You’ve had it with your roommates and you’ve had it with paying rent. You’re ready to move out and you’re seriously considering taking the leap into homeownership. But just because you want to buy a home, doesn’t mean you should. Before you start planning your housewarming party, take a minute to sit down and consider everything that comes along with homeownership. From mortgage rate trends to better budgeting, there’s more to buying a house than simply signing an offer. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Financial Planning
Is Your Home Underinsured?
Did you know that a large number of Canadian homes are underinsured? The following are six important steps to make sure your home is protected against the unexpected.
1) Know Your Policy And What it Covers
Your policy type should reflect your type of home and your needs. It’s important that you review your policy basics and have a good understanding of what you are and aren’t protected against. If you own an older home, or one that has special features (carved moldings or hardwood floors, for example), you will want to make sure you have special coverages in place to protect these items. Continue reading
Should You Use Your RRSP To Buy Your First Home?
Purchasing your first home can be tough, especially when it comes to scrounging up a sizable down payment. In Canada, you must be able to cough up a 20% down payment in order to avoid purchasing costly mortgage insurance. If you’re struggling to find enough cash to meet this requirement, don’t throw in the towel quite yet. Under the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP), first time home buyers in Canada can borrow up to $25,000 tax free from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) in order to help with their down payment and lower their monthly mortgage requirements. Continue reading
Housing Types
From townhouses to triplexes, there are numerous types of properties available to Canadian consumers. Not sure what layout works best for your family? Then check out our explanation of typical housing types below. Your mortgage payments and regular monthly bills may change depending on the kind of house you acquire, therefore it is vital that you carefully weigh the pros and cons related to each design before you make your final decision.
Condominiums
Condominiums, or condominiums as they’re commonly referred to, are a popular form of housing in larger cities. Inside a condominium contract, you own the unit, but do not own the land the unit is situated on, or any of the common space (lobby, gardens, and so on) outside of your unit. In order to ensure the suitable maintenance of these areas, condo proprietors are generally charged a monthly “condo fee.” Fee’s additionally help take care of things like elevator maintenance tasks, snow removal, and the use of any onsite recreational establishments (swimming pools, work-out devices, etc.). Don’t forget, these types of monthly fees are in addition to your residence mortgage payments. Continue reading
Renovating Before Selling – Is It Worth It?
Before putting your property on the real estate market, many home buyers ask whether or not their home would probably gain value from the home renovation. It could, but there will be things you need to take into consideration prior to finishing home renovations.
Expertise vs. Passion
It’s simple to get up to date watching home renovation episodes on tv and believing it is simple to complete a similar job to enhance your property value. The reality is however, that home owners spend lots of money every day on do-it-yourself home makeovers, and also specialized home makeovers, with no anticipation of turning a profit immediately after selling.
This particular gap frequently occurs because homeowners don’t have the experience to not only know what they are able to actually achieve without specialist help, but also in selecting proper equipment, materials, meeting legal requirements, overcoming building limitations, and in the actual workmanship and completion of the home remodeling.
Research your renovation
Before you begin smashing out walls and ripping up flooring, do a marketplace survey, compare your property to some others in the vicinity and area, and find out how the value and amenities of your home can compare to each other. If your house is the very best and most costly on the street, it’ll be difficult to anticipate exactly what the value of property renovations will be. If your residence lacks alot and is located near other, more modern homes, then maybe an easy facelift would certainly help, however major home renovations, especially before your market your property, in many cases are best left to the specialists.
Use professional guidance
If your heart is set on remodeling your property for sale, a professional will help you achieve that level of finish, even if you have got a small spending budget. Simple renovations for instance choosing a professional painter to decorate your property with fairly neutral tones and soft contrasts can really revitalize your home prior to it going on the market. Likewise, employing a home stager who brings in fresh and new furnishings while your property is available on the market, can modernize your house and offer it additional appeal.
There you have it. When contemplating home renovations to improve the value of your home prior to sale, your best option would be to discuss your decisions with your real estate agent or other brokers, because there will certainly be a limit as to what is achievable and realistic in terms of getting your money back from pre-sale refurbishments. You never know, maybe the thing that will sell your property that fastest is having that “fixer upper” attraction. If you are looking to finance a larger home renovation, FamilyLending.ca can help.