Real estate bodies restate case for 30-year backed loans

More industry bodies representing real estate agents have given their views on the federal government’s latest housing measures.

Reaction to the government’s budget measures remain mixed but the Canadian Real Estate Association, the British Columbia Real Estate Association, and the Toronto Real Estate Board have all welcomed the focus on affordability for first-time buyers.

However, all have also reiterated their concern that the mortgage stress test provisions of the OSFI B-20 rules continue to weaken the ability of Canadians to buy homes.

“Millennials are passionate about owning their own home, but many are worried they will never be able to because of higher home prices and tougher mortgage qualifying rules,” said Barb Sukkau, CREA’s President. “Realtors have been advocating for the modernization of the HBP and are pleased to see it addressed in Budget 2019. The measures announced today will help today’s millennials in a tangible way, while also addressing some longer-term concerns related to housing supply and sustainability.”

Referring to the First-Time Buyer Incentive Program, BCREA CEO Darlene Hyde welcomed the introduction of shared equity mortgages and the increased limit for the Home Buyers’ Plan.

“British Columbians who aspire to home ownership need to be able to achieve this goal to assure a sustainable future for our province,” says Darlene Hyde, BCREA CEO. “Realtors have advocated for modernization of the HBP for a long time and we’re pleased to see it addressed in Budget 2019.”

Changes are needed
BCREA advocates a review of the mortgage stress tests in light of interest rate rises and is also calling for the reintroduction of CMHC-backed 30-year mortgages.

These views are shared by TREB CEO John DiMichele who says the restrictions on 30-year insured loans and stress tests are not warranted in current market conditions.

“This is especially true at a time when first-time buyers are facing serious challenges in achieving the dream of homeownership. We applaud the federal government for acknowledging that housing issues are a top priority for Canadians, but current mortgage restrictions still need to be addressed,” he said.

CREA says that it is encouraged that the federal government is carefully monitoring the effects of B-20 mortgage regulations with a view to limiting negative impacts on housing markets that are in balance or struggling, and on economic growth in Canada.

Source: https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/real-estate-bodies-restate-case-for-30year-backed-loans-255720.aspx

Patio Planning 101

It’s finally spring! Time to break out the grill and the patio set and spend your evenings cooking out under the stars. Except, you don’t have a patio, you have a backyard that’s currently a soppy, muddy mess from spring rainstorms. You’d love to get outside, but it’s just so mucky and sticky out there.

This year, you’re resolved to install a patio once and for all. There’s a lot to consider when planning your shiny new patio, but don’t worry, we’re here to help make it simple.

Patio Planning: The Basics

If this is your first major home improvement project, you’ve picked one that should give you a real sense of satisfaction when it’s done. But you’ve also chosen to tackle a multi-part effort that’s not very cut and dry. Before you go out and rent a Skid Steer and hire three guys to pour cement, make sure you’ve checked these items off your pre-patio checklist:

• Location, location, location. Although many patios are constructed as a transition from the house to the rest of the yard, there’s not a rule saying this has to be the case. Choose your favorite flat spot on your lot and try to imagine what it would be like having dinner there.

• Materials. Many patios are poured concrete slabs, but there are also some fantastic stones and pavers out there that would make excellent patio surfaces. And don’t forget the brick. Patios are great because they can really stand the test of time when the right materials are chosen. Consider the weather in your area when you’re shopping.

• Size and shape. Like there’s no required spot for your patio, there’s also not a standard size or a standard shape for them. You want a 10×16 rectangle? Poof! Done. What about a 15-foot long kidney shaped patio? No problem. Design the patio of your dreams, not the patio that other people think should be your dream.

Bringing It All Together

Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of what your patio will be made from and where you’re going to put it, it’s time to take the next step and put that pencil to paper. It can help to draw your entire lot on grid paper, adding buildings, plants and other noteworthy features in their correct spots (you’ll need to measure all of this for best results) will ensure that your patio plan doesn’t run into pesky problems from real life colliding with your perfect patio.

That handy drawing of your patio can become a map to something a little bit more impressive than a simple slab in your backyard. Consider drawing in (and including!) these user-friendly elements so you can make it do even more:

• Pergolas. There’s nothing like a pergola to create a semi-shaded spot in your yard. If your patio is attached to the house, adding a pergola is just a natural step. If not, you can still anchor one in cement so it can be freestanding and won’t blow away. Pro tip: grow your favorite vines on that pergola and they’ll help shade you all summer long.

• Built-in seating. Sure, you have a patio set, but sometimes it’s nice to have some extra benches in case you’re wanting to sit, but not at a table. Like deck builders put benches around the outside of decks, or use them to separate areas on a very large deck, you can do the same with benches made from the same materials as your patio.

• Water features. Look, no one said you need a fountain or pond near your patio, but wouldn’t it be pretty cool? Small fountains add interest and ponds not only give you a place to keep impressively large koi, birds and other wildlife can use them for water.

• Outdoor kitchen. This is the ultimate patio upgrade. Adding an outdoor kitchen, even if that’s just a built-in grill and a small sink, can make your home easier to sell down the line and possibly even increase your home’s value.

What’s New in High End Garages?

Your garage is a big deal. Even if you totally ignore that your garage doors themselves can take up a significant portion of your home’s street-facing surface, there’s all that (often unfinished) space inside that you’re just leaving to its own devices (and possibly growing lots of brown recluse spiders).

Your garage doesn’t have to be an afterthought, though! You, too, can have a super fancy garage that feels almost like another living area. We’re talking taking garages to the next level today.

The Garage Reimagined

There was a time, not so long ago, when simply having an attached garage was kind of a big deal. Then it was a two-car attached garage, then an extra-deep third garage bay, and onward and upward. A garage, even at the four-car level, was still just a garage: a poured concrete slab, some drywall (finished if you were lucky), a couple of four-foot long fluorescent shop lights and maybe a workbench in one corner.

Then suddenly something happened. People started demanding more out of their garages. Like so many other spaces in a modern household, the garage needed to be more than a mere storage unit, it needed to become a flexible living area.

Dolly Holmes, a garage designer, and owner of San Antonio’s Premier Garage, put it best in an article in The San Antonio Express-News, “I recently had a customer come to me and say they wanted to drive into a garage that looks as good as the rest of [their] home.”

Turning an old grimy, potentially frightening, garage into a gorgeous and welcoming living space where your car just happens to hang out is no small feat. It takes the concept to a whole new level, really.

From car-safe flooring that can resist oil stains to gorgeous cabinets that can hold chemicals that are traditionally banished to the garage, plus all those accessories for home theaters, pool cues, and ping pong tables, today’s high-end garage can become far more than anyone ever believed.

Beefing Up Your Garage’s Storage Potential

It can be easy to let your garage turn into a storage unit, that’s why so many of the fanciest garages start with a really amazing plan for dealing with the clutter. If you walk through your favorite home improvement store, you’ll notice an entire section of cabinetry just for the garage. These durable options offer more than just a place to put all your stuff, they give you a huge start on a high-end garage that you’ll love.

Cabinets might not be the sexiest part of your high-end garage, but they will help calm the overwhelm that a garage lacking storage for all those random things that end up being stacked to the ceiling can create. And hey, if you want to get really neat, use those cabinets to create a wet bar or a media center fit for the inside of your home.

Unappreciated Garage Tech

Even though garages have been getting smarter for years, most people haven’t noticed and these technological leaps have gone largely unadopted. Garage tech ranges in complexity from simple swaps of equipment already in your garage to quite complex undertakings that definitely will require a construction crew.

Smarter Garage Doors

Smart garage door openers have been around for a while, but they fail to get the kind of attention that other smart gadgets have seen. For example, this unit from Ryobi was named “The Most High-Tech Garage Door Opener in the World” back in 2016, but apparently, no one read this particular article.

These door openers range from being simply controlled by your phone to being part of a complete safety system for your home. For example, some will notify you if they’re opened when you’re not home and most will tell you if you’ve left them open on those mornings you need a lot more coffee to get the job done. You can then tap into a security camera and even shut the door from anywhere.

How About an Elevator for Your Car?

Of course, simply replacing your garage door opener with one that inhabits the Internet of Things is one thing, but literally being able to park your car underground is quite another. This is major stuff here. Instead of wasting valuable above-ground garage space with dedicated areas for your car, motorcycle, boat or other garaged vehicles, a garage lift can kill two birds with one stone.

Basically, your garage can now be your own personal Bat Cave. Garage lifts are pretty cool, but they will require professional installation and work best when incorporated into the building plans of your garage. Still, if you’re building and you’re hoping to use your garage as a rec room, you can recapture lots of square footage with one of these amazing things.

Is it Time for a Garage Upgrade?

When it comes to high-end garages, you might as well go big or go home (although, your garage is part of your home, so that doesn’t really work…). From cabinets that can handle anything your garage can throw at them to custom flooring and one of those fancy garage lift systems, you’re going to need a few good home pros to create your ultimate garage.

Luckily, they’re easy to find with HomeKeepr. Not only can you count on your home pros being absolutely top notch since your real estate agent recommended them to you, you can check out other pros that those home pros recommend completing your dream garage dream team.

7 Things to Do Before Listing Your Home This Spring

As the snow starts to melt, revealing the brightly colored flowers of crocus, and robins bop merrily around the yard, another cycle of the real estate market begins. If you’re considering listing your home this year, it’s definitely not too late to get started. March and April can be great months for putting your house in front of prospective buyers, but the summer months are also great times to sell.

Regardless of your timing, there are a few things you need to do right now to start getting ready to list. It’s not as simple as sticking a sign in the yard and waiting for the calls to roll in.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

You never know who will feel that special feeling people get when they find the house that is just right for them. But you can turn the odds in your favor if you and your home are both shows ready long before you open up to potential buyers.

Before you sell your house, you’re going to want to run through this checklist.

Hire a Realtor

 There’s a reason that 91 percent of home sellers used a real estate agent to sell their home in 2017: selling a home is a complicated process that really demands an expert. Just like you’d not try to DIY surgery, there are serious financial risks involved with selling your home without an education in real estate law.

In addition to being your safety net, a Realtor can point out items that you might not realize are big turn-offs to buyers, like dated lighting so you can get started on the cosmetic stuff to make your home show at its best.

Have a home inspection.

 Wait. Isn’t a home inspection just for buying a house? No! You can have a home inspector out any time you want. Having a full-blown home inspection before you put your house on the market gives you a chance to correct items that will likely come up for your future buyer when they have their home inspector out. Get ahead of issues and you’ll sell that house faster.

Get to decluttering. 

If you have to sell your home in order to buy the next, you’re going to be living in a showroom for the next few months. Take anything you don’t really need immediately and put it in a storage unit. Get it away from your house because pushing clutter around doesn’t really help anything. Declutter as much as you can bear to — it’ll make your house look bigger and more appealing to prospective buyers

Paint the front door. 

Your Realtor will probably drive home the importance of curb appeal, or how enticing your house is from the street (the curb). The better the curb appeal, the more likely potential buyers will come inside and look around. The interesting thing about curb appeal is how certain elements of your house affect the whole picture. Case in point, Zillow’s 2018 Paint Color Analysis found that a black or charcoal colored front door can bring in as much as $6,271 extra!

Spruce up the landscaping. 

Along with dressing the front of your house up a bit, make sure that your landscaping is up to par. Prune any unruly plants, replace perennials that may have patchy growth, refresh your mulch, give the lawn a mow. Now that your landscape is radiating amazing curb appeal, keep it that way until your home closes. If you need to hire a landscaper, consider it an investment.

Get copies of your utility bills. 

People will ask what kind of utility costs are associated with your home. Does it just burn through the natural gas? Does the electricity use seem excessive? This is another place where you can get ahead of potential buyers by putting this information together and giving it to your Realtor on the day you sign your listing agreement.

Deep clean like you’ve never cleaned before.

 And hey, maybe you haven’t, we’re not here to judge. Even though painting is a quick fix to renewing your home’s interior, deep cleaning is less expensive and can result in a better overall effect. For example, if you clean your windows, inside and out until they’re super clean, you’ll immediately notice how much more natural light penetrates the room.

Is There Time For All of That?

If you find yourself crunched for time, don’t make up for it by skipping important things before listing. Instead, call on us to help you find the people who can move your home sale along. Whether you need a cleaner, a landscaper, an organization expert or even a home inspector, we’ve got you covered. Your agent already has a list of recommended service providers who can help, let these experts free up some of your time as you get ready to sell.

Why investors should go green for the next big surge

Real estate investors should think green as concern about the planet fuels demand for sustainability.

That’s the view of the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) which is forecasting a surge in green building in Metro Vancouver between 2019 and 2032.

The report highlights the market opportunity for manufacturers of green building materials in the BC region and predicts a jump in demand for materials and labour throughout North America.

“Climate change is the most pressing issue facing the world today, and ambitious policies create huge new market opportunities,” says VEC CEO Catherine Warren.

The drive for sustainability is backed up by stakeholders who are keen to meet both demand and targets.

“We are committed to making Vancouver homes and buildings healthier, greener and more efficient through our Zero Emissions Building Plan and green building targets and actions,” said Doug Smith, Sustainability Director, City of Vancouver. “In 2013, the World Green Building Council honoured Vancouver by announcing that we have the greenest building policies of anywhere in the world, and since then we have continued to show leadership, innovate, build local skills and increase energy efficiency in buildings.”

Savings from green technologies
The City of Vancouver found that Vancouver citizens save an average of $12 million a year due to reductions in carbon emissions from stronger building codes.

“The Discovery Foundation is delighted to have partnered with the Vancouver Economic Commission to produce this ground-breaking report on the impact of green building regulations,” said David Harper, CEO, Discovery Foundation. “In the Lower Mainland alone there is a multibillion-dollar economic opportunity for green building technologies and the potential to add one thousand well-paid, high skill jobs. And the cost-savings from more efficient buildings will build on our existing initiatives and pay dividends for many years to come while helping us achieve our climate and sustainability goals.”

Source: https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/why-investors-should-go-green-for-the-next-big-surge-255326.aspx

Welcoming Your Plants Back After a Long Winter

If you’re a gardener or at least want to be one, there’s no time as amazing as early spring. This is when your plants are starting to wake from their long winter’s sleep. The white snow and frost flowers are giving way to green grass and emerging vegetation that seems to multiply like magic day after day.

Although a lot of people sit back and wait for their plants to do whatever it is that they do in early spring, others, like you, are eager to help them be all they can be this year.

The Results of Minimum Plant Care

Many homeowners just let their plants come and go as they please. Usually, they’ve inherited the vegetation from the former owner and have little interest in gardening. It’s ok, it’s not for everyone. But, due to this minimal care for the plants, many varieties will start to die off from neglect. A slow death is still a death.

Obviously, you’re looking to do a bit more to help your plants get off to a good start. Because of this, your landscape will be healthier, live longer and produce more ornamental flowers than those of the neighbor who would have preferred a lot of grass and no plants to tend.

First Thing’s First, Reduce Your Plant’s Risk of Early Season Fungus

There are varieties of herbaceous perennials like bananas, cannas and elephant ear that can survive the winter in many climates if they’re tucked in under a layer of organic mulch that’s two to four inches deep. While mulch protects them from drying out or freezing to death when it’s cold, once these types of plants start to grow in the spring, that life-saving mulch can become a real enemy.

It’s vital that you pull back the mulch from your plants every few days to check for green growth above ground. Once you see it, hollow a moat out between the plant and the mulch. Make sure no mulch is touching the new growth and that the moat you’ve scooped is about two inches wide to allow for further safe development.

Several opportunistic fungi will take advantage of young, green growth that’s constantly touching something moist, like that mulch. There’s a fine line here, tread carefully.

Soil Testing and Amendment

If you have a garden plot and failed to fertilize it in the fall, now is the time to get to it. As soon as you can work the soil, take several samples and either use a home test kit to determine the condition of the soil or have them analyzed by your local university extension’s lab. The extension tests are generally around $10, but the cost varies by location.

Either way, you’ll have some kind of indication about the condition of your soil, as well as what you can do to fix any problems. For example, you may find that your soil is low in nitrogen, a vital nutrient for plants that grow a lot of leaves very quickly, like your lawn. In this case, you’ll follow the instructions for feeding the type of plant you intend to place in the tested area, using a precise amount of fertilizer, so as not to encourage long, spindly growth in those eager plants.

The same applies to other types of fertilizer, including balanced fertilizers like 10-10-10 and 15-15-15. Most established perennials are fine with fertilizer that’s mixed into the top two to five inches of soil, but always check before you get too wild with it. A few species may have unusual reactions, including but not limited to developing an overall burned or wilted look due to root destruction. Never apply more fertilizer than necessary due to the risk of runoff and pollution of waterways.

Turn the Sprinklers On!

Once the nighttime temperatures are consistently above freezing, you’re ready to turn the water back on. Your plants will appreciate the long, deep drink and you’ll be happy to not have to water each one by hand. Remember, when turning irrigation systems back on after being drained, do so slowly. Opening the valve too quickly can result in a high-pressure water surge that can rupture sprinkler heads or burst fittings.

Be prepared to turn the system back off if a surprise freeze creeps on, but waiting as long as possible to get the irrigation started again is also a fairly safe bet.

Check for Signs of Insect Infestation

As your plants start to bud, you’ll be able to tell if they’ve developed any problems during the winter. Generally, these are caused by insect infestations, but in ornamental and fruit trees, a whole range of fungal invasion is also likely.

Small holes in the trunks of trees and shrubs are likely caused by boring insects like clearwing moths, which spend most of their life cycles inside the plant. This makes them very hard to get rid of and often results in the hollowing of the interior of limbs and branches. Those hollow branches pose a major risk to anyone walking below, as they can reach a point where they are no longer structurally sound and suddenly break away from the tree.

Source: https://blog.homekeepr.com/welcoming-your-plants-back-after-a-long-winter?sharedby=roy-cleeves&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Your+branded+blog+post+%7C+Welcoming+Your+Plants+Back+After+a+Long+Winter&utm_campaign=2019_03_04_Shareable_Blog_Posts

Inadequate flood mapping is putting Canadian homes at risk

Canadian homeowners do not have access to enough information to help them decide if they should buy flood insurance according to a new study.

University of Waterloo researchers have found that flood mapping is inadequate and that’s putting homeowners at great financial risk.

"With governments starting to step away from flood recovery assistance in favour of having homeowners purchase private insurance, it is clear homeowners lack access to information that would help them determine if they should add that protection to their policies," said Daniel Henstra, a professor of political science at Waterloo's Faculty of Arts.

He added that with high levels of household debt, many homeowners would not be able to meet the financial burden of repairs following flood damage, making clear information on flood risk essential.

Together with professor Jason Thistlethwaite, and PhD candidate Andrea Minano, both of the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo, Henstra examined information available online from both government and non-government organizations for more than 300 flood-risk communities across Canada.

Lacking consistency and quality
They found that 62% of the flood maps available did not meet the minimum criteria for informing the public about flood risk. The availability and quality varied across regions, making it tricky even to know where to look.

"In this exercise, it became quickly apparent that mapping resources are largely outdated and the resources that are available are hard to find," said Minano. "If Canada wants to move from government assistance to help people recover from catastrophic flooding to a model based on home insurance purchased at the discretion of the homeowner, our maps and their availability need to improve."

The study appears in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.

Source: https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/inadequate-flood-mapping-is-putting-canadian-homes-at-risk-255066.aspx