You should not feel overwhelmed when you are buying your first home because there are actually financial programs in place for first time buyers. One such program is the Land Transfer Tax which applies to all land in Ontario. First time buyers may be able to get a refund of all or part of the tax payable.
-For agreements of purchase and sale before December 14, 2007, the refund is only applicable to the purchase of a new constructed home.
-sales after December 13, 2007, the refund applies to all homes.
Taxpayers can claim an immediate refund during the registration process electronically by completing statement under the Explanation tab which is under the electronic land transfer tax affidavit. Individuals can also register on paper and file through the Ontario Lands Transfer Tax Refund Affidavit for First Time Purchasers of Eligible Homes. This can be done at the Lands Registry Office. The Amount of the Refund will offset the land transfer tax payable. The maximum refund you can receive is $2,000.
Limitations
The refund could be reduced if one or more purchasers are not a first time home buyer. It will be based on the interest built by the individuals who qualify for the refund. A purchaser can also claim a refund in proportion to his or her spouse’s interest if the spouse has owned a home before the relationship. Here are the requirements for a refund:
-the purchaser must be in the home for at least nine months after the date of the conveyance.
-the purchaser cannot have owned a previous home.
-the purchasers spouse cannot have owned a home.
-the purchaser cannot have received an Ontario Home Ownership Savings Plan.
There is another program that can help first time home buyers. It is called the Home Buyers Plan. This plan allows an individual to withdraw as much as $25,000 from your registered retirement savings plan or RRSP in order to buy or build a home for yourself or a relation with a disability. Only the payment receiver can withdraw funds but you can make withdrawals from more than one RRSP as long as you are the plans owner. In order to participate you have to withdraw funds as a first time buyer or withdraw for a person with a disability. As well these conditions must be in place:
-You have to sign a written agreement with a builder, contractor, realtor or private seller.
-It has to be your first place of residence.
-Your HBP must be zero at the beginning of the New Year.
-Neither you nor your spouse owns the home more than 30 days before the withdrawal.
-You have to be a resident of Canada.
-You buy or build the home before October 1 of the year after the year of withdrawal.
If one of the conditions is not met while you are participating in the plan then your RRSP withdrawal will not be eligible. You have to include the RRSP withdrawal as an income on your tax return for the year you received the funds. If you don’t meet the requirements then you can always participate later in the future.
When looking for Brampton homes for sale be sure to look here
If thinking of selling your house consider hiring a Brampton real estate agent who charges low 1% commissions for full service.
This project is in the form of condos and lofts in the former Dominion Skate Factory site. These condos are being built by Blade Condominiums that have over 40 years in residential property development. The Blade Condominiums will be Preston Groups flagship project in Brampton and is getting a lot of interest from homebuyers all over Ontario. These units will be cutting edge and close to the Go Station and blend old with more modern interiors and amenities. Buyers will be close to shopping, restaurants, parks and a public courtyard. Everything is within walking distance.
The development has its own fitness room and a beautiful and tranquil Zen Lounge and yoga room. There is a party room, catering kitchen, theatre and games area. These condos also feature guest suites for any out of towners or for the late night party goers who have to stay overnight. The development is lined with trees and the rises above the façade of the heritage building with bold architecture. It has an elegant entrance court, sculptured gardens and a corner sanctuary to welcome everyone. The lobby entrance is grand and the amenities are located on the ground floor and the tenth floor. The views are stunning from every floor and every vantage point.
The Brampton condos are all energy efficient and environmentally friendly with conservation, sustainability and a slant to healthy living for its tenants. These condos are close to public transportation, bike storage, preferred parking, heat pumps, Energy Start appliances and a tri sorter and garbage chute. The condos are have rain water capturing for irrigation, low flush toilets, faucets and shower heads, low VOC paints, low-E glass, metered utilities , deep terraces, green roof and heating and cooling in each home. The homes have features like concrete balconies, thermal glazed aluminum windows, classic baseboards and casings, interior white walls, white textured ceilings and interior suite doors with brushed chrome hardware.
Some of the condos have nine foot ceilings. The penthouses have ten foot ceilings, solid core doors, security systems, key FOB entry and parking and lobby surveillance. You will love the washrooms with privacy locks, waterproof ceilings, exhaust fans, ceramics, vanity mirrors, tempered glass walls, sconce lighting, pressure balanced valves, efficiency fixtures, marble countertops and vanity cabinets. Each home has a standard appliance package which includes a black/white microwave and hood fan, dishwasher, self cleaning range, frost free fridge and washer and dryer. You can really cook in these kitchens with ceramic backsplashes, granite counter tops, stainless steel sinks and great cabinets.
The condos have oak staircases with iron pickets, hardwood flooring and ceramic tiled floors in the bathrooms and laundry spaces. There are selections of suites from one, two and three bedrooms. The square footage for these condos ranges from 594 square feet to 1484 square feet in the loft residences. These are state of the art condos with all the amenities and close to all the major shopping and entertainment areas. If you are looking for a condo in Brampton you will want to check out the Blade Condos.
If you would like more information on buying a condo in this building or any of the other Brampton condos send me an email.
Got a house to sell? Consider hiring an agent that charges low real estate commission for full service.
There are a lot of emotions that go into buying your first home as well as the considerations of locations, neighbourhood, space, construction and the availability to shopping and other conveniences.
If you don’t look into home buying facts you will end up buying a home that you can’t afford and is full of problems. The first thing you should have in order is your credit report since mortgage lenders will evaluate that before approving any loan application. You can get a better rate of credit with a good credit report. The way to do this is to pay your bills on time and get any errors erased from your report.
You also need to have some money socked away to be able to make a down payment. One important step in buying your home is to sit down and write up a financial plan. This will set out your budget and the kind of home you can afford and avoid any overspending. Along with these facts you will need to find a good Brampton real estate agent. They will be the ones that ultimately find that perfect house according to you and your family’s needs. They will be able to negotiate a price and look for any defects in the home. You will also want to look closely at the home market trends before buying your first Brampton home. This way you will be able to determine the real value of the property and do a comparison with other homes and properties and choose the best home for you.
When searching for a Brampton home you have to understand your needs and desires since for many first time buyers it ends up being the last and you want to have all the components in place for a comfortable home. Make sure you have a pre-qualification letter. It can make a world of difference and show the buyer that you have a lender and are serious about the process. It will also give you the power to negotiate with the seller if you have to. You have the option of shopping around for a home or getting your real estate agent to help you. In fact, you can even do it right from your computer and find properties quickly and efficiently. When you do find your dream home the first thing to do is get a home inspection!
This way you can find out all the defects and repairs that you will need done. When you do find out the condition of the house and property you can negotiate the price with the seller on the basis of the report. After this is done and you are happy with the home then you can go ahead and submit an offer. You will also be able to negotiate a price in some cases and in the end you should be able to close the deal with a price that makes you and the seller happy. Remember, that buying your first home needs to come with some knowledge and help. The more facts and information you have the better you’re buying success.
You can find Brampton homes for sale here
If you have have real estate to sell consider hiring an agent who charges low real estate commission for full service
Whether buying or selling a house chances are you will need the help of a real estate agent. So what do you look for in an agent? Are they all the same?
Let’s cover the buyer side first. When you buy a house listed on the MLS you do not have to pay real estate commissions. The seller pays the agent for bringing a buyer to his house.
There are a few ways to go about looking at houses:
1. You can go from open house to open house in the area you are interested in.
(but keep in mind most houses are not held open).
2. You can check the internet for listings and call those agents individually to see JUST their listings.
3. Or you can find one agent and explain to him exactly what you are looking for and have him go to work for you.
Let’s say you pick option #3. Here are some things to look for:
1. Pick an agent who has a lot of product knowledge (not just about the area but also about the process of buying). An agent with product knowledge can make sure you don’t overpay for your dream house.
2. Pick someone who is not pushy. Someone who is “asking for the order” after seeing each and every house might not be the right choice.
3. Pick someone who is available full time. Some agents practice real estate part time, and that’s fine, but when a hot listing comes up you want to make sure you are one of the first ones in that house. Sometimes offer negotiations can occur at the oddest hours. He need to be there on your behalf.
4. Pick someone with lots of experience. He needs experience in writing up offers, negotiating multiple offers, avoiding all kinds of speed bumps that can come up.
It’s a FREE service. Why not take advantage of it. An agent will look for houses for you, make all the appointments, drive you to each listing, show you the houses, write up an offer, and negotiate on your behalf – all for free! You don’t HAVE to take this route but it’s something to think about.
How about when you need to sell a house?
Selling a house can be an emotional time. Some people decide to sell their house by themselves to save the commissions and that’s understandable. But let’s say you decide to employ a real estate agent, what do you look for?
First of all, be sure to interview a few agents and compare their services.
1. Pick someone who works in your neighbourhood. A local expert will know exactly how much the houses are selling for and how long it will take. He’ll know what type of buyers are most likely to buy your house and where to find them. He might even have somebody lined up from a previous listing.
2. Don’t pick an agent just because he quotes you the highest price. Unfortunately some agents will quote you a high listing price just to get the listing. The idea behind that is to just secure the listing for a few months and during that time keep reducing the price little by little until it sells. Problems with that are that when a listing sits on the market for too long
a) people (and even other agents) start losing interest in it.
b) people think something is wrong with the house
c) people start putting in “low ball” offers assuming that the sellers must be getting desperate
3. Compare their services and commissions. Find out what they charge and exactly what services they will provide for the money. Agents vary from agent to agent.
4. Pick someone who is not too pushy. He must be a little aggressive because that will be needed during offer negotiations but not against you!
Common (valid) concerns
1. Why not just go from open house to open house to find a place?
- Only 3% to 5% of listings hold open houses. So you will miss out on majority of the hot listings.
2. Why not buy directly from the listing agent?
- That is one option. However, remember the listing agent is working for the seller. It is his duty to get as much money as possible. First of all, there is no guarantee that the buyer commisison will be discounted for you since you will not be speaking with the sellers directly. Secondly, the contract will most likely have clauses that favour the sellers.
3. I will just call listing agents from each property to show me their listing.
- You can do that. But it can be a bit of a hassle to speak with so many agents and work with their schedules to time everything accordingly. Also, there is a good chance those agents will try to find out if they pick you up as their clients.
4. I don’t want to work with one agent and get stuck in a contract.
- It’s true some agents will want you to sign a contract so you work exclusively with them. We don’t do that. We don’t make you sign any contract.
We realize that buyers just want to see houses and buy one. THAT’S IT. Most buyers don’t really care about the inner workings on the real estate business.
You can view Brampton homes for sale here
To email us your criteria for a house so you can receive daily updates click here (coming soon)
By meeting with homeowners on a daily basis I’ve realized that there are some concerns that are very common amongst all of them. I know sometimes people think that this is “too good to be true” or “what’s the catch?”. I hope to answer some of the common concerns here.
1. How much commission do you charge?
- I charge 1% commission for myself and if another agent brings in the buyer then his commission is 2.5%. Maximum commission you will pay is 3.5%.
2. What’s the catch?
- There is no catch. All the listing agreements are very standard and in plain English. No fineprints, No hidden costs. Obviously if the house does not sell you don’t pay anything.
3. What do I get for this 1% commission? Is MLS included?
- Yes the listing is uploaded on the MLS with over 30 pictures and a virtual tour. For more details on exactly what is included please click here. To see samples of virtual tours from other Brampton homes I’ve sold click here.
4. Who selects the asking price for the house?
- You do. I provide with a detailed report (CMA) on exactly what houses in your area have been selling for, how the market is doing, how long it will take to sell and what price it can sell for. This allows you to make an informed decision.
5. What if I’m not happy with your services?
- If for any reason you are not satisfied with my services my brokerage will cancel the listing. No penalties or fees will be charged! If you are not happy working with me then I won’t tie you up in a contract. It’s just bad karma.
6. Should I expect bad service because I’m paying less?
- I can understand that being one major concern. However, if you look at the quality of work that I provide (photos, virtual tours, Feature sheets etc..) you can see it is up to par with other agent (if not above). I reply to all my emails within 14 minutes! You are welcomed to speak to any of my past clients to get a reference check. I keep you updated on your listing and the general market twice a week (if not more). I know you can cancel the listing at anytime with me so there’s always pressure to keep you satisfied.
7. Do you have knowledge of the Brampton real estate market?
- Yes. I work only in Brampton. You can see more of my recent sales for proof of that. I also personally view up to 10 houses per day on my own just to gain more and more product knowledge. That’s over 3000 houses per year!
8. Do you hold open houses?
- Yes I do. Open houses have lost their effectiveness recently because of the internet. But their is still a chance the right buyer will come through during the open house.
9. How are you different then any other agent at a small company charging 1%?
- I’m different in a few ways.
a) I work at Remax. It’s a premium brand for a reason. They hire only the most professional receptionists and administrative staff. This ensures that any calls that come in are dealt with professionally. We have 24 hour answering service. It’s not a “one man show”. I pay extra per month so that my clients get the best service. Remax also has more signs on the lawn. About a 38% market share in Brampton. More signs mean more calls coming in from buyers. The Remax website is the most sought after real estate company website in North America (based on an independant study). If a discount company is charging 1 percent and I’m with Remax charging 1 percent which one would you like to choose?
b) My track record. From looking at my recent sales you will be able to see I sell a lot of houses in Brampton. I don’t say this to brag about myself but just to make the point that lots of other people in Brampton have already trusted me with their houses. You are welcomed to speak with them if you like. It also means that I know what is in demand in Brampton and what type of buyers will want to live here. I also inspect up to 10 houses per day on my own just to stay up to date on the market. I want to make sure I know what’s selling and for how much.
c) Another reason I’m different is the quality of work I provide. I don’t know what other agents charging 1 percent are doing (because it varies agent to agent and I don’t want to generalize) but compare my virtual tours, photos, and Feature Sheets to theirs then you make the decision.
I don’t know what other Remax agents might be charging to list houses or what services they might be providing. This offer is exclusively from me.
Disclaimer: “Different commission rates, fees, and listing and marketing services may be offered by other Re/Max Franchisees or sales associates in Canada.”
If you have Brampton real estate to sell or looking to buy a home in Brampton please click here to contact me for great service and affordable commissions. I return all calls within 14 minutes!
Just got a listing this Saturday evening in Brampton and by Sunday afternoon it was sold! This is not the first time. My last 4 listings have been all selling within a week and for asking price or more. What happened to the recession? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and neither are my clients but…where did the recession go?
Buyers are obviously not too happy. Everything is selling with multiple offers. Buyers are having to not only compete with other people but also go in with firm offers. I always recommend conditions on financing and home inspection but when you are in a multiple offer situation anything goes. Brampton homes that were sitting on the market for 2-3 months are selling for higher prices within a couple of weeks.
There is a shortage of supply in most pockets of Brampton. So if you have been wondering if this is a good time to sell or not let me reassure you IT IS! You’ve probably seen a lot of SOLD signs recently in Brampton yourself. I will be putting up the actual statistics for the month of August and how they compare to August 2008 in a few days.
To see some of my recent sales you can click here.
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To see what I do to sell Brampton homes click here.
To get a free home evaluation click here.
GTA Resale Housing Market Posts Best June on Record
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TORONTO, July 6, 2009 - In June 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported a record10,955 sales, up 27 per cent from June 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in June was 100,700.
In the Brampton market the new listings are starting to get multiple offers. I personally had 3 of my own listings sell within a few days and for almost full asking price (or more in one case). Real estate market in North Brampton seems to be back to its record pace in 2007. Let’s see how the fall market goes.
“The record result in June is testament to the fundamentally sound housing market in the GTA,” said the Toronto Real Estate Board’s newly appointed President Tom Lebour. “An increasing number of households have been confident in purchasing a home in the region’s affordable and diverse resale housing market.”
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The average price for June transactions was $403,972 – up by two per cent compared to the same month last year.
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“The re-emergence of seller’s market conditions has exerted upward pressure on home prices,” explained Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “Look for sales to remain high relative to listings in the second half of the year. This will keep home prices growing.”
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