Buyer Resource

I had written about the new mortgage rules that are coming to the real estate market.  It’s something that has been on my mind and I wanted to go through and see who will be the intended and unintended victims of these changes.  Following are the groups that need to review their finances and come up with plans on how to …

I get a lot of questions from buyers asking me about how they can purchase their first home with low downpayment or no money. Well, in this video, I talk about a grant that is available for first time home buyers that can take advantage of this information and purchase their first home or condo in Toronto for free. The …

As there are not currently any provincial or federal standards that home inspectors must adhere to, home buyers must be vigilant when going through the interview process. A growing number of real estate professionals feel that home inspectors should be regulated to protect consumers throughout the home buying process. While most real estate agents will have a home inspector to refer to …

As demographics shift and people hold off on getting married, more and more women are preparing for their first home purchase solo. Women tend to see real estate as a sound investment opportunity and more single women than men opt to take the property plunge on their own. Buying a home on a single income is not without risk. Here’s …

The Financial Post reports that the number of unsold Toronto condos has started to drop as sales of new units pick up. As prices continue to moderately increase, demand for more units is steady with Toronto maintaining a high absorption rate compared to other cities. Consider that “during the same period, 6,297 new condominium apartments were sold across the greater …

Curious how people are able to enter the housing market when prices are soaring? RateHub created a handy infographic illustrating the creative ways that Gen-Y home buyers are able to finance their down payments. BuzzBuzzHome explains, “First-time home buyers have more than a few tricks up their sleeves for affording a home on a tight budget. Using data from Genworth …

Earlier last week, columnist Rob Carrick of the Globe and Mail discussed the types of expenses home owners face when purchasing and maintaining a property. To the surprise of many, it is much more complicated (and much more costly) than making mortgage payments and settling property taxes. First-time home owners are dismayed by the fact property prices have risen above the …

The changing mortgage rules and slipping real estate transactions has created quiet the environment for lenders today. Unsure about how the real estate market will be in the near and far future, the lending criteria has been tightened all across the board and it’s leaving a lot of sour buyers in it’s path. I had a very interesting week where …

“TREB produces regular economic commentaries based on recurring data releases from organizations including Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada, CMHC and various US agencies. These commentaries are written by Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis, and include a summary of the release and an analysis related to the real estate sector in the GTA. Members can use these …

Summary of Condominium Market in 2nd Quarter: – 6,435 condo apartment transactions in Q2 – down 2.6% (6,609 transactions in Q2 2011) – New listings for condos up substantially, by 19% in comparison to 2011 – Average price for Q2 sales were $342,212 – a 3.2% increase compared to 2011 – Condo units were priced in line with buyer expectations …