Someday, something will go wrong.

Somewhere in that first-time homebuyer's budget you need a line item that says "Emergency Fund". You may think that you don't need it; if something happens, you could take out a Line of Credit, right?

Every homeowner should have an Emergency Fund set aside. That's because someday, something will go wrong. Imagine the roof suddenly starts to leak. Or you discover mould in the basement. Or maybe you get hurt and need to take a month or two off work. What happens...

What is a collateral mortgage?

A collateral mortgage is a different type of lien on your property than a conventional or standard mortgage.  While collateral charges have always been used for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), it is now being used by TD and ING on ALL of their mortgages.  TD began registering all mortgages as collateral charges as of October 18, 2010 and ING began the same on December 10, 2011.  This can have a major negative impact on clients of these...

For many first-time homebuyers, that down payment is one of the big obstacles to home ownership. Saving up cash – especially if you're paying rent, paying down student loans, and trying to live a life – can be slow and difficult work.

In most cases, you'll need to save up at least 5% of the purchase price of your home. But there are some programs and tips we can offer to give your down payment a boost – to get you into your home faster:

1. Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) lets first-time...

I hope that the summer is treating you well.

As your thoughts start to turn toward the fall and even the possibility of buying or selling timely information will help you to implement as successful plan. Please take the time to review the July 2012 Real Estate activity statistics as provided by the Realtors Association of Edmonton with the link below.

http://www.ereb.com/News&Events/LatestMarketStatistics.html

Please give me a call to discuss these trends, any other Real Estate...

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty recently introduced changes to the mortgage rules, ostensibly as a means of reining in runaway consumer debt. But just how effective do financial advisors feel the changes will be at achieving this goal? And how will the new rules affect those who often need large-size mortgages the most: first-time buyers, especially those with young families?

Most of the changes focus on government-insured mortgages, those backed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. - a legal...