A Crash Course for New Home Owners - 5 Tips to Make Sure You Treat Your Biggest Investment Right

Turning the key in a lock that no landlord has access to, reading in a hammock in your own backyard and painting your dining room bright red - what could be more exciting than making the leap from renter to first-time homeowner? Getting swept up in all the excitement is a wonderful feeling, but some first-time homeowners lose their heads and make mistakes that can jeopardize everything they've worked so hard to earn.

Don't be one of those people; take a few moments to ponder these five practical concerns that will help ensure that your first home becomes the place of luxury and financial freedom you've anticipated.

1. Don't Overspend on Furniture and Remodeling
You've just handed over a large portion of your life savings for a down payment, closing costs and moving expenses. Money is tight for most first-time homeowners - not only are their savings depleted, their monthly expenses are often higher as well, thanks to the new expenses that come with home ownership, such as property tax bills and extra insurance.
Everyone wants to personalize a new home and upgrade what may have been temporary apartment furniture for something nicer, but don't go on a massive spending spree to improve everything all at once. Just as important as getting your first home is staying in it, and as nice as solid maple kitchen cabinets might be, they aren't worth jeopardizing your new status as a homeowner. Give yourself time to adjust to the expenses of home ownership and rebuild your savings - the cabinets will still be waiting for you when you can more comfortably afford them. (For further reading, see To Rent Or Buy? The Financial Issues.)

2. Don't Ignore Important Maintenance Items
One of the new expenses that accompanies home ownership is making repairs. There is no landlord to call if your roof is leaking or your toilet is clogged (on the plus side, there is also no rent increase notice taped to your door on a random Friday afternoon when you were looking forward to a nice weekend). While you should exercise restraint in purchasing the nonessentials, you shouldn't neglect any problem that puts you in danger or could get worse over time, turning a relatively small problem into a much larger and costlier one. (For tips on how to spot problems with a potential home before you buy it, see Do You Need A Home Inspector?)

3. Hire Qualified Contractors
Don't try to save money by making improvements and repairs yourself that you aren't qualified to make. This may seem to contradict the first point slightly, but it really doesn't. Your home is both the place where you live and an investment, and it deserves the same level of care and attention you would give to anything else you value highly. There's nothing wrong with painting the walls yourself, but if there's no wiring for an electric door opener in your garage, don't cut a hole in the wall and start playing with copper wires. Hiring professionals to do work you don't know how to do is the best way to keep your home in top condition and avoid injuring - or even killing - yourself. (For tips on finding qualified workers, read The Better Business Bureau's Tool Belt For Saving Cash. For home improvement projects most homeowners can tackle themselves, read Do-It-Yourself Projects To Boost Home Value.)

4. Get Help with Your Tax Return
Even if you hate the thought of spending money on an accountant when you normally do your returns yourself, and even if you're already feeling broke from buying that house, hiring an accountant to make sure you complete your return correctly and maximize your refund is a good idea. Home ownership can change some people's tax situations and the deductions they are eligible to claim. Just getting your taxes professionally done for one year can give you a template to use in future years if you want to continue doing your taxes yourself. (For more insight, see Crunch Numbers To Find The Ideal Accountant and Give Your Taxes Some Credit.)

5. Get Properly Insured
Your mortgage lender requires you not only to purchase homeowners insurance, but also to purchase enough to fully replace the property in the event of a total loss. But that's not the only insurance coverage you need as a homeowner. If you share your home with anyone who relies on your income to help pay the mortgage, whether it's a girlfriend or a child, you'll need life insurance with that person named as a beneficiary so he or she won't lose the house if you die unexpectedly. Similarly, you'll want to have disability-income insurance to replace your income if you become so disabled that you can't work. (For ideas on how to save money on your home insurance, read Insurance Tips For Homeowners.)

Bottom Line
With the great freedom of owning your own home comes great responsibilities. You must manage your finances well enough to keep the home and maintain the home's condition well enough to protect your investment and keep your family safe. Don't let the excitement of being a new homeowner lead you to bad decisions or oversights that jeopardize your financial or physical security.

This article is by Amy Fontinelle from Investopedia.com

 

The most expensive celebrity homes on the market (and there are photos!)

Celebrities are a picky bunch when it comes to buying homes. Among the amenities they may regard as necessities: screening rooms to watch their celluloid selves, entertainment spaces to host A-list parties and elaborately equipped gyms to keep those tabloid-gracing abs rock-hard. Other must-haves are high-tech security systems and secluded locations.

"The home really should be set off the street or down a private driveway," explains Jade Mills, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Previews International of Beverly Hills, who regularly handles celebrity real estate deals like the late Dennis Hopper's $6.2 million compound, which she currently shares with fellow agent Jane Gavens.

It's no surprise then that the properties celebrities like Ricky Martin, Dr. Phil McGraw and Anjelica Huston have on the market are walled-in fortresses tucked into exclusive neighborhoods. Many are in Beverly Hills, where the average police response time to calls for assistance is a speedy three minutes.
We tapped online listing sites Realtor.com and Trulia to round up a list of the most expensive celebrity-owned real estate now for sale. We narrowed the search to Multiple Listing Service (MLS)-listed properties that currently belong to high-profile people in entertainment, or that did so in the past. The result is a list of the 15 priciest properties for sale from America's rich and famous stars.
Boston Red Sox third-baseman Adrian Beltre no longer needs his $19.8 million Bradbury, Calif., home, thanks to his team transfer. TV personality Dr. Phil has listed a posh, $16.5-million Beverly Hills home he purchased in 2002 for $7.5 million cash. McGraw has already snatched up another local home.



Some of these properties' celebrity owners have passed away. That includes Michael Jackson's Holmby Hills French chateau-inspired home, which is now up for grabs. The home is listed for $23.5 million and includes everything the superstar could have dreamed of to keep the paparazzi at bay. Among the amenities are an in-house spa, plush home theatre and an elevator. The only hitch? It's also where the King of Pop suffered his premature, drug-induced death.

Candy Spelling, the widow of hugely successful TV producer Aaron Spelling and mother of actress and reality star Tori, owns the most expensive celebrity residence currently on the market. Its price: a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it one of the most expensive residences for sale anywhere.

Spelling Manor sits on 4.7 acres of lush landscaping and boasts an orangery and a 56,500-square-foot mansion filled with everything from a two-lane bowling alley to a video game arcade and billiard room. There's even a professional flower-cutting hall. If you don't want to pay cash, Spelling Manor can be yours for monthly mortgage payments of $881,961, as calculated by Trulia.

It probably comes as no surprise that homes in this league can take time to sell, and some on our list have been for sale for half a year or more. "Even in good times the market for these more expensive homes is elongated. You don't sell these right away," says Joyce Rey, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Previews International who has brokered sales for Nicholas Cage, Jennifer Lopez and Hugh Hefner. "It's not as if there are 50 buyers out there looking for what you are offering."

How do you get to tour such a home? Not during a Sunday afternoon open house, that's for sure. Instead, the process of viewing a celebrity home as a potential buyer is an arduous one. The Coldwell Banker brokers rigorously screen those who claim to be in the market to shelter celebrities from "vanity showings."

The high-profile owners of some of the homes on our list are struggling to drum up interest. Ricky Martin's posh Miami mansion was listed a few years back, pulled off the market and relisted in 2010. Some celebs would rather wait than get burned in a fire-sale; others slash their asking prices. Actor Val Kilmer's 6,000-acre Pecos River Ranch first hit the market in 2009 with a $33 million price tag. Since then it's been chopped 44 per cent to its current $18.5 million asking price. Kilmer has fallen on other hardships with the property; as of early January Kilmer's failure to pay income taxes had saddled the New Mexico nature preserve with a nearly $500,000 lien.

Abbe Lane, a songstress and actress of the 1950s and '60s, has been trying to sell her Los Angeles home since 2008. Initially listed for $19.7 million, her home can now yours for $9.95 million.

While ultra-luxury real estate on average has not suffered to the same extent as the rest of the market, values have dropped 20 per cent in places like Los Angeles, according to Rey. As with less opulent abodes, sellers can do themselves a favour by subscribing to several basic sales tenets.

"Price point is key," emphasizes Mills. "If you can price something appropriately and it's a desirable location, it will sell fairly quickly."

written by Morgan Brennan, Forbes, 2011

RIM to cut 2,000 jobs

With the announcement today that RIM is cutting 11 per cent of its workforce this year comes an opportunity for those employees who are laid off to relocated to other areas offering high-tech employment and a chance for those looking to purchase property in K-W.

If you know anyone who works at RIM who is in need of assistance in selling their property AND in relocating and searching out new opportunities, please let me know.  Conversely, if you know anyone who is hoping to purchase a property in certain prime Waterloo locations, contact me as soon as possible.


This article is from the Waterloo Region Record

Job cuts RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis, left, and Jim Balsillie, shown during the company's annual shareholders meeting in Waterloo on July 12.

Mathew McCarthy/Record staff

WATERLOO — Research In Motion says it will cut about 11 per cent of its workforce this year, eliminating 2,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to save money in the increasingly competitive smartphone and tablet market.
The Waterloo-based BlackBerry maker provided the details on Monday, about a month after first revealing it would reduce its workforce by an unspecified number of jobs.
The job cuts are the largest in the Canadian technology icon’s history and come after several years of rapid global growth and expansion.
“The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term
success of the company,” RIM said in a news release before stock markets opened the week Monday.
“It follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.”

RIM currently has about 19,000 employees across its operations so the latest cuts amount to 11 per cent of the workforce. It employs about 9,000 people in Waterloo.

The company didn’t provide details about where jobs will be cut. It said most of the affected employees will be notified this week. They will receive severance pay and outplacement services, it said.

The company noted that any severance payments or other charges related to the job cuts are not included in its second-quarter and full-year outlook.

The job cuts come as RIM faces off against a barrage of new competition in the smartphone market with the emergence of Apple’s iPhone and smartphones with Google’s Android operating system.
The flurry of new competitors has hurt its share in the important U.S. market.
RIM’s PlayBook tablet, which met expectations of selling 500,000 in the recent quarter, has received lukewarm reviews compared with Apple’s iPad.

RIM said it expects to provide more information on the layoffs when the company reports fiscal second-quarter results Sept. 15.

In pre-market trading in the United States, RIM’s shares fell 41 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $27.50 US.
In another development, RIM also said that chief operating officer Don Morrison will retire after taking a temporary medical leave last month.

His job will be filled by Thorsten Heins who will take an expanded role of chief operating officer that includes all product engineering functions.

The company said that Heins’ new role “is expected to both produce greater efficiencies and help to accelerate new product introductions in the future.”

7 Steps to Take Before Buying a Home!

By doing your homework before you buy, you’ll feel more content about your new home.

1. Decide how much home you can afford

Generally, you can afford a home that is priced two to three times your gross income. Remember to consider costs that every homeowner must cover: property taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, and community association fees, if applicable, as well as costs specific to your family, such as daycare if you plan to have children.

2. Develop your wish list

Be honest about which features you must have and which you’d like to have. Handicap accessibility for an aging parent or special needs child is a must. Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are in the bonus category. Come up with your top-five must-haves and top-five wants to help you focus your search and make a logical, rather than emotional, choice when home shopping.

3. Select where you want to live

Make a list of your top-five community priorities, such as commute time, schools, and recreational facilities. I can help you identify three to four target neighborhoods based on your priorities.

4. Start saving

Have you saved enough money to qualify for a mortgage and cover your down payment? Ideally, you should have 20 percent of the purchase price set aside for a down payment, but some lenders allow as little as 5 percent down. A small down payment preserves your savings for emergencies.  If you have established employment and good credit, I can help you find lenders who will provide 100% financing.

However, the lower your down payment, the higher the loan amount you’ll need to qualify for and, if you still qualify, the higher your monthly payment. Your down payment size can also influence your interest rate and the type of loan you can get.

Finally, if your down payment is less than 20 percent, you’ll be required to purchase mortgage insurance which is a requirement for approval. This insurance provides payment to the lenders in the event of a default.  Depending on the size of your loan, this insurance can add hundreds to your monthly payment. I can help you identify many incentive programs to help with down payment assistance and other programs for first-time buyers.

5. Ask about all the costs before you sign

A down payment is just one home-buying cost. I can tell you what other costs buyers commonly pay in your area—including home inspections, attorneys’ fees, and land transfer taxes. Tally up the extras you’ll also want to buy after you move in, such as window coverings and patio furniture for your new yard.

6. Get your credit in order

A credit report details your borrowing history, including any late payments and bad debts, and typically includes a credit score. Lenders lean heavily on your credit report and credit score in determining whether, how much, and at what interest rate to lend for a home. Most require a minimum credit score of 620 for a home mortgage.

You’re entitled to free copies of your credit reports annually from the major credit bureaus: Equifax, and TransUnion. Order and then pore over them to ensure the information is accurate, and try to correct any errors before you buy. If your credit score isn’t up to snuff, the easiest ways to improve it are to pay every bill on time and pay down high credit-card debt.  I can advise you on the best way to establish credit that will get you qualified.

7. Get prequalified

Meet with a lender to get a prequalification letter that says how much house you’re qualified to buy. Start gathering the paperwork your lender says it needs. Most want to see T-4s or employment letter verifying your employment and income, copies of paystubs, and two to four months of banking statements.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll need a minimum of two Notice of Assessements from Revenue Canada.

 

Consider your financing options. The longer the loan, the smaller your monthly payment. Fixed-rate mortgages offer payment certainty; an adjustable-rate mortgage offers a lower monthly payment. However, an adjustable-rate mortgage may adjust dramatically.

I have helped many first-time buyers and experienced buyer find and negotiate the purchase of home - contact me to find out exactly how much I can help you!

Bank of Canada Holds Interest Rates Steady but Hints at Future Increase

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney held his benchmark interest rate at 1 per cent Tuesday, pointing to global threats on both sides of the Atlantic and weaker-than-expected exports, while also signalling that the domestic economy’s strength is moving closer to higher rates.

In explaining the decision to leave borrowing costs alone for a seventh consecutive meeting, as expected, the central bank said that “widespread concerns” over sovereign debt problems have “increased risk aversion and volatility in financial markets.” However, Mr. Carney and his rate-setting panel said financial conditions in Canada “remain very stimulative” and the growth of private credit is strong despite global developments.

Moreover, in a teaser to a quarterly forecast they will release Wednesday, policy makers barely touched their growth projections for Canada from 2011 to 2013, and said their preferred gauge of inflation, which is approaching their 2 per cent target sooner than they had predicted, will hover around that level through 2013.

As a result, the central bank dropped a crucial word from the most important paragraph of its statement, indicating that its first rate hike since last September could come sooner than many economists and investors think.

From the Globe and Mail - July 19th

Beat the Heat and Throw and BBQ Party - Here are some Tips for BBQing for a group.

With the current heat wave and summer vacation time for many people, here are some tips on how to throw a backyard barbecue for a dozen hungry people and beat the heat by cooking outside!

This Globe and Mail article helps even the BBQ novice be able to grill for a group.

Leave it be

Gary Wiviott, the Chicago-based author of Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons and self-proclaimed barbecue life coach, says the most common error newbies make when they grill is “futzing with their food.”

“The tendency is to poke at it, flip it, touch it, and that’s the 100 per cent wrong thing to do,” he says.

While food will initially stick to the cooking surface, after time the proteins will contract and loosen from the grill so they can be easily removed. If you try to flip that salmon fillet too soon, you risk ripping it. A premature sirloin flip means you’ll miss out on those gorgeous grill marks.

Dave Harper, general manager of D&S Southern Comfort BBQ in Carlsbad Springs, Ont., suggests prepping a fruit salad or pre-cutting desserts (while still keeping an eye on the grill) to distract yourself from checking up on your food.

Don’t crowd the grill

If you have burgers, hot dogs, chicken and ribs on the menu, it can be tempting to cook as much as possible at once so your guests aren’t left salivating at the table – but that could actually slow you down.

“When you crowd [the grill], there’s no air circulating and the meat can steam, and that’s not the result you want,” Mr. Wiviott says.

It’s also dangerous: More meat on the grill means more fat is dripping down, and that could cause a flare-up, he says.

Don’t overcook

If you’re grilling steaks and one’s a little thinner than others and finishes earlier, move it to the upper rack of your grill, suggests Mr. Harper. “It’ll stop cooking and it’ll be warm. People religiously use [the upper rack] for buns, but it can do a lot more.”

It’s easy to char your chicken breast or turn your burgers into blocks of carbon if you walk away from the grill, so don’t, says Febian Frempong, general manager of Sobie’s Barbecues in Willowdale, Ont.
If your guests need drinks or a spill has to be cleaned up, make sure you have someone who knows what they’re doing to oversee the grill in your absence.

“If it’s indirect [heat], yes, you can leave it. But for direct grilling, don’t leave the barbecue and go for 15 minutes,” Mr. Frempong says.

A few minutes could mean the difference between delicious and inedible.

And don’t do this

Buy too little. If you don’t have leftovers, it means at least one of your guests left hungry.

Two Great Events to Check out This Weekend in Kitchener!

Here is the link for the Kitchener Craft Beer Show and Rib Fest at Victoria Park from July 15 to July 17th!  Weather should be perfect!
http://www.kitchenerribandbeerfest.com/main2.cfm

Here is the link for the Special Event Kitchener Turtle Project at the Huron Natural Area Event at 801 Trillium Drive on July 16th from 1-4 PM.  Great family event and there is no charge! http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/HuronNaturalArea.asp

More than 1 Billion Dollars worth of Properties Sold through the MLS in K-W so far this year!

http://www.coldwellbankerpbr.com/newsletter/realestateupdate_Summer2011-kimlouie.pdf  

Report Released Today Shows Toronto Ahead of Vancouver as the Most Expensive Canadian City to Live In.

A recent Mercer report of global cost of living shows again why the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Market continues to be a stable and viable place to invest money.  As the cost of living in Toronto erodes affordabiliy there, home buyers move westward and creat demand for real estate here.

This article below from the Globe and Mail lists the world's most expensive city's.

Toronto has topped Vancouver to become most expensive city in the country to live in.
Toronto surpassed pricey Vancouver due to its relatively high rental accommodation costs, Mercer’s global cost-of-living survey, to be released Tuesday, shows. Canada’s largest city moved up to 59th spot worldwide from the 76th position last year.

Vancouver climbed to 65th place from 75th last year, and is followed by Montreal and Calgary. Ottawa is the least expensive Canadian city in the rankings.

Canada as a whole is becoming more expensive relative to other cities because of the strength of the Canadian dollar, it says.

The survey covers 214 cities in five continents and tracks the cost of 200 items in each place including housing, transport, food, clothing and entertainment. Mercer calls it the world’s most comprehensive cost-of-living survey, which is designed to help multinationals plan compensation allowances for their expatriate staff.

This year’s survey comes as “the world witnessed an incredible number of natural disasters and political upheavals that have all affected the lives of expatriate employees to some extent,” said Nathalie Constantin-Métral, Mercer’s senior researcher who compiled the ranking.

Currency fluctuations and the impact of inflation on goods and services -- gas prices in particular -- sparked shuffling on the list, she said.

Luanda, Angola is the world’s most expensive city due to its record high accommodation prices, followed by Tokyo, N’Djamena, Chad, Moscow and Geneva. The least expensive city in the world to live in, for the second year running, is Karachi, Pakistan.

Brazil has galloped up the rankings, and the country’s major cities are now among the world’s most expensive.

Sao Paulo has the 10th-highest cost of living on the planet, zooming up from 21st place last year, according to Mercer’s annual survey. Rio de Janeiro leapt to 12th spot from 29th place in 2010.

The two South American cities are now more expensive to live in than Oslo, London or Seoul, as inflation has ballooned and its currency, the real, strengthened.

Beautiful Family Home in Very Sought After Area of Townline Estates

Here is the link to my newest listing - great area, large lot and more than 2,700 square feet of living space.  MLS#1131125

http://www.digitalnewmedia.ca/louie/hamer

Summer Home Sales in Waterloo Region Remain High

When Summer heats up it is tratidionally a time when the real estate market cools down - except for this year.  June's sales showed an increase for the second straight month in a row.

The article below from the K-W Record gives all the numbers.

WATERLOO REGION — For George Patton, June is usually weddings and barbecue season.
With those kinds of distractions, the last thing many people have on their minds is buying or selling a house.

So the president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors was pleasantly surprised to see a five per cent increase in real estate sales last month compared to a year ago.
It was the second straight month of increases after a slow start to the year.

A total of 670 residential properties changed hands in June, up from 638 in June of 2010 in the area served by the association, which includes Kitchener, Waterloo and the townships of Woolwich, Wilmot and Wellesley.

Sales were also up in Cambridge where 268 properties found new owners in June, a 5.5 per cent increase over a year ago.

“The first four months of the year got off to a sluggish and somewhat damp start,” Patton said Wednesday. “But now we are seeing the second month of a delayed spring market shifting into full gear.”

While June sales rose, year-to-date sales for the K-W association are 5.4 per cent lower than 2010. A total of 3,443 properties have changed hands, down from 3,638 for the first six months of last year.
But last year’s totals were “exceptional” because people were rushing to buy or sell before higher interest rates and the HST kicked in, Patton said.

Year-to-date sales are also in line with the five-year average, the association said.

With no significant increases in interest rates on the horizon, he’s optimistic for the rest of the year.
The average sale price in the Kitchener area rose 3.6 per cent to $302,323 from a year ago. In 2002 that same property fetched $176,033.

Single detached homes sold for an average of $344,509, an increase of four per cent.

For the year so far, the only category to record an increase in sales was condominiums, which rose 4.5 per cent to 653 units. Sales of detached homes fell 5.4 per cent to 2,256 units, semi-detached dipped three per cent to 292 units and townhouses fell 28.7 per cent to 211 units.

The growth in condo sales is reflected in the number of units being built around the region, said Patton. “Obviously it’s a lifestyle that many people are choosing.”

The dollar volume of sales for the six months fell 1.9 per cent to just over $1 billion.
In Cambridge, average prices rose 3.9 per cent to $287,549.

The busiest category was homes in the $250,000 to $349,999 range where 113 properties changed hands.

“Demand came in stronger than expected in June,” Val Brooks, president of the Cambridge Real Estate Board, said Wednesday in a news release.

For the first six months of 2011, 1,563 properties were sold in the Cambridge area, down 0.7 per cent from last year’s first-half total of 1,574 units.

Help! I Have a Variable Rate Mortgage...

Here is a great video on the rational and process of deciding whether to switch to a fixed rate mortgage when rates begin to go up.  Also some tips on how to negotiate a better rate from your lender.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/lets-talk-investing/help-i-have-a-variable-rate-mortgage/article2060147/

Grand River Transit Fares Rise Today

Bus Fares Rising

 

Canada Day also means higher bus fares for Grand River Transit users.

As of today, a bus ticket will climb 15-cents. For adults, that means a ticket will run you $1.95.

There is no change to the $2.50 cash fare.

There are other increases as well, including for the youth ticket, which is up 10-cents to $1.65.

The cost for most passes also climbed slightly.

Fares for Transit in Waterloo Region are still among the lowest in all of Ontario.