From dream home to nightmare debt

Follow Dianne Nice on Twitter and Facebook Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of the new HGTV show Til Debt Do Us Part: Home Edition, says one of the biggest challenges for home buyers is to go into the process with their eyes wide open. Too often they take on a mortgage that is too big and then can’t afford to […]

RESPs: Do you have one?

RESPs: Do you have one? When my kids were little ones, the RESP wasn’t the RESP we have today and I wasn’t convinced it was the best deal going. But over the past 15 years or so, the product has improved, the legislation has become more user-friendly, and the reasons to use it have become […]

Rising mortgage rates are worse than you think

Whether you own a house or are looking to buy, rising mortgage rates are your enemy. You think you know that, right? With Monday’s announcements that Toronto-Dominion Bank and CIBC are raising some of their fixed-term mortgage rates by as much as one-quarter of a percentage point, let’s see if you do. Rising rates will […]

Get smart: Ottawa plans crash courses on financial literacy

As consumer debt levels soar and baby boomers approach retirement, the federal government is looking at adopting a long list of measures designed to prod Canadians into making smarter financial decisions. The measures recommended by a federal task force cover a wide range of initiatives. Employers who offer pensions would be required to automatically enroll […]

Worst mistakes first-time home buyers make

When Chris Kiskuna bought her first house in 1985, she was so anxious to close the deal quickly, she skipped the home inspection – a decision she paid for the first time she turned on the tap in the bathroom sink. “The water’s running and I’m hearing it run everywhere and thinking, ‘What’s happening here?’ […]

2011 housing drop seen less severe

The Canadian Real Estate Association has raised its sales forecast for the rest of the year, calling for a smaller decline than it originally expected as low interest rates keep buyers in the market. The association now expects sales to fall by 1.6 per cent in 2011, compared to its November call for a drop of […]

‘Wild card’ props up Canadian housing markets over past decade

Tighter inventory levels helped to make the last decade one of the healthiest periods on record for Canadian real estate, insulating markets in major centres from the peaks and valleys characteristic of past decades, according to a reportreleased by RE/MAX. The RE/MAX Housing Barometer Report measured monthly sales-to-new listings ratios in 18 major centres across […]

Canadians open to shorter mortgage term: Poll

More than half of Canadians would consider a shorter term for their mortgages to save on interest costs in the long run, according to a BMO survey. Those aged 35 to 44 were the most open to shorter amortizations, with 77% saying it was something they would consider. The survey also found 70% of families […]

CMHC responds to the C.D. Howe Institute’s calls for more private insurers

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) rebuked the C.D. Howe Institute’s claims this week that the government should scale back its role in the mortgage industry due to growing risk. The C.D. Howe Institute report, released on Jan. 31, said the government’s role in mortgage markets, through CMHC, may “encourage excessive lending risks in […]

When borrowing to save makes sense

According to the British tabloid the Sunday Mirror, a well-intentioned 33-year-old woman by the name of Cherie Beekman volunteered her time last April to work with some young people. She took the youth group to a bowling alley in Didsbury, England, for some fun, but somehow ended up with her thumb stuck in her bowling […]

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