HMCF.CA is pleased to endorse the introduction of a new down payment assistance program from the BC government called the “BC Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership Program”. It will enable first time home buyers to obtain down payment funds from the BC government to assist with the purchase of their first home. Specifically, under [...]
It's official. The City of Kelowna will no longer get excited about your illegal... I mean NON-CONFORMING basement suite. An excerpt from Kelowna.ca about the significant changes: "A secondary suite is a dwelling unit contained within a single family house, that has a kitchen, bathroom, living area and its own off-street parking stall. Recent [...]
If you are looking to upgrade your lighting to something more energy efficient, do it before May 1st! Fortis BC is offering instant rebates at select merchants. More details can be found here. Personally, I find Costco makes the process pretty easy, and always stocks good quality products!
Today I decided to grab lunch at Costco's food court (why the heck not; $6 chicken fingers with too many fries for anybodies good). I did what any typical costco "member" does: Walk down the aisles, look at the great products priced reasonably and justify a large purchase for next visit! Then, I stumbled [...]
Here is what we know. 1. There are no changes to the first time home buyer exemption limits; 2. All buyers (whether first time buyers or not) no longer pay PTT on purchases of NEW homes up to $750,000 in value; note the buyer must be a Canadian citizen or a [...]
Canada's residential real estate market showed strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, led by hot Vancouver and Toronto markets according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today. Looking forward to 2016, Royal LePage expects continued price increases in most markets, but not at the pace that has been the recent norm. Instead, the national [...]
The federal government is boosting the minimum down payment for higher-priced homes in Canada effective in the new year. The bad news isn't as bad as we anticipated..... yet. Starting in February 2016, CMHC will require a 10 per cent down payment on the portion of any mortgage it insures over $500,000. The five per cent rule remains the same for [...]
As of September 28th, 2015, CMHC will be changing it’s borrowing rules to help facilitate more affordable housing in Canada. Currently, home owners with legal rental units can use 50% of the rental income towards their total income which means that home buyers can borrow more money. When the new rules come into affect, borrowers [...]
According to a 2015 Home Buying Report released, Canadian homeowners looking to "upsize" will be turning to their parents for financial help that is higher than the amount first time home buyers are hoping to get from their family. In fact, 42 per cent of current home owners looking to upsize their home are expecting [...]
First-time homebuyers on average make a 21 per cent down payment on the purchase of their new home; since the 1990s, about 40 per cent of this has come from personal savings, suggesting Canadians wait to be financially stable before purchasing. But recently, as home prices have risen, 17 per cent of the down-payment has [...]
