Loading...
Loading...
Expert advice, market reports, and tips from the Niagara Region real estate professionals.
When thinking about contracts, it is important to identify the rights you have, as well as the consequences for those who break the deal. A contract for a home purchase agreement is the largest transaction an individual will likely ever sign. For this reason, a real estate contract is unlike other consumer contracts. The agreement will identify one or more pieces of land and will include the rights and responsibilities associated with ownership over that piece of land. The agreement will also consider fixtures and chattels, and representations about the state of the property and leases affecting the property. Since the contracts can involve so many layers, getting the right team involved can make the world of difference when it comes to closing your home purchase.
Last month we looked at how the residential rental market is shifting from being a market where rental units were in scarce supply and tenants had a tough time finding adequate accommodations to one where there were a relative abundance of vacant rental units and tenants had choice. And looking at the forces that were bringing about that shift, it’s safe to say that trend is likely to continue.
When purchasing land as an Ontario corporation, it is important to understand the benefits and obligations specific to incorporated entities. The goal for this newsletter is to help our reader avoid common pitfalls regarding the incorporation process and discuss ways information can be organized for easy retrieval in the future.
There have been a lot of unusual external pressures affecting the market, not only over the course of 2025, but especially in the final months of the year. The tariff issues with the U.S. continue to make headlines. The Bank of Canada once again cut its benchmark rate by 1/4% and on top of that, there is all the uncertainty surrounding the newly introduced Federal Budget. And yet, in spite of it all, the real estate market continues to follow a pretty predictable path as set out over the past few years.
Buying your first home - no matter what your age - is a significant life event. It can bring up all kinds of stresses, both financially and emotionally. Being prepared for what’s to come can put your mind at ease. So, as an expert in the process, here are my best tips to minimise stress and avoid hiccups and surprises throughout the process.
Back in 1970, a man named Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock. In that book, he described future shock as “the dizzying disorientation brought about by the premature arrival of the future.” What he was saying was that things were going to move so fast and change at such a dizzying pace that you would be hard-pressed to keep up. Talk about vision. And I’m not sure even Mr Toffler, 55 years ago, would have believed how fast change would be taking place in 2025.
Real estate goes in cycles. I think we all realize that. Sometimes as was the case during the covid era, properties are in hot demand. Buyers are frantic to get their hands on them. Sellers are reluctant to put their homes on the market knowing they will be quickly snapped up, but they are fearful they won’t find one to buy. Multiple offers are the norm on most listings. People outbid one another and sales generally go for above asking price. We call this situation a seller’s market.
One of the most important aspects of Estate Planning is to ensure that your loved ones receive their share from your Estate in a way that benefits them the most. Of particular concern can be situations where your child qualifies for government support for a disability. If your child receives their share directly it can disqualify them for that support and disrupt their financial planning. The Henson Trust establishes a trust for your child where the trustee will manage your child’s share without burdening either the child themselves or their caretaker with managing the money themselves. The trustee themselves can be independent of your Estate and any caretaker for your child. It also provides transparency and accountability for the account itself, and rather than have it given to your child at once, it can be managed for the future.
Back in the day, we used to have Tour of Property on a regular weekly basis. It was quite the event. A literal caravan of cars would head out from our RE/MAX office following a pre-ordained route through Niagara to personally inspect a number of our listings that were new to the market. And often these inspections, sometimes involving 30 or 40 of our agents would spawn an almost immediate sale, when salespeople walking through a house would think, ‘I’ve got just the buyer for this!’