Is owning a home right for you?Becoming a homeowner comes with a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of rewards. To help you decide if owning a home makes the most sense for you, here are some of the main reasons people choose homeownership over renting.
It’s a Good InvestmentWhile home prices move in cycles over the short-term, if you stay in your home for a long time, it could increase in value and give you a substantial return on your investment. If you are currently renting a home or apartment, use our Rent vs Buy Calculator to help determine which option provides the most economic benefits for you over the time you plan to be in your residence. When using the calculator, be sure to include some assumption about future increases in your rent, as most landlords periodically raise rents. You Build EquityWhen you subtract the amount you owe on your home loan from the total value of your house, the amount left over is your home equity-the “dollar” value of your home that actually belongs to you. There are two ways to build equity:
When necessary, you can borrow against your home equity to meet a variety of financial needs, including home improvements, education or medical expenses. A home equity loan or line of credit can also be used to pay off high interest credit card debt, since the interest rate is generally lower and the interest payments are tax deductible. Read our Cash Out Refinance article for more information on how you can one day access the equity that you build in your home. You Enjoy Significant Tax DeductionsOwning a home can reduce the amount you pay in income taxes each year. Your mortgage interest and property tax payments may be deductible from your federal taxes, as well as many state taxes. Certain closing costs and loan discount points also may be tax deductible1. In the early years of your mortgage, when interest represents the bulk of your monthly mortgage payment, these tax deductions can put a significant amount of money back in your pocket. You Build a Strong Credit HistoryWhen you buy a home and consistently make your monthly loan payments on time, it demonstrates to other lenders that you are a good borrower and the risk of you defaulting on a loan is low. This strong credit history will be helpful in the future when you need other loans for buying a car, making improvements to your home, or paying other major expenses. You’re Free to Create the Home You WantHomeownership offers tremendous freedom to create the living environment that you have always wanted. You can own pets, paint rooms whatever color you like, make changes to floors and carpeting and do all the things that make a house your home – all without having to get approval from a landlord. 1 Consult your tax advisor about the tax deductibility of mortgage interest. Understanding how to find and finance the perfect home for youBuying a house requires a lot of time and effort, but these 10 steps can help make the home buying process manageable and help you make the best decisions possible. Step 1: Start Your Research EarlyAs soon as you can, start reading Web sites, newspapers, and magazines that have real estate listings. Make a note of particular homes you are interested in and see how long they stay on the market. Also, note any changes in asking prices. This will give you a sense of the housing trends in specific areas. Step 2: Determine How Much House You Can AffordLenders generally recommend that people look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their annual household income if the home buyers plan to make a 20% down payment and have a moderate amount of other debt. But you should make this determination based on your own financial situation. Use our Affordability Calculator to see how much house you can afford. To help you save for your down payment, try Discover Bank’s AutoSavers Plan, which makes it easy to put aside money each month. Step 3: Get Prequalified and Preapproved for credit for Your MortgageBefore you start looking for a home, you will need to know how much you can actually spend. The best way to do that is to get prequalified for a mortgage. To get prequalified, you just need to provide some financial information to your mortgage banker, such as your income and the amount of savings and investments you have. Your lender will review this information and tell you how much we can lend you. This will tell you the price range of the homes you should be looking at. Later, you can get preapproved for credit, which involves providing your financial documents (W-2 statements, paycheck stubs, bank account statements, etc.) so your lender can verify your financial status and credit. Step 4: Find the Right Real Estate AgentReal estate agents are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that isn’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use an agent – they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house. Step 5: Shop for Your Home and Make an OfferStart touring homes in your price range. It might be helpful to take notes (using this helpful checklist) on all the homes you visit. You will see a lot of houses! It can be hard to remember everything about them, so you might want to take pictures or video to help you remember each home. Make sure to check out the little details of each house. For example:
Step 6: Get a Home InspectionTypically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage. Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made. Step 7: Work with a Mortgage Banker to Select Your LoanLenders have a wide range of competitively priced loan programs and a reputation for exceptional customer service. You will have many questions when you are purchasing a home, and having one of our experienced, responsive mortgage bankers assist you can make the process much easier. Every home buyer has their own priorities when choosing a mortgage. Some are interested in keeping their monthly payments as low as possible. Others are interested in making sure that their monthly payments never increase. And still others pick a loan based on the knowledge they will be moving again in just a few years. Step 8: Have the Home AppraisedLenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home. Step 9: Coordinate the PaperworkAs you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house. Your lender will arrange for a title company to handle all of the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying. Step 10: Close the SaleAt closing, you will sign all of the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender. Once the check is delivered to the seller, you are ready to move into your new home! While condominium living offers numerous benefits with affordability, great value for location, and amenities at one's doorstep chief among them, it also demands that homeowners exercise a particularly high degree of consideration for those around them. This, of course, is where condominium boards come in: it is imperative that they enact rules to provide for an enjoyable living experience for all owners, and most importantly, that they enforce them. Enforcement is in fact, vital not only to residents' enjoyment of their property, but also to their well-being. Hoarding is one example of a scenario in which it is essential for a condominium board to act quickly and decisively despite the uncomfortable nature of such a situation. Based on estimates that hoarding occurs in five per cent of the population, hoarding may afflict up to 1.7 million people in Canada, and despite the rural stereotype, it is a problem that can affect urban properties, including condominiums, in equal measure. In such cases, the condition has the potential to affect hundreds of residents in a building, posing a fire hazard and significant health risks to the entire property. Fortunately, in situations that present a threat to residents or the property, condominium corporations can apply to the courts to obtain an order under section 117 of the Condominium Act. When hoarding is discovered, the fire department should be involved immediately and notice should be given to the owner to clean the unit. If they do not comply, section 92 of the Condominium Act allows the corporation to have the unit professionally cleaned, with charges applied to the unit owner. A similar threat involves overcrowding, not of possessions, but of people in a condominium unit. When the number of people occupying a unit exceeds its intended usage, a multitude of issues including excessive common expenses, and noise and parking concerns can result. As such, it is important for condominium boards to enact occupancy standards by-laws, limiting the number of persons who may live in a unit, regardless of whether they are relatives. In establishing such by-laws, boards may choose to use as a guideline, municipal zoning by-laws, which set out the number of persons permitted per square foot, or the Ontario Building Code, which allows two persons per sleeping room. If the latter is chosen, it is important to define a sleeping room as illustrated in the as-built plans, architectural designs or the corporation's registered descriptions so that attempts to circumvent the issue through layout modifications are not made. The by-law should also include provisions for ejecting persons from any unit in contravention, and levying a reasonable assessment against the unit for increased utility costs and common element maintenance. Condominium boards may also choose to grandfather existing units in contravention with a requirement that occupants register with the corporation and agree not to allow additional occupants when residents vacate the unit. Although broaching such sensitive subject matter may be challenging for condominium boards, doing so is essential in providing a safe and enjoyable community for all residents. General Questions 1. What is an assignment? An assignment is essentially a sale of a contract or right to acquire property. An assignment is a transaction whereby the original purchaser (the "Assignor") of a property sells, and thereby transfers, their interest and obligations under the original contract to a new purchaser (the "Assignee"). The Assignee will generally assume all of the Assignor's duties and obligations under the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale. These rights and obligations are stated in the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale and include terms such as interest payments, taxes and maintenance fees during interim occupancy. Upon completion, the Assignee is granted the title to the real property and will incur all final closing costs. a) Assignor: An Assignor is the original buyer of the unit from the Builder/Developer. b) Assignee: An Assignee is the buyer of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale from the Assignor. 2. Can an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, involving any type of real estate transaction, be assigned? Under normal circumstances, any Agreement of Purchase and Sale can be assigned providing that agreement doesn't prohibit assignments. 3. . Is an assignment legal? An assignment is legally permitted unless otherwise expressly prohibited in writing in the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale. An assignment fee may be charged by the developer and is normally a cost borne by the Assignor (the original purchaser). 4. Is it necessary to get permission from the Seller/Developer to assign the Agreement of Purchase and Sale? You need to consult the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Generally, Developers will not permit assignments without the Developers consent, therefore every situation requires consultation with the Developer and your lawyer. Please note, there have been incidents where an unauthorized assignment has resulted in termination of the original agreement and the withholding of the deposit. 5. Is there a form for assignments? Yes, there are two: OREA Form 150 Assignment of Agreement of Purchase and Sale Condominium and OREA Form 145 Assignment of Agreement of Purchase and Sale (including applicable schedules.) In most cases, the Developer will have its own form as well. 6. Will the Assignors or Assignees lawyers services be adequate? It is essential that the Assignor and Assignee each retain a lawyer with expertise in this area of real estate. 7. Can the Assignors REALTOR market on the MLS? It all depends on whether the developer permits advertising of the assignment. Refer to the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale to see if there are any prohibitions against listing the assignment or consult the Developer (Most Agreements of Purchase and Sale contain such a prohibition). 8. What if the construction, occupancy, closing, or unit transfer date is delayed? In the event of a delay, the assignment is still valid: the Assignee has agreed to take on their agreement and all responsibilities involved in it. 9. What if the Assignee doesn't close? This is no different than in any sale. The Assignor in most cases is not released from the obligations under the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Accordingly, both the Assignor and Assignee will be liable. Costs and Financing Questions 10. What is the cost of assigning an Agreement of Purchase and Sale? If the Developer consents to an assignment, there will generally be an administration fee and legal fees. These fees will vary. Consult the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale and the Developer. 11. How does the REALTOR® deal with financing in Forms 145 and 150? A standard financing clause may be used. 12. When does the Assignor get their money? In an assignment, depending on the closing date and the terms of the assignment agreement that Assignor and Assignee agreed on, the Assignor is usually paid when: a) the Assignee gets possession or occupancy or, b) when the original seller approves the assignment, if applicable or, c) when the Assignee obtains legal title. 13. Who gets the interest, if any, payable by the Builder on the original deposits? Unless otherwise specified, the interest is likely to be paid to the Assignor. 14. What closing fees are payable? See the Condominium Assignment Basic Guidelines, found on the last page of this document. 15. Who pays the interim occupancy costs? Once assignment is finalized, the Assignee will typically pay occupancy costs through to the final closing and will pay the final closing costs unless specifically negotiated otherwise.1 The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) is pleased to announce that the Orangeville & District Real Estate Board (ODREB) is now an Associate Board of TREB and is looking forward to working together to enhance the experience of all our Members.ODREB Members are also TREB Members, but ODREB will remain autonomous of TREB. While ODREB and TREB will now be working together, both Boards will continue to provide their respective services and benefits to their Members.
In the spirit of cooperation as Associate Boards, TREB and ODREB are looking forward to sharing ideas in terms of how to improve services for their respective Members and how to help their Members better serve the public in their operating areas. Let them take the bus.
The City of Toronto is pursuing a strategy that deliberately drives its suburban residents onto transit - and only transit - by shutting down their commuter parking lots. Under questioning from council members Wednesday, city staff members said that they believe that closing down subway parking lots will encourage people to leave their cars in their driveways and allow for an increase in development around transit hubs Several councillors, particularly those who represent outer Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke, raised concerns that their residents would have to walk great distances, wait for a bus, and then take possibly a 30-minute ride to the nearest subway stop. Etobicoke-Lakeshore Councillor Justin Di Ciano said the city is selling its commuter lot assets without a realistic plan in place. "Without commuter parking, these people have no choice but just to remain on the road and come down to an even more congested city," Di Ciano said. The issue of commuter parking was raised by councillors as the city discussed its plan to partially shut down the Wilson station parking lot. Councillors were assured by staff that there will still be adequate parking for commuters in the GTA. Don Valley East Councillor Shelley Carroll said the proposal makes sense with the expected growth in population in Toronto to add millions of people over the next couple of decades. "(Wilson Subway Station) will be mid-town by then. And up where the line ends in Vaughan, that will be the suburbs," she said. York Centre Councillor James Pasternak said there are still plenty of people in North York who use the Wilson commuter lot - seniors and the disabled, with mobility issues, and young families who live in suburban communities that have not changed despite an increase in transit. "The buses are not going down to front doors and houses in those various neighbourhoods," he said. "It's important to realize that before us is a strategy to close hundreds of parking spots along Wilson Ave. and Sheppard (Ave.), and go on the misguided logic that people are going to drive up to the new parking spots at Hwy. 407, Steeles and Finch West Station. "It's basically a parking space shell game," he said. The average Toronto area re-sale home price rose by about $43,000 or 6 per cent in September compared with August.
Still thinking of home ownership as an investment? Here's proof you're wrong
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