Tax season

It's official. We're in tax season. It's time to start thinking about doing your taxes. If you usually get a refund, it's a good idea to get started early. That way, the Canada Revenue Agency will be able to get your refund back to you that much quicker. Money in the pocket is never a bad idea.

This year, I would like people to post some of their tax questions online. You can remain annonymous to protect your financial privacy, but I would like to offer advice so that everyone can save a little bit of money this year. If I save you enough money, you could always treat me to a nice dinner :P

I think I will post some tax tips occasionally because my real estate ventures are currently at a standstill. I'm too busy with accounting at this point to be worrying about completing the last course of the real estate program. I will be back to the real estate thing after April 30th, the tax deadline day.

Home insurance

Today's lesson is in home insurance. I received a notice the other day from my previous insurance carrier that my bill for my home was going to be over $2400. I thought this was ludicrous. I almost would prefer to not own a home. I asked my broker to look into things further, especially given the fact that I was now occupying the home. My broker was not able to negotiate any new rates. I thought I would begin to shop.

In all fairness to my broker, they likely only had a few companies that they deal with. My circumstance is somewhat unusual and perhaps high-risk for some carriers. My broker may not have been able to offer me a better deal.

I called around and did some online quotes. I got a pretty good idea of what I should expect from my insurance. I found a place that offered me a much better rate; and, since I bundled it with my car insurance, I am able to save on both. On both my car insurance and my home, I am about to save about $2300/ year. It looks like a pretty productive lunch.

The lesson is this. Shop around! There are some insurance companies that are very respectable that can offer good rates. It might just depend on the type of insurance you are getting. In my case, I have 3 roommates which is a bit unusual for some carriers and not for others. The trick is to find a carrier or a broker that deals in those types of deals. I didn't skimp out on any sort of coverage, I actually increased my protection (except on the car, it's worthless anyways), but I was able to save a lot of money.

I won't disclose which companies I have used because I don't want to get hit with any sort of defamation lawsuit. I won't disclose which company I have decided to go with either... just in case I find a better insurance carrier, and I want to rip up this carrier in the future. :P

Possible changes of plans

This is likely to be a useless post, but in order to keep everyone "up-to-date" I'm going to say that I am looking at going in a different direction with my Arlington home. I need to get more information before this is settled; but, if I can do what I want to do, I'll be quite happy. Unfortunately, I do not want to disclose what this option is at the moment, hence the uselessness of the post. Sorry for wasting your time?!?!?!