Welcome back, Real Estate Insiders! This month we cover vacation property in the face of the pandemic, Canada’s housing market, why you might be paying more on your mortgage than your neighbour, and much more. So grab your coffee and kick back as we curate this month’s selection of real estate topics!

Real Estate in the YQG

The Windsor-Essex real estate market is white hot right now! With increasing prices and decreasing mortgage rates, it might be tempting to over-extend yourself to get into the market. This article explains why that’s a BAD idea and gives a good rule of thumb for just how much you should be spending on your mortgage!

Tax Man’s A-Knocking!

Getting Audited can be a very scary situation, especially if you’re a real estate investor! Read here for some tips to get and stay organized so when the Tax Man comes knocking on the door it’s a treat, not a trick!

Living the Dream

Buying a cottage? Read these 5 must know tips if you plan on being the lucky few who do!

Choices, Choices

Investing in real estate versus the stock market is one of the most important decisions you can make when deciding where to invest your money. This article is definitely HEAVY on real estate, with some good points. Read here and decide for yourself!

Short or Long?

When shopping around for mortgages, standard criteria to consider are down payment and interest rate. One factor everyone should question is the amortization length. Should you go short to pay higher monthly but less interest overall, or long to have lower monthly payments and more capital to invest elsewhere? This article does a good job at explaining the pros and cons of both. Read here to see which situation would suit you best!

Immigration vs Real Estate

Will the lack of immigration stemming from COVID-19 have a large impact on Canadian real estate? Immigration was down 64% in Q2 of 2020 compared to the same time last year. Despite this, no direct impact was felt as most of Canada’s housing markets continues to thrive. Is this due to the fact that new immigrants rarely purchase houses in their first few years? Do we have enough local demand to sustain through this pandemic? Read here to learn more and decide for yourself.

Put Down or Invest?

Should you put most of your money into paying off your mortgage or invest it? To put it simply, if mortgage rates < rate of return on investments, you should invest! Read here for a more detailed explanation to help you decide where to direct your hard earned money!

Work Week Vacation

With isolation being a major theme in 2020, it sounds a lot more appealing to be isolating in a cottage instead of a tiny condo—but does it make sense financially? Not that every decision has to be totally financially based, but this article gives pretty good insight on the numbers side of buying a vacation home. 

Rate By Race

Racial injustice can be seen in several aspects of life, and mortgage rates are no exception. Everyone needs to pitch in to resolve this issue until it’s just a bad memory. This article will show you just how significant the differences are, plus provides tips and advice to make sure you get the lowest mortgage rate possible. Definitely worth the read!

Fired Up

With everyone spending more time in their homes, would you expect home insurance costs to rise? It only makes sense; more time spent at home means more time for something to go wrong. However, many insurance agents are saying it’s not what’s inside your home that’s going to increase costs. Find out what is it here!

Home Away From Home

If only there was a way to utilize the primary residence capital gains tax exemption on your cottage or vacation home…oh wait, there is! You must fit into certain criteria to qualify, but it’s possible! Read how here. 

Safe As Houses

Here are 5 reasons not to worry about the “Housing Crash” that the CMHC put into the minds of Canadians at the beginning of the global pandemic.

Air B and Busted

Several AirBnB rentals were being run “illegally” up until September 10th. A new law was passed requiring all short term rentals to be registered with the city or face fines. What will this mean for real estate investors and renters in downtown Toronto? For those willing to play by the rules, it could mean a fair chance to make money on the platform. Plus, it’s a much needed increase in supply for renters! I call that a “Win-Win”! Read all about it here.

Mortgage Deferral Relief

Mortgage deferrals are wrapping up in the next few months. What this means is that people struggling to pay their mortgage before the pandemic could be forced to liquidate once their payments resume. This article breaks down a few statistics of who opted into the payment deferral program and who decided against it. We might see a large increase in forced sales, but don’t expect waterfall price decreases.

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