text: Colleen's Blog | Your Mortgage Broker in Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington and Toronto - Part 9
  Posted by mortgagesbycolleen on September 13, 2017 · Leave a Comment
  The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) says fines for rule-breaking realtors should be double so the potential penalties keep pace with rising housing market.
  Last year, realtors found guilty of violating the code of ethics faced an average fine of less than $6,000 from the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), the industry regulator. The existing penalties were set when the average resale Ontario home cost $211,000 compared to $619,000 today.
  OREA recommended fines be doubled for violating the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act (REBBA) Code of Ethics. That would put the maximum penalty for salespeople at $50,000, while brokers and brokerages would face fines of up to $100,000.
  The discussion paper is meant to elicit feedback from OREA's 70,000 members to the Ontario Liberal government's review of the real estate act. New rules are expected in the fall for agents who represent both a buyer and seller in a single transaction.
  In addition to the higher fines, OREA says RECO needs to be able to order realtors to return profits made through breaches of the act. "Fines may not cover the entire fee earned as a result of unethical activity. In other words, even under a system of higher fines registrants could still profit from unethical behaviour," said the OREA paper.
  There were 70,284 registered realtors in Ontario in 2014 and 73,751 in 2015. But that number shot up to 78,870 last year, according to OREA. Of those, 48,117 were real estate salespeople.
  Article: https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/08/22/rule-breaking-realtors-should-face-stiffer-penalties-says-orea.html
  Posted by mortgagesbycolleen on September 6, 2017 · Leave a Comment
  Should You Get A Status Certificate?
  Posted by mortgagesbycolleen on August 22, 2017 · Leave a Comment
  With the current situation of house prices in the Toronto area, chances are first time buyers (and those of us downsizing) will be looking at purchasing a condo. What is a Status Certificate.
  Purchasing a condo or condo townhouse is very different from purchasing a detached home. All condo buyers should be aware the unit's status certificate as it provides important details about the unit you are interested in, as well as the condo corporation as a whole. I strongly suggest you make your purchase conditional on a review of the status certificate.
  Sometimes the seller will offer to provide you with a version of the status certificate that they previously obtained. But the certificate's information could be out of date, and inaccurate.
  Some questions about condos and the answers a status certificate will provide:
  What's in the condominium's declaration, bylaws and rules? Often condos have rules regarding pet ownership, noise, balcony furniture, decorations, and even curtains and flooring material. Make sure you're comfortable with these rules.
  What kind of fees can I expect to pay? What are your monthly fees for maintenance, landscaping, utilities in common areas, and other upkeep. As well, are there special assessments that owners are still paying into.
  Is the seller up to date on their fees? If the seller is in arrears on their monthly fees, it's the new owner's responsibility to catch up the arrears, so find out beforehand.
  What's the financial status of the condo corporation? Is there enough money in the reserve fund to cover future repairs? If the reserve fund isn't large enough, you could end up facing a sudden hike in your condo fees or paying a special assessment. Read this info carefully. I left it for my lawyer to investigate only to find out the reserve fund had minimal deposits
  Will I have full ownership of the included parking space or locker? Will you personally own the space, or is it a common element that the condo corporation owns, and assigns to you. Be sure to confirm, with your lawyer, that the declaration documents match with the purchase and sale agreement in details such as the unit number, parking space number and locker number.
  And what if the status certificate reveals something that gives you pause? If you make your offer conditional upon its review, you should be able to walk away from the deal.
  https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2017/08/12/a-current-status-certificate-is-a-crucial-piece-of-your-condo-purchase-joe-richer.html
  Shocking, This All Started 9 Years Ago!
  Posted by mortgagesbycolleen on August 8, 2017 · Leave a Comment
  If I were to ask when you remember the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) making fairly recent changes to the mortgage rules, what would be your guess? When was mortgage insurance banned on properties over $1 million? Would you have guessed a couple of years ago? It was actually 5 years ago!
  Here's a brief history of some of those key mortgage rule changes over the past decade:
  October 17, 2016: The federal government introduced a stress test to be used in approving all high-ratio insured mortgages with terms of five years or more. It required such borrowers to prove they can handle payments at the Bank of Canada's posted 5-year rate (currently 4.84%).
  Further changes are still being proposed to tighten mortgage underwriting. Now they are targeting the uninsured market, which would shut many borrowers out of the market!!
  Posted by mortgagesbycolleen on August 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment
  We are continually being reminded that Canadians are overextended and in too much debt. So much so, the Ministry of Finance has made getting a mortgage more difficult and changed the rules to qualify for financing.
  What has recently been discovered is that while this may be true, we have generally borrowed wisely to build our net worth to record levels. Warnings about household debt often ignore assets and skew the picture.
  The $10.3-trillion in net worth of Canadian households is the result of debt accumulated to finance assets such as real estate and investments, according to a Fraser Institute report. "When looking at debt levels it's important to consider the degree to which Canadians are also using it to increase their net worth."
  Canadian household debt has topped $2 trillion but two-third of that is in mortgages (the rest is made up of credit card and other debt) and a new report says that helped fuel unprecedented levels of household net worth.
  Canadians are not being irresponsible with household debt. Household assets, such as real estate, pensions, financial investments and businesses, have grown from $2.2 trillion in 1990 to $12.3 trillion in 2016.
  It chastises governments for cautioning about household debt when their own finances are less favourable. "Governments across Canada have been racking up debt, particularly since 2007, but the net worth of governments in Canada has actually decreased," said Di Matteo. "It's somewhat hypocritical for governments to warn Canadians about rising household debt levels given the state of their own finances."
  Those without mortgages are seeing a declining trend in their average credit scores that began in 2015, along with an increasing likelihood of bankruptcy. As well, mortgage delinquencies for consumers over 65 are the highest of all age groups and rising, and higher delinquency rates for auto loans persisted throughout 2016. BMO Wealth Management reported that millennials say their top financial priority is paying down debt. It beat out finding meaningful and better-paying work, purchasing or upgrading a home and upgrading education.
  http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-record-debt-levels-have-resulted-in-record-net-worth-report-1.3508018