Home inspector

I think most people know that it is important to have a home inspector before purchasing a property. It would be foolish to not have one done. A home is likely your most important purchase of your life. You do not need any extra surprises after you move in.

It is also important to have a good inspector. The thing I look for in an inspector is not his cost. I look to see if he has an engineering background first. It is the most important element in my opinion. The cost of a home inspector relative to another home inspector is pretty minimal. It is worth the extra money to know that your inspector knows his stuff, especially when it comes to structural issues around a house.

The next thing I look for in an inspector is how organized, and methodical their approach is. It is important that the inspector is thorough, so that minor issues can be identified. If he seems disorganized, you may not be able to remember everything he told you, or you may not have enough time to write it down. If anything, it is nice to use his or her report as a checklist of some to do items once you move in. Hopefully, he is not just writing down notes at the very end. The report should be thorough and he or she may not remember all the details.

Electric

You know when I feel electric? When I get paid for real estate! Today, I got paid for a deal I did awhile ago. Woohoo!

The reason I opened with this was because the money that I earned on this deal was used to settle some small debts I had when I changed the heating in one of my rental units. I did a conversion from electricity to gas. Hence, the electric title of this blog post.

I think most people know that electric baseboard heating is an expensive form of heating. They may not know the degree to which it is more expensive. I can honestly say that I have a larger house, with gas, that doesn't cost me as much in a winter as a two-month bill I get for a baseboard heated house. It's pretty ridiculous.

The government of Ontario was able to rake in an extra $1.3 billion from the new HST this year on electricity. Costs are expected to continue to rise. When you are looking for a new house or apartment, please inquire about the heating costs. They can be significant. You may not be prepared.

This is obvious

The following article discusses how debt in Canada is rising. This should be no surprise. Debt has never been cheaper. On a variable rate mortgage, for example, you could be paying as low as 2.25%. These are record lows! I'm sure when mortgage rates were closer to 20% debt was pretty low. It just makes sense. This isn't surprising.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110217/family-debt-110217/

The issue will be when the interest rates start to rise. They are expected to rise in the near future. The government has been taking steps to help curb people from over-extending themselves on mortgages. This is done to help prevent a housing crisis in Canada similar to the one that has caused the recession in the United States. If people can't afford their mortgages, they will panic and try to sell to save face. This is the reason that mortgage rules continue to get tougher and tougher.

Great advice

I don't really want to endorse any product or any person, but I received an interesting article on money saving tips. These tips go beyond real estate, and I think would help out those that just can't seem to get ahead.

Check out the article at the following link.

http://www.mortgagebrokersottawa.com/_documents/news/howbeingcheapcanleaveyoubroke.pdf

Tax time!

I know people don't like to think about this, but it is almost tax time. Since I have some pretty complicated taxes myself, I need to buy the expensive software. As such, I figure I will do a few on the side this year. If you're interested, let me know.

My personal plans

One thing that seems to gather people's attention is some of the work that I do personally. They seem often more interested in what I do in my investment life than they are interested in their own investment life.

Right now, I live in an apartment downtown. I've had some time to consider how I like living downtown and on my own. I do like both. However, I am a practical guy at heart. I don't think I will be living downtown by the fall. I could be wrong, but those are the plans. There are a number of things to consider before then, but I am thinking of moving back into a house.

Ideally, I will be moving closer to work. I will be moving closer to 100 Constellation.

The reason I am waiting until the fall is that the fall will be the 5 year anniversary of my first home purchase. At that time, I will be renewing my mortgage on that particular property. I will be switching from a fixed rate to a variable rate. It'll be the best fit for me. If you're unsure, you should consult a mortgage professional.

As a result of this new mortgage, my monthly cash flow will improve by a few hundred dollars a month. This will make my new purchase that much easier to afford. I'm certainly no longer going to live in anything that I would consider "tired". I might have to do a little bit of work, but it certainly shouldn't be anything major.

Anyways, I just thought I would share my thoughts. I hope to own my fourth property soon!