Blog : Tina Mak - Coldwell Banker Westburn Realty

Where does Canada ranks on Current Account Balance among 163 countries in the world?

October 18th, 2009

INTERESTING ARTICLE on Current Account Balance (please read the article below). If you understand Cantonese, click my Podcast & listen to the live interview again. Rank Country Current account balance (million US$) 1 People's Republic of China (PRC) 179,100 2 Japan 174,400 3 Germany 134,800 4 Russia 105,300 5 Saudi Arabia 103,800 6 Norway 63,330 7 Switzerland 50,440 8 Netherlands 5 ...

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US may extend tax credit for homes buyers

October 12th, 2009

Improving housing market is the #1 issue to most of the countries in the world. Vancouver has been very blessed to see the unexpected strong rebound. US Democrats may extend their expiring $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers as well as making it available to current homeowners who purchase a new residence. To read more, click http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08stimulu ...

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What happen to Vancouver home owners if interest rates goes up?

October 4th, 2009

I was watching an economic debate among the European countries on Friday(Oct 2nd). The topic was the question "when should the world consider exiting the stimulation package?" Well, the conclusion is that China and India is moving forward on their own with signs of economic improvement. The rest of the world is very much in different pace. Although US is the biggest economic driver in the wor ...

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Variable Rates Lower than Last Year, Should you Refinance ?

September 14th, 2009

If you signed a variable rate mortgage in the past year, it may be time to refinance again. Many individuals who came up for renewal in the past year may have selected a variable rate as high as prime + 1%. Look at this example of a client who is paying prime + .5% on a $300,000 mortgage: Mortgage = $300,000 Penalty to get out of the mortgage = $2,062 Savings of .5% in 5 years i ...

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A Re-Cap of Good News to start off the School Year

September 14th, 2009

I’ve spent the day reviewing some of the news coming into my email over the past two weeks or so. It looks like we are heading for recovery and with sales up and listings down, we can once again look forward to a healthy housing market. Here is a summary of a few of the articles coming my way: As you scroll through the articles below you will find: 1. Today’s Market News 2. Economy s ...

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The homebuyer's dilemma: short-term or long?

August 1st, 2009

The great rate debate The homebuyer's dilemma: short-term or long? Helen Morris, National Post When finances are tight, it's good to plan ahead and have a clear idea of what your future expenditures will be. One of the standard ways to plan a budget is to base your monthly expenditures on your mortgage payment and fit other expenses around that. A fixed-rate mortgage gives you set monthly ...

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Immigrants are driving the buying activity

July 11th, 2009

Construction of new homes has surged by a surprising eight per cent in June, prompting analysts to say the housing market in Canada has turned the corner and begun recovering. The annual pace of housing starts rose to 140,700 units in June from 130,300 in May, with the increase in activity spread across different types of buildings, said the national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Ho ...

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Canada a nation of homeowners, bank report says

June 25th, 2009

By THE CANADIAN PRESS Thu. Jun 18 - 12:58 PM OTTAWA — Canada has become a nation of home owners, according to the Bank of Nova Scotia. A new Scotiabank report says a record 68.4 per cent of Canadian households owned their homes in 2006 and the number edged up even further in 2007. That is a significant increase from the 63.6 per cent that owned their own homes a decade earlier. As well, ...

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Buyer & Seller whose English is 2nd language should pay extra attention when buying & selling strata unit?

June 21st, 2009

Both the buyer & seller should understand that the brokerages providing agency services to the buyer and seller do not provide legal or other expert advice in matters beyong the common standard of care in the real estate industry. The parties have been advised to seek independent legal advice prior to executing this contract of purchase and sale. The buyer needs to understand the signific ...

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Get off the home owning fence!

June 16th, 2009

Get off the home owning fence Globe and MailI've had the same rent-versus-own discussion with a close friend of mine for years. Every now and then she'll see a new statistic from the Canadian Real Estate Association about where prices are headed and rethink the decision she made just months before. My advice to her today is: it's time to get off the fence. Although mortgage rates rose last we ...

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Coldwell Banker - Westburn Realty

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Blog by Tina Mak

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Where does Canada ranks on Current Account Balance among 163 countries in the world?

US may extend tax credit for homes buyers

What happen to Vancouver home owners if interest rates goes up?

Variable Rates Lower than Last Year, Should you Refinance ?

A Re-Cap of Good News to start off the School Year

The homebuyer's dilemma: short-term or long?

Immigrants are driving the buying activity

Canada a nation of homeowners, bank report says

Buyer & Seller whose English is 2nd language should pay extra attention when buying & selling strata unit?

Get off the home owning fence!

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