The Blog

When you talk to a mortgage broker, they will tell you that they can get you a better rate. The statement might appear biased but actually there is a lot of truth to it. In fact, the Bank of Canada actually put out a research paper that supports this assertion. Although the paper was published in 2011, the fundamental business dynamics have not changed significantly to make these conclusions invalid. Actually when I see the high renewal rates that are being offered, going to a mortgage broker for renewal is a must these days. Below, I have summarized some noteworthy findings from the paper. That’s it. If you are planning to be an economist or if your local pharmacy has run out of sleeping pills,

Hope you had a wonderful Labour Day long weekend. The real estate market in Metro Vancouver for the month of August slowed down as the higher rates weighed on the market. This is reflected in the decreasing sales numbers. For August, it was 13.8% below the 10-year average. But remember for July, it was 8.6% below, and for June, it was 1.4% below the 10-year average. As a result, townhomes and apartments gave up some of the recent price gains of the last 6 months. Last Friday, some surprisingly weak economic data for Canada came out, and now most pundits are predicting that there will be no rate increase tomorrow when the Bank of Canada makes its rate announcement. Currently, a lot of the rate

Hope you had a wonderful BC Day long weekend. The Vancouver real estate market continues to slow as the Bank of Canada raised their overnight rate again in July. In response, the yield on the bonds continued to climb which moved mortgage rates higher. This will continue to put a damper on demand. Sales in July was 15.6% below the 10-year average. The sales-to-active listings ratios dropped in all categories and as you can see from the table below, these ratios peaked in May. These are indicators of demand and supply. When it is above 20%, there is upward pressure on the price, but the trend of the ratios is equally important. As you can see when the sales-to-active listings are dropping, the price increases

This is another story about a questionable character in the financial world. Motola Omobamiduro was a former used car salesman with a conviction for not paying the owners when he sold their cars. But that is in his past, currently he is running a company that provides secured credit cards: Plastk. Secured credit cards are specifically designed for individuals who need to improve their credit but are unable to qualify for a regular credit card. These cards require the cardholder to provide a deposit equivalent to the credit limit, typically ranging from $2000 to $5000. If the client fails to make payments, the company can use the deposit to cover the outstanding balance. By making timely repayments, individuals can rebuild their credit score in under

The sales volume in June for Metro Vancouver’s housing market is relatively strong considering the high interest rate environment but it does show weakness. The sales volume was 8.6% below the 10-year June average but last month’s sale volume was only 1.4% below the 10-year May average. Tight supply continues to provide upward pressure to home prices. The table below shows increases in all segments of housing during the month of June. The sales-to-active listings ratio tapered a little indicating a slight slowing in demand. This may be an indication of things to come. The Bank of Canada’s June 7th rate hike and the possibility of future rate hikes has caused the bond market to react by driving the yield up on the bonds which

How would you like a 20% no risk return? Usually if you hear this offer, turn around and run! It is a scam. However, if you typically have an outstanding credit card balance, then this is possible. Just by paying down your credit card debt, in essence you are making a 20% return. And 20% is a lot!If you invested $1000 with a 20% return, you would get an extra $200 the first year. The resulting $1,200 would provide you with another $240 in year 2. In 10 years, the compound growth would give you a total of $5159.78. That is 5X the original amount! But what if instead you bought a $1000 LV bag or a vacation with your credit card? If you didn’t

What can you get for 4.1M in Vancouver? A pretty awesome house, I am sure, but in 2022 April it was enough to buy the AT&T Centre in downtown St. Louis. It is a 44-story skyscraper valued at 207M in 2007. The building owner was in trouble when the sole tenant, AT&T, left in 2017.The landlord stopped making mortgage payments and it was eventually foreclosed. SomeraRoad, a New York developer, came in and bought it for 4.1M which was just enough to pay all the fees and expenses. In 2017, the mortgage balance outstanding was $107M. That was a complete loss for the lender. Interested in getting in on more deals? The discount might not be as steep but there will be more to come.

In Metro Vancouver, the real estate sales are picking up, but the inventory remains low, so prices continue to climb. The sales volume in May are back to normal. It is only 1.4% lower than the 10-year May average while inventory is 20.6% below the 10-year May average. As you can see from the table below, the very high sales-to-active listings ratios are indicative of the high demand relative to supply. And as a result, you see the month-over-month price increase in all categories. Anytime the sales-to-active listings ratio is above 20%, it is indicating upward pressure on prices. At over 40, it is evidence that the fear of missing out (FOMO) is back again. This is why there are multiple offers and listings selling

There are two main reasons why someone would want to buy real estate inside a corporation. One is for personal liability protection and the other is to make more money. A corporation is a separate legal entity from the owner(s). This means if something occurs within the corporation that generates a liability, the damage is contained in the corporation.For example, if someone sustains a serious injury at one of your rental properties due to your potential negligence, you may be held liable for damages. If you hold all your properties in your personal name, then everything is up for grabs. This includes all your real estate, your stock portfolio and even future earnings. If that property was held inside a corporation, then only the assets