By Tim Parker | Investopedia

Did you get a brochure in the mail or an email that offered a great way to chop off six to eight years from your home

loan?

The way to do this, according to the brochure, is to no longer pay one monthly mortgage payment but instead, pay

every two weeks. The conventional logic is that increasingly the frequency of the payments doesn't allow interest to

build up and over the course of a 30- or 15-year mortgage that can equal years eliminated from your loan.

Before you sign up for these biweekly payments, let's see if the accepted logic is actually true and if you're really

saving money.

Better Credit?
According to Bankrate, some people believe that making biweeklypayments improves their credit, but this is no

more than a myth according to experts. Using a biweekly payment schedule set up by your mortgage lender puts

you on an automatic withdrawal plan that assures that your payments are made on time. If you're the type of

person who misses payments from time to time because you forgot to write the check, an automatic payment

schedule will improve your credit because of the on time payments, but you can get the same advantage with an

automatic monthly payment too.

Reduces Interest?
Sadly, this is another myth not to believe. Depending on the particulars of your loan, there is a good chance that

the company receiving your mortgage payment isn't the company that holds the loan. Although you're paying twice

per month, the servicer receiving your payment isn't making biweekly payments to the company who owns your

loan. They're likely holding it in an account until the end of the month.

But does this mean that the interest that is building up isn't reduced? Remember that each calendar year has 52

weeks and if each month has four weeks that would only be 48 weeks. This means that biweekly payments won't

consist of two payments each month but instead, 26 half payments which equals the equivalent of 13 monthly

payments in a year. If the math is a little tough to follow, it works like this: Biweekly payments are equal to 13

monthly payments in a year where making traditional monthly payments are equal to 12 payments each year. By

paying an extra month, you're paying extra principal which shaves six to eight years off the life of the loan over

time.

But do you have to make bimonthly payments to do that? You could divide the amount of one month's payment by

12 and add that amount to your monthly mortgage payment. If you're paying $1,500 per month, divide 1,500 by 12

and make your monthly payment $1625. Talk to your mortgage company first to make sure there isn't something

more you have to do to make sure it is applied to the principal amount of your loan.

Don't Make it a Contract
There are two problems with answering the call from your lender for biweekly payments. First, the reason they

want to sign you up for this plan is because there will be a fee and that's more revenue for the bank. They are

charging you to give them a two week loan, according to Bankrate. Second, most consumers already have enough

contractual payment obligations in their life. Especially for those without a lot of financial reserves, it is better to

keep some flexibility in your budgeting rather than committing to the biweekly payments. You can always make

extra payments when you get three paychecks in a month, receive a tax refund or come in to unexpected money.

The Bottom Line
Don't fall for the advertisement to make biweekly payments through a bank or mortgage servicer sponsored plan.

In this case, the benefits do not outweigh the gains.

By Brian Hutchinson

VANCOUVER — There’s a deep, gaping hole in downtown Vancouver and it’s getting bigger. After nearly four

years’ hiatus, work crews have resumed digging. The on-again, off-again 63-storey building on busy West

Georgia Street is on, again. Almost 300 condominiums, starting at $1-million each. A luxury hotel. Amenities

galore. Another indication of the froth that has returned to this city’s real estate scene.

Number crunchers report that housing prices are down slightly in Vancouver this year; in Toronto, the country’s

second most expensive real estate market, prices continue to rise. But economic conditions and logic don’t apply

in all corners of this city.

It still beckons wealthy and foreign investors, people besotted by glass condominium towers. People with cash to

burn on a “safe haven” second home with sweeping ocean and mountain views.

Across Vancouver, stunning new condominium developments are being planned. And selling out, within hours.

It’s reminiscent of the previous decade, when developers set about transforming a town notorious for leaky

condos into a forest of gleaming, premium-priced skyboxes. Buyers seemed prepared to oblige.

Before the economic crash in 2008 (and his death a year later) famed local architect Arthur Erickson put his mark

on the West Georgia Street tower. The building would be defined by its “hyperbolic parabloids,” elements intended

to make the building seem to turn 45 degrees in the sky.

Parabloids weren’t the only hyperbolic flourish. A 7,400-square-foot penthouse suite was offered for sale, asking

price $28-million. Other units, less regal but still grand, were pre-sold at $2,300 per square foot, a Canadian

record. The Ritz-Carlton agreed to put its name on the 24-storey hotel.

Then the markets tumbled and the Ritz waltzed away. Work stopped. Down payments were returned. Joo Kim

Tiah, the project’s Malaysian-born developer, was forced to make adjustments. He added density and efficiencies,

more condominiums and hotel rooms. The City of Vancouver approved his revisions in 2009, but the market had

moved on. The excavation pit was cleared of equipment and that’s how it sat, empty and forlorn.

Last Friday, the workers returned. Should everything go as planned, Vancouver’s turning tower will be completed

in four years. “I want to make sure I get it right this time,” says Mr. Tiah, who is just 32 years old.

It’s still a gamble, of course; building $500-million condominium towers is not for the risk-averse, even here, even

now. Reports that the apartments on West Georgia Street will be priced at $1,500 per square foot “raised a few

eyebrows, for sure,” says Jeff Hancock, senior manager of MPC Intelligence, a local firm that collects real estate

data and performs analyses for banks and other clients. “There’s always room for high-end product, but the

demand is concentrated in certain areas and among certain buyers, such as the Asian-Chinese buying

demographic. The Chinese are very savvy investors, very value oriented with long-term vision. They want

convenient locations that are near transit.”

In Vancouver, such opportunities are rare; when a new project is announced in any downtown location, or beside

one of the city’s elevated transit stations, investors line up to buy. In March, a 415-unit condominium project on the

three-year-old Canada Line sold out within a few hours. Later the same month, all 428 condominiums to be built

inside a new residential-commercial project downtown were pre-sold, again in a matter of hours. The

development will be headquarters for communications Telus, and is expected to cost $750-million to complete.

Site demolition and preparation began in February.

Telus Garden is big and bold, but it’s not a huge stretch for developer Ian Gillespie, president of Vancouver-based

Westbank Development Corp. Among other projects, Mr. Gillespie and his firm are responsible for the ambitious

Woodward’s complex that has changed the face of Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside, and two Shangri-

La hotel and condo towers, one here, the other in Toronto. Impressive feats, especially since several projects

were completed after the economic downturn.

Now comes another audacious project, a 600-unit, 49-storey condo tower with separate retail buildings and a

daycare, designed by a Dane, Bjarke Ingels, one of the most celebrated architects of the day. The buildings are to

be set betwixt traffic viaducts leading to Vancouver’s Granville Bridge, which spans False Creek and connects the

city’s crowded downtown core to its verdant west side.

It’s not an obvious location, but there aren’t many options left. “All the low-hanging fruit has been picked,” notes Mr.

Gillespie. The project footprint “is restricted to a small triangle, tiny even by Vancouver standards,” says Mr. Ingels,

who came up with an interesting solution: The main tower broadens as it rises. “As the tower ascends, it clears

the noise, exhaust and visual invasion of the bridge,” Mr. Ingels explains in Westbank’s rezoning application, filed

with the city in January. “Our design reclaims the lost area as the tower clears the zone of influence of the bridge,

gradually cantilevering out over our own site.”

The project has generated excitement, thanks in large part to Mr. Ingels’ involvement and his aggressive design.

There are skeptics who say it may never be realized. It will, vows Mr. Gillespie.

“People are really tired of the s— that’s being built in this city,” he says. “People want to see something good.” And

he’s betting they’ll shell out for good over bad.

By Carla Wintersgill | Moneyville

I spotted a gray hair in the mirror the other day. It’s not a coincidence its appearance corresponded with my first

morning in our new home.

Last week, my boyfriend, Jesse, and I moved into a tiny two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in East York. Since

buying our first home in late January, we’ve endured a bidding war, a termite scare, a tax surprise, endless

paperwork and spent nearly every dollar we have to grab our own slice ofToronto real estate.

It’s a miracle all my hair isn’t grey.

It’s with 20/20 hindsight I can now see the things we should have done differently to make the process easier on

ourselves.

The first would be to spend more time researching the process.

Buying a home means bouncing between three professionals — realtor, banker and lawyer — whose efforts

you’re responsible for coordinating. It helps if you understand what’s going on. Often we didn’t, instead counting

on the person we were dealing with to prompt us on the next step.

They say that ignorance is bliss, but, in our case, ignorance usually led to a series of frantic phone calls about

something we should have taken care of sooner.

“Do your homework,” Mary Stergiadis of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation says.

She recommends attending a first-time homebuyers seminar, where potential purchasers are able to meet with

realtors, mortgage lenders and real estate lawyers to get a better feel for what really goes into buying a house. It’s

also a chance to become familiar with the real estate jargon that is a part of the transaction.

“Sometimes mortgage professionals forget that we’re dealing with first-time buyers,” she says.

Before even thinking about dipping your toe in the market, it’s important to understand all the costs of buying a

home and maintaining the property in the future, Stergiadis says.

Websites of organizations such as the CMHC and the Canadian Real Estate Association are filled with factsheets,

videos and toolkits for buyers to adequately prepare themselves for the process of buying a home.

The most embarrassing oversight Jesse and I made during the sale was not realizing there are both a municipal 

land transfer tax (in Toronto only) and a provincial land transfer tax. That’s a $3,400 miscalculation. And, because

Jesse’s name is a on a family property, we don’t qualify for the first-time homebuyers land transfer tax refund.

We also didn’t realize all the land transfer tax would be due to our lawyer before closing. We ended up borrowing

$600 from Jesse’s mother to make our closing costs because a cheque we deposited into our account hadn’t

cleared in time to be included in the money order.

If you think you have enough money saved up for a house, save another $10,000.

Everywhere we turned, there was another service that needed to be paid for: electrician, locksmith, home

inspector, furnace technician, looming property tax, etc. Not to mention the buckets and buckets of paint and

supplies we bought to spruce the place up.

As our bank accounts were dwindling, we could have done more to find potential savings, Stergiadis says. I did

qualify as a first-time homebuyer and could have taken advantage of the Home Buyers’ Plan, which would have

allowed me to withdraw up to $25,000 tax-free from my Registered Retirement Savings Plan.

I don’t have that much in savings, but I could have done what Stergiadis and her husband did when purchasing

their first home. They deposited their down payment in an RRSP, collected a sizeable tax return to help manage

closing costs and buy new appliances, and withdrew the cash when it was time to buy the house. The only catch

to the Home Buyers’ Plan is that the RRSP must be paid back within 15 years.

Very smart. Too bad we didn’t think of that.

Lastly, if we could do it all again, we would try to relax a little bit more. The whole home-buying process was a

series of snafus. But no matter how many mistakes we made, eventually the sale worked itself out. I couldn’t be

prouder of our little house.

I may have grey hairs now, but the tradeoff was worth it.

National home prices show signs of easing

BY JOHN MORRISSY, FINANCIAL POST

OTTAWA — Homes prices edged down 0.2 per cent in February from the month before but were still 6.1 per cent

higher than a year ago, according to a well-watched housing index.

The month-over-month decline was the third such retreat in the past four months for the Teranet-National Bank

National Composite House Price Index, released Wednesday, which measures price changes for repeat sales of

single-family homes.

In January, prices rose 0.1 per cent.

Teranet's report showed prices falling from the previous month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed.

In Canada's two hottest real-estate markets, prices in Vancouver fell 0.3 per cent, the fifth consecutive decline,

while prices in Toronto rose by just 0.1 per cent. On a yearly basis, however, Toronto prices were 10 per cent

higher.

Nationally, prices were 6.1 per cent higher than a year ago. In January, prices were 6.5 per cent higher.

The data is likely to show up on the radar of Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has repeatedly warned

that Canadians are piling on too much debt as they buy homes whose prices keep rising.

At a House of Commons finance committee meeting Tuesday, Carney warned that house prices in relation to

income levels are now running 35 per cent above historical norms.

Last week, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that seasonally adjusted sales in March rose 1.6 per

cent from year-earlier levels, although the national average home price declined 0.5 per cent to to $369,677.

"It is a fact that according to CREA (the Canadian Real Estate Association) data for March, five of the 11 markets

covered were rather favourable to sellers (Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax and Quebec City). Overall, the

Canadian market is nevertheless balanced," said National Bank senior economist Marc Pinsonneault.

Postmedia News

Twitter.com/johnmorrissy

Metropolitan area % change m/m / % change y/y

Calgary / -0.6 % / +1.3 %

Edmonton / -1.0 % / +1.1 %

Halifax / +0.4 % / +2.3 %

Hamilton / -0.8 % / +7.5 %

Montreal / +0.2 % / +4.4 %

Ottawa / -0.4 % / +4.6 %

Quebec / +1.6 % / +5.6 %

Toronto / 0.1 % / +10.0 %

Vancouver / -0.3 % / +6.2 %

Victoria / -1.1 % / -1.7 %

Winnipeg / +0.2 % / +8.2 %

National Composite / -0.2 % / +6.1 %

Source: Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index

By: Darcy Wintonyk and Lynda Steele, ctvbc.ca

Date: Tuesday Apr. 24, 2012 9:26 AM PT

By Michele Lerner | Bankrate.com

If you rented out your home to a tenant instead of selling the house during a slow market, you might be ready

now to put it on the market. The effort to sell a home can be complicated by the presence of a renter.

While many real estate agents recommend waiting until your lease expires and selling your home without a renter

in residence, not all landlords can afford to have their home vacant for a few months during the transition. In

addition, local regulations can impact the process of selling an investment property.

"The first thing any landlord should do is to check out the local tenant-landlord rules," says Patricia Kennedy, an

associate broker with Evers & Co. Real Estate in Washington, D.C. "The rules vary from one jurisdiction to

another. For instance, in D.C., tenants have the right of first refusal when a home goes on the market and again

when an offer comes in."

Kennedy suggests that homeowners start the sales process by communicating clearly with the tenants and

asking if they want to buy the home.

Ben Hoefer, a Realtor with John L. Scott Real Estate in Seattle, says, "There are some exceptions and some great

tenants that keep a place in good condition and are cooperative. But in general, having a tenant can have a

negative impact on a home that's on the market. Normally, the home drops in value because of the condition of the

home and the lack of access for agents and prospective buyers."

Kennedy says many real estate agents are reluctant to show buyers a tenant-occupied home because they expect

resistance to allowing visitors into the property and assume the condition will be less than optimal. "Smart tenants

can hold up a sale for as long as year if they don't want to move," she says.

Selling a vacant home has some drawbacks as well, including a lack of rental income while the home is on the

market.

"An empty home can be staged with some furniture and plants," says Donald Marcy, a Realtor with Coldwell

Banker Residential Brokerage in Madison, N.J. "The bigger issues are the lack of income and the fact that the

homeowner will have to pay utilities. Depending on the location of the home, there may also be concerns about

security and about things like pipes freezing."

Tenant cooperation

For those homeowners who do choose to sell with a tenant in residence, Marcy says landlords need to

communicate clearly and try to get the tenant to cooperate.

"It's one thing if the tenant already wants to move, but a tenant who doesn't want to move can be hostile," Marcy

says. "The owners need to explain what they are doing and why, and they need to set up a protocol for how and

when the home will be shown."

Marcy says tenants should be told the keys won't be just handed out to anyone who wants to see the place, and

that an agent or the owner will accompany prospective buyers.

Anyone who has sold a home knows the stress involved with keeping the home constantly neat and clean, along

with vacating whenever a buyer wants to see it, but at least homeowners have the incentive of making a sale.

Realtors suggest providing an incentive to tenants to get them to cooperate.

"Money always talks," says Liz Sidorowicz, a broker with Re/Max Signature in Chicago. "You can offer to give the

tenants 50 percent off their rent for a month if they'll keep the place clean and let in prospective buyers and their

agents."

Marcy recommends offering something such as a gift certificate for dinner for two during each month the home is

on the market. "You need to ask the tenants to keep the beds made and dishes out of the sink, but you also need

to remind them to keep cash, jewelry, firearms, prescription drugs and anything embarrassing out of sight of

prospective buyers," he says. "Giving them some type of incentive should encourage them to cooperate with

buyers."

Kennedy says reassurances about the safety of the tenants and their belongings should be given along with an

incentive such as a rent rebate at settlement. "Landlords need to recognize that the tenants see the property as

their home, not a commodity," she says.

Hoefer recommends offering a free hotel room for the renters on the weekend of an open house or some other

perk that might make life easier for them.

"Rental rates have gone up in many areas, so offering to pay the difference in rent for a couple of months or finding

them a rental agent and providing recommendations can also encourage cooperation," Hoefer says.

By Michele Lerner | Bankrate.com

It's not always easy to find a mortgage lender. The first step, naturally, is to check mortgage rates on

Bankrate.com. But that's not the final step. Selecting a mortgage lender should be based on more than just the

lowest rate. Gather a few rate quotes, and then follow up with some research and interviews before you choose

the lender who is right for you.

"You want to sit down with two or three lenders to make sure you find one who's a good fit, the right match for you

as a borrower rather than a product pusher," says Michael Jablonski, executive vice president and retail production

manager for BB&T Home Mortgage. "Mortgage lending should be a collaborative process."

A good lender can qualify you for a loan and offer advice on ways to improve your credit and should talk to you

about mortgage payments in context with the rest of your financial plan.

Asking friends, family and co-workers for lender referrals can be helpful, along with checking with a local bank,

suggests Arlene Allert, vice president and regional manager of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in San Francisco.

Reputable real estate agents can give recommendations, too.

Brian Martucci, a senior loan officer with GetLoans.com in Washington, D.C., says consumers should check on a

lender's reputation for getting loans to completion and their experience in addition to comparing mortgage rates.

If you are happy with your bank or credit union, you might want to check on their mortgage loan programs, but

Martucci says you shouldn't expect special treatment such as a lower mortgage rate or discounts on fees. Some

banks offer incentives to their customers and others don't, Allert says.

Lender interviews

"You don't have to apply for a loan to ask questions," says Cindy Tessier, assistant vice president at Navy Federal

Credit Union in Vienna, Va. "You can find out a lot by simply calling to ask about loan programs. If the loan officer is

hard to reach or gives you a hard sell, you may not want to work with that lender."

Allert says: "Ask if they can explain in language you understand what each option means for you, not just today but

for the long term. You also need to find someone who will agree to set expectations upfront, including how long

the loan process will take, how often you'll communicate and how you'll communicate -- such as by email or

phone."

One of the most important questions, Martucci says, is about turnaround time because so many mortgage loans

today are delayed.

Tessier recommends asking who will service your loan because if your loan will be sold, it might be more difficult

to track someone down later who can help you with any issues.

Michael Astorino, field mortgage manager at Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., says, "You should ask what

happens if the appraisal comes in too low or your rate lock expires before closing or there are other problems at

the last minute, because your lender should be able to help you set expectations and commit to getting you to

settlement."

Astorino says consumers should expect the lender to ask questions in return about long-term plans for

homeownership and overall financial goals. "You want someone who focuses on you, not on your loan," Astorino

says.

Comparing mortgage loans

"Every lender handles things slightly differently, but you should be able to get a written statement or spreadsheet

that gives you a side-by-side comparison of different loan programs," Allert says.

To simplify loan comparisons, Martucci suggests asking only about the interest rate and points on a loan along

with the lender fees. "You don't need to ask about taxes and insurance because you can do that later, and that isn't

likely to vary from lender to lender," says Martucci.

Astorino suggests that consumers focus first on overall goals such as paying off the loan in a certain number of

years or keeping the monthly payments as low as possible, then zeroing in on the lender's fees and the annual

percentage rate, or APR.

The ultimate goal, getting to the settlement table with your financing in place, should be met as long as you have

chosen a lender who communicates well and offers a consultative approach, Allert says.

Prepare for buying a home

 

By Dana Dratch | Bankrate.com

 

Before you make an offer on a house, it pays to ask a handful of questions. While the answers

might scare you off or make you rethink your bid, they could make you feel more confident that

you're making the right move on the right house.

 

As you prepare for buying a home, here are seven questions to ask before you make the offer.

Are foreclosures in your neighborhood?

Six hotels and a trade and exhibition centre

BY ANDY IVENS, THE PROVINCE

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie unveiled $4 billion in development projects Tuesday that will add density to the

city centre and transform the northwest waterfront into a destination for international travellers.

The centrepiece, although still on the drawing board, is a propos-al called Vancouver International Plaza at Duck

Island.

If it gains approval, it will rejuvenate a large tract of industrial land on Duck Island that formerly was the site of

Lehigh Cement Ltd., walking distance from the Bridge-port Canada Line station and bordering the River Rock

Casino.

The concept calls for six luxurious hotels and a total of four mil-lion square feet of development, which Jingon

International Development Group calls a "major entertainment and commercial destination for the region."

Public amenities will include a riverfront walkway and plaza, and piers reaching into the Fraser River, as well as a

park, sports courts and gardens, a dock for ferries running to destinations up the Fraser River and a 450,000-

square-foot trade and convention centre.

"It's a spectacular location," said Gary Pooni, president of Brook Poo-ni Associates, the Vancouver-based project

manager and planning consultant for Jingon's proposal.

"It really comes out of the City of Richmond and its post-Olympic legacy," said Pooni.

"Richmond is now known as an international city and an international destination.

"The infrastructure through the airport and the Canada Line and an international local population, for us, makes

the timing right."

Pooni compared the concept with developments in Los Angeles, Australia and Singapore, adding there's nothing

like it in Canada.

"They become office, hotel, entertainment, retail, restaurant and a convention centre . . . an international

destination," he said.

"It becomes another reason to visit Metro Vancouver and Richmond.

"It will also be for the local people of Richmond who just want some-thing to do," he said.

It's early in the planning process, he noted. If all goes smoothly, construction could begin in late 2013 and take

years to build out.

Brodie also revealed an innovative way to get a station built on the Canada Line without any money coming from

TransLink, the cash-strapped regional transit authority.

"We do need the station, but TransLink has no money to build it," he told a luncheon gathering of the Richmond

Chamber of Commerce.

His plan involves buyers of the 6,600 units of housing to be built in the area around Capstan and No. 3 Road to

deposit $7,800 each into a fund for the station.

From that money, $25 million would be used to build the station.