Is it better to choose a floating rate or fixed rate mortgage product? There are many articles out there that argue for or against one or the other but none explains it as thoroughly as the link below posted on Don Campbell’s blog written by Peter Kinch and Freeman Yee. It is no wonder the [...]
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Canada to Overtake Saudi Arabia As Number One Source of Investible Oil
A recent Wikileaks report shows that Saudi Arabian oil reserves are considerably lower than reported indicating that Saudi Arabia has reached peak oil production and new supply is dwindling. With Canada currently being the second largest source of politically stable investible oil, it will soon overtake Saudi Arabia as number one. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/jeff-rubins-smaller-world/wikileaks-reveals-imminent-saudi-oil-peak/article1908385/
Will New Mortgage Rules Create Another Jump in the Market?
With the introduction of stricter lending rules to curb Canadian debt loads going into effect in March, a new wave of buyers may create another upswing in the market. Some of the new rules include reduction of amortization to a max of 30 years from 35 as well as max loan to value for refincing [...]
Inflation at 2% or 8.5%?
Since the early nineties every administration has put some tweak on how the consumer price index (CPI) is measured. CPI used to be me measured by comparing the price of one basket of goods one year to the same basket of goods the next. Over the last 2 decades many changes have been made the [...]
Don’t Let Strata Rules Foil Your Plans to Rent Out
I met with a client the other day and she was distraught over the idea of having to sell her condo because she needed a larger home and her strata rules forbid rentals. My client was wanting to use the equity in her property to buy a second, larger property for her growing needs and [...]
5 Tips For Hassle Free Landlording
I was at a real estate investment seminar where they presented some great tips on landlording. Seeing as how I too implement many of these in my portfolio, I thought it would be worth sharing. 1) Screening tenants Get rental references from past landlords and ideally the landlord before the one from which they are [...]
Housing Becoming More Affordable
In its quarterly housing affordability report, Royal Bank of Canada said the cost of home ownership moved lower for the first time in more than a year over the summer, as low mortgage rates and prices made it easier for buyers to pay for their homes. Looking at Canada as a whole is a generality [...]
Stated Income Mortgages Are Back
As most banks have been tightening the screws on real estate investors by reducing the amount of rental income used ($1000 in rental income per month equates to $200/mo in borrowing power using the 50% add to income method that the major banks use to qualify a rental property), a few Credit Unions have found [...]
Canadians Handling Mortgage Debt Well
Canadian homeowners are handling their mortgage debt so well they could handle paying more each month, according to a report released by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals. Its sixth annual report on residential mortgages found the vast majority of mortgage-holding Canadians (84%) could afford an extra $300 or more a monthly in payments. [...]
Pay Your High Property Taxes to Your Heirs and Not the City
In a previous article Take Advantage of Your High Property Taxes and Defer Them, I had talked about deferring your property taxes and investing the taxes instead. Here is another strategy for those living in the last home they will ever own. Take the deferred taxes and buy a life insurance policy. When you [...]
Peter also manages his own multi-million dollar rental property real estate portfolio which he co-owns with investors. Unlike many financial advisors, Peter uses a global approach to investing and puts money where his mouth is by personally using many of the strategies he advises his clients on.Peter Merabian helps Canadian individuals and families by providing investment and tax saving strategies that help them achieve their financial goals sooner.
