Monday, October 16, 2006

Hello All! I have had fantastic feedback from so many of you. I will continue to develop the site to make it a greater resource center. Please let me know what else you might want to see on the site. On a personal note, I was away at the family cottage this past weekend with my brothers closing it for the winter...and we ran into a foot of snow! Had my first full out snowball fight of the year with no injuries...wishing you all the best...Dan

Toronto's healthy market rolls along

Toronto's healthy market rolls alongTORONTO, October 16, 2006 -- The Toronto Area resale housing market showed solid activity throughout September with 6,622 sales to maintain the year's strong performance, Toronto Real Estate Board President Dorothy Mason announced today.

“Though the overall sales pace is at more normalized levels, 2006 remains within one per cent of 2005's all-time record pace for the year,” Mrs. Mason said.
The average price of a home during September was $349,142, up five per cent from the $335,334 recorded last September.

According to Jason Mercer, Senior Market Analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, good economic conditions continue to provide strong support for the housing market.

“While trending lower, sales are forecast to remain near record levels through 2007,” Mr. Mercer said. “Steady job creation and low borrowing costs are key factors underlying continued strong demand for existing homes.”

In Toronto's east end, Guildwood / Scarborough Village (E08) showed 37 per cent more overall transactions than the previous September as condominium sales in the area nearly doubled from the year before.

Strong results were seen in North York during the month, including a 27 percent jump in overall transactions in North York City Centre West / Willowdale (C07) compared to September 2005. Strong detached home sales contributed to the increase.

“We are still seeing healthy sales levels consistent with a housing market that is in very good shape,” Mrs. Mason said. “Prices are increasing steadily and demand is based on real need. It's an excellent time to take advantage of these conditions by getting into the market or making a move to another home.”

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Launch

Welcome to my new Blog, this is an exciting time for me! Launching my new web site and a blog! I want to thank Mike MacMillan. I met Mike and Terri a few years back and had the pleasure of selling them a home. Mike took this upon himself to design a site that reflected my vision and needs. I think he did a great job! I hope over time, with you're input, to develop a library of useful reference material in addition to current market evaluations. Looking forward to you're comments...All the Best

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

The faster you pay the more you save on mortgage costs
Interest can double the price of your home Make extra payments whenever possible

ROB FERGUSON
STAFF REPORTER

Chances are you've never met Rick Mathes, but he's offering some "been-there-done-that" money-saving advice for first-time homebuyers.
When shopping for a mortgage, think long and hard about how you plan to pay it back.
The longer you take, the more it costs. In fact, interest costs alone, over the life of a long mortgage, can tally almost as much as the house.
Such thoughts are an occupational hazard for Mathes, a mortgage expert whose official title is vice-president of real estate secured lending at TD-Canada Trust.
"For most people, it's the largest financial transaction of their lives," he says, recalling his own first home-buying experience years ago.
"I was traumatized. I thought, `I'm going to be paying how many tens of thousands of dollars in interest?'"
Here are the cold, hard numbers:
A 25-year mortgage on a $300,000 entry-level house costs about $200,000 in interest at current rates. The combined total: $500,000.
That's why Mathes hunkered down, taking advantage of typical mortgage features like doubling his regular payments and paying down a chunk of the principal — the original amount borrowed — every year. Many lenders allow customers to pay down up to 15 per cent of the principal once a year, usually on the anniversary date.
"If you do that, you can turn a 25-year mortgage into about five years," says Mathes, with the unsurprising caveat that "not many people have the wherewithal to do that."
Present company excepted, of course.
"I got rid of mine in about six years," Mathes notes. "But then you're looking at renovations or moving up."
Marion Nader bought a condo last fall and is hoping she'll soon be able to afford some extra payments, but it's not easy.
"I know the sacrifices I make now will pay off," says Nader, who lived in Woodbridge before moving to the King and Bathurst St. area to be closer to work.
But with rising hydro bills, property taxes and the recent RRSP deadline all pinching her pocketbook, Nader is finding home ownership "a little bit more than what I had anticipated."
Still, many people are finding the cash.
At least one bank reports the average payoff period for mortgages has declined to 18 years, as homeowners become better educated and take advantage of additional pay-down privileges.
One strategy is to make sure your mortgage payments — which should tally no more than one-third of gross family income — are manageable, then to have the discipline to put any extra cash down on the principal.
Given the way mortgages are structured, the highest interest costs are in the early years.
Here's how it works: The repayment plan for a mortgage is based on an amortization period — the length of time you plan to take to pay down the loan. Typically, it's 25 years. Every weekly or monthly payment retires more of the loan's principal, so the interest charges, therefore, become less and less.
In the first five years of a mortgage, a whopping three-quarters of your regular payments typically go to interest and just one-quarter to the principal.
Asked for his top advice to first-time homebuyers, Mathes says don't automatically opt for a five-year mortgage term with a fixed interest rate.
It's a traditional choice for many rookie buyers, who like the idea of knowing how much their mortgage payments are going to be.
Owning a home typically comes hand-in-hand with unexpected cash outlays for home repairs and maintenance, not to mention things like decks, new furniture and — maybe —starting a family.
"The most classic mistake is they go in the five-year mortgage and, two or three years later, everything changes and they wish they weren't locked in," says Mathes.
But he acknowledges that the popoularity of five-year terms has increased in the past few months as rates crept up. That's because homeowners have been locking in on rates before they sneak higher, a switch from the past few years of declining rates, when the best option for many people was a variable rate mortgage, in which rates rise or fall with the market.
As an example, he notes that a $200,000 five-year-mortgage at 7.95 per cent, taken out in December 1999, would have cost $33,000 more in interest than a variable rate mortgage, because rates declined over that period. Of course, the interest cost would have been higher had rates risen instead.
"If you have risk-tolerance, you should play the odds," says Mathes, adding that studies by a number of banks over recent years suggest short mortgage terms and their typically lower rates are more economical in the long run.
Many homebuyers are shying away from variable-rate mortgages these days. The flexible-rate plans account for just 20 per cent of sales, compared with 40 per cent six months ago at TD-Canada Trust, Mathes says.
By the way, he also advises making the maximum RRSP contributions every year and using any tax refund to pay down the mortgage.
He does not recommend raiding an RRSP nest egg to come up with a down payment, unless you are a disciplined saver with a good cash flow to replace it later. But he says "it's an individual decision." While getting a big enough down payment to avoid having to purchase government-required mortgage insurance
Realtor's help is free, so why not hire one?
First-time buyers can benefit from realtors' knowledge Buying a house can be emotional and stressfulBuyer gets the benefit but seller pays the fee`She pointed out things I'd never notice'
DONNA JEAN MACKINNON
STAFF REPORTER

At 26, Margaret Fury came to a crossroads in her life. The upshot was she ended up buying a house.
Her grandfather was ill and she had planned to move in with her grandmother. But it wasn't to be.
"My grandmother advised me to go out on my own and live my own life — as long as I didn't move far away," says Fury, who was living with her parents, rent-free, in Brampton and whose car was paid for.
The first step was finding a real estate agent, which immediately begs the question: Why do you need an agent?
Kim Campbell, a Brampton realtor, who specializes in first-time buyers, answers: Why not?
"As a buyer, you don't pay the agent anything. The seller pays the commissions," she says. "It's basically a free service for buyers, so why not take advantage of the agent's expertise?"
First-time buyers are going into unknown territory, she adds, and a savvy agent can guide them through the intricacies of house hunting and the offer process.
Also, agents do the legwork for their clients. They may check out 15 houses and decide only two are suitable, thus saving clients endless hours of driving around and poring over MLS listings.
Fury's mother was on Campbell's email list and spotted the perfect house on it.
Fury loved the four-bedroom, semi-detached house. It was not a fixer-upper and was close to family. Located in Peel Village (Highway 10 and Steeles Ave.), the house was built in the 1960s. It had a large lot with gardens and mature trees, which were alive with blue jays and cardinals.
"The older couple selling were so nice," Fury says. "They were the original owners."
There was already an offer on the house, but the deal fell through over a washer and fridge. Fury made an offer of $320,000 and a month later she was ensconced in the house.
After 18 months, she looks back and says the first year was the hardest financially. Fury forked out a 25-per-cent down payment, so she didn't have to pay mortgage insurance, which is added automatically if the upfront sum is less than 25 per cent.
"But I felt house-poor — no more free-and-easy shopping and spending," she says. "Living on a budget was scary."
Fury became a homebody, entertaining friends with style, thanks to a "mammoth" barbecue that was a housewarming gift.
`As a buyer, you don't pay the agent anything. The seller pays the commissions. It's basically a free service for buyers, so why not take advantage of the agent's expertise?'
Kim Campbell, Brampton realtor
Then Fury made another change. She left her downtown sales job and found more lucrative work in Etobicoke, a 20-minute commute away.
"Now I can still afford a vacation, and the plush white carpets in the house will be replaced," she says.
Fury listened to experienced people such as Campbell who believe in making money on your first house.
"Now I tell everyone to buy, not rent," Fury says. "In one year, I've made money. My house is worth at least $400,000."
Campbell says Fury is among the growing number of single women buying homes as an investment — sort of a forced savings plan.
She advises first-time buyers to focus on location, and is convinced there is more value in the suburbs than the city.
"Being in a good neighbourhood is No. 1," she says. "I advise being picky about the location and foregoing an extra ensuite and double-car garage to pay for the best location they can afford."
Campbell also worked for Jean and James Rowlandson, a couple with a baby. They rented in Mississauga for two years to save for a down payment and then contacted Campbell.
"We hit it off. We were so pleased with Kim. I knew about financing, but she pointed out things I'd never notice," says Jean, a 34-year-old banker now on maternity leave.
The couple looked at about 20 houses in the $250,000 to $270,000 range. When they walked into a five-year-old house in a subdivision at Sandalwood and McLaughlin, north of Brampton, they knew this was it. The price tag was $268,000.
"I was always on the other side of the desk," Jean says. "It was just numbers then. Suddenly, buying a house became emotional and stressful."
The house had been upgraded and had custom work, so they didn't worry about major improvements. James did finish the basement and they figure the house is now worth about $339,000.
But Jean is not happy about the pie-shaped lot, since it has a minuscule backyard and a "non-existent" front yard, taken up by two garages.
The couple now plans to move somewhere like Midland, where they can get a lot more house for less money. Jean is sure she can get a transfer and James, a self-employed distributor, can work anywhere with high-speed Internet.
Welcome to my new Blog, this is an exciting time for me! Launching my new web site and a blog! I want to thank Mike MacMillan. I met Mike and Terri a few years back and had the pleasure of selling them a home. Mike took this upon himself to design a site that reflected my vision and needs. I think he did a great job! I hope over time, with you're input, to develop a library of useful reference material in addition to current market evaluations. Looking forward to you're comments...All the Best