Family Formation & Housing

For young couples starting families, buying their first home and/or other real estate. Covers mortgages, credit cards, interest rates, children’s education savings plans, joint accounts for couples and the like.

Billy & Akaisha’s 3 Lessons on how they reached their Victory Lap

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Almost 3 decades of retirement and we still have a great time on a boat ride across Lake Atitlan

By Billy and Akasha Kaderli, RetireEarlyLifestyle.com

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Retirement is a great achievement, but it’s not static. It’s not like once you arrive you can forget about it and put it on auto-pilot. It’s an interactive manner of living that continues to respond to our input, the new skills we learn and how our goals modify. Hopefully we continue to grow and change, making our retirement sustainable and sweeter to live.

Below you will find three of our most effective lessons on retirement that will enrich you and increase your enjoyment along your path in financial freedom.

Control housing costs and you can live anywhere

This is a well-kept secret of retirement. The cost of housing is one of the largest financial outlays in anyone’s household no matter what age you are, and if you modify the price you pay for your residence, you have the financial freedom to virtually afford living anywhere in the world.

In other words, if you could save tens of thousands of dollars a year on mortgage payments or rent, insurance, maintenance and repairs, how would that affect your life? What if you could live in Paris or on a Caribbean island for free? You can do that, if you house sit. Continue Reading…

3 tips for raising a family in a Condo

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By Penelope Graham, Zoocasa

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Healthy demand is forecasted for Canada’s condo markets in 2017, and it’s not just young professionals and investors fueling the boom. As low-rise housing prices grow further out of reach, families are increasingly turning to condo life as an affordable housing option.

For many, condos offer the only affordably entry point into the market, especially in Vancouver and Toronto real estate. And while some buyers choose to “drive until they qualify,” suburb life isn’t desirable to everyone, prompting buyers to increasingly sacrifice space to live within city limits.

The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reports demand for high-rise units surged more than any other housing type in 2016, with 20,860 units changing hands – a 19.9% increase. In comparison, detached homes – despite being extremely highly sought – saw a year-over-year change of over 3.10% in the 416 region as sales were limited by tight supply.

Condos still an affordable option

Continue Reading…

House shopping for Millennials

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By Barney Whistance

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

In the wake of a new generation now growing up and planning to settle down, one of the biggest concerns for them is finding a place to live. Finding a house for you and your spouse to live in is one of the most important decisions that you will have to take. Therefore, it should not be taken lightly. There are a lot of factors for you to consider when you set out to purchase or get a house on mortgage.  You have to be certain about your choice as you will be the one living with it for a major part of your life.

Your financial situation is the biggest aspect you have to consider when making a decision like that. Once you know your financial point and how much you can afford, you must decide on where you want to live.  Planning everything step by step always gets the work done more smoothly and also makes your choice easier.

Finances

Talk about your finances with your partner, so in order to set a budget, you already know how much you both have. Once you have done the initial financial scrutiny, you can decide which plan you should be applying for. Continue Reading…

Buying a home with an Income suite? What you need to know

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first-time-landlordBy Penelope Graham, Zoocasa

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

 As Canadian real estate becomes steadily more expensive, homebuyers are increasingly exploring new affordability options. Renting out a portion of your home to help offset mortgage costs has become a popular method – and with the price of an average detached house well past the $1 million mark in the Toronto real estate market, it may be the only way some buyers can move beyond condos and townhomes.

For these buyers, assuming the role of landlord in exchange for a bigger house or better neighbourhood seems a smart trade-off. However, renting out part of your property – especially when you also dwell there – can be a complicated undertaking, and requires extensive research and resources. Here’s what those considering the purchase of a home with secondary suite should take note of.

What is a secondary suite?

Also referred to as an income suite, secondary suites are separate units within a principal residence. It must have its own private entrance, kitchen, sleeping and living areas. In order to comply, and be protected by, your province’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), you cannot share any of these living facilities with your tenant, as they’re otherwise considered a boarder. Continue Reading…

Residential Buy- and Sell-back Agreements: a new option for Boomers?

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sell-and-lease-back-boomers-resizedBy Penelope Graham, Zoocasa

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

In today’s real estate market, buying a house is less a traditional rite of passage and more a Herculean feat, especially for Millennials scraping together a down payment in Toronto or Vancouver. To them, the concept of owning a detached dwelling, complete with yard and picket fence, is a faded – and financially unfeasible – memory.

But it was a reality for Canada’s 9.6 million Baby Boomers, many of whom bought in their early 20s, and are still living in the family home. And, given the explosive surge of housing prices over the decades, a fair share of those Boomers have seen their investment grow by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Consider this – according to the Toronto Real Estate Board, the average Toronto home sale price was $75,694 in 1980, compared to September 2016’s average of $755,755 – an 898% increase!

These homeowners face a choice: sell while the market is hot (especially as new mortgage rules designed to cool demand go into effect), or stay put. For many, it’s not an easy decision.  They may feel cashing out isn’t worth parting with the beloved family abode. Others may wish to sell, but dread navigating bidding wars and other competitive tactics when buying their next home. For some, “downsizing” may just be a dirty word. So, what options do these Boomers have?

Sell and Lease-back agreements offer an option

To address this conundrum, some seniors have turned to what is traditionally a commercial real estate practice: buy- and sell-back agreements. In these transactions, a home is sold to an investor buyer while the previous owner continues to live in it as a leased tenant. It’s a method growing in popularity, and can seem the best of both worlds, but it certainly comes with its pros and cons. Here’s what Boomers should keep in mind if considering a sell and lease-back agreement:

Pro: It’s attractive for Investors

Continue Reading…