Real Estate

Should you sell your own house?

Posted by on November 16, 2011 in Real Estate

As I indicated several weeks ago, I am looking for a new place to live. I recently visited my for sale by owner. To recap, the general public can now contract real estate agents for listing only services or full brokerage services (listing, analysis, negotiating, open houses, closing etc). I saw a condo that had [...]

Have you checked your home insurance policy lately?

Posted by on November 1, 2011 in Real Estate

My home insurance policy came up for renewal in September. I had a friend, an insurance broker, take a look at my insurance policy to see if he could beat the quote. He could not simply because I had bought direct through an affiliate program as a university alumni. Buying direct meant the insurance broker [...]

Open House: do’s and don’ts

Posted by on October 18, 2011 in Real Estate

I am in the process of looking for a new place to live. Specifically, I am looking to move to a larger condo unit. The move is not definite. I have not listed my condo for sale but I have been looking for a better part of the autumn. I have had the pleasure (or [...]

What type of real esate is most profitable?

Posted by on April 12, 2011 in Real Estate

In attempting to settle the debate about owing a condo as a real estate investment vs. purchasing an apartment real estate investment trust (REIT), Macquarie Capital Markets Canada published a report finding that apartment REITs outperformed condo investments in both Calgary and Toronto with higher yields and less volatility for the years 2008-2010 (a summary [...]

Can you lose your home as a victim of real estate fraud?

Posted by on March 29, 2011 in Real Estate

Gail Vaz-Oxlade recently answered a series of questions and raised the issue of whether registering a mortgage against your home as security for a line of credit is sufficient protection against real estate fraud. She briefly alluded to the case law on real estate fraud and how registering a line of credit against your home [...]

Has the REIT preferred share flood begun?

Posted by on February 22, 2011 in Real Estate

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust made a small piece of history last month by being the first Canadian issued real estate investment trust (REIT) to issue preferred shares at an annual 5.25% yield on the first 5 years with the rate re-setting to a rate equal to the Government of Canada bond yield + 2.62%. [...]

When do you buy? When do you rent?

Posted by on October 12, 2010 in Real Estate

A colleague of mine recently mentioned that their parents were ardent renters. They felt that real estate continues to be an overpriced commodity and that one would be far better off financially by renting (setting aside the emotional aspects of home ownership). My colleague’s counter argument is that in an economy geared to trying its [...]

Is real estate still a good investment?

Posted by on September 7, 2010 in Real Estate

Time Magazine’s cover story,”The Case Against Homeownership” (the link is only to an abridged version of the article given it is a recent issue) takes an over-arching look at the state of home ownership in the context of a relatively battered asset class globally.  The article raises the larger question of whether all the government [...]

The return of renting?

Posted by on August 23, 2010 in Real Estate

Fortune Magazine recently pointed out that the new normal of our economic lives includes a return to renting rather than owing. A 2010 Harvard study showed between 2004-2009, the number of renters has increased 10%. With real estate values continuing to show no steady acceleration trend in the U.S. and the theory that those with [...]

How much should a lawyer cost you?

Posted by on July 20, 2010 in estate planning, Real Estate

Every year, Canadian Lawyer Magazine releases its legal fee survey. The survey’s accuracy is subject to some question since it depends on the voluntary participation of lawyers cross country. With a relatively small sample size of almost 600, a regional concentration or a cluster of results in the low or high end of the fee [...]

Next Page