Mortgage rates are near all-time lows but for the best deal, move to British Columbia. The province has Canada’s most expensive housing but its residents are getting rockbottom rates thanks to a ferocious battle between B.C.’s credit unions and the banks. B.C. home prices, Vancouver in particular, have long outpaced the rest of the country. […]

While plenty of individuals live from paycheque to paycheque, most consumers know they should be saving money and reducing debt. The recession has drummed that concept into everyone’s head as people have watched their neighbours and friends lose jobs and sometimes their home. Many people say that money worries keep them awake at night, but […]

The housing bust horror flick is now giving way to a very unwelcome sequel: a big squeeze on the cost of renting. The number of renters paying more than half of their income towards rent has hit record levels, according to a new study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University. Rental affordability […]

A young couple who have been renting in our modest Toronto condo building recently bought a home a couple of miles away in a nice old neighbourhood with the aim of starting a family. The house is a big, detached fixer-upper and the renovation costs will be extensive. In moving up to the rungs on […]

The number one question you need to ask yourself if you’re selling your home this spring is: How do I net the most money? It’s not how do I get the most money for my home. It’s how do I keep the most money in my pocket after paying all my expenses, including commissions and […]

Since they rely heavily on word-of-mouth to spread their businesses, contractors are motivated to fully satisfy their customers and build a solid reputation. But because bad news travels faster and farther than good news, it’s far more common to hear stories about bad contractors than it is to hear about good ones. (You think your updated house […]

The most enduring and simplistic argument for buying a house is that you’re making an investment. What an understatement. Between your mortgage, property taxes, utility bills, maintenance, furnishings, renovations, landscaping and such, you’ll be investing non-stop in your home. But what’s the return on your money? Looking back a decade, houses have been an excellent […]

You walk into the open house, take one look and say to yourself: This is it. It’s the house I have to live in. Where do I pay? A bidding war? I’m in. Over my years of buying houses, I never bought one that did not have that frisson moment, that thrill of finding a […]

Higher food and gasoline prices and hefty debt loads likely to be made worse by interest rate hikes will impact consumers’ buying habits going forward, say those who track retail spending. It’s going to be tough for consumers who have depended on a low interest rate environment, said TD Bank economist Francis Fong, adding that […]

Let’s just say you owed somebody a ton of money but there was no legal way to force you to pay it back. Would you? What if it was one of those evil corporate banks that make for an easy target? Did the answer just get a little easier? Not for 60% of Americans who […]