Good evening everyone;
As communicated last week. – Feel free to join us between 2-4pm in the junction for Pumpkinfest – Tomorrow Saturday October 26th.
What’s going on in Real Estate and related news
Bank of Canada – Interest Rates
- The Bank of Canada has recently forecasted that the Canadian economy is expected to perform at a slower pace than previously anticipated for the next 3 years. As a result, federal interests have been left alone and are not expected to increase in the near future.
The Bully Offers – A New Norm?
- A bully offer is when a buyer submits a pre-emptive offer to purchase a home that has been marketed with a specific future offer date.
o Rather than wait for the offer date, a buyer hopes to present a strong enough offer for the seller to consider right away and not want to wait and risk losing it.
- This past week I have experienced 3 separate situations with clients where bully offers took place (5 times this month).
- In a bully offer situation the listing agent has to notify everyone that has expressed interest in the property and communicate that a bully offer is present. This usually means other interested buyers scrambling to present a competing offer. The seller may still want to push the offer back and invite the buyers back to present their offer on the original planned offer date.
- Bully offers are occurring quite a lot this last quarter. This is a sign of even tighter supply.
Top Benefits of Title Insurance
•Fast and efficient closing process — title insurance will help ensure your transaction closes on time
•Survey coverage – protects against un-marketability (not being able to sell your property in the future or obtain financing against your home) as a result of defects that would have been disclosed on an up‐to‐date survey, Real Property Report or Location Certificate
•Fraud and forgery — protection against fraudulently registered mortgages against your title
•Duty to defend — the legal fees associated with resolving insured title issues will be covered
•Building permit coverage — coverage for renovations completed without a permit that result in a loss
•Zoning coverage — protection should a property not meet municipal zoning requirements
•Competing interests — protection in the case of someone claiming an interest in your land; for example, an easement for a driveway or a builder’s lien
•Problem solving/facilitates closings — we can frequently provide coverage for known defects such as encroachments, delays in registration and zoning violations
What Does Title Insurance Not Cover?
When purchasing title insurance, it is important to read the policy and ask questions to be aware of the coverage that is provided. You also need to be aware of possible exclusions, which may include:
•Known title defects (that were revealed to you before you purchased your property);
•Environmental hazards (e.g. soil contamination);
•Native land claims;
•Problems that would only be discovered by a new survey or inspection of your property (e.g. the property is smaller than originally thought);
•Matters that are not listed in public records (e.g. unrecorded liens and encroachments); and
•Zoning bylaw violations from changes, renovations or additions to your property or land that you are responsible for creating. You need to carefully review your title insurance policy, as it may include additional exclusions and exceptions that are specific to your property.
Financial freedom is in your head – It has little to do with how much money you make.
Have you ever wondered why some people are quite happy living on $40,000 a year while others can’t make do on $120,000? How is it possible to be happy and feel financially secure if you’re not making the big bucks?
Ask a dozen of your friends what constitutes financial freedom and you’ll likely get a dozen different answers. It’s often associated with having enough money to never worry again. But that raises the question, “How much is enough?”
Financial freedom has little to do with how much money you make. Financial freedom comes from how you think about yourself and your money. If you see money as a tool, if you understand why you feel as you do about your money (yes money elicits emotional responses), and if you have a sense that you’re doing what you want to do with money, you’ll experience financial freedom.
Stop comparing yourself with other people, feeling better or worse about your circumstances based on how your family, friends and acquaintances are doing.
Don’t buy the claptrap about more money equaling greater financial freedom. Money in the bank means choices, that’s true. But you also have to have a sense of how much is enough if you want to be financially free. And you have to reconcile yourself to why you feel as you do about money to achieve true freedom. This might take some soul searching. It might take talking with a therapist. Or it might just take some time thinking about why you respond as you do to various money triggers.
If you think money will bring love, power, security or happiness, you’re wrong. Haven’t you heard people say, “We didn’t have a lot of money, but we were happy”? Sure you have. It’s not about the money honey. It’s about how you feel about the money. And that’s in your head.
As the ancient Chinese book of wisdom says, “He who knows he has enough is rich.”
Have a wonderful weekend and fantastic Halloween week, Anthony