Canadian Real Estate

Current Financial Crisis and Housing Market

First Published Date: February 15, 2009

When the current financial crisis hit, the first industry shaken was the housing market. After all, one of the catalysts for the so-named “credit crunch” was the vexation in the United States’ “sub-prime” mortgage market, where irresponsible lending at unsustainable levels caused banks to lose solvency with terrifying rapidity.

As a result, the real estate market in the US and beyond fell victim to a major crisis of confidence, and the knock-on effects of this continue to shake the world’s economy. Injections of capital by some governments, and lock, stock and barrel takeovers of banks by others have introduced some measure of stability, but even now that stability is under almost permanent threat.

The consequence of this uncertainty has been a fall in house prices, as home owners have defaulted on mortgages and had to sell up and the market, for so long a seller’s domain, has turned to favour the buyer. Getting a mortgage to buy for the first time may have become a little more difficult, but for those of us lucky enough to have amassed some disposable income the market suddenly looks altogether more favourable.

Although house prices have fallen in Canada – just as has happened everywhere – the fall has been markedly less steep than elsewhere, particularly just south of the border in the US. In the past year, the Canadian real estate market has seen a drop in prices to the tune of 8.9%, and sales themselves have fallen month-on-month. But despite the more troubled market, Canadian banks continue, thanks to judicious management, to make mortgages available to those looking to buy a house. Set against the open panic in the States, where once it was too easy to get a mortgage and now has become a quest on a par with the search for the Holy Grail, this is resulting in a far more serene market in Canada.

Indeed, in some cities it is believed that the market is bottoming out in Ca nada, and ready to at least stabilize if not yet commence an upward climb. While prices have fallen, senior analysts are making the point that even if they continue to fall, the rate at which they are falling has slowed, and anyone waiting for the housing market to hit rock bottom so that they can jump on board will have a long and forlorn wait. As more potential buyers realize this, it is likely that we will see the numbers of sales starting to rise again. If, however, the strong employment numbers nationally take a hit, then the market could yet have austere days ahead of it.

The moral here certainly seems to be that sensible and realistic management of the banking and lending system is equipping Canada to see out the current global crisis in much finer fettle than many of its more storied counterparts. It could just be the case that Canada becomes a model for the other nations to follow.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 15, 2009.

Buying Property In A Foreign Country

Home in the Country – But Which Country?

First Published Date: June 27, 2009

There is a lot of importance placed on where a person lives. Where we live is something that identifies us as much as anything else – as much as our job, as much as our outward appearance and as much as our name. Our primary home address is asked for by any organization with which we seek to join up. However, a second home is something different. While our primary home may be something that plays a huge part in our everyday life, our secondary home is something that matters for an entirely different reason. The primary home is for function and for family. The second home, more than anything, is for fun. We can look to buy a second home elsewhere in the world, because a house in another country allows us to have somewhere to stay when we go on holiday, among other things.

The “other things” include somewhere to live during our retirement. Having worked all our lives for a chance to relax and let ourselves get a bit of time to  ourselves, we can put money into buying a house somewhere nice and warm – additionally, having spent time somewhere on holiday allows us to scope out a place for the future. If you have been somewhere before and know that you like it, then you have the awareness that the place will be to your taste. How many times have you been on holiday somewhere and thought “this is such a great spot, I wish I didn’t have to go home – I wish I could live here for the rest of my life!”. Although the rest of your life may be stretching it somewhat, getting a retirement property nailed down somewhere else is never a bad idea.

There are many countries where buying a property has become something that you can only do with a lot of money behind you. Banks and lending corporations are reluctant to give mortgages with the housing market still in an uncertain shape. There are more than a few nations where property is still a very manageable investment, and taking advantage of this is something that shouldn’t be beyond a wise investor. It is important to sit and think of where you want to go, and what your reasons are – a family link? A good business opportunity? A country that is special to you, for any other reason. it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get a plan into action.

Countries in North Africa have become highly popular with property investors in the last six months, with the region’s proximity to the Southern tip of Western Europe a big pull. But it isn’t just about being near to Spain, France and Portugal – there is a growing holiday industry in what is a beautiful part of the world. Then there is South America – although some of the continent has been either colonized by tourists or beset by the same economic problems as the rest of the world, there are great properties available at wonderful prices in Brazil, a country which is moving up in terms of business and has always been keenly thought of by tourists.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 27, 2009.

What's This New Browser?

Vivaldi New Browser Looks Promising

First Published Date: March 3, 2015

Internet Explorer was history long ago, I gave up on Chrome because of concerns with Google, and I was not really too happy with Firefox. My quest for a brand new browser never stopped, but I found nothing good enough to replace good old Firefox. It seems like those days are over, as Vivaldi offers more than expected in a new, baby browser.

Opera’s former CEO, Jon Tetzchner, just launched this self-funding new browser with only 25 employees spread across the globe. Vivaldi shocked the tech world with 500,000 downloads in first ten days. You don’t need ads to spread good news.

Vivaldi uses Chromium as its backbone engine. However, its minimalistic looks and some brand new features make it a more distinctive browser than any other.

There is no menu on the top, but there is a menu strip on the left side panel to let you access bookmarks and other tools. This menu strip can be easily collapsed if you want.

There is also a note-taking feature built in that allows you to take notes for those sites you are visiting.

Tabs show thumbnails of the websites and stack on top of each other when you open more sites from the same tab. Also, the active tab shows the main color of the site you are browsing, making it easy to find a tab among others.

There are other features available as well, such as quick commands, email client, speed dial for one or multiple groups, etc.

As Vivaldi is at its early stage, there are lots of features still missing, but expect to get more features as time goes by.

We have seen many browsers in the past with a nice start, but they failed to live up to their expectations later on. Hopefully Vivaldi will not become one of them.

One Investment Market That Is Currently Doing Fine

Investment Opportunities Exist Even In A Terrible Market

First Published Date: Feb 22, 2009

As global markets continue to pop like antique light bulbs, the value of some assets is beginning to slide south; even in a country, that has managed its economy as well as Canada. For people with money to spare who are worried that despite the security of Canadian banks their cash will begin to lose its value, it is therefore a tricky situation in which to invest wisely with any measure of confidence. Of course, investment is indispensable for an economy to thrive and grow, and if you’re not satisfied to see interest safely accrue on what you have in the bank then you’ll still be looking around to see where you can invest without having instantly to drop to your knees and pray. You’re not alone.

One investment market that is currently doing just fine is the buy-to-let market. This makes sense if you stop to think about it. With financial uncertainty clouding matters at the moment, renting a home has never been more popular. Fewer people are taking the considerable risk of buying a home, concerned that they might lose their job – particularly if exports begin to tail off as the global economy struggles. This makes it a potentially very profitable time to be a landlord. Real estate prices are falling, so if you have the spending power and the borrowing capability to buy up properties, now is a good time to do so, before doing the necessary work and turning them out on the rental market.

It is at least partly true that where one man is facing a crisis, another spots an opportunity. This may be cruel in some people’s eyes, but someone is always going to be getting rich when other people are having concerns, and when it comes down to it why shouldn’t you be that someone? Another thing to take into account is that property prices will by their very nature increase again at some point, and with senior analysts voicing the belief that the real estate market has bottomed out (or is at least about to) this might just be a fine time to get on the “property ladder”. Intelligent development could pay off in a big way a couple of years down the line.

One word of warning, however. To repeat the final words of the first paragraph, you’re not alone. There are a great many other people looking for an investment opportunity, and where there is a demand for something there will always be someone ready to profit from that demand. That someone will not always be as altruistic as might be hoped.

A competitive market is the ideal breeding ground for scammers and hustlers, and it is important to vet any investment opportunity more than once over before committing. A once in a lifetime, too good to be true opportunity might just be exactly that. Scammers will not always e-mail you pretending to be a retired Nigerian general with millions of dollars to invest – sometimes they’ll look you in the eye and smile at you. If you have doubts, contact the Investment Dealers Association of Canada. They police investment professionals, and there are few scams they haven’t seen.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 22, 2009.

Two Tax Scams to Watch Out for This Tax Season

Tax Season Tax Scams

First Published Date: March 8, 2015

Hard-working Canadians are busy getting ready to file their taxes. And so are the scammers are busy getting ready to utilize this seasonal opportunity to make some money. Tax scams can come in various ways. Today, I will talk about two methods that are popular among con artists, as these methods are easier for con artists to use to get your money.

Tax Software Scam: If you are filing taxes via tax software, scammers can reach out to you via various methods like emails or phone calls. What usually happens is that they will tell you that you filed your taxes with the wrong information, password, or made terrible mistakes while filing and they need to fix the mistakes with the tax authority. So they will require your personal information to access your files. The emails they send can have malicious links to install a virus on your computer or would ask to enter a fake site that looks like your tax software site to obtain your password or other information. Sometimes they will make phone calls instead to obtain your information.

Tax Authority Phone Call: Scammers can manipulate phone lines to show they are calling from tax bodies like the CRA or IRS and will ask you for money to settle your issues, otherwise a warrant will be issued or a lawsuit will be filed. They can even provide you an 800 # to call back, which will look like a legit number. When such calls happen, scammers will have your previous tax information, your home address, and personal information – so you will think they are calling you from the tax authority for real. Then they ask for money right away to settle your case. Usually they ask to wire transfer money, but there are reported cases where scammers agreed to meet in person to receive the money.

Government agencies do not call or send email notifying you that a lawsuit or warrant is on its way and will never ask you to wire money or receive money in person. Any tax correspondences will arrive in the mail. Your best defence is your own common sense and vigilance. Look for suspicious behaviour and other elements from anyone contacting you for money in a sense of emergency and hurry.