A recent survey of people in Ontario and BC indicates that many home buyers do not understand the new HST rules. This confusion is actually translating into serious doubts about buying now rather than later.
According to the survey of 765 Royal Lepage agents “more than 86 per cent of respondents said the HST is affecting their business somewhat.”
The biggest misconception is that the HST applies to resale properties. It does not. It applies to fees and commissions for all home sales, but only to the sale price of new homes.
If you have any questions at all about the impact of the HST on your K-W home sale or purchase please contact me and I’ll give you the full story.
The iPhone is about as hot as a product could be right now. The recent release of the iPhone 4 broke all records for a new gadget. They have been flying off store shelves by the thousands – 1.7 million of them in the first three days.
The Blackberry from RIM still holds a commanding lead in the business sector. It is expected that lead will shrink over the next year. But just how much it will shrink depends on how quickly RIM adjusts to the new death-defying competition they are faced with.
What business people need is a secure, dependable and easy-to-use messaging device and the Blackberry is all that and more. In fact Apple’s unwillingness to include a physical keyboard with the iPhone will continue to make it difficult to win over hard core business users. Sending emails and text messages is still significantly faster using a physical keyboard than the touch screen keyboard of the iPhone.
Naturally I am a bit biased towards the Blackberry. After all, RIM is part of our community and has helped put Waterloo on the map – not to mention provided thousands of jobs for local residents.
And, oh yeah, I actually really like my Blackberry!
But RIM can’t ignore the broader consumer market where web browsing, video watching and application using are the chief attractions. On all three of these fronts the Blackberry suffers by comparison. The new Blackberry Torch released in the summer takes RIM part way there, but their next effort will have to be better if they hope to start winning customers back.
Remodeling or improving your kitchen is an important way to increase the resale value as well as your own enjoyment of your Kitchener-Waterloo home.
This is the first in a series of videos about kitchen upgrading and design. In this video kitchen remodeling expert Bob Schmidt discusses the preliminary steps you should go through when deciding on remodeling your kitchen.
Communication between you and your spouse or partner is very important, along with getting the advice of an experienced professional. Every facet of your remodel project has an impact on the end result and on the cost.
If you need some suggestions on reliable contractors I have dealt with in our area feel free to contact me.
In this video from Lowe’s Mike Kraft their home improvement expert, offers helpful tips for maintaining your string trimmer. Learn how to replace string, change the oil, clean the trimmer filter and more that will help keep your trimmer working like new.
When you’re installing a dimmer switch in your Kitchener-Waterloo home here are some useful tips to make the job easier. When you have decided which rooms would benefit from variable lighting, then gather up a few things such as wire nuts, screwdriver, and wire stripper, and get to work.
Imagine how surprised your family will be when they discover that they can lower the living room lights on movie night, or illuminate that important science project they have spread out on the kitchen counter. By watching this very informative video, you will become an expert in no time.
If your K-W home has an asphalt or blacktop driveway, it will almost certainly develop cracks. In this video, Tim Carter demonstrates how to fill a crack in an asphalt driveway. He uses a caulking compound to fill the crack and seal it against the weather.
Points worth noting:
- Make sure the asphalt is not wet
- Brush out the crack so there are no loose bits of debris
- This technique is for “v” shaped cracks
- The caulking material flows easily when the weather is reasonably warm
- Do not put too much compound in the crack otherwise it will create a mess
Notice that he recommends putting bits of asphalt debris from the blacktop to add solid matter to the crack and make the compound work better.
He also suggests you find some asphalt debris along the side of the driveway and sprinkle it on top of compound so it looks more like the rest of the driveway.
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April 29, 2010 – A quick survey of interest rates in Canada shows that Canada’s major banks are pushing up mortgage rates faster than the Bank of Canada is raising its trend setting rates.
In fact, according to Rob Carrick of the Globe and Mail current big bank 5 year fixed mortgage rates are almost back to their 10 year average. They are now at about 6.25% compared to the 10 year average of 6.75%. If the recession is really over, why is the bank 5 year GIC rate (the amount the banks pay on a 5 year GIC) at less than 65% of its 10 year average.
Some observers think it is pretty clear that the 5 year fixed rate has been pushed up prematurely by the new CHMC rules. These rules are forcing some people to go to a 5 year fixed making that a more expensive product.
It is also pretty clear that mortgage hunters should shop around for better rates. For example here are some of the lowest current 5 year fixed mortgage rates:
ING Direct – 4.59%
Meridian Credit Union – 4.19%
Others argue that variable rate mortgages are almost always cheaper over the long term than fixed rate mortgages. The current cost of a variable rate mortgage:
BMO – 2.10%
CIBC – 2.25%
BNS – 2.25%
(All rates from Yahoo finance April 28, 2010)
If you need further advice on sourcing a mortgage for an upcoming home purchase, contact me.
This informative video goes over the simple do-it-yourself things you can do for keeping your riding mower running properly. The video covers:
- preparing your mower for winter storage
- removing and cleaning the cutting deck
- checking and maintaining the belts
- draining and replacing the oil and oil filter
- replacing the air filter
- changing spark plugs
- lubricating moving parts
This video was created by Lowes, but the references to tools and replacement items apply to just about any home and garden centre in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
These solar shingles from Dow could be showing up on Waterloo Region roofs some time soon. They are about the size of a normal asphalt shingle, and can be installed like asphalt shingles too – with just a hammer and nails.
The cost is still prohibitive – about $25k for a bundle capable of cutting your home electrical costs by between 40% and 60%. Government grants in some places could bring the cost down to about $10k.
According to this Consumer Reports video these shingles will pay for themselves “far sooner than some solar water heaters we’ve tested.”
I am always happy to provide as much information as I can about suppliers in the Waterloo Region area for products such as these.
April 9, 2010 – For the past two years a lot of Canadians – and even some in the Kitchener-Waterloo area – have been cashing in on the fire sale housing prices in the US sunbelt. In fact there are real estate agents in a number of states (such as Arizona and Florida) who make a point of marketing their services to Canadians.
Are things about to change? Is the US economy about to turn around? How soon will it be before prices start heading up again?
Well, according to Yahoo’s Real Estate numbers the situation have not improved and have actually gotten worse in 2010. The total number of foreclosures in the US rose substantially in the first two months of 2010 after seeing a slight decline in December.
The US foreclosure numbers for February 2010 continued to increase by in excess of 10% over just six months before. While real estate has been booming in many parts of Canada, in the US the monthly sales for February had declined a whopping 50 percent as compared to August 09. The median sale price had also gone down by more than 3% across the country.
It is hard not to conclude that there are still many deals available for Canadians. A high value loonie makes those opportunities even more attractive.
If you are interested in learning more about opportunities for Canadians in the US, give me a call. I am in touch with real estate agents in all parts of the US, and can offer you professional assistance at no charge to you.
The warm kitchen that seemed so inviting when there was snow on the ground can easily become a sweltering oven in K-W’s summer. The saving grace is that many of the strategies for keeping a kitchen cooler in warm weather are also energy savers that help the environment as well. Sometimes you really can get a double bonus.
Energy efficient items such as electric frying pans, slo-cookers, and toaster ovens can be used to cook a dish instead of firing up your large stove or oven.
Microwave ovens and pressure cookers can cook an item quickly, using fewer kilowatts of energy and saving quite a bit of time as well. Use them in place of your large oven.
Foods cook more quickly if they are chopped into bite-sized pieces. Less cooking time translates to less energy use and a cooler kitchen.
Foods will cook in less time and save energy if you put lids on the pans and the right size burner is used.
The kitchen stays cooler if you preheat the oven only when the recipe calls for it.
Baking an extra item in the oven simultaneously doubles your efficiency.
Opening the oven door needlessly can cause an oven’s temperature to fall by 50F (25C) or more. It is more efficient to use the oven window.
Run the dishwasher only when packed with a full load and allow the dishes air-dry without running the final heat cycle.
According to a recent CBC survey of home buyers 71 percent of current and future homebuyers consider houses too expensive. This is especially the case in larger urban centers.
However, as is usually the case when the market goes “hot”, many of these same people buy anyway because they feel pressured to do so. Because the pricing trend is upwards they feel if they don’t buy now they will be confronted with even higher prices when they do eventually get around to buying. And certainly there is a lot of truth to this way of thinking.
Most Canadian industry analysts now think the market is going to cool down for the latter half of 2010. Government incentive programs are gradually coming to an end, interest rates are going up, qualification for mortgages is becoming harder, and the HST is coming into effect in Ontario and BC on July 1.
So in spite of the current high prices these factors still make this a good time to buy. Certainly there are not many analysts predicting a sharp decline in home prices any time soon.
Even the real estate meltdown in the U.S. in 2007 and 2008 was unable to squelch the demand for home purchases in Canada for more than a few months. Current government moves will probably cool the market down a bit, but most think the price trend will remain upwards.
If you are looking for a current evaluation of real estate opportunities in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, please contact me or give me a call.
OTTAWA, Ontario – The Bank of Canada announced on March 2, 2010 that it’s overnight lending rate would remain at 0.25 percent. This was in spite of better than expected economic activity in the country over the last few months.
Previously the BofC had predicted annual growth in 2009 of 3.3 percent and inflation of 1.6 percent. But the actual numbers were more like 5 percent growth as of the end of December 09 and 2 percent inflation.
The Bank restated its commitment to keep interest rates on hold until the second half of 2010. The general feeling is that the better-than-expected growth in 2009 was skewed by “exceptional monetary and fiscal stimulus, as well as extraordinary measures taken to support financial systems.”
In other words, growth has been propped up by massive government stimulus programs. In Canada these programs will begin to phase out this spring, and growth is expected to slow considerably. So the pledge to keep interest rates low is an attempt to ease the economy through the transition period.
Some observers outside the BofC think it is unlikely the Bank will be able to keep rates at the current level for that long. Gregory Klump, Chief Economist for the Canadian Real Estate Association predicts that “interest rates will rise, but increases will be small and spread out over time.”
So from the perspective of Waterloo Region home buyers, the next few months are probably the best time to buy they are likely to see for some time. Current mortgage rates for conventional mortgages stood at 5.39 percent as of March 2, 2010, which is down 0.4 percent from a year earlier.
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As of April 19, 2010 some important mortgage lending rule changes will be coming into effect in Canada. In this YouTube video Peter Hendershot discusses the three most important rule changes that effect homeowners, mortgage borrowers, and people planning on refinancing their mortgages.
Folks, be aware of a Facebook SCAM that tries to get you to open a zip file, that claims to contain a new Password for your Facebook account. It’s a virus.
I make no secret about the fact that I solicit people who are trying to sell their homes privately. And often I’m pleasantly surprised by how receptive most people are when I contact them. I think it’s because most people realize I’m not trying to sell them something. I’m really trying to help them, as much as they are helping me.
I realize that really the only reason someone would try and sell a home without a real estate company is because they want to save some money, and that’s fair enough. In fact Property Guys advertise “Sell Your House.
Pay Yourself”. They don’t advertise ”Sell Your House, Save the Buyer some money”
So sellers, if you are going to properly market your home, you have to look at this from the buyers perspective for just a moment. Generally private homes for sale are more expensive, not less. And buyers know this.
Buying a home is a serious thing, and most wouldn’t risk making such a major purchase without the advice of an experienced Realtor. That’s why it’s so important to market your home to not only potential buyers, but also to Realtors. If you want to know who the most serious buyers are, look no further than www.realtor.ca Almost all the people selling houses – are also BUYING houses. And they ALL have agents.
Another very common thing I hear from private sellers is “if you have a buyer, we will happily pay you”. That’s fair enough too. But I’m only one agent, and there are about 1150 agents on the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. If you are not marketing to all of them, you are missing out – big time.
At the end of the day, it’s not the top line that matters, it’s the bottom line.
Contact me today to let me show you how I can sell your home faster and for more money.
OTTAWA, Canada – A recent study prepared by the Altus Group for the Canadian Real Estate Association, claims that federal tax policy creates disincentives to commercial real estate sale and redevelopment in Canada.
According to the report “many income property owners are reluctant to sell and reinvest because of the capital gains tax and recaptured capital cost allowance.”
In other words commercial property owners are reluctant to sell their properties for redevelopment because the tax man would not leave them with enough money to reinvest in other projects. So projects that might otherwise be undertaken are needlessly delayed.
Increased commercial real estate activity is seen as an important way to stimulate the economy and create much needed jobs. Industry reports indicate that commercial real estate transactions declined by 51 percent in 2008, and dropped even further in the first half of 2009.
The report also points out that commercial real estate transactions generate significant spin-off activity. According to the study, almost $300,000 in related spending is created with each multi-unit residential transaction.
CREA is recommending tax deferral on income property reinvestment to give a kick-start to commercial real estate sales. This would also create a significant number of jobs in the renovation, redevelopment and other construction sectors.
When it comes to deciding between renting and buying most experts agree buying a home can be a good long term investment. But that isn’t true for everybody.
Depending on your situation, renting can sometimes be the answer for you. But the fact of the matter is, the opportunities for first time home buyers in today’s housing market are very difficult to resist. This is a buyer’s market like we have not seen in many years. So that gives you a good reason to consider buying rather than renting.
As the author says, when you buy, “you will have the wonderful thing called equity from all the payments you’ve made towards owning the home. If you choose wisely in an appreciating market…you will also gain the value of appreciation of your home….it’s like free equity!”
In spite of all the doom and gloom, with today’s prices at bargain-basement levels there has never been a better time to become a home owner.
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If you are a novice when it comes to home renovations you probably aren’t familiar with what a general contractor does as compared to what a handyman does. As you become more experienced with different renovation projects, and give a couple of different handymen a smaller project, you’ll get a pretty good idea of their special capabilities and limitations.
For the most part a handyman is used for less extensive tasks that don’t require the services of other trades people. For example if you are doing a complete kitchen renovation you’d better find a good contractor rather than a handyman.
That’s because in the K-W area a project like that requires the skills of several different trades people: carpentry, drywalling, flooring, tiling, cabinetry, plumbing, electrical and painting. Most handymen in the K-W area will not have all these skills, in which case they will start acting as a contractor – arranging for other trades people to come in and help them get the job done.
Generally, when you have a relatively simple project then hiring a handyman is probably a good way to go. When you get outside of a handyman’s area of expertise it is probably time to find a good general contractor.
