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Should your house be staged before you sell?
2007-06-18 12:00:00
To Stage or Not to Stage ? that is the question! by Sveta Melchuk Staging a Home for sale will cost you money. Is it worth spending time and effort on it? After all, once the decision to sell has been made, you just want to get it over with as fast as possible, right? First, ...
More About: House , Sell , Ouse , Fore

Study shows economic benefits of MLS® home sales
2007-06-17 00:22:00
Average home sale yields $32,200 in additional consumer spending. OTTAWA ? June 12, 2007 The resale housing industry in Canada generated more than 158,000 jobs and an average of $15.3 billion annually in the period from 2004 and 2006, according to a study prepared for The Canadian Real Estate Association by Altus Clayton. The report says each residential ...
More About: News , Study , Sales , Home , Economic

Making an Offer to Purchase
2007-06-15 12:00:00
Once you have found the home you would like to purchase, you need to present the vendor with an Offer to Purchase or an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. As your home is probably your biggest investment, it would be wise to work with your real estate agent and/or a lawyer/notary in preparing your ...
More About: Investment , Chase , Maki , Makin

Pre-approval: what it really means
2007-06-13 12:00:00
Early on and even before you start home shopping , you need to determine the price range that suits you. If you plan to finance your purchase with a mortgage loan, sit down with your lender or mortgage specialist to discuss your needs and get mortgage pre-approval. That way, you know exactly how much ...
More About: Financing , Really , Ally

Real Estate Glossary: D
2007-06-07 22:29:00
Deposit A sum of money that accompanies a promise to purchase an immovable. The deposit must be placed in a trust account and will be deducted from the balance payable at the signing of the act of sale, or it will be returned to the proposer if the sale does not go through. Description sheet Document on which ...
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What is Home Staging?
2007-06-04 12:00:00
Home Staging ? the MUST HAVE marketing tool for your property By Sveta Melchuk MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of “beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers.” The concept dates from 1970s, when ...
More About: Home

Canadians taking advantage of the high loonie
2007-06-03 21:03:00
Dramatic run-up in the dollar means business can now look for bargains Mark Zilbert, a former Montrealer who now runs a real estate agency selling million-dollar condos in Miami Beach, is quite content that the U.S. dollar is tanking against the loonie. He says the amount of business he’s doing with Canadian clients is up about 20 ...
More About: News , Canadians , High , Loon , Taking

Buying with zero cash down. Is it really possible?
2007-06-01 17:07:00
The first time you see the ad Scotia Bank 100% Mortgage Program, you may ask yourself…What’s the catch? Perhaps Scotia Bank still requires the 20% down, but gives you the option of a line of credit? OR…they really offer to finance you 100% BUT with rates a lot higher than the regular mortgages? Something to ponder about. The ...
More About: Buying , Financing , Cash , Zero , Really

When NOT to hold an Open House
2007-05-30 12:00:00
If your property is fresh in the market, an open house can be very important. You never know whom in your neighbourhood is looking to buy a home like yours. There has been some instances where the actual buyer came from a Open House visit. Although this isn’t always the case. In fact, most visitors who come ...
More About: Open House , Hold , Ouse

How to calculate the Welcome Tax in less than 20 secs.
2007-05-28 12:00:00
Every municipality must collect duties on the transfer of any immovable situated within its territory. These land transfer duties are better known as the ?Welcome Tax?. This tax is payable by the buyer and is calculated as follows: 0.5% of the first $50,000; 1% of the next $50,000 to $250,000; 1.5% of any portion exceeding $250,000. For example: If a ...
More About: Less , Late , Calculate

Rainy Sunday Montreal Links
2007-05-27 20:25:00
If you are looking for Mont real Rentals. Here are a few links that will help you find your new pad. Craigslist’s Montreal for Rent Kijiji Montreal Canuck.ca Montreal Louer.com More Montreal Although not about Real Estate, these blogs are quite entertaining. Specially for the downtown and Plateau crowd. Midnight Poutine | Montreal Blog MetroBlogging Montreal Montreal City WebLog Do you know of other interesting and ...
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Are you financially ready to buy?
2007-05-24 12:00:00
So, you?ve finally decided that homeownership is right for you. Now you need to determine if you are financially ready to buy a house. In this previous post you can find a set formulas to calculate the size of your loan and evaluate your current financial situation. Knowing your net worth is important because you will ...
More About: Finan , Fina , Ready , Ally

The right of undivided co-owners to exclude a potential buyer
2007-05-23 00:40:00
The buying of undivided co-ownerships is getting more popular in Montreal, specially in the Plateau area. And it’s quite understandable why.  There are advantages over the divided co-ownership (condo), specially when talking about Condo fees. When buying the undivided, this is an important piece of information to have, both for real estate agents, as well as ...
More About: Buyer , Owner , Al B , Owners , Tent

Real Estate Glossary: C
2007-05-21 12:00:00
Cadastral designation Information concerning an immovable (location, area, value, etc.), contained in the cadastre for a given region. Cadastre Public register containing the technical data on each immovable in a given region (lot). A lot number used to publish the applicable rights is assigned to each property indexed in the cadastre. Certificate of location Document containing a report and a ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Glossary , Real , Stat

Is Home Ownership Right For You?
2007-05-19 14:00:00
Source: CMHC buyer´s guide
More About: Home , Owner , Ship , Owners

Real Estate Glossary: B
2007-05-19 12:41:00
Brokerage Contract Agreement under which a person authorizes real estate broker to act for a given period of time, as intermediary in the purchase, sale, rental or exchange of immovable property. The brokerage contract officializes the rights and obligations of the broker and his client by mutual consent. In an exclusive brokerage contract the client agrees, for ...
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Home prices, sales still sizzling
2007-05-18 19:52:00
Historically low mortgage rates pave way to record levels in April Globe and Mail TAVIA GRANT May 17, 2007 Canadian home prices and sales both set records last month, a stark contrast to a wilting housing market south of the border. The average price of a home jumped 9.5 per cent in April from a year ago to ...
More About: Sales , Home , Still , Prices

Real Estate Glossary: A
2007-05-17 12:00:00
Act of sale A contract, usually drawn up by a notary, usedto officialize the sale of an immovable to a buyer. Amortization Period required to pay back a mortgage loan in full through regular payments. The amortization is usually based on fixed terms of 10, 15, 20 or 25 years. Appraisal A process for estimating the market value of a ...
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A real estate investment plan
2007-05-16 17:03:00
This very complete article was released this morning by the Financial Post. Richard Croft goes on to explain why is real estate a good diversifier in your portfolio: from owning a home to becoming an investor in Real Estate and it’s positives aspects as well as the negative ones. Richard Croft, Financial Post Their principal residence is ...
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Rags to Riches to Real Estate
2007-05-16 16:30:00
Nouveau riche, not old money driving high-end home sales, Royal LePage report Good old-fashioned hard work, not birthright, is the key to unlocking fortune and the front door of a new luxury home, according to the 2007 Carriage Trade Luxury Properties Report released today by Royal LePage Real Estate Services. Given that the unit sales of ...
More About: Real Estate , Rags to Riches , Stat