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Where to invest in real estate now

"Want to buy a house in Vancouver? Hope you have lots of cash. The average price of a house in Lotus Land hit $490,004 in February. Think about it for a second. That's nearly half a million dollars--and 26.5% higher than a year ago. Put another way, it now takes a household income of $142,000 a year to comfortably purchase a place to live. Wasn't the real estate market supposed to slow down this year? Apparently not. And it's not just Vancouver that's experiencing double-digit price increases so far this year. Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) figures show the average home price from February 2005 to February 2006 rose 26% in Calgary and 15.5% in Edmonton, both economic boomtowns of late. But even relatively moribund Toronto saw an increase of nearly 6%, for an average price of almost $354,000. That's a lot of money to put on the line if you're thinking of investing in the real estate market--let alone looking for a place to live. No wonder people are...
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Reverse mortgage can pump up your retirement pay

"QUESTION: My husband and I are retired with a total annual income of $40,000. We owe $145,000 on our home, which is worth $475,000. We don't have any extra to play with. We would like to know whether you would advise us to consider a reverse mortgage. ANSWER: A reverse mortgage could pay off your existing mortgage and eliminate the monthly mortgage payments you are currently paying. This could free up some income for you to play with each month. Here's essentially how it would work. A reverse mortgage would pay off your existing mortgage balance of $145,000. Then, rather than having to make monthly interest and principal payments, the interest charged on the loan would simply add to the balance of the loan. Let's assume your home will appreciate by 4 percent in the coming years, and the reverse mortgage interest rate averages 6 percent. Ten years from now, your home is worth $703,000 and the balance on the reverse mortgage is $260,000. In 20 years, your home is worth ...
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