Renting vs Buying
Renting or buying a home is a major decision that everyone has to thoroughly process at some point in time. Before embarking on the journey, take into consideration some factors such as your lifestyle, financial situation, and employment. These elements will allow you to make a better decision and sway the answer to one side or the other! So is it better to rent or buy a house? Greyloft is here to help you break down the pros and cons.PROS OF RENTING: • Enjoy flexibility – you can move from place to place due to work, or try out different neighborhoods. • Fewer obligations – you don’t have to pay for major repairs, maintenance, property taxes, or other issues that come up during the tenancy. • You don’t need to provide a huge downpayment. • Makes for great short-term options. Whether you are working on saving money or mentally preparing for the responsibility of owning a home, this is the best interim option. • Your rent will generally be stable throughout your lease. In a rocky housing market, renters are not as much affected as buyers.
PROS OF BUYING: • Enjoy the sense of ownership – a fully-paid home is an ultimate provision for you and your loved ones. • If the home appreciates more than you’ve paid in mortgage, interest, taxes, and maintenance over time, you’ve earned a return. • Your costs are predictable and more stable than renting because they’re based on a fixed-rate mortgage. • You have the option of buying to rent, which enables you to generate income from renting out the property. This income can be put towards the home loan. • Living in your own home allows you to enjoy the freedom to renovate and decorate it as you wish.
CONS OF RENTING: • You can’t make major structural changes to the property; you will be required to ask for permission. • You are basically paying someone else’s mortgage. • The greatest disadvantage for renters is there is zero return on your investment for rent payments. • Inability to build equity, because your home will not be your own property.
CONS OF BUYING: • You will have to come up with a higher downpayment. • Ownership costs are more than just a deposit; there are ongoing running costs such as repairs, insurances, and property taxes. • The interest and fees you pay for your loan can be significant. Be prepared for interest rates to fluctuate during the term of your loan, especially if you have a variable interest rate. • If you decide to rent your house, it is your responsibility to find a tenant.
Source: Greyloft
5 Tips to Prepare for your Property Settlement
Insurance Haven’t organized insurance yet? Get it now! It can be a risky practice to rely on the vendor’s insurance cover (or lack thereof) if something happens to the property during the period from exchange to settlement. Having adequate insurance in place will give you peace of mind.Keys, codes, and passes Make sure you organize who has the keys and when you can collect them from the agent or your legal representative. Also, make sure you have the alarm codes (if any) and instruction manuals. Some purchasers want to collect that h a tdaYfrcnfi agent; have the delivered g their solicitor after settlement. By sorting out the logistics beforehand, you can enjoy your property sooner (without setting off any house alarms!).
Final inspection This is probably the most important inspection you will undertake, so you should organize it during daylight hours as close as possible to settlement and really take your time with it. Has any debris been left behind? Do the fittings and fixtures remain? Are the contractual inclusions actually in place? Have the exclusions been disposed of?
Final Title Search Just like a final inspection, a final title search will inform you if there have been any dealings with or new interests in the legal ownership of the property. After all, you can’t buy something from someone if they don’t own it. You’ll also need to remove any caveat you’ve placed on the title to enable the change of ownership to take place.
Cheque directions Your legal advisor and lender will organize the cheques on your behalf, but it’s up to you to make sure the settlement amounts and payees are correct before property settlement. Also, make sure the cheques have correct spellings – incorrectly issued non-negotiable bank cheques can hold up and delay a settlement, and that’s the last thing you want!
Source: Cunningham
How to be a Competitive Buyer in Today’s Housing Market
With so few houses for sale today, it’s important to be prepared when you’re ready to buy a home.
Meet with your lender early.
Get pre-approved for a mortgage so you can move quickly when you’re ready to make an offer.
Know your must-haves and nice-to-haves.
Neighborhood
Move-In Dates
Home Features
Be prepared for a bidding war.
The average number of offers a house receives today:
3.7
Understand the process and be dear about what you can spend.
Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.
Trust your agent to be a voice of reason.
If you’re looking for an expert guide to help you navigate today’s lightning-fast housing market, connect with a local real estate professional today.
Source: Keeping Current Matters
Tax Day 2016
Tax Day is Monday, April 16 this year. You still have time to fly!
Did you know… The most recent detailed tax information available is from the tax year 2013. In that year, Americans had $9.1 trillion in adjusted gross income and $6.4 trillion in taxable income. We paid $1.2 trillion in income taxes.
The difference between adjusted gross income and taxable income is largely in deductions and exemptions.
101 million tax filers took a standard deduction, meaning they subtract a flat dollar amount from their income for various living expenses.
45 million tax filers took itemized deductions instead, meaning they subtract actual amounts spent on deductible expenses from income.
Deductible expenses include state and local income and property taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and a handful of other items.
Among the 45 million, 33 million deducted $294 billion for mortgage interest, and 38 million deducted $174 billion in real estate taxes.
At the average tax rate, these real estate deductions helped taxpayers save roughly $100 billion in 2013.
Source: National Association of Realtors
How to Buy a Home with No Money Down and Poor Credit
The housing market certainly has its difficulties, and it seems like more and more traditional lenders turn people away from having less-than-perfect credit scores. However, even if you have poor credit and absolutely no money to put down on a home or property, there are still a few ways to get bad credit mortgages in Hamilton.
Private Home Loans
Several lenders offer private home loans in Hamilton, but there are usually strict requirements. These lenders want to see that you have a stable, dependable income and that you have the means required to repay your loan on time. They also want you to pay 15% to 20% down on your loan, and this may or may not include any broker fees.
Find a Lender with Simpler Requirements
Unfortunately, there is very little you can do to dissuade a private lender from requiring a down payment on poor credit mortgages. Your ability to come up with such a large chunk of money removes much of the risk associated with lending to you. However, in some cases. you may be able to find a lender who will allow you to forego the down payment in exchange for a higher interest rate.
Borrow the Down Payment
Another option involves actually borrowing the amount of the down payment from another source. Although lenders will check your credit history when you apply for a poor credit mortgage, this check is not in-depth; this means that you may still qualify for a loan even if you have other outstanding loans.
Consolidate Your Debt and Improve Your Credit Score
If you have a poor credit score and no down payment, the absolute best option for you involves getting a debt consolidation loan and improving your credit score over time. This requires some patience and diligence, but it might save you thousands of dollars over the course of your loan in the future.
Source: The Close