Top Blog Posts
Oct2011
What’s Better Than Zero Down?

The only people with a better deal than this…   What’s better than Zero Down? ZERO Down, plus ZERO Closing Costs. That can’t be right? Yup, but for a limited time only, so go ahead and apply today. How Does it work? Example: $400,000 Purchase Price $20,000 (5% Down Payment – FREE) $2,000 EXTRA CASH [...]

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Jul2011
A second home with ONLY 5% down: How’s that possible Vancouver?

Q: My friend just bought a rental property  in Vancouver and she bought it with only five per cent down. How did she do that when CMHC changed the rules earlier requiring 20% down? A: Although CMHC will only finance a rental property with 20 per cent down, they’ll still finance a “second home” with as [...]

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Jun2011
Equifax’s Dirty Little Secret – Vancouver

From now on you may want to reconsider paying $23.95 to Equifax for your credit score. You might be surprised to hear that what you get, may NOT be what you expect. You like me, probably believe that when you pay the additional $23.95 to Equifax, you’re getting the score that lenders rely on to [...]

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Jun2011
What is a Straw Buyer? – Vancouver (and it Aint Hay)

Have you ever heard of the “Straw buyer” scheme? And it has nothing to do with farming.. It’s another term for mortgage fraud. The “straw” or “dummy” home buyer scheme. For example, a renter does not have good credit or maybe he/she doesn’t not have the income needed to get a mortgage, or sufficient down [...]

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May2011
HST still hurting Vancouver Real Sstate market?

With the HST still a mass of confusion, certain markets are still feeling the pinch. Victoria housing starts also down due to lack of multi-family projects. Travis Archibald, senior market analyst with CMHC says Everything has been pretty slow across the Island over the first few months, but he’s still optimistic about the summer and [...]

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Mar2011
How To Get More Cash For Your Home Vancouver

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and it’s the most highly valued room by buyers, so you want to make it show its best. Here are some tips to create a captivating kitchen: You can cut down on visual clutter by removing items you normally store on the counter.  This will help your [...]

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Feb2011
How To Show Your Home So It Sells – Vancouver

OUTSIDE: Trim all shrubs. Pull all weeds. Flowers planted. Leaves raked. Water lawn to keep green. Pick up and discard or store all implements, materials and debris that are not part of the lawn decor. All windows washed. Garage should be swept, neat and tidy. During the winter, all walks and drives should be shoveled [...]

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Jan2011
New Mortgage Rules in Canada

Today, the Government announced three changes to the standards governing government-backed insured mortgages. aka – High Ratio Mortgages (Less than 20% down) 1) MAXIMUM AMORTIZATION PERIOD TO 30 YEARS The Amortization is the time it takes to pay off your entire mortgage. Not to be confused with the term of your mortgage. Typical mortgages in [...]

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Sep2010
Strata Property Act Concerning Rental Announcement

Although this changed at the end of 2009, I’ve had several question so I’ll revisit it below Re: Amendments to the Strata Property Act Concerning Rentals Announcement There has been a shortage of rental units for years in British Columbia. In order to address this, the Provincial Government recently passed legislation dealing with the rental [...]

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Jul2010
Amortization vs Term

The amortization of a mortgage is divided up into smaller time periods called “terms”. Mortgage terms usually range from six months to five years, but some institutions will offer seven- or 10-year terms. The term is the period of time during which, with fixed-rate mortgages, the interest rate and payment amount are fixed. With variable-rate [...]

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