Real Estate – How to Achieve Financial Freedom

Mortgage renewal headwinds near a ‘turning point’ for pandemic buyers, report says

The mortgage renewal wave that has long loomed over pandemic buyers who purchased homes at rock-bottom rates may finally be coming to an end, according to a Wednesday report from Toronto-Dominion Bank. “Canadian households are approaching the turning point where the shock is behind them,” TD economist Maria Solovieva wrote in the report. “The hill […]

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Real Estate Is The Easiest And Safest Way To Profit From AI

All of us have three main options to profit from AI: 1) Invest in the right AI companies. 2) Work for the right AI companies. 3) Invest in real estate that will benefit from the AI boom. Investing in the right AI companies is easier said than done. The gorillas like Google, Tesla, Nvidia have

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Here’s why mortgage renewals may be the banks’ biggest rip-off

A client recently told me their mortgage was up for renewal in late January, and earlier that month — maybe four weeks before renewal — they received a mortgage renewal form from their bank, one of the Big Six . I was asked which term they should sign off on even though they didn’t like

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Brad Carr: Canada needs to cut the GST/HST for all new homebuyers, not just first-timers

Once defined solely by a critical lack of supply, Canada’s housing crisis now faces the compounding challenge of plummeting sales. Sales over the past year have dropped in major centres across the country, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where the housing shortage remains most acute. Home sales in the GTA fell 11.2 per

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Garry Marr: For young Canadians who bought at peak of market, Home Buyers’ Plan was invitation to disaster

Raiding your retirement to make a down payment on your first home is a Canadian tradition that has long been encouraged by the government, but for young Canadians who bought homes at the top of the market, the strategy is looking like a disaster. The average sale price of a home peaked in March 2022

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The Rarest Homes Have Enclosed Front And Back Yards

If you want to sell a home for a potential maximum overbid, you need something rare. A tasteful remodel with permits helps. A highly functional layout helps. Being in a prime location helps even more. Beyond those three fundamentals, I strongly recommend trying to buy a home with a view and or one that sits

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Garry Marr: As Canada’s condo market swoons, private equity is circling

There are thousands of unsold condominiums in Canada’s two priciest cities for housing, with not many buyers in sight. Who blinks first — buyers or sellers — is the biggest question that will determine whether sales pick up. A wildcard could be private equity groups, which are already eying inventory in Toronto and Vancouver, hoping

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Why the Best Real Estate Deals Exist Outside the Frenzy Zone

If you want to find better value when buying a house, avoid the real estate frenzy zone. The real estate frenzy zone is the price range where the largest number of buyers can compete. It generally spans from the median home price plus about 50%. This is where demand is thickest, emotions run hottest, and buyers routinely

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Garry Marr: Why 2026 could be the year of the renter

Could 2026 be the year of the renter ? After 15 straight months of rental price declines , the power balance may finally be swinging back into the hands of tenants, something that should come as a relief to cash-strapped Canadians, though not all will be in position to take advantage. At the end of

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Almost Burned Down My Parent’s Home Twice In One Week

I’m back in Honolulu for the winter holidays, visiting my parents, and I’ve been looking forward to this trip for months. Especially after spending about $41,000 remodeling and furnishing a neglected two-bedroom in-law unit attached to their home. The goal was simple: test whether the in-law unit could comfortably house my wife, daughter, and son.

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‘Why let one person in the States change your life?’ For Canadian snowbirds, the stay or go dilemma gets complicated

Rick, a retired accountant from Vernon, B.C., has been coming to California for 17 years. But closing in on 80 years of age, he has been reconsidering that ritual. He doesn’t like the political climate in the United States and he also worries about how Canadians will be accepted. He would probably sell his place

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Big Lot vs Great Views: Deciding Which Home Offers More Value

Ideally, you want to find a home with both a big lot and amazing views. These are the two special features that most buyers covet the most, which create bidding wars and higher re-sale prices. However, they rarely coexist at an affordable price. Usually, when a home has amazing views, it’s perched on a hill

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Trouble at The One shows your pre-sale condominium purchase isn’t as locked in as you think

Billed as the tallest residential tower in Canada, the 85-storey project at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto once known as the One , will probably be also famous for one of the longest construction runways to final completion, a time frame every condo buyer should worry about. Developer Sam Mizrahi bought the land in 2014,

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Made More From One House Than 26 Years of 401(k) Investing

People knock real estate for being slow and tedious. I get it. It’s not nearly as exciting as chasing big tech or the latest AI winner. But slow and steady might be exactly what the doctor ordered for building tremendous long-term wealth. With stocks doing well for decades, you’d think most people would be far

Garry Marr: Americans may soon get the option of 50-year mortgages. Here’s why Canadians shouldn’t be envious

What’s five decades to pay off your mortgage ? Apparently, not much south of the border, where Americans may soon get the privilege of 50-year mortgages. Half a century before you own your home, assuming you live that long. U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea on social media, pitching it as a way to

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Please Don’t Rent Your Entire Life: Housing Security Is Vital

Housing security is something I hope everyone will one day obtain. Once you are house secure, you can more easily focus on your career, family formation, and other things you care about. However, if you rent for life, you may face housing insecurity, which can feel especially uncomfortable when you’re older or no longer willing

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Paying For A Home Inspection Is Worth The Cost, Don’t Skip Out

As a buyer and seller of real estate since 2003, I’ve learned that getting a home inspection before each purchase is one of the most important steps in protecting yourself. You want a professional — someone who’s inspected hundreds of homes — to review your potential property for at least an hour before you submit

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Garry Marr: Here’s the real reason the Canadian dream of home ownership won’t die any time soon

Home ownership in Canada has never really been a great investment until you consider the alternatives for accommodation and saving. A panel hosted by the Veritas Group of Companies titled Is Home ownership Dead? passionately debated the topic last week, and the conclusions seem grim. Rightly so. For young Canadians , confidence in housing is

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Garry Marr: Why micro condos will survive the current downturn, even if they’ve lost their allure for now

Somehow, a high-rise condominium unit of approximately 300 square feet in downtown Toronto or Vancouver with en-suite laundry and a galley kitchen in a building with amenities, is now considered inhumane in this country. There are a variety of market and government factors that have led to micro-condos, but let’s start by addressing the fact

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Here’s one way to increase the size of your house without moving

If the economy is stalling and jobs are being cut, it may be time for you to do some trimming of your own. No, this isn’t a column about body shaming, but let’s target the extra pounds of junk in your home, ultimately costing you money, even in a housing market that has seen prices

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