November 15, 2024
Closing costs are a one-time fee associated with the sale of a home and are separate from the mortgage insurance and down payment. Typically, these costs range from 1.5-4% of the purchase price, depending on your location. Factoring these costs into your maximum budget can help you narrow down an entirely affordable home and ensure future financial stability and security.
November 11, 2024
It seems every time we have a party at RE/MAX Garden City it never is an isolated event. It always becomes an annual tradition. And that’s certainly the way it has been with Halloween. Costumes, contests, pot luck, lots of fun.
October 15, 2024
RE/MAX entered the real estate scene in 1973. Over 5 decades ago! At the time, it was a radical new approach to the typical real estate company model. Up until then there were basically two company structures. There was the conventional real estate office, where the Broker of Record was pretty much in control. He/she charted the course of the company. He/she controlled all the marketing and advertising. And he/she paid the costs. But in return, he/she retained half the commission. It was what we called a full service conventional real estate model.
October 15, 2024
With the first in a series of Bank of Canada rate drops having begun in June, many individuals are looking at the housing market with renewed vigor.
October 15, 2024
Pretty much every year they spend millions of dollars that they don’t have. Now I’m not saying that the money they spend is not spent on worthwhile endeavours. Health care, enhanced infrastructures, education. The problem is that every dollar they spend over and above what they take in adds to the annual deficit and increases the national debt. And that debt will have to be re-paid one day. And in the meantime, the debit will have to be serviced. The interest needs to be pa
October 15, 2024
From 2023 on into 2024 history is repeating itself. 2022 as we’ve seen was a year unique unto itself. After coming off the frenzied real estate market of covid with its multiple offers and enormous price hikes, 2022 was a year of corrections. The market declined steadily from a February peak of $863,057 right down to a December low of $656,337. A drop of $206,720. Quite a drop.
October 15, 2024
In our previous article, we reviewed the obligations of home builders and the role of Tarion in protecting homeowners from losses of their deposit money and issues of delays. We will now consider the types of protections for individuals who discover issues with their home before and after closing their real estate transaction.
September 16, 2024
Purchasing a new build home is an exciting opportunity that comes with unique responsibilities for home buyers. This is particularly true when it comes to understanding the warranties and protections for your home. In this two-part article, we will review how the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act (the “Warranties Act”) provides warranty coverage for you and your new home.
September 16, 2024
This month marks the 2 ½ year mark since the robust real estate market of the covid era came to a halt, and what I’m going to call a real estate recession began. First with a steady erosion of prices over the balance of 2022 and a pretty rocky road since. This month also marks the third consecutive month where we have seen a 1/4 point cut in interest rates compliments of the Bank of Canada. So where does that leave us at this point?