Fires choke Columbia area
'Gross and embarrassing'
Motorcyclist clings to life
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Doc tells homeless: get job
Flood, fire losses $1B a year
No forgiveness, says mom
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Cancun to ruins by train
Dozens hurt in bus crash
Bomb blast kills 67
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Questions over Tesla deal
No deal without Canada
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The Mortgage Gal
Often missed finance tool
The pop and sizzle of New Year’s Eve is a distant memory now, and many well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions have probably fallen by the wayside....
Property Transfer Tax
On February 16th, the Liberal Government announced changes to the Property Transfer Tax. The two major changes: • Exemption for new homes up to a purchase...
Reverse mortgages
While reverse mortgages have had a bad reputation based on old programs or those offered in the United States, you might be surprised to learn how much they...
Don't renew that mortgage!
Don’t renew that mortgage . . . until you’ve learned about the following. Is your mortgage coming due in the next few months? When your mortgage is...
Broker commissions
Mortgage broker commissions On January 18th I did an interview on CBC Radio Kelowna regarding the FICOM proposal for more disclosure on the Form 10 used by...
Do new rules affect you?
New downpayment rules If buying a home is on your list of to dos for 2016, then you may be affected by the new downpayment requirement rules announced by...
Money 2016: Taking control
With talk about the climbing real estate prices, a recovering global economy keeping investment analysts cautious, and the decline in oil prices, it is...
No-stress celebration ahead
Welcome to your five-step guide to turn holiday chaos into stress-free celebration: The kids are off from school, family and work obligations are competing for...
First-time home buyer?
Your RRSP may be the down payment you’re looking for Thinking about buying your first home? Wish you had saved up for a good down payment? Maybe you...
Fixed or variable-rate?
“Wow!” you say to your spouse as you hit the brakes on the car. “Did you see the mortgage rate those guys are advertising?” Your...
The reverse mortgage
For many seniors, their family home is a place of fond memories, as well as their biggest nest egg. Coupled with a familiar neighbourhood, neighbours and...
Renovations for rebates
Continuing with the renovation theme from last week, Fortis and Hydro have teamed up to provide a variety of rebates and offers. There are a couple of...
Perfect (reno'd) home
How many times have you found a home in the perfect location, but it needs too much work as per the home inspection? There is a great program available through...
Collateral mortgage
Most of the time I recommend that my clients not take a collateral type mortgage product, as it locks you in with the current lender and at maturity the...
Turn home equity to income
When retirement funds run low, seniors often ask if tapping into the equity in their home is the right way to retain financial independence. To see if this...
Reverse mortgages
Do you know there is only one reverse mortgage provider in all of Canada? Do you know they became a schedule one bank in late 2009? Do you know how much the...
Mortgage policy changes?
There are rumours circulating again that the federal government may move to tighten mortgage insurance criteria. This is prompted by a recent article in the...
Income from home equity
When retirement funds run low, seniors often ask if tapping into the equity in their home is the right way to retain financial independence. To see if this...
Increase property value
Here are five of the best renovations you can do to your home to increase property value. These five renovations can sometimes have a return on investment five...
Renovation dreaming
Dreaming of a new fire pit? A deep soaker tub? With summer on its way, lots of families have renovations on their minds. Did you know that home buyers can apply...
