Real Estate Articles
Your Home, Your Life!
Understanding Market Rent
Understanding Market Rent: More homebuyers today rely on rental income to qualify for mortgages. If you’re one of them, you’ll often need a market rent report or rent letter to “prove” that income to the lender.
Mortgage Availability in a Flood Zone?
Desjardins, the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, based in Quebec, will no longer offer new mortgages for properties in high-risk zones due to the certainty of a flood every 20 years in the province. It is reasonable to assume other lenders will...
OMG!!! What’s with the Stairs???
I’ve seen a lot of ridiculous staircases in my time — stairs so steep, so narrow, and so poorly thought out they might as well come with a warning label. These designs don’t just look intimidating — they actively scare away anyone over 45 (who are the buyers with the...
Who’s Buying Real Estate Right Now?
If you’ve been chatting with clients or colleagues lately, you’ve probably noticed that the question on everyone’s mind is: Who’s actually buying real estate right now? It’s a fair question. The headlines are full of doom and gloom about affordability, interest rates, and a supposed ‘market freeze’ — yet deals are getting done.
The Consequences of Walking Away
Trees don’t grow to the sky; and neither do real estate prices. Sometimes, real estate prices go down. This can be particularly troubling when it comes to new construction. There is a time lag between when the home is ‘purchased’ and when the home is completed and the deal can ‘close’. During this lag time, substantial changes can occur in the real estate market that causes home prices to fall; sometimes meaningfully. When that happens, does it make sense for a new home buyer to close the deal, or should you walk away?
The Risks of Blanket Appraisals
If you’ve recently purchased a pre-construction property or are navigating the Toronto condo market, you might have heard the term “blanket appraisal” popping up more frequently. It’s a term that’s been around for a while, yet many homebuyers are still unfamiliar with exactly what it entails, who uses them, and when and why they’re typically employed. Allow me to demystify blanket appraisals and explore whether they’re genuinely advantageous for home buyers.
Cottage Aqueducts and Wells
As a realtor, when you’re helping a client buy a cottage or rural property, you already know it’s not your average suburban transaction. The property may be cute as a button, the lake view breathtaking—but if the water source doesn’t pass muster, your deal could hit a wall faster than a raccoon on a screen door.
Understanding Construction Financing in Canada
Whether you’re looking to build a home from the ground up, add a legal secondary suite, or undertake a major renovation, understanding how construction financing works can make or break your project’s success. In this article, I’ll walk you through what construction financing is, who offers it, why it’s not widely available, and why—despite its complexity—it remains one of the most strategic tools in real estate financing today.
PeakHill Capital: Multifamily Financing
Whether you’re developing purpose-built rentals, acquiring stabilized income properties, or seeking long-term financing under CMHC’s MLI Select program, PeakHill brings depth, insight, and executional excellence to every file.
Are You the Missing Middle?
Let’s cut to the chase—owning a home in the Greater Toronto Area used to be a realistic goal for middle-income Canadians. Now? Not so much. If you’re earning a decent salary but still can’t afford to buy (or even rent without stress), you’re probably part of a growing group called the “missing middle.” This article will walk you through what that means, who’s affected, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it—especially when it comes to mortgages.
Co-op Appropriate Use
Co-ops don’t work like condos — not in how they’re owned, not in how they’re financed, and definitely not in how they’re used. And if you’re planning on leveraging the property to generate rental income or make investment plays, you need to understand this right now:
How to Move from Ontario to Alberta
Here is the situation: A single woman wants to move from Ontario to Alberta. She has saved $150,000, has a good credit score, and wants to buy a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, 1600 sq ft bungalow in Edmonton that presently goes for $500,000. She needs a $350,000 mortgage. The...
Canada’s Financial Snapshot
Whether you’re renewing, refinancing, or getting ready to jump into homeownership, let’s sit down and chat about something that directly affects your financial future: Canada’s financial landscape. Think of this as our casual coffee chat—packed with important info, minus the confusing jargon.
Mortgages for Co-Ops
The idea of a co-op might raise an eyebrow. You’ve probably heard the term before, maybe in a Manhattan movie — but in Canadian real estate? Not so common. And the truth is, financing a co-op isn’t quite the same as getting a regular condo mortgage. So let’s walk through what makes them different, what lenders look for, and how you can still make it happen if you’ve got your heart set on one.
Why Can’t We Build Homes
“Supply, supply, supply.”
If you’ve spent any time in the world of Canadian housing policy—or if you’ve even just watched the evening news—you’ve probably heard that phrase tossed around as the magic bullet to solve our housing crisis. But here’s the real question: If we all agree that we need more homes, why can’t we just build them?
Hidden Housing Costs: Provincial Downloading
We talk a lot about high home prices in Ontario—land costs, construction costs, interest rates. But there’s a quieter, less visible factor that doesn’t get enough airtime: provincial downloading.
In plain terms, downloading is when the provincial government offloads responsibilities and costs onto municipalities—without providing the funding to go with it. And when municipalities are left holding the bill, they turn to one of the few revenue tools they have: development charges.
Featured Publications
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Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Minimum Qualifying Rate for Uninsured Mortgages
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Guideline on Existing Consumer Mortgage Loans in Exceptional Circumstances Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Book: “The Program”
- Part 1 – Building Your Down Payment
- Part 2 – Mortgage Payoff Strategies
- Part 3 – Building Wealth Through Real Estate