Very good information from an accountant friend of mine Jimmy Le-Tang You may or may not have heard about recent tax changes regarding the principal residence exemption available on the sale of a taxpayer’s principal residence. The recent changes are significant and I would consider them to be a TAX TRAP because the new rules […]
General Information
Market Averages, Government Intervention and Reality
In the Vancouver market, we often hear about the benchmark price, the average price, and the median home price. Usually that of a specific neighbourhood or municipality. However, what buyers rarely hear is the average price of the bottom 80% of listings of the Greater Vancouver Area. Y’know, the properties that the overwhelming majority of […]
How to pay off debt faster – 25 secret tips
1. Make a double mortgage payment whenever you can. Doing this once a year can shave over 4 years off the mortgage! Sometimes you can skip a payment later on too…if you really, really need to. Try not to. If your payment is $2,000 a month, four years of no payments is $96,000!! 2. Increase […]
Property Tax Time 2016
We’ve come to the least favourite time of year as a home owner….property tax time! I generally get a lot of questions on what to do and how to do it. Below is an example of a tax notice just received. You will notice there are three columns; A, B and C. Column A is […]
Appraisals – Who Do They Belong To?
A mortgage broker’s job comes with its share of uncomfortable moments. Telling a client that you can’t provide them with the appraisal they just paid for is one of them. It’s an issue that comes up time and again, but one that’s frequently misunderstood. Appraisers and brokers cannot simply hand over appraisals to clients, despite the client being […]