57% of Canadians don’t check their credit scores. Your credit score can determine whether or not you are granted a residential lease or a mortgage? It also has the power to determine your quality of life by controlling things like purchasing a vehicle. It's incredibly important to maintain a good score and be consistent over time.
Read MoreOne of the most common questions in personal finance is whether to cancel unused credit cards. After all, if you aren't using the card, why keep it?
Read MoreFairly dividing debt obligations can be difficult during a divorce or breakup. Your mortgage is typically your largest liability, and it must be managed fairly in the face of high emotion and arguments at home. While you may be worried about what's going on inside your relationship, your mortgage lender will never know how you feel about the split.
Read MoreThere are plenty of ways to purchase a home with no down payment. This does not mean you get to completely forgo this part of the payment. Rather, it does not need to be paid initially.
Read MoreNewcomers to Canada face and suffer from this. Whenever they need to apply for loans or mortgages, they may have trouble backing themselves up because their credit score has been reset. However, fret no more because we will help you in building your credit score again!
Read MoreIn this Non-residents guide to getting a mortgage in Canada, we'll review how to assess the current market, find the right lender, and plan for taxes and down payment. But first, let’s define what a Canadian non-resident is. Simply put, a non-resident is someone who routinely or lives typically outside of the country.
Read MoreWhen it comes to shopping for your dream home, it could take months searching all over the town for a house that is just the right one for you, only to come up empty-handed and disappointed. Why? Maybe the housing costs aren’t affordable, some houses look great from the outside while the inside of it is not what you want like poor interior lights, a leaky roof, bad electric works and so on.
Read MoreSince the introduction of the 2016 mortgage stress test (which determines whether or not you can afford the mortgage you want), traditional big bank lenders are consistently rejecting more mortgage applications.
Read MoreAre you thinking about buying a home within the next year, but can’t seem to save the down payment and closing costs fast enough? Here is a trick to get you there much faster by using the Home Buyers Plan which smartly leverages RRSP loans and gets you a tax refund in the thousands.
In the case study below, a young couple made $21,000 appear overnight by smartly using RRSP loans and then applying for a mortgage.
Read MoreAs people make a furious rush to either upsize or downsize in a hot market, there are some often overlooked mortgage strategies to consider when buying and selling real estate at once. Failing to plan ahead can cause some serious stress and jeopardize the potential of your new home.
Read MoreIf you are a foreign investor or homeowner you’ll want to be acutely aware that Canada has many housing taxes that have been introduced throughout the recent years. While most provinces will have similar approaches, **below is how Ontario and British Columbia** set the various taxes that apply when you just buy a home and on a yearly basis for both locals and foreigners.
Read MoreAs of September 2019, The federal government intended to make homeownership more affordable for young people by introducing the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) - but is it worth it?
As someone who might be self-employed or if you are friends with an entrepreneur, you’ll likely appreciate a similar scenario when I was on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. Like the government, the Dragons’ wanted to inject capital in my venture to allow us to afford to be an entrepreneur for longer, and with faster growth. But it came at a cost.
Read MoreStarting June 1, 2021 you might need to save $20,000-$45,000 more to afford the same home after an announcement last week by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). As of now, this only applies if you are planning to have 20% down payment or more.
Read MoreBefore you consider putting in a firm subject-free cash offer, you need to understand the risks involved and understand that usually this can backfire because of something being wrong with the property instead of your paperwork.
Read MoreAll the murmurs of fixed rates rising finally came to fruition as rates jumped as high as 3% overnight. This means that someone seeking a $500,000 mortgage needs to pay almost $1000 more a year than they did yesterday - procrastinating is getting expensive. Get pre-approved to have your rate reserved and consider a variable rate that is rumoured to go down in the coming months.
Read MoreAs you start to consider buying your personal home or investment property, it’s important to consider how world-class design can impact the space. In an exclusive interview with the Director of Armani Casa, Nora Szeleczky, we uncover how the global Italian fashion giant approaches home decor so you can live boldly or home stage your place at a new level.
Read MoreThe addition of a 2nd reverse mortgage provider combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst in setting record low reverse mortgage rates which provide a steady stream of cash flow for baby boomers who have worked hard enough in their life but simply have not been able to save enough money to enjoy their golden years.
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