All About Real Estate, Finance & Mortgages

The secret board of MPs that manages internal House of Commons affairs is allowing MPs who own a house or condo in Ottawa as their second home to pay down their mortgages with a $75 per diem intended for meals, the Citizen has learned. The per diem is in addition to a $25 daily accommodation allowance MPs receive year-round if they own a second house or condominium in the capital, and using it to buy a home is allowed despite a rule forbidding mortgage payments from a separate $24,000 expense allowance. Combined, the per diem and the accommodation allowance could add up to $17,225 a year for house costs and mortgage payments if an MP spends only four days a week in Ottawa while Parliament is sitting. The $25 daily accommodation allowance is available without receipts throughout the year as long as the MP does not rent out the residence. The move outraged John Williamson, head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who noted parliamentarians last week defended a $4,000 hike to the genera

MONEY 401 Those who want to be left alone to follow their own desires should look elsewhere, Condo living requires flexibility, co-operation and compromise... words you don't see often in developers' ads. It's not the right place for you if you want to be left alone to follow your own desires. Moving into a condominium development means obeying its rules, even if you disagree with them. You may have to leave your cat or dog behind. You may be restricted from putting decorations on your front door. You may be prohibited from renting out your unit for short periods. These rules make sense in terms of avoiding conflicts among people trying to live closely and peacefully together. Short-term rentals, for example, can be disruptive to long-term owners. 'If tenancies of under six months are permissible, you risk buying into a building that is really just a disguised hotel,' says Keith Bricknell, a condo owner in downtown Toronto. 'You will never really get to know o

By Douglas Hunter (Cottage Life Books, $35) Never having owned a summer home, but having enjoyed many visits to cottages owned by friends and relatives, I didn't realize all the possible pitfalls. This book explains them. Heavy emphasis is placed on the income tax aspects for both buyers and sellers. If the book has a flaw, it is that author Douglas Hunter is Canadian and he constantly over-emphasizes the Canadian taxation and ownership laws. However, most of the book applies to buyers and sellers of virtually all vacation cottages. Approximately half of the book is devoted to locating a suitable area for acquiring a cottage. After the search narrows, Hunter explains details of what to look for because buying such a property is much different than purchasing an urban house or condominium. Unique methods of financing the purchase of a vacation cottage are explained, but without great detail. Hunter suggests contacting local mortgage lenders. He explains the tax consequences of deduc

Owning your own home is the great Canadian dream, and a wide range of mortgages means almost everyone can choose the debt that suits them best Attitudes to debt have changed over the generations as real estate prices have skyrocketed in Greater Vancouver and the rest of B.C. While survivors of the Great Depression worked to be mortgage-free, many younger people have been anything but reluctant to borrow money to finance the home they have always dreamed about. Lindsey McDonald bought her first real estate in Cloverdale two years ago when she was 22. The ambitious student sees her mortgage as an opportunity to build wealth and expects to sign up for more and bigger loans in the years to come. In contrast, John and Joan Ross bought their first home in 1959 and 'survived and sufficed' to become the mortgage-free owners of a bigger home on Vancouver's west side by the end of the 1970s. As children of the Great Depression, the two seniors have avoided significant debt ever since

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. recently announced moves that critics say will drive many home buyers to the poor house, as it were, and could leave Canadian taxpayers on the hook. CMHC is offering mortgage insurance for interest-only loans and on amortizations up to 35 years, while also scrapping the typical $165 application fee on high-ratio loan products for people with less than 25-per-cent down payment. With an interest-only loan, a borrower can pay interest only for the first 10 years, then pay both interest and principal. Payments are initially low, but since the entire loan must still be paid off within the original amortization period, payments balloon as the principal starts being paid down, and again if interest rates rise. The first issue is whether a government agency like CMHC should be competing with private companies like Genworth Financial in the business of offering mortgage insurance on interest-only loans. If CMHC has to pay out a rash of defaults, the money will

A correction in the red-hot Toronto area condominium market 'cannot be far away,' says a leading housing economist. Buying for investment purposes in the Toronto market has been 'far in excess of market needs' and buyers face 'very high risks,' said economist Will Dunning in his most strongly worded analysis yet of the Toronto market, released yesterday. Nearly a decade into a robust housing cycle, high-rise sales remain extremely strong, with second quarter sales at an annual rate of 20,800, a record high, said Dunning." While other housing economists have expressed concern over what they see as a potentially frothy condo market, Dunning, a former Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. economist, has been among the most conservative. Price appreciation for condos continues at a good clip — 5.9 per cent year over year — and the average condo rent has increased 2.1 per cent. But this won't last long, according to the gloomy forecast. "An onslaught of con

(Jul 28, 2006) It happened to Susan Lawrence. While going through proceedings to sell her home earlier this year, the area woman learned that she had become the victim of fraud, joining a growing number of Canadians who have been victimized by real estate title fraud. "I went to the bank to discuss my mortgage because of the pending sale," says Lawrence, who has lived in her home for almost 30 years. "I found out my mortgage had been discharged and a new fraudulent mortgage assigned to my house at another bank without my knowledge. I couldn't believe it. I had heard of mortgage and real estate fraud, but never thought it could happen to me." The scam occurred as follows: someone unknown to her forged her signature, discharged her existing mortgage, took out a new mortgage for almost $300,000, pocketed the money, then defaulted on the mortgage and disappeared. Ms. Lawrence believes her nightmare started when a For Sale sign went up on her front lawn, giving fraud