When you go to the bank to look at getting a mortgage pre-approval, they will often quote you a ridiculous figure as the maximum amount you can borrow. This number is usually based on a simple metric, such as “debt payments should be no more than 40% of income”. Such simple metrics can lead to [...]
Archive for the 'Real Estate' Category
Filed under Growing Your Wealth,Real Estate,Saving Your Money
Don’t Get Suckered by the Banks: How Much Can You *Really* Afford to Spend on a New Home?
69 Comments Kevin on Dec 20th 2010
Filed under Book Reviews,Growing Your Wealth,Investing,Miscellaneous,Real Estate
The Skinny on Real Estate Investing: A Book Review
Does anyone remember the real estate euphoria from a few years back? While people are still trying to pick up the pieces down south, the euphoria hasn’t really gone away up here in Canada, though the dimmer switch has perhaps been turned down somewhat. In The Skinny on Real Estate Investing: An Introduction to the [...]
17 Comments Kevin on Nov 25th 2010
Filed under Growing Your Wealth,Guest Posts,Real Estate,Saving Your Money
If You Enjoy Financial Obligations, Don’t Read This.
The following guest post is by Greg McFarlane of Control Your Cash. When you write a book about personal finance, as rudimentary as it might be, friends ask your opinions on matters fiscal. A few days ago, I received this pithy email from one of the most financially conservative people I know: When does it [...]
17 Comments Guest on Sep 27th 2010
Filed under Market Analysis,Miscellaneous,Opinion,Real Estate,Weekend Reading
Weekend Reading: Canadian Housing Bubble Edition
The talk about housing prices and bubbles never ceases. I’ve been doing some thinking on this topic, myself; I don’t quite see the Canadian housing market as being in a bubble, myself, due to our recourse loans encouraging people to stick it out rather than default, and the fact that stricter lender requirements should mean [...]
24 Comments Kevin on Aug 27th 2010
Filed under Investing,Miscellaneous,Real Estate
How to Own Your Own Restaurant, Pack It in a Shipping Container, and Take It with You
A restaurant in a shipping container Ever dreamed of owning your own restaurant? How about a restaurant that you can pack up and take with you across the country, or even across the sea? There is a new type of restaurant platform that has been popping up in different locations around the world, known as [...]
10 Comments Kevin on Aug 18th 2010
When looking for a new home, one of the most important attributes of the home is the amount of living space that is going to be available. There are a lot of different items and tradeoffs to consider, such as where you are in life now, what needs you’ll have in the next five years, [...]
38 Comments Kevin on Jul 27th 2010
Filed under Miscellaneous,Real Estate,Saving Your Money
Should I Go with a Fixed or Variable Rate Mortgage?
As some of you might know, we recently made the decision to purchase a condominium. As the unit is still under construction, we won’t be able to move in until sometime in January. The long period of delivery posed a problem when attempting to get a mortgage approval from traditional places such as ING Direct, [...]
27 Comments Kevin on Jul 21st 2010
Filed under Miscellaneous,Opinion,Real Estate
Purchasing Your First Home: Questions and Decisions to Consider
I’ve recently talked about some topics related to housing, such as the advantages and disadvantages between a house and a condominium, as well as the difference between a variable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage. I must admit that my interest was more than just academic, as I now have a personal stake in the matter as well: [...]
21 Comments Kevin on Jul 7th 2010
Filed under Opinion,Real Estate
Your First Home: a Condo, or a House?
When looking for your first (or subsequent) home, you have one big decision to make before you look further: “Should I get a condo, or should I get a house?” The decision depends on where you are in life, and what you are looking to get out of your new home. Condos have become all [...]
19 Comments Kevin on Jun 8th 2010
