What is the Toronto Land Transfer Tax?

Simply put, the Toronto Land Transfer Tax is a tax on the dream of home ownership. It’s paid every time people like you purchase a home in Toronto, and it’s not small. The average home buyer in Toronto faces about $15,000 in land transfer taxes, which has to be paid in full before moving into their new home.

Land Transfer Tax Calculator

Why does it matter?

Because, together, we are building a great City, and it’s important, for all of us, that we get this right. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax is no way to build a great City, and here’s why:
It Makes Toronto Less Fair

In any given year, only about five percent of Torontonians move. These are average people, who move for different reasons: a young family with a baby on the way may need more space; aging seniors may need to change their lifestyle; a family break-up. The list goes on. It is unfair, and wrong, to expect these people to shoulder so much more burden in taxes than the other 95 percent of Torontonians, for no additional services.
It Makes Our City Services Less Reliable

Torontonians value their municipal services. To maintain those services, we need reliable and predictable funding. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax is far from reliable or predictable. The revenue it generates goes up AND down with the state of the real estate market. What will we do if real estate markets suddenly cool and Land Transfer Tax revenue drops sharply and quickly? If we want our City’s services to be truly reliable, we should end our reliance on this unpredictable tax.
It Makes Our City Less Competitive

Over the years, Toronto has succeeded largely because people want to live here. In fact, about half of all immigrants arriving in Canada choose to live in the Toronto region. Once they settle on the Toronto region, however, the choice between municipalities becomes less clear, and the Toronto Land Transfer Tax doesn’t help our City’s chances. That’s because Toronto is the ONLY City in the entire country, let alone the Greater Toronto Area, to have two land transfer taxes: the Toronto Land Transfer Tax, AND the provincial Land Transfer Tax. Choosing to live outside of Toronto means paying only once, instead of twice. Clearly, this puts our City at a competitive disadvantage for its most important resource: people.
It Risks OUR Economic Vibrancy

When people buy and sell homes, they create jobs for people. They hire movers. They have their new home painted. They renovate. They buy new furniture and appliances. The list goes on. In fact, studies have shown that about 40,000 Toronto jobs rely directly on this type of economic activity. By discouraging people from moving, the Toronto Land Transfer Tax threatens these jobs.
It Makes Our City Less Affordable

Toronto should be a City for everyone. Anyone who wants to live here should be able to. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax makes that more difficult. Even average middle-class people struggle with this tax, which adds about $6,000 to the cost of an average home in Toronto, and about $15,000 to the cost of an average detached home in Toronto. That’s money that has to be paid in full, upfront, before moving in. That’s not easy, or realistic, for many average people.
It Makes Our Government Less Accountable

As taxpayers, we all expect our hard-earned tax dollars to be spent wisely by City Hall. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax reduces City Hall’s accountability to taxpayers because it is hidden in housing transaction closing costs. It’s important, for our City’s finances, that City Council carefully considers their tax and spending decisions, and the best way to make that happen is for taxes to be out in the open so that all taxpayers know what City Council is doing.
It Makes Our City Less Green and Less Livable

We are all tired of the traffic congestion that plagues Toronto and the entire region. Not only does it affect our quality of life, but the pollution generated by automobiles is bad for our health and our environment. Reducing the amount and length of commuting between work and home is a key part of solving this problem. That means helping people to live close to their jobs. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax does the opposite by creating an incentive to live outside of the City, farther from Toronto jobs, where home buyers don’t have to pay a municipal land transfer tax.

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Instant price estimates for property. Is it impossible or possible?

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cma, comparative market analysis, Instant price estimates for property. Is it impossible or possible?, Market Evaluation, property

Instant price estimates for property. Is it impossible or possible?

 There are some online appraisal websites where if you click on the tab and enter an address it will ask a few questions and give you a value estimate. You are required re-read the cautions about the service as it does have some limitations. That being said, I have played with the tool, and it is not too scary as thought but if it is accurate? !!!

Some REALTORS do over the phone evaluations. And they claim to be exactly and precisely right. Although I will do them in certain areas that I am highly familiar with I always recommend allowing a proper market evaluation as some things you may not mention to the REALTOR may alter the value either up or down, and ultimately not seeing the property does not allow us to give you the best Market Value Evaluation. If you would like an instant price estimate look in your mail for a local & Licensed REALTOR who advertises over the phone market evaluations and call them. I however caution you that you would do yourself far better service to contact a reputable Licensed REALTOR and invite them to your home. Good Luck and have a great day.

I’ve been in the business for a time and never do estimates from my desk or home office. Sorry, I’m not Magician and a house can be from zero to a hero, I mean unpredictable on unseen. In essence, I do not offer “no service kind of service”. There is none in the world who can guess what your house is like, how much you have spent in upgrades over the home ownership period in comparison to your neighbour who still has green shag carpets from 1969 and war torn hardwood from dog nails etc. When you pay nothing, you generally get nothing. I will not sign an estimate if I do not have all the facts considered and reviewed personally.

If you do want a quick and very rough estimate of the value of your home, I would look to your assessed value for property tax purposes, the report you get every year from MPAC report. It will likely give you an idea if your property is worth $300,000 or $3 million. But if you want more insight then call a reputable realtor for a proper comparative market analysis (CMA). This analysis CMA will give you a better idea what your property would actually sell for in the current market conditions.

Many factors come into play for CMA – what is the overall real estate market like, what is the market like for your specific property, what condition is your property in and how does your property compare to similar homes currently listed right now, so it is called comparables. For example, if your neighbor with a fairly similar property accepts a low ball offer because he already bought the new home and he is anxious to sell this old one that is unfortunately going to affect the market value of your property. Most importantly this estimate is likely to be a range rather than a single number, like the estimate of price could be “from $410k to $430k”. Some properties are difficult to put an accurate price on and the sales price obtained could be within a large range. Other properties are in an area with many similar properties that have sold recently and are a little easier to put a price on within a fairly tight range agreeable to seller.

I spend a considerable amount of time on each comparative market evaluation that I do and I think my clients would agree that I provide useful information that would be difficult to obtain automatically or instantly. I think in this situation the phrase “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right” is so true. I always research properties on-line and off-line before I actually visit the property to do a market evaluation. It is getting easier to find information online but there really is no substitute for seeing a property, its setting and comparable properties in person.

Hopefully the ‘instant’ Market Evaluation that you seek will not be used to determine the price to list your home. You can probably get one or two evaluations at no expense to you anyway from your local real estate brokerages. It may not be instant, but it will be customized for your unique home and not just made up ones & instead of based on last year’s statistics for all homes in the city.

I am sure you will agree with the personal talk we had thru this article, if you like to have your property evaluated you can contact me directly on cell and arrange appointment or contact me online to set an appointment of your property.

Email: vg_remax(AT)yahoo.ca , Direct: 647.267.6338, web: www.vijaygandhi.com

Experienced and Savvy Investors Buy in December to March Winter Months

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Investors Buy in December to March Winter Months

Experienced and Savvy Investors Buy in December to March Winter Months

Why do a Large Number of Experienced and Savvy Investors Buy in December to March Winter Months?

For a few personal reasons, some people have no time limit (expiration of apartment lease, etc.)and so they really wait until they find something they love to do before purchasing like marrying, which can come at any time, including the snowy winter months as well.

Also, if a property has not sold over the busier season (spring and summer), owners as well as realtors tend to drop the asking price a little to attract more investors to the property. So sometimes, you can get a better deal on a property in the winter months as opposed to the months where the most investors are searching the housing market. Investors think that there is a possibility of better deal to be had….but, many times it is not so….you need right investor agent who can navigate thru this surfing and searching.
There is one good reason is that there are fewer sales and fewer investors in these months so some investors see that as a great time to get a deal. Some houses do not show up in the realtor search as it is in the batches on system for group of years like under 5yrs, under 10 years & so on, so those comes up as soon as the new year starts, also the possible search criteria also changed altogether.

If a seller has placed a conditional offer on a new home and theirs is still not sold by the winter, you may also have an easier time negotiating as they have deadlines to sell their home, so the Investor have an opportunity.

Each selling and purchasing decision is based on a variety of different motives. It’s often case by case and so does just like credit ratings its all depends on individuals.

Don’t be fooled though, some of the statistics I have seen have shown that December is also a good time to sell, and recent years you can verify mls.ca stats, winter months are not bad producing months as well, Because fewer inventories on the market mean less competition, and if investor is in need and do not want to wait despite realtor try to wait for new match property comes up in market. Sometimes good houses do not sell because the competition is fierce and even though they may be priced and war of price so hot, to-gather competitively, they fail to sell because if excess inventory levels. Over major portion of the houses listed in GTA last year in December sold. This made it the number: one month to sell if you want to have an edge on the market inventory if you think and plan properly and willing to take risk with good experience agent and with lots of ice over the head.

Some of my clients save up and buy this time of year. Most investors do not want to be bothered over the Christmas season but investors know that offers at this time of year are scarce at best. This is the time of year when those of us agents that represent investor investors are the busiest. Feel free to contact me if you wish to explore the investor market, there are a lot of great deals out there right now that my clients are snapping up! Would you like to wait or go depends on your choice.

Another good reason is that in winter months only serious sellers remain in the market just like serious investors and price the property accordingly well to sell and ready to make a deal before spring market competition starts. Negotiations take place well when both parties are motivated. An experienced Realtor can get you a great deal in winter.

Always hire the proper agent: www.vijaygandhi.com and save you a lot…

Variable Rate Mortgage or Fixed Rate Mortgage : Buyer’s Choice

Fixed Rate Mortgage vs. Variable Rate Mortgage

One of the many decisions home buyers have to make is to decide between choosing a fixed and variable-rate mortgage. With rates being so low, it confuses buyer now as may be the time to choose to go variable.

By choosing a fixed-rate mortgage, you are locked into an interest rate and your payments stay consistent over a given term and period unless you decide to use other options allowed under mortgage terms and your agreement. For first time home buyers taking on a huge amount of debt, a fixed-rate mortgage may help them sleep a little better at night. The homeowner will be paying more in interest, but they will know exactly what they will be paying for the entire mortgage term.

The homeowner that chooses a variable-rate mortgage can expect payments to fluctuate as interest rates rise and fall. For that reason, the homeowner usually gets a better interest rate reflecting the improbability and increased risk. (As Finance Minister recently made comment over we can believe the interest rate may not be rising sharply in this near future, but you never know it can definitely fluctuate).With the central bank rates barely changing over the past year, and not expecting to change any time soon, lenders have been closing the gap between fixed and variable mortgage rates. With the rate gap shrinking, it means it’s a good time to think about choosing a variable-rate mortgage, the buyer have more grip over the mortgage deals.

There are a few factors that favour choosing a variable-rate mortgage. Over the last fifty years, variable rates mortgage have been approx. 1% cheaper than fixed-rate mortgages. The last time variable rates were at a disadvantage compared to fixed-rates mortgage was in the late 1980’s, when the rate get huge surge.

Variable rates mortgage in Canada are near an all time low. Recently, The Bank of Canada indicated they’ll be keeping interest rates low as they are uncertain about the North American and European economy. Since the U.S. Federal Reverse promised to keep interest rates low through 2012 and 2013, and Europe is facing debt crisis, we can expect rates to stay low in Canada as Canadian interest rates usually don’t much differ from rates in the U.S.

Some of the top mortgage lenders/ mega brokers/ financial institutions in Canada think rates might drop even lower; it all depends on government monitory policy and economical recovery…

When it’s time to sell your house and you are not at the end of your mortgage term, it’s cheaper to break a variable rate mortgage than a fixed rate mortgage. Typically when you break a fixed rate mortgage the penalty is the greater of three months interest or the Interest Rate Differential. If you’re looking to break a variable rate mortgage you are only subject to a penalty of three months’ interest or better yet verify with your mortgagee, lender, bank, financial institution.

One of the great advantages of choosing a variable rate mortgage is you can lock in all or part of your mortgage at a fixed rate anytime you want, when it is variable open. if you did locked in for variable rate for certain period, your mortgage obviously with variable rates mortgage are a riskier product to choose, but it’s a risk that can really pay off as well. If you’re not a risk taker, ask your mortgage lender broker if they offer a half fixed and half variable product. It’s better of both world 50/50 mortgages.

Talk to us before you decide to buy real estate, renewal, refinance, 2nd mortgage, equity loans, cash back mortgage, or pre-approval…
Vijay Gandhi,
Sales Representative- REALTOR^®,
RE/MAX Dynasty Realty Inc. Brokerage*
&
Mortgage Agent Licence #: M10001947
CENTUM Metrocapp Wealth Solutions Inc.Licence #: 12147

C: 647. 267. 6338
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P: 416.335.4335 | 905.471-0002
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How to Invest in Canadian Real Estate & Win*

Vijay Gandhi,
Sales Representative- REALTOR^®,
RE/MAX Dynasty Realty Inc. Brokerage*
C: 647. 267. 6338
(Direct-Leave message or text)
P: 416.335.4335 | 905.471-0002
(page me-Have me)
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E:vtgandhi@yahoo.com , vgandhi@remax.net
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westwood condos | condo in etobicoke | coming soon to Etobicoke | Alterra Homes |Finer Space Developments

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Alterra Homes, coming soon to Etobicoke, condo in etobicoke, Finer Space Developments, westwood condos

 

 

westwood condos | condo in etobicoke | coming soon to Etobicoke | Alterra Homes |Finer Space Developments

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VIP Booking form follows

Price list / floor plan Available when registered with us

 

 

newhomeandcondo

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RE/MAX Dynasty Realty Inc. Brokerage*
C: 647. 267. 6338
(Direct-Leave message or text)
P: 416.335.4335 | 905.471-0002
(page me-Have me)
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South Unionville Square is a new condo project by Mady Development Corporation- Book Here your unit

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South Unionville Square is a new condo project by Mady Development Corporation- Book Here your unit

September 11, 2011 by resalehomeandcondo

South Unionville Square is a new condo project by Mady Development Corporation currently under construction at 8323 Kennedy Road in Markham. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012. Available condos range in price from $190,000 to $377,000. The project has a total of 253 units.

 

DEVELOPMENT NAME : South Unionville Square
DEVELOPER(S) : Mady Development Corporation
PROJECT TYPE : Condominium
ADDRESS : 8323 Kennedy Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD/CITY : Markham
STATE/PROVINCE : Ontario
PROJECT WEBSITE : http://www.southunionvillesquare.com
E-MAIL : nancyhui@tradeworldrealty.com
SALES CENTRE HOURS : Saturday – Thursday: 12pm to 6pm
CONSTRUCTION STATUS : Construction
ESTIMATED COMPLETION : 2012
SELLING STATUS : Selling
TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS : 253 units
NUMBER OF STOREYS : 12 storeys
UNIT SIZES : From 520 to 920 Square Feet
CEILING HEIGHTS : From 9’0″ to 10’0″ Feet
SALES COMPANY : Tradeworld Realty Inc., Brokerage
ARCHITECT(S) : Turner Fleischer Architects Inc.
INTERIOR DESIGNER(S) : Gordana Car Interior Design Studio

 

PRICES(AVAILABLE UNITS) : From $190,000 To $377,000
MONTHLY MAINTENANCE : $0.42 Per Square Foot Per Month

 

SIGN UP NOW FOR ACCESS and PRICELIST for BOOKING!!!

 

The Residences Floor Plans
One Bedroom Lily, 1 Bedroom, 622 sq.ft. Tulip, 1 Bedroom, 578 sq.ft. Iris, 1 Bedroom, 671 sq.ft. Jasmine, 1 Bedroom, 648 sq.ft. Pansy, 1 Bedroom, 615 sq.ft. Daisy, 1 Bedroom, 664 sq.ft. Two Bedroom Bamboo, 2 Bedroom + Terrace, 1,072 sq.ft. Crocus, 2 Bedroom, 810 sq.ft.	One Bedroom + Den Gardenia, 1 Bedroom + Den, 650 sq.ft. Violet, 1 Bedroom + Den, 699 sq.ft. Buttercup, 1 Bedroom + Den, 710 sq.ft. Marigold, 1 Bedroom + Den, 767 sq.ft. Magnolia, 1 Bedroom + Den, 778 sq.ft. Golden Rod, 1 Bedroom + Den, 706 sq.ft. Mimosa, 1 Bedroom + Den, 752 sq.ft. Poppy, 1 Bedroom + Den, 765 sq.ft.

for booking and registration contact thru:

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Real Estate Buyers to focus on LOW interest, Ignore Market Turmoil: As per Economists

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ignore market turmoil: economists, Real estate buyers to focus on low interest

Real estate buyers to focus on low interest, ignore market turmoil: economists

TORONTO – Canada’s real estate market is now expected to grow this year rather than decline, as buyers take advantage of continued low interest rates that are intended to offset recent economic turmoil, economists said Tuesday.

The comments came after the Canadian Real Estate Association revised its 2011 national forecast for home resales, citing stronger than expected sales and higher prices in the second quarter.

An earlier CREA forecast that called for a one per cent dip in sales this year from 2011. But the association said Tuesday sales should grow this year — albeit less than one per cent above 2010.

CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal said recent stock market uncertainty due to the European debt crisis and the United States credit downgrade is actually helping boost sales in Canada’s real-estate market.

Bad economic news abroad tends to keep Canadian interest rates low, he said.

Since the European and American debt issues came to a head in recent weeks, economists have been predicting the Bank of Canada will leave its key rate untouched at one per cent until at least next year.

That’s a change of opinion since last winter, when economists widely expected Canada’s central bank would begin hiking its rates sometime in 2011 as the economy strengthened — putting upward pressure on the price of borrowing.

With the global economy now looking weaker than expected, and the U.S. Federal Reserve promising last week that it will keep its key short-term rate at an all-time low for another two years, the Bank of Canada is now expected to put off raising its short-term lending rates.

“The uncertainty globally is really benefiting mortgage holders because it’s really postponing the increase in interest rates in Canada,” Tal said, explaining that when the stock market turns volatile, real estate becomes an attractive investment because of its security.

“Many people can use this opportunity to look into extremely low mortgage rates, so again the misery of other people elsewhere is helping Canadian home buyers.”

Sonya Gulati, an economist at TD Economics said the bank is anticipating that sales will be a bit more subdued in the next two months, but buyers, especially first timers and immigrants won’t likely be deterred in the longer term as interest rates stay low.

“People may be waiting to see whether or not they want to purchase homes, see if things turn for the better. It really has been a roller coaster for the last little while so we anticipate a little bit more subdued activity in August and September,” she said.

“(The stock market) will be a factor in their decision making process, but at the end of the day one of the key things for people is the interest rate and mortgage rates are still very low and they may actually want to enter the market for that reason despite the uncertainty out there.”

Meanwhile, CREA’s chief economist Gregory Klump said it is too early to judge whether buyers are moving towards or shying away from real estate due to volatile stock markets. But he said historically, real estate does well during times of uncertainty.

“During periods of financial market upheaval the Canadian real estate market has remained far more stable,” he said, adding that even though some investors put off buying high end homes during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, those buyers returned to real estate soon after recovery began.

“The last time we had financial market instability, the housing market wasn’t immune, but it was certainly less volatile and certainly Canadians recognize that and feel comfortable investing in their home.”

Overall, CREA said Tuesday that 450,800 housing units are expected to be sold across Canada under its Multiple Listing Service in 2011, and the average selling price will be slightly higher. In May, it had estimated 441,100 units would be sold through the MLS.

About 90 per cent of home resales in Canada are listed on MLS.

Both Gulati and Tal said they expect the market to cool off in 2012 once interest rates rise again. Gulati said home prices could fall as much as 10 per cent, while Tal said they could fall between five and 10. Gulati described this as a “correction” while Tal said it was an “adjustment,” but “nothing to write home about.”

Meanwhile, the association said it was revising its sales expectations for 2012 downward to 447,000 units, roughly on par with the 10-year average.

On a regional basis, British Columbia’s 2011 sales forecast has been revised slightly higher as home sales in the province appear to have bottomed out soon than predicted, while stronger than expected activity in Ontario is expected to offset slightly softer than anticipated demand in Quebec, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.

CREA said it now expects the national average home price will rise 7.2 per cent in 2011, to $363,500. The previous estimate in May was $352,500.

The upward revision reflects increases in the second quarter in Vancouver and acceleration in other parts of the country, particularly Toronto. Vancouver has experienced a surge in multimillion-dollar home sales this year.

CREA said the two markets have a high number of sales and average price, so they play a big part in influencing the national average.

Additional new listings should also result in a more balanced resale housing market in most provinces, with the national average price forecast to stabilize in 2012.

Source: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/Real-estate-buyers-focus-low-capress-322648189.html?x=0

Earlier this week Finance Minister loosens grip on mortgage regulations

Flaherty loosens grip on mortgage regulations

Earlier this week Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that the nation’s housing market is starting to cool, but a couple of hot spots still remain.

According to Flaherty, the market is moderating from a national perspective but Vancouver in particular is really on fire, with Canadian house prices reaching a high after the economic meltdown, spurred by low rates and a strong banking system.

Flaherty told parliament on Monday that we are in a different place than the US where a prolonged housing crisis could unfold. He says that it’s not the case here in Canada because our Government keeps its fingers on the pulse of the housing sector to ensure things stay on track.

This all coincides with Mark Carney’s speech last week at the Vancouver Board of Trade. Again, he avoided saying we’re in bubble territory, but stated that we are heavily indebted and that house prices are 13% above their pre-recession peak. With this, he cautioned that the Bank of Canada will eventually raise its benchmark rate as soon as possible to address the speedy housing activity. People are spending at a much faster pace in a low interest rate environment, but the key point to consider is that these rates will rise and affordability will diminish.

Flaherty has stepped in a number of times since the recession and implemented new rules to help stem the fast pace of growth, looking to avoid the dreaded bubble and subsequent collapse as witnessed by our neighbors to the south.

The big statement from Flaherty was that from time to time the market needs to be calmed down, and basically with the last three rounds of changes they’ve accomplished what they’ve set out to do and we can expect the Government to lay low in the near future. Along with the changes in policy, the future increase in rates will do its own to stall the marketplace.

The Bank of Canada’s bi-annual Financial System Review released this week noted that such a long period of low interest rates may fuel excessive risk-taking, remarking that as a country we are more vulnerable to interest rate shock since their last report in December of 2010.

However, according to recent numbers from Statistics Canada, Canadians are still sliding further into debt as of the last quarter. This is the result of the super low interest rate environment we are currently sitting in. Even though the extension of credit has started to slow, we’re really swallowed by debt with a debt-to-income ratio of 147%, meaning for every dollar of income we are in debt $1.47.

The good news is that in a recent survey by CMHC that many Canadians are preparing to adjust to higher interest rates by budgeting their finances and preparing for things like job loss and interest rate hikes.

So even though we’re at peak levels of household debt, both Carney and Flaherty believe that the recent changes regarding the mortgage industry and the impending interest rate hikes will be more than enough to cool our housing market and credit markets to a more sustainable level.

We Wish all will remain well for the housing market activity

For the rest of the article see:

http://propertywire.ca/blogs/bloggers/leslies-blog/item/139-flaherty-loosens-grip-on-mortgage-regulations.html

Home buying advice for first timers

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Home buying advice for first timers

Home buying advice for first timers

How to make sure your first home buying experience doesn’t leave you penniless.

The biggest do-it-yourself project for a growing number of Canadian homeowners has become the house purchase itself. The 2011 TD Canada Trust First Time Homebuyers Report found that many Canadians are doing it completely on their own, with 45 per cent saying they will be buying their first home independently (rather than with a co-purchaser).But its always advisable to hire services of relevent professionals in real estate to make your dream come true.

Home prices are up across Canada. The Canadian Real Estate Association reports the national average price for homes sold in May 2011 was at a record $376,817, up 8.6 per cent from the same month last year. The increase was largely due to historically high sales activity in selected pricey Vancouver neighbourhoods, and broadly based price gains in Toronto, where supply remains tight relative to demand. If Vancouver sales are excluded from the calculation, the year-over-year change in the national average price amounts to 5.6 per cent; excluding Toronto and Vancouver, prices are up 3.7 per cent.

Rising home prices and tighter mortgage rules are making it harder for first time buyers, and while going it alone is possible, it takes careful planning and advice. You’ll want to ensure, for example, that the mortgage you take on allows room in your budget to set some money aside for the future, because should your financial situation change, you are the only person legally responsible for the mortgage.

Here’s some advice for first-time homebuyers going it alone:

• Buy the house that fits your budget. Better to have a smaller house within your means than a pricey house that forces you to give up your lifestyle. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s guidelines on affordability say housing costs should not exceed 32 per cent of your gross monthly household income. Housing costs include monthly mortgage payments, taxes and heating expenses. If applicable, this should also include half of your monthly condo fees. Your total monthly debt load should not be more than 40 per cent of your gross monthly income.
• Build your team. Have your real estate agent, lawyer, home inspector and mortgage lender lined up well in advance. This will save you time and enable you to make an offer if you see a property that you like.

• List your needs and wants and then provide it to your agent. This will help you focus on the property you want and will save you time when viewing homes. Decide which areas you might be willing to compromise on.