One of the major influences in today’s real estate market is the foreign buyer. So buyers and sellers who are buying in Canada or the United States need to know a few things before they make their move. Real estate is a very big investment, but before you move ahead, here are ten things that you need to know.

#1 Multiple Listing Service

Canada and the United States have what is called a Multiple Listings Service. That means that you can work with one agent who can show you all the listings in his office or her office and they can also show you listings that belong to other companies. So there is no need to shop for a number of agents: you can use one agent, and that agent can show you as many properties as you would like to see.

#2 Listing Agent

Sellers enter into a contract to list their properties for sale with one agent, called the listing agent.

#3 Buyer Agency Agreement (Buyer Representation)

Buyers can enter into contracts with what we call a Buyer Agency Agreement (buyer representation). This means that the buyer agent’s fiduciary duty is to you as the buyer. That means that they have to protect your interests, they have to make sure they have all the information, and they are on your side in a number of transactions. So buyer agency and buyer representation are very important in North America.

#4 Funds On Shore

Make sure that you have funds transferred into a Canadian or a U.S bank, so you are ready to move ahead with a transaction if you see something you like. You need to make sure that your funds are on shore before you make any sort of deposits or down payment and transactions. Don’t expect that your funds can be transferred within a day or two. They should be in North America and ready for the purchase.

#5 Deposit

You will need a deposit. A deposit is cash or certified funds, and that money has to go into a bank account with the listing brokerage. The deposit is between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the purchase price and should be fairly accessible from your bank account and to the trust fund of the listing company.

#6 Financing

If you need financing, you will have to be pre-approved by a bank with branches in Canada. There are a lot of foreign banks in Canada and you can use them, but the process will be much easier if a lot of your assets are already transferred into Canadian funds or in a Canadian bank, or in U.S funds in a U.S bank.

#7 Land Transfer Tax

Buying property in Canada and the United States is like buying property in many other places — there are taxes to pay. Here, we have taxes on the property that are paid yearly. There are also taxes that are paid when you actually buy the property. And in Toronto at the moment, there are two taxes to pay. One is a 2 per cent tax on the purchase price that goes to the province and the other is a 2 per cent tax that goes to the City of Toronto. You have to be prepared to pay to these taxes on closing.

#8 Property Tax & Withholding Tax

Owning property in Canada and the United States means that you will have to pay property taxes. Taxes on most properties are a factor of the size of the property and the value of the property. Here, the tax is based on a percentage of the value of the property. And usually, that is 1 per cent of the value of the property you pay in taxes per year. But that is a figure you should keep in mind. When you sell your property, you will be subject to withholding tax, and that withholding tax will be relinquished once the government assesses your tax liability.

#9 Responsibility To The Mortgage

Please remember that when you buy a property in Canada and it’s financed and you have a mortgage, the mortgagee can go after you for all of the value of the mortgage that you’ve borrowed. So you are responsible to the mortgagee to pay that money back.

#10 Agreement of Purchase and Sale

Please note that an accepted Agreement of Purchase and Sale is a binding contract. It’s not something that you can walk away from, nor do I suggest you ever walk away from this. Buying in Canada has been very possible for a lot of people, and Canada is a very safe place to live — a very safe place to put your money. Please note that any time you buy a property in Canada, it comes with strong property rights. It is very hard for someone to take that property away from you unless you do not meet your financial commitment. Canada is a very strong, safe place to invest.

A lot of properties that are sold are listed “as-is.” This usually discourages buyers or at least makes them suspicious. There is nothing wrong about being cautious when buying a home. On the contrary, we highly recommend it. However, a home listed “as-is” is not necessarily in poor condition and there is no reason to ignore all the offers that are made “as-is.” A lot of these offers are interesting and can be advantageous to the buyer.

There are a number of factors that determine whether an “as-is” offer can be advantageous or too dangerous. Here is a list of the five most important things to consider when buying an”as-is” home.

What an “As-Is” Offer Means

When a property is listed “as-is,” it is being sold in its current condition and the seller is not going to make any repairs. Furthermore, the seller is not making guarantees as to the property’s condition, so the buyer gets the home without any warranty. Of course, the seller is required to disclose all the defects (including hidden) of the home that he or she is aware of but not the ones he or she is not aware of. Often times the house is being sold “as is” because the true seller of the house can not vouch for any repair work that has been done….they actually may be the Power of Attorney for someone who has memory issues.

This is when purchasing a property in “as-is” condition might be the norm. Many homes listed “as-is” are part of a foreclosure or an estate sale in which the seller is not familiar with the condition of the property. However, it is wrong to assume that there must be something wrong with all as-is listings. In addition, a home inspection may already exist or the buyer can have a home inspection carried out and decide accordingly. It is all part of a Buyer’s due diligence.

Why “As-Is”?

There can be different reasons why a property is being sold “as-is”. The seller might not have the funds to make repairs if he or she lives on a fixed income or goes through a job loss or divorce. Another scenario might be that he or she just does not want the hassle and inconvenience of doing repairs or does not have time fix the problems in case of minor faults. For example, if something is a bit damaged or worn but works without any problem, the seller might prefer to disclose that there is an issue and leave the buyer to decide whether to fix it or not. Strangely, some sellers feel that they were sold the house with a plugged drain, that they never needed to unplug, so why should they not sell it to the next party as they found it….

Other cases might be that the seller recently inherited the property and is reselling it and he or she has not lived there and is not aware of the issues. He or she might not want any responsibility for fixing problems that might occur after the sale. In addition, bank-owned properties are quite often sold “as-is” because banks are not interested in investing into repairs or in giving warranties. In any case, it is important that a potential buyer acquires as much information about the house and the reasons why it is being sold as possible, but “as is” just means that the Seller is not in a position to give any warranties.

Inspection Clause

“As-is” listings should be as attractive to potential buyers, you must just make sure that you do your research. However, all buyers can use contract law to protect themselves so that they can enjoy the benefits of “as-is” listings. Instead of ignoring and rejecting homes that are listed “as- is,” potential buyers can include an “conditional on inspection” clause in the purchase offer. An inspection condition is part of the buyer’s offer that states that after the seller accepts the purchase offer, the buyer hires a professional inspector and then decides whether he or she wants the property or not based on the outcome of the inspection. This allows the buyer to back off from a deal that would require too much budget for repairs and renovations without penalty.

Choosing the right home inspector is very important, considering that you’re about to make one of the biggest financial decisions in your life based on a single report. Make sure your inspector is licensed and has good recommendations. It is always a plus if the inspector belongs to one of the professional home inspections organizations.

Know Your Options

You don’t have to walk out from the deal with your deposit when a professional inspector finds that the house has some issues that would require costly repairs. If you are truly interested in the home and already planned to do some remodelling, you can negotiate a better price that will cover the costs of fixing the hidden flaws. Especially in markets with an abundance of sellers but a lack of buyers, you might end up purchasing the property for a lower price.

Buying a home “as-is” might be reasonable if you are planning to carry out significant renovations. When you don’t mind that certain parts of the house are in need of renovation because you would change them anyway, you can save significantly if you choose an “as-is” property.

Are You Able to Do the Repairs?

Even though purchasing an “as-is” property might be cheaper than buying a similar property in the neighbourhood, you have to add the costs of repairs and renovations when evaluating the total costs of the purchase. Not only do you have to prepare your budget, but repairs and renovations will also require a lot of time, effort, and nerves.

Buying a house that needs repairs is always a project, and you have to be well educated and thorough when deciding whether the repairs are doable. Another important factor to consider when you decide to purchase a house with challenges is whether there will be any problems obtaining insurance. The whole transaction might turn out to be disadvantageous if you are not able to get insurance or have to pay excessively high premiums. However, most insurance companies will stage the insurance if you guarantee them that work will be down within the first few months of ownership. Banks will also provide finance for renovations and then add those amounts in a staged fashion.

Even though purchasing an as-is home means a certain amount of risk, potential buyers can find some very good deals among the listings. However, it is important that potential buyers understand the risks and are able to protect themselves and be prepared to deal with repairs and renovations. Always move forward with as much information as possible…Reno’s can be fun and creative but always be prepared for surprises that arise.

Eating locally sourced and in-season foods is the best way to guarantee you’re being eco-friendly, helping the sustainable movement, and choosing healthier options than those imported from long distances. You are contributing to the community and encouraging the food movement to continue in this direction. In a search for local food restaurants and suppliers, we are lucky to live in this area of Canada. Between the abundance of the Holland Marsh and the numerous farms in the region, we are spoiled for choice.

Although it is not easy to find restaurant who focus on local food, there are a handful of wonderful restaurants in Toronto that have developed a Canadian-inspired menu with a focus on locally sourced ingredients and buying organically wherever possible. With the following restaurants, you don’t have to break your diet and commitment to eating seasonally when you go out.

Ruby Watchco

Led by celebrity Food Network Chef Lynn Crawford, who opened the restaurant in 2010, Ruby Watchco exudes strong philosophies of having food locally grown, harvested, and raised, which Lynn portrays through an always-changing Canadian prix fixe menu for $49. Ruby Watchco has a different selection of items every day, which varies based on what seasonal ingredients are fresh and available. Prepare to be surprised, because you have to make a reservation well in advance and you can only see the menus on their website per week.

On one evening, you may find golden quinoa and Carron Farms’ (Bradford) red beet salad (with gala apples, crispy chicken skin, garden radishes, and cucumbers) and on another Hillside Gardens’ (Schomberg) heirloom carrot and squash salad (with toasted pumpkin seeds and marinated feta). Entrées to look out for would be grilled flank steak, served with local carrots and potatoes, or pan-seared steelhead trout with bacon almond sauce. Even if locally sourced isn’t how you eat daily, Ruby Watchco is a great place to see how delicious Canadian ingredients can taste.

Beast

The Beast Restaurant uses local and sustainable ingredients from Ontario whenever possible, with a list of their suppliers showcased on their website — including Monforte Dairy, Perth Pork Products, 100km Foods, and Augusta Fruit Market. Hidden on a residential street near King Street and Bathurst Street, Beast is a small restaurant in a neighbourhood known for its great food (Pizzeria Libetto, Buca) that is finding its niche as a locally sourced hotspot, with owners using farmers markets in the area as inspiration. Their dinner menu has a Canadian artisanal cheese plate selection, curried sweet potato soup, and the best of fish or meat, like their token “poutine” with fried gnocchi, rabbit ragu, and cheese curds. Prices are reasonable at $6–$17 per dish, with elegant plating and semi-formal décor.

They also offer some of the best brunch options in the city, with a very interesting selection of dishes, like a Labatt 50 Breakfast with your choice of smoked beast bacon, grilled chorizo, or peameal bacon with two eggs, toast, house potatoes, and a bottle of beer. Also try the breakfast sandwich with grilled pork belly or the challah french toast with duck confit.

Canoe

Oliver & Bonacini (whom you may have seen as judges on MasterChef Canada) have created a company that has become a leader in fine dining restaurants across Toronto, and Canoe is the duo’s critically acclaimed opus. Nestled atop the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower on Wellington Street, this restaurant has upscale food with a Canadian menu and the best view of the city. The restaurant is elegant and contemporary, very stylish, and with lavish prices to match the posh diners that pay it a visit.

Their dishes include Canadian specialties cooked to perfection that must have required a lot of trying and exploring to come up with, like Alberta Lamb with preserved ratatouille, Guelph beans and sea buckthorn berries ($47), West Coast Ivory Salmon with curried squash ($38), or pan-seared Quebec foie gras with Nova Scotia seaside blueberries, Ontario peanuts, and toasted bulrush brioche ($28). The chefs here have taken little bits from across Canada, the best of what we harvest, and have melded the flavours into simple yet delicious entrées. This restaurant is one of the best in the city and is worth the price for the view alone.

The View from Canoe

Executive chef John Horne describes his commitment to cooking with local ingredients:

“For veggies and fruits I feel that the fresher the products, the better they taste… I come from a family of farmers so I know the care it takes to grow potatoes, carrots, pigs, chickens, et cetera. There is no calling in sick or waiting until tomorrow; it’s 24 hours a day. It’s their entire life. So to be able to show support and use local farmers ensures we will have them in the years to come.”

Woodlot

This Little Italy restaurant’s menu isn’t the only thing that is Canadian — the wood it cooks with is too. They go through thousands of pounds of wood per month to fire up the wood-burning oven that cooks their creative comfort food dishes. They have two seasonal menus, one carnivore-based and one vegetarian-inspired. Look out for their famous wood-fired caramelized onion soup with raw gruyere cheese and red fife sourdough ($13), just one of their seven varieties of 100% organic, handmade, and wood oven–fired breads (available for pick-up after 12). Also try the naturally raised flat iron steak with bernaise, black trumpet mushrooms, and winter herbs ($27) or russet potato gnocchi with beer, leeks, mustard seeds, and pretzel crumbs ($23).

They have a list of local suppliers on their website that they support, like Cumbraes Farms, Forbes Wild Foods, and Organics 4 Life. The restaurant’s portions are famously large, and you won’t want to leave without trying dessert.

Toronto definitely offers an impressive amount of pizza joints across the city. From Pizzeria Libretto to Queen Margherita to Piola, the options are endless. But competitors across the city have reason to fear Pizzeria Defina — Roncesvalles’ award-winning pizzeria.

Before even mentioning how delicious the food is at this quaint Roncesvalles space, the atmosphere and décor themselves are worth pointing out. With dark wood flooring, exposed brick, and dim lighting, the restaurant’s current elegance makes it seem impossible that this space was once home to dingy take-out pizza parlour, Cosa. Open since August 2011, the new restaurant’s woodworked tables and iron bar stools are enough to draw you in — on top of the wafting scents from the wood-burning oven.

During the weekend, you’ll be hard-pressed to get a seat as soon as you walk in because this little place fills quickly. But the wait is never too long, and whenever the bar seats are free, you’re more than welcome to wait there.

Be warned, though — once you’ve tasted the pizza here, you’ll never complain about the wait again, nor will you want pizza from anywhere else.

Owner Roksolana Curkowskyj explains that the creative approach to pizza is what really drives the restaurant. She explains,

“The ideas are endless. You can do so much with pizza — each pie can be different. Seasonal ingredients really allow for that creativity too.”

Curkowskyj has ideas for harvest flavours, as well spring and summer tastes, and she always enjoys making something different and exciting. But she also adds that it’s important to her to maintain “respect for the tradition” of pizza making.

She has drawn inspiration from different cuisines and incorporated them into the menu with the help of her pizzaioli. The Roncy ($16), for example, has Polish roots, with pancetta and Yukon gold potatoes true to Roncesvalles’ local heritage.

“My children always loved pizza. Pizza for us was a big thing. Even growing up, when I was a child, pizza was always something to look forward to,”

says Curkowskyj happily. For her, that was a deciding factor in opening a pizzeria that welcomed neighbourhood families — among many other guests.

Sitting at the back of the restaurant, you can watch as the pizzaiolo spins his pies. The back tables are filled with young families and trendy adults who smile as the pizzas fly into the air. Defina has also installed a projector on the back wall and screens movies and shows daily against the white brick. There’s artwork on display throughout the restaurant, often showcasing local artists.

Before filling up on pizza, it’s worth trying one of the small plates found on Defina’s menu. The wild boar meatballs ($10) are a favourite for most regulars at Defina, smothered in great sauce and perfectly seasoned. The mixed greens ($11) include pear, stilton, and roasted pecans with vegetable chips and are reasonably priced given their ingredients.

Most important, of course, are the pizzas. Of the vegetarian options, my favourite for the moment is the bufala ($16) — warm thin-crust pizza in your choice of Napoletana- or Roma-style dough with San Marzano tomato sauce, bufala mozzarella, olives, oregano, and basil. Sometimes simple is best, and this pizza was proof.

For meat lovers, the Pumba ($16) is a local favourite, topped with wild boar meatballs, San Marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte, mushrooms, grana pandano, and caramelized shallots.

If you’re craving pizza and you’d like a casual atmosphere where you can still feel like you’re out for a nice dinner, this restaurant won’t disappoint. The idea of Pizzeria Defina is to “really create a fulfilling dining experience,” says Curkowskyj. She adds,

“I want people to expect a good-quality pizza, but it’s not just that. It’s the whole experience — watching the pizzas being made and enjoying the whole atmosphere.”

Pizzeria Defina

It might seem that the best option for every homeowner is to pay off a mortgage as soon as possible and relieve some stress. A report by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals released in May 2013 found that Canadians pay off their mortgages in about two-thirds of the time originally intended. However, there’s also another possibility — refinancing, which allows you to get lower interest rate, consolidate debt, or tap into home equity. Refinancing is the process of paying the existing mortgage and setting up a completely new one. This process can save a lot of money, but it comes with several expenses and can prolong your mortgage term. So it’s wise to compare the total costs of paying down the mortgage with changing to a new one. Here I give you a brief explanation of some of the possible costs and benefits of both solutions.

When Is it Smart to Refinance?

First of all, keep in mind that refinancing a mortgage doesn’t pay off the debt but restructures it. Refinancing when mortgage rates are low will allow you to decrease your monthly payments and save on the sum you pay during the loan. Apart from saving you money, reducing your interest rate also increases the rate at which you build equity in your home. If you’ve considerably lowered your interest rate and monthly payments, you can also decrease the length of your mortgage term by paying more every month. The amount you pay overall will still be lower than the sum you would pay with your original mortgage.

Refinancing allows you to choose a new mortgage product that will better suit your requirements. If you have an adjustable-rate mortgage and interest rates are increasing, then you should prefer to get out of the adjustable-rate mortgage. On the other hand, if you have a fixed-rate mortgage and interest rates start to decline, you should change to an adjustable-rate mortgage, with the periodic rate adjustments resulting in smaller monthly payments.

Houses by woodleywonderworks

Plus, refinancing can allow you to access up to 80 per cent of your home’s value that you can then use to cover expenses such as remodelling or investment. Another reason why homeowners refinance is to consolidate their debt. Refinancing allows you to replace a high-interest debt such as on credit cards or cars with a low-interest mortgage and at the same time consolidate a number of payments in one.

I recommend that you refinance your mortgage when you plan to stay in the house for some time. Charles Delaney, associate professor of finance and director of the real estate program at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, suggested,

“You have to look at the savings relative to the cost, and then consider: How long am I going to be in this property?”

You have to consider different costs, like a prepayment penalty for breaking mortgage terms, an application fee, a loan processing fee, a document preparation fee, an appraisal fee, an inspection fee, legal costs, insurance, and additional costs associated with refinancing. It’s important to figure out how long it would take to recoup these costs. In his book The Mortgage Kit, Thomas C. Steinmetz recommends,

“The industry rule of thumb — ‘refinance when you can lower your interest rates by 2 per cent or more’ — no longer is correct… It makes sense to refinance if you can recover your costs and make a decent return on your investment before you plan to sell your house or pay off your mortgage.”

Plus, the right time for refinancing depends on the status of your current mortgage, as you’ll be starting all over again with a brand new mortgage. A general rule is, the longer you’ve had your present mortgage, the less advantageous it is to refinance — especially if there’s a small difference between the rates. If you’re extending the mortgage term with a lower interest rate, you can still end up spending more in interest. To find out whether it’s advantageous to refinance with a loan term extension, you should calculate the interest savings on the new loan with the same term as the old one as well as the interest savings on the new loan with the length of your planned refinance and compare the two figures.

Home Red by nikcname

Refinancing means undergoing the same process you went through when you got your current mortgage, so you have to get all your records together and make sure your credit score and report are respectable. A good payment history will increase your chance of successful refinancing.

When Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage?

The main reasons for paying off your mortgage as soon as possible are saving money and getting peace of mind. Whether you should pay off your mortgage depends on your goals. If you consider your house an investment that may appreciate, then you might want to continue borrowing money and investing if it brings you a higher return. However, if you consider your house your home — something more than an investment that may or may not guarantee you return — then you should pay off your mortgage and relieve yourself of the mortgage stress. Emily Larimer, a CGA (certified general accountant) who runs a Toronto-based sole proprietorship, remarked,

“Your biggest asset is your house. And you want to pay off that loan because you want to eventually pay yourself rather than the bank. And you’re building equity which you can eventually use to do other things.”

Many people claim that paying off your mortgage is worse than refinancing in the long run, since you lose money you could get from your investments. However, you’re not guaranteed to get a higher return on your investment. Paying off your mortgage is a safe bet that provides you the security of having a place to live. Most people buy a home so that they can live in it, and even if its value increases, they don’t want to sell.

Before you start spending extra money to pay down your mortgage, you should consider that there are other costs with a higher priority than your mortgage. Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com, pointed out,

“Paying off the mortgage becomes a higher priority later in your career, after you’ve amassed sufficient savings for emergencies, after you’ve paid off other debt, after you’ve put the kids through college, and after you’ve spent years accumulating your retirement nest egg on a tax-advantaged basis. All are higher priorities than pouring more money into a low-cost, tax deductible debt like a mortgage, particularly when rates are as low as they are today.”

Once you decide to pay off your mortgage, you have several options. First of all, you can accelerate your payments by switching from monthly to bi-weekly payments. Bi-weekly payments will allow you to pay down more of the principal each year, shortening the total repayment period of your mortgage. Another useful and harmless way is rounding up your mortgage payments. Rounding your monthly or bi-weekly payments to the next hundred won’t make a huge difference on your monthly budget but will be noticeable on your mortgage. If you have a closed mortgage, you can repay as much as 10 per cent of the borrowed amount at any time during each calendar year. Moreover, at each regular payment date, you can make an additional payment that’s equal to or less than your regular payment.

Deciding for Yourself

Generally, there isn’t a clear answer to the question of whether it’s better to pay down your mortgage or refinance. Both solutions have their pros and cons and whether the decision is right depends on your current circumstances. Continually refinancing your mortgage makes sense when you want to reduce your total payment and make more money in the long run. But if you find the comforts of your home more enjoyable if it’s you, not the bank, who owns it, then you should pay off your mortgage and sleep well at night.

Up-sizing is real easy to do….we start with very little and at each and every stage we add more…and more. Fast forward a few years and young or old….you look around and find yourself surrounded by THINGS (of course they are Family Heirlooms too)….but do we really need them?

Could we live in less space? Could we live in multiple locations at different times of the year by selling the larger home. Of course…but the enormity of the job ahead hits with major depression and the reality is that Downsizing Sucks!

I thought I would give you some ideas from my home-selling experience that might help you deal with some of the challenges of this new adventure: Downsizing with grace and style.

Click here to read our comprehensive guide to Rightsizing

When I start showing smaller properties to those downsizing, I watch their faces trying to imagine their new lifestyle in terms of their existing furniture, art, entertainment options, cooking, etc….I can see that they are taking all their possessions and mentally cramming them in to tighter spaces. Don’t even try! It will never ever work.

Keep what you must but start looking at apartment-sized furniture. Most clients go wrong by not differentiating full size and apartment size furniture when they decorate. A couple of times I’ve suggested to small space Sellers that we replace existing furniture with more advantageous sized staging and to their credit, they did at great benefit to them.

The issue is the same: When downsizing, try to visualize the smaller space with smaller scale minimalistic accouterments. Start looking at Magazines, TV Shows and websites that focus on living in smaller spaces

It is amazing what you can do….visit the IKEA store or website and look at what their designers do in managing space. I’ve been told that IKEA now features their staged designer rooms with the square footage noted… to help you grasp the reality of smaller spaces and what can be put in them. A great idea!

Start fresh, reinvent yourself, create a new look, change styles…make it a fun project and approach the next step of your life as a challenge. Don’t focus on what you are leaving but on where you are going and the new lifestyle you can create there. You may be very surprised!

More to come but feel free to leave your thoughts and comments!

Related Posts:

Real Estate: Downsizing with Style and Grace: Post Two

Real Estate: Downsizing with Style and Grace: Part Three