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When you're looking at homes you may wonder, how much of a mortgage can I get. Can I really afford the mortgage I'm given? To help you start figuring this out, we've compiled a list of tips and insider information to help you find your answers.  How Much of a Mortgage Can I Get? Before you start home shopping and fall in love with a property, you need to determine how much you can actually ...

For most people, their home is their single most valuable possession. As a result, if your home increases in value, it means a significant increase in personal wealth. Whether you plan to hold onto your home or sell it sometime in the future, a more valuable home has the power to make you far more financially comfortable. However making sure that a home will increase in value is much easier ...

Buying a home is a long and tedious process, and can frustrate even the most patient of home buyer. It’s important to remember that like many other significant purchases, that there are many steps and legalities that go into the finalized purchase of a home. If you’re buying a house on your own for the first time, it’s imperative that you know the true steps to buying a home. Instead of tryin ...

With a growing abundance of services being marketed to help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions, this fairly recent movement towards "self-serve" real estate may have some questioning whether using a real estate agent is becoming a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you in commission rates charged by agents, for many, going through the process al ...

When you decide to move it’s important to ask yourself, should I rent or buy? The decision can be a difficult one, and ultimately alter your economic future. Depending on your current financial status this may be an immediate choice, but for others it may be a difficult decision. If you find yourself flipping back and forth when you consider should I rent or buy, consider the following dete ...

With the Pan Am games officially coming to a close and being passed on to the next host nation, Peru, Toronto’s impressive ending celebration was a success! The Games, which not too long ago, were a ridiculed subject by Torontonians due to fears of traffic chaos fuelled by HOV-road rage combined with initially lacklustre ticket sales, quickly transformed into an event that showcased Toronto’ ...

Purchasing a home is the largest purchase most people will make in their lifetime. In addition to owing the lender the principal, interest, and down payment related to the mortgage, you will also be responsible for typical closing costs. Typical closing costs are fees related to the purchase of the home charged by third parties and lenders. In most cases the buyer pays for these charges, bu ...

The question of renting vs buying is one of the most common of real estate questions. When deciding to rent or buy a home there is a lot of conflicting information and personal guidelines given to house hunters. They most important thing to keep in mind when deciding on whether to rent or buy is how it affects your financial security. Here is brief comparison of renting vs buying and what fac ...

July 16, 2015 --Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced that 4,332 sales were reported through TREB’s MLS® system by Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® during the first 14 days of July, 2015. This sales figure was up by 11.9 per cent compared to 3,871 transactions reported during the same timeframe in 2014. Over the same period, new listings were down by 5.4 per cent to 6,831. “ ...

The Bank of Canada announced today it is cutting its key interest rate by a quarter percentage-point to 0.5%, tracing the second interest rate cut of this year back to faltering global growth, disinflation and low prices for oil and other commodities.   In terms of the impact this will have on your real estate needs, keep in mind that as individuals, we don’t borrow from the Bank of Canada- ...