REMAX of Wasaga Beach Blog:

First Time Home Buyers Land Transfer Tax Refund

With great home prices, lower interest rates and government incentives such as the new First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and the revised First Time Home Buyers Plan and the extended First Time Home Buyers Land Transfer Tax Rebate why rent? Last weeks blog highlighted these first 2 programs and this weeks blog features the Land Transfer Tax Rebate.

First time home buyers may be eligible for a refund of all or part of the tax. Land Transfer tax applies to all transfers of land in Ontario.The maximum amount of the refund is $2,000.00 and can be claimed at the time of registration. This refund applies to all....

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First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit and Home Buyers Plan

Buying a home for the first time is the largest expenditure most Canadians will make. The costs associated with purchasing a home, such as legal fees, disbursements and land transfer taxes, can be a particular burden for first-time home buyers, who must pay these costs on top of saving the money for a down payment.Canada's Economic Action Plan supports the Canadian home construction and real estate industries, with a First-Time Home Buyers' tax credit that will provide up to $750 in tax relief to first-time home buyers; and an increase in the amount that they can withdraw from an RRSP to purchase a home from $20,000 to $25,000. For Home Buyers Plan purposes, an individual is generally considered to be a first-time home buyer if neither the individual nor the individual's spouse or common-law partner owned and lived in another home in the calendar year in which the HBP withdrawal is made or in any of the four preceding calendar years. Withdrawn funds.....

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NEW Renovation Tax Credit

This new tax credit is temporary so take advantage of it while you can. The HRTC will apply to eligible home renovation costs for work performed or goods acquired after January 27th, 2009 and before February 1st, 2010. The purpose of this new temporary Tax Credit is to provide an incentive for Canadians to undertake new renovations or accelerate projects they may already have planned.

Home renovations are a smart investment in the long-term value of a home. Renovations can also reduce energy consumption and the long-term cost of owning a home.

The HRTC will be family-based. For the purpose of the credit.....

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Thinking of Listing? Think RE/MAX in Wasaga Beach!

Part two of this weeks Beach Blog focuses on the advantages of listing your property for sale with Re/Max. From A-Advertising to H-Home Show Presence you can see that we are not riding on the coattails of our successful franchise name. We have worked hard over the years to become the top selling Real Estate Brokerage in Wasaga Beach.

Advertising - We take pride in our full page color office advertisement highlighting various listings each week in the Wasaga/Stayner Sun newspapers. Sales Representatives in our office also advertise in various other advertisements such as the Collingwood Connection, Real Estate Advertiser, Brampton Guardian, Borden Citizen, the Enterprise Bulletin, etc. One of our best forms of Advertising is the window displays in both of our high profile office locations featuring all of our listings.

Branding - The distinctive Red, White and Blue signs with the Hot Air Balloon Logo are recognized and respected around the world. Re/Max is not only #1 in Sales in Canada, but also in Ontario, in the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board (GTREB) and in Wasaga Beach.

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2008 Year End Local Market Statistics

How is the Residential Real Estate Market doing in Wasaga Beach when compared to our neighboring Towns in the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board (GTREB)? Below is a chart comparing Wasaga Beach to Clearview, Collingwood and the Town Of The Blue Mountains (now known as The Blue Mountains) for the year ending 2008.

Town Listings Sales Ratio

Clearview 452 149 33%

Blue Mountains 572 131 23%

Collingwood 656 250 38%

Wasaga Beach 942 361 38%

All 4 of these areas experienced a decrease in the units listed to the units sold ratio from 2007 to 2008. In 2007 the Ratio's were as follows; Clearview 41%, The Blue Mountains 32%, Collingwood 49% and Wasaga Beach 53%.

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Key Points Regarding Your Property Assessment

By now most home owners have opened their 2008 Property Assessment Notice for the 2009-2012 property tax years. What you may not know is how these figures are established. MPAC which is short for Municipal Property Assessment Corporation analyzes property sales in your area. These sales are used as the basis for assessed value. In addition to sales MPAC looks at key factors and there are 5 key factors that account for 85% of the value. These five factors are: Age of the House; Building Area; Location; Lot Dimensions; Quality of Construction. There are actually as many as 200 different factors considered when assessing a property. When I researched how much on average residential property assessments went up in value in our area I discovered Wasaga Beach was one of the highest at 6.1%.

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From Sellers Market To A Balanced Market

Here in Canada we have been experiencing a Sellers Market for most of the last decade. A recent decline in the number of MLS® sales and an increase in the number of new MLS® listings coming onto the market indicate that the existing home markets have become more balanced. A recently released CMHC Housing Market Outlook forecasts that the price growth of existing homes will ease to .3% in 2008 and .1% in 2009, compared to the 9 – 11% increases we have seen in each of the last 6 years. More Info..

How Your Credit Score Is Determined

A credit score attempts to condense a borrower's credit history into a single number.This score is calculated in a similar manner to how students receive grades in school. In school teachers calculate grades by taking marks from tests, assignments, homework and attendance and they use a combination of these to determine the final result. Lets break down a credit score. Did you know that 35% of your credit score is based on your payment history? More Info..

Do You Know Your Credit Score?

This is a very important number and yet most Canadians have no idea what their credit score is. The "Credit Score" is sometimes referred to as the "Beacon Score" or the "Risk Score". Lenders use your credit score as a statistical measure of the risk involved as to whether you'll be able to repay the debt as agreed. The first step towards obtaining a good credit score is to determine where your credit score currently stands. More Info..

New Mortgage Guidelines

On October the 15^th, 2008 the Canadian Government made changes to the mortgage rules in Canada. One of the new regulations was the end of 40 year amortizations being offered. The maximum time you can amortize your mortgage over is now 35 years. The second change was the end to the 0% down payment policy. The government will no longer provide a guarantee to the mortgage insurer in a high ratio mortgage situation unless there is a 5% down payment. Surprisingly though the government will allow Buyers to borrow the 5% from any lender or bank if they qualify. More Info..