Real Estate Video Blog

A guide to the tax implications of buying, holding and selling an investment property. The blog answers questions such as what are the costs, how does it affect my income tax for the year and how much tax do I pay when I sell my investment property?

Explaining different options regarding down payment and how it affects your mortgage rate and payments you’ll end up making. There are 3 different levels.

1. Putting 20% down or more - You get the best available mortgage rate as well as not having to buy mortgage insurance from a company like CMHC.
2. Putting between 5 to 20% down - You get the benefit of the best available rate except you need to buy mortgage insurance.
3. 0 to less than 5 % down - Many lenders still have this option available. If you’re doing 0 down, or anything less than 5% for that matter, the bank considers you higher risk and will charge you a higher interest rate. For example, today’s fixed rate is 3.5% with 5 or more % down, and with 0 down it’s 5.5%. To put that in perspective on a mortgage of $500,000, you’re looking at difference of over $500 a month.

The mortgage insurance rate for options 2 and 3 is between half a percent to 7% of the amount you’re borrowing and it varies depending on how much you put down and if you’re self employed or on salary. This is insurance the bank makes you buy and it’s in place in case you can’t make your payments. Now this insurance fee is worked into the mortgage and not paid up front which is nice.

So do the math and make sure you know the true cost of buying when you get into it. If you have questions don’t be shy to call or email.

A tutorial on who pays HST, how much do you pay and what are the rebates you're entitled to.

The federal government will give you up to 1.8% of the purchase price back for any home up to $400,000. For homes over $400,000, the feds won't give you any rebate. The province of BC will give back a straight 5%. This 5% caps out at homes worth $525,000 and more.
- So if you buy a home that's up to $400,000 you will get 1.8% or less from the feds and 5% back from BC.
- If it's between $400,000-$525,000, you get nothing back from the feds and 5% from BC.
- If it's more than $525,000 you get a flat $26,250 back from BC. Even if your home is a few million dollars.

Click here for more info on HST

Here's a great way to pay your mortgage off faster and create more capital for yourself. You might have heard of a tax deductible mortgage or the Smith Manoeuvre. This concept is being advertised more recently although it’s been around for a while.

Short video on the importance of a home inspection including things you should look for while viewing the home.