some who are more of a challenge than others. A lot of the buying/selling experience can be traced back to the attitude of the buyers and sellers. For example:

FROM THE BUYER’S PERSPECTIVE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

• The Buyer is moving to a new location.
• The Buyer may be a new/first-time Home Buyer.
• The Buyer will tell everyone he/she bought a new house.
• To the Buyer, the experience of buying a home is new.

FROM THE SELLER’S PERSPECTIVE WITH A NEGATIVE

Did you know there are more cats in Canada than dogs?

According to an Ipsos Reid poll, 35% of Canadian households have a dog, whereas 38% have a cat. As with real estate in Toronto and the Hamilton real estate market, it seems like the downtown cores have gone to the dogs. However, stats show that people love their feline friends even more.

Cats offer a bunch of benefits, from warm companionship to pest control. There are studies that show that cats reduce stress and even your risk for heart attack. And there are enough YouTube videos showing cats acting strange to know how entertaining they can be.

But is owning a cat actually depreciating your home? Or will owning a cat limit your possible buyers when you go to sell?

Short answer: yes. While

Are you looking to pay off you mortgage sooner? Buying a home with a basement apartment may be your ticket.

And while a lot of homeowners consider renting out a basement apartment, what’s stopping you from taking it a step further? What if instead of living upstairs and renting out the basement, you did the opposite: living in the basement and renting out the upstairs?

I know what you’re thinking: Why condemn myself to the basement when the main floor is available? I own this house, so why should I live downstairs?

First off, it’s a good way to subsidize your mortgage in high-priced Toronto and Vancouver housing markets. The rent from your tenants can go directly toward the mortgage, helping you burn your mortgage sooner.

3 Tips for Secondary

Buying a home with a secondary income suite, or with the intention of installing one, can be an effective way to offset steep mortgage costs in some of the hottest Canadian real estate markets.

And it should come as no surprise that they’ve become a widespread practice in Toronto and Vancouver, where the average price for a detached home now exceeds $1 million.
 
Considering rental vacancies are incredibly low in both cities – 1.6  per cent in Toronto, and 0.6 per cent in Vancouver – offering affordable housing seems like a guaranteed money maker. In fact, 80 per cent of rental units outside of purpose-built developments are located in private residences.
 
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently recognized how secondary suites help

You have many choices when it comes time to get your mortgage.

Not only do the different types, terms, and options for the mortgage vary, but you also have options when it comes to choosing the lender for your home loan. It’s important that your lender offers you a competitive rate, but there are other things to take into consideration, such as flexibility, customer service, and the fact that not all lenders offer all types of mortgages.
 
Banks
 
The biggest players in the mortgage market by far are the commercial banks. Big banks provide the majority of home loans to consumers. The general public knows and recognizes their brands, and there’s also some brand loyalty for consumers who already make use of the bank’s other financial products. These

Millennials looking to get into Canada’s hot housing market don’t just have to pay more than their grandparents did, they’re having to work twice as long too.

New research from the Broadbent Institute in Ottawa on Thursday measured prices in terms of how many weeks of work are required to pay for it.

Marc Lavoie, a researcher with Broadbent Institute, found it took just over 200 weeks of work to buy the average Canadian home in 1970. That’s shot up to more than 400 weeks’ pay in 2015.

He said there are several reasons behind the dramatic rise.

“It’s much easier to get credit for mortgages now than it used to be, and the amount that can be obtained is much larger,” said Lavoie, who’s also an economics professor at the University of Ottawa.

You’ve made up your mind to purchase a new home.

You have started looking at online listings to get a feel for the types of houses that are currently available. Before you give into those real estate temptations, there are a few crucial tips you need to bear in mind.

1. Know your Purchase Power
Before you even start looking at houses know how much your lender will pre-approve you for. Getting your heart set on a listing you can’t afford will taint your entire home buying journey. Keep in mind that there is usually negotiating room on a listing price, but try not to look at homes more than 10% above your pre-approved mortgage amount.

See our article on pre-approval/qualification

2. Decide what you are looking for
Know exactly what you are

Frequently Used Real Estate Terms

If you are new to real estate and hear terms and phrases that you are not quite sure on their meaning why not bookmark this page and get your real estate terms explained.

Acceleration Clause

The acceleration clause in a mortgage contract states that the entire balance of the debt is due and payable in full should the mortgagee default on the mortgage.

Acquisition Cost

The acquisition cost combines the purchase price with the estimated closing costs of the home.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage

An adjustable rate mortgage is also referred to as an ARM. This type of mortgage includes a lower initial rate of interest that changes after a predetermined time has passed and it is adjusted periodically. At that

Have you heard or been told things that you think "that doesn't seem right" in regards to Real Estate?

A home is likely the most expensive purchase you'll ever make. And the best way to protect yourself from costly mistakes is to go in with a solid understanding of all aspects of the home-buying process. Feel like you're swimming in misinformation?

Well lets look at a few of these "myths" and debunk them. Here is a list of the “Top Real Estate Myths.” There is no particular order. A typical consumer would not encounter all of these (and may not experience any of them) in a transaction. We could substitute many different “myths” for the list above. Some of these may surprise you, so there are general comments about each myth.

1. Experienced agents