March 2020

All posts from March 2020

How is Your Home’s Air Quality?

by Bevony on 25 March 2020 Comments Off on How is Your Home’s Air Quality?
Home's Air Quality guide

As we move towards spending more time indoors, air quality is of utmost importance. It is noted by theWorld Health Organization (WHO) and the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that indoor air quality is often up to five times worse than the air quality outdoor. 

One of the highest contributing factors to the poor quality of air indoor is VOC off-gassing. This can come from a variety of materials including glues used in your cabinetry and from your carpets as well. 

What can you do? Well now you know, you want to always try to find low-VOC options when shopping for materials for your home. Wood is always a healthier choice than concrete. It is also beneficial in that it is lighter, warmer and won’t give off the type of dust that concrete will give off. All of these attributes allow the wood to be a better choice and to have a better effect on the air quality on the interior of your home.

How to Tell if You Have Poor Indoor Air Quality

Do you find yourself getting sick every time you get home? Do you get immediately sick and start having symptoms such as dry eyes, sore throat, headaches, problems sleeping and problems concentrating? These all are symptoms of inhaling air that is poor in quality.

How to Improve Air Quality without Going to the Store

One of the best things you can do to improve the air quality in your home is to let in the fresh air. Open up your windows or any doors if possible so that fresh air can circulate throughout your living space.

Other Things Impacting our Air Quality

With changes in our environment, the way we heat and cool our homes is also changing. We find more people installing more air conditioners in their homes which in turn leads to more global warming. In Vancouver alone, there are air conditioning units in 20% of homes. In Kelowna, you will find 80% of homes are already using air conditioning. With the planet warming up, more people are trying to combat this with the use of air conditioners. This, in turn, increases emissions which ends up contributing to climate change. A situation that looks like it will continue to spiral this way. As more changes in the natural climate take place, the dependence on air conditioners will only increase and the effects this will have on air quality are currently unknown.

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BevonyHow is Your Home’s Air Quality?

Surrey Housing Market Looking Stable

by Bevony on 11 March 2020 Comments Off on Surrey Housing Market Looking Stable

With a lack of real estate investors in Surrey, there has now come to be a more stable housing market. Many houses in Metro Vancouver’s high-status neighborhoods are now looking more affordable than they have been in years.

Housing Market

With Surrey not on the radar of wealthy domestic and offshore investors, the prices have benefited from this. The city continues to grow rapidly though. The majority of the market is made up of new immigrant buyers. This is followed by native-born immigrants simply searching for a place to call home. In contrast, other high-end neighborhoods have seen a lot of instability since 2017.

The statistics show that house prices in posh neighborhoods dropped approximately 1/5th in one year. This was also true for a variety of neighborhoods in Richmond. In contrast, the housing prices in Surrey remained very stable. This is especially true for the Northern Section where homes often sell for lower than $1 million.

Other Stable Neighborhoods

When prices fell up to 25% this year, luxury homes in some West Vancouver neighborhoods fell. These included Upper Caulfield and Chartwell prices in other North Surrey neighborhoods. The prices only dropped between 1 and 5 percent. Surrey wasn’t the only neighborhood to escape the ridiculous price drops. Other neighborhoods that remained stable include:

  • North Delta’s Kennedy West
  • The District of Langley’s Brookswood
  • Fort Langley
  • New Westminster’s Queensborough
  • Brow of the Hill
  • Lynn Valley
  • Seymour Heights

North Surrey Housing Market

North Surrey stood out among everybody thanks to the fact that their stability in prices was seen all across the board.  The affordability of the area is one of the biggest factors. This is a factor that is good for both buyers and sellers. With a population larger than half a million, the area is one of Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities. Each year the area expands by approximately 2%.

The Surrey market is largely made up of locals, but it is not the same for the West Vancouver market. While South Asian immigrants also find the affordability of houses here desirable this is not driving up prices as they don’t want a 20 million dollar home. Figures from Census Canada show that the residents of North Surrey that have roots in India are between 40 and 60%. This is especially true in Kennedy, Fleetwood, and Newton.

The area is attractive to immigrants from Pakistan and India because of the cultural diversity of the area. The area allows them a certain amount of familiarity and satisfies the needs of their culture. They will find temples, mosques, and gurdwaras. They will also be more likely to have family in these areas as well. Coming here and finding real estate for sale at an affordable price means they can lay down stakes sooner and integrate into society faster and easier. Houses can be purchased with smaller down payments which is great for first-time homeowners who often are left vulnerable to the financial stress test of the government to determine their eligibility for a mortgage.

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BevonySurrey Housing Market Looking Stable

What is Mortgage Default Insurance?

by Bevony on 4 March 2020 Comments Off on What is Mortgage Default Insurance?

So you’ve heard about it and now you want to know what is mortgage default insurance. This is one requirement placed upon first time home buyers by the Government of Canada. Who is required to pay this?
Persons that are first-time homeowners.

Persons with a downpayment of less than 20%

Banks are allowed under the Bank Act to lend a maximum of 80% of the purchase price of a home. If you have your 20% downpayment there is no need for mortgage default insurance. If you have your 20% downpayment you will qualify for a conventional mortgage. When you don’t have the required deposit amount you can be granted a high ratio mortgage. In such a case, the insurance company will compensate the mortgage lender in the event that you default on your mortgage.

How to Qualify for Mortgage Default Insurance

If you think you may be eligible for mortgage default insurance, first contact your bank. Find out what are the usual qualifications for a mortgage and find out what the underwriting standards are for your mortgage insurer. Not sure where to find this type of insurance? Contact the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. They can give you a list of their approved insurers offering this type of insurance. Each insurer from this list will have their own criteria of evaluation so you need to check out if you meet their qualifications as well as if the property you are interested in meets their qualifications for this insurance as well.

Benefits of Mortgage Default Insurance

The primary purpose of mortgage default insurance is to protect the lender. The insurance protects them in the event that you default on your mortgage payment. But it also benefits you. With this insurance, you now are able to purchase your home a lot sooner and with a downpayment as low as 5%.

Important points to note about mortgage default insurance;

  • This does not provide protection to you or your interest in the property purchased in the event that you default, you will lose all.
  • You don’t have coverage for a mortgage payment under this insurance policy. If you are unable to make your payment or if you pass away your mortgage goes into default.
  • This insurance is only available for homes that are priced at less than $1,000,000.
  • Your premium will be calculated as a percentage of the borrowed amount.
  • You can have a lower premium if your down payment is bigger.
  • Payments can be made over a period of 25 years and these can be combined with your monthly mortgage payments.
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BevonyWhat is Mortgage Default Insurance?