Why Land Lease Homes in a Lifestyle Community may be a Good Investment Hi and welcome to The Next Chapter podcast… where we delve into another of the 130+ topics in our new book. You know… if there’s one thing Monika and I have learned… both personally…  and through the thousands of hours of face-to-face conversations with our clients over the past 30 years, ...

Why Having a Plan B Can Crash-Proof Your Life Hi and welcome to The Next Chapter podcast… where we delve into one of the 130+ topics in our new book. You know… if there’s one thing Monika and I have learned… both personally… and through the thousands of hours of face-to-face conversations with our clients over the past 30 years, it’s that… in life, w ...

Hi and welcome to The Next Chapter podcast… where we delve into one of the 130+ topics in our new book. You know… if there’s one thing Monika and I have learned… both personally… and through the thousands of hours of face-to-face conversations with our clients over the past 30 years, it’s that… in life, what happens to us and around us may not be our ...

TIME… HOW WE VALUE IT, INVEST IT, SPEND IT AND BANK IT Time and how we value it has been a very intriguing topic based on feedback from our readers. This is one of 130 topics addressed in our most recent book (pages 42 – 45) THE NEXT CHAPTER – CHANGE THE MINDSET, CHANGE YOUR LIFE - for all online book retailers - https://www.thenextchapter.fyi/buy-book  When asked ab ...

What's the difference and which one is right for you? When applying for a mortgage, buyers have to make a lot of decisions about exactly what sort of agreement they want to reach with their lender. It’s an important step in the process and can take some time to complete, but after all that work, you can happily live in your home while you work down your principal with mortgage payments. Th ...

In a recent article, we looked at how the Bank of Canada's policy rate affects other banks' prime rates and what it means for borrowers. The bank's interest rate impacts a lot of what happens in the Canadian financial system, but it isn't the only important variable that investors should know about. Another common figure that plays a role in the market is what is known as bond yields. T ...

These days, everyone has their eyes on the Bank of Canada as they are in the progress of gradually raising interest rates. As the Bank of Canada rate goes up, so do mortgage rates, which affects anyone who has a mortgage in Canada. You may be wondering how that change actually happens. After all, you probably have a mortgage with one of Canada's big banks, not the central bank. How come the centr ...

With all the talk about house prices, have you ever stopped to wonder just how exactly home prices are actually determined? On a foundational level, we know that land itself has some inherent value due to its scarcity. Then there is the impact of the market where similar houses are compared at price against one another as they fluctuate in value. But, without just guessing based on the market, how ...

One of the most valuable aspects of real estate is the very land itself, so why not just buy land on its own? As the old saying goes, they aren't making any more of it. Though buying vacant land can be exciting for the potential it offers for development, it also offers the potential for you to be taxed. Indeed, like any real estate ownership, you may need to pay taxes when you buy, own, ...

If you’re interested in building a home or another kind of building in Canada, your first step will be to buy land. Though vacant land is generally less expensive than properties with existing structures, it can still cost quite a lot of money. This is particularly true for large plots of land or land in very desirable locations.   Luckily, just like you can get a mortgage for a home, ...

How a new exterior paint color can boost the curb appeal of your home If you’re looking to sell your house and make the most out of the sale, you can do so by boosting the exterior’s curb appeal. This can be done in a few different ways, including giving your house a completely different color. An enhanced curb appeal can make your house sell faster It’s not just the interior ...

The well-known myth of the American dream is owning a house is the suburbs with your white picket fence. Nowadays, homeownership can feel like a faraway dream for many young people. The real estate market in Ontario (or even just across Canada) has seen a significant boom in sales prices over the last couple of years, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. House hunting became less about finding wh ...

Tiny houses have become more popular, but there are plenty of challenges to building them With housing prices continuing to climb and supply plummeting, finding your dream home is getting harder and harder. So what if, instead of dreaming big, prospective homeowners set their sights on something smaller? Tiny homes, generally anywhere between 100 and 400 square feet in area, have become a t ...

Only two days after the worst snowfall in living memory in southern Ontario, where cities were draped with as much as two feet of heavy snow in just five hours (and which turned to ice a day later), bylaw officers were reportedly seen on the prowl taking photographs of residential rental properties that didn’t have their sidewalks cleared. With municipalities seemingly always looking for wa ...

In a recent article, we looked at how the prices of residential construction have increased rapidly in the past few years. One difficulty that has been contributing to this increase is a lack of qualified workers to fill trade jobs in Canada. The fact is, building a home is no easy task, and though we all want to live in one, it seems too few people are actually interested in doing the ...

At times, the amount of detail required for staging when you sell houses can seem a bit much. Does it really make a difference what colours my walls are, or what music I may be playing? For people viewing the home? Well, actually yes.Human senses can be incredibly sensitive and can influence our decisions greatly, even if it doesn’t seem obvious on the surface. It's the same principle that m ...

If you are looking to get a mortgage loan, you may find that a poor credit score presents a major barrier in your search. A credit score is something that a lot of people don't fully understand and can cause a lot of frustration. There are also many subtle things that may damage your credit score that you may not be aware of and may not notice until you go to get a loan. By then, it’s t ...

Everyone dreams of owning their own home, but for many people, the financial requirements can seem insurmountable. While a home won't ever be cheap, it might not be as bad as you think.If you plan on buying a home in the near future, you will need to take a careful inventory of your financial condition. There are numerous factors that affect how mortgage lenders will feel about lending to you, and ...

Aging in place: How Baby Boomers are breaking Canada's real estate market… In one of the tightest real estate markets ever recorded in Canada, Boomers are not letting go of their homes   A new real estate report says Canada’s record-low supply of real estate is being compounded by an emerging trend: Baby Boomers who won’t let go of their homes.Traditionally, seniors sell ...

Whether you are buying your 1st home or the next one, it's imprtant to have a well thought out strategy. This will be extremely helpful when meeting with your Realtor, Mortgage Specialist, Lawyer or your Financial Advisor.  In this video, we review the 6 key questions to consider when developing your plan.  Click below to watch this informative video: If you found this help ...