From the Financial Times – Lessons for the American housing market

Written by a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and author of Too Big to Save? How to Fix the US Financial System, this article is interesting in the way that it lays out a series of lessons to the American public, while at the same time making a reasonable argument as to why our Canadian housing market has survived. (more…)

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It was a little over two years ago that I was asked by a real estate investment company to help them secure mortgages for their clients. It was also a little over two years ago that I told them under no uncertain circumstances would I help their clients secure mortgages.

The company’s offering was very impressive, at first. I literally watched one Monday evening as more than 20 people handed over in excess of $3,900 each (more…)

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From the Montreal Gazette – Can’t say that I don’t completely agree with the analysis.

While the Bank of Canada made it clear yesterday that it doesn’t see a housing bubble in this country yet, it also kept the spotlight on Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as the official who ought to be held responsible (more…)

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From CBC.ca – Alberta real estate prices set to rise

CMHC is predicting housing price increases in Alberta. Since they are likely in the know, I wonder if they are factoring in any potential changes to the amortization and down payment requirements. If they are not, it might be an indication that they do not think it will happen.

The real estate market in Alberta appears to be on the rebound, experts in the field say.

House sales will increase as by as much as 10 per cent in (more…)

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Beware ‘free’ real estate seminars – Yourhome.ca.

In the next couple of days I will be chronicling a story from two years ago where I got involved with a company who made money by selling real estate courses designed to convince consumers to invest their savings and equity in their homes in real estate backed assets. I ultimately stopped my dealings with the company because I believed that clients were becoming over leveraged without understanding the potential consequences.

In the time being, take a look at this article from Yourhome.ca that discusses the warning signs of a get rich quick scheme.

Typically, what these no-money down programs attempt (more…)

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