Tuesday’s federal budget was chock full of goodies for the real estate industry. Following are some highlights:

• A $5,000 increase to the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, meaning first-time homebuyers can now withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs for a down payment – tax and interest-free.

• A $750 tax credit for first-time homebuyers to help with closing costs, such as legal fees, disbursements a ...

Greater Vancouver Real Estate Market is Satabilizing!

January 7, 2009: The record-breaking seven year real estate market cycle in Greater Vancouver has ended in 2008 amidst global economic challenges, as recently reported by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

 The change brings relief from drastic increases where prices almost doubled from $357,770 for a single-family home i ...

Perhaps the most exciting personal tax measure for many Canadians will be the introduction of the

new temporary (after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010) Home Renovation Tax Credit

(HRTC).

According to the government, the purpose of the new HRTC is to “stimulate economic growth and encourage Canadians to invest in improvements to their homes.”

For 2009 only, individuals will be ab ...

FORECAST ‘09

With the global financial crisis still sending waves of uncertainty through the Canadian economy and real estate market, we turn to experts from various parts of the business to help us make sense of it all, and project what might lie ahead in 2009.

There was an article in the Canadian Real Estate Magazine that I found very interesting. It has opened my mind as to where we ar ...

Joint Tenancy v. Tenants in Common

When you purchase real estate with more than one person; you can own it jointly, that is as joint tenants; or you can own as tenants in Common.  The difference between the two is that with Joint Tenancy; there is a right of survivorship, if one of the owners dies, the remaining owner will become the 100% owner of the property.  With co ownership as ...

Consider a debt-swap strategy - If you’ve got a mortgage but also have non-registered mutual fund, why not consider selling your mutual funds, paying off  your mortgage and then borrowing back the money through a secured line of credit to buy back those original funds. By doing so, you can make otherwise non-deductible mortgage interest tax deductible. This strategy was just endorsed by Supre ...

Below is a recap of the historic economic events for this month, some of wich are directly responsible for the drastic decline in mortgage interest rates:

Industry News

The Bank of Canada chopped its key interest rate by another half percentage point to its lowest level ever yesterday, and warned that the Canadian economy will contract by 1.2% this year.

The central bank’s target for the ov ...

 At Harlow Financial, real estate is a top investing tool. Need a down payment for your principal residence, additional properties? Use your TFSA (tax free savings account) option as part of your employee share purchase plans. The more aggressive growth you gain without paying tax gives you more useable cash for real estate. Need investment ideas and or mortgage insurance. I am Siobhan Harl ...

I just sold this Condo at 1701 4028 KNIGHT Street, Vancouver East, British Columbia .

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

I just sold this House at 3550 PHILLIPS Avenue, Burnaby North, British Columbia .

View this recently sold House or see all my home sales