Got a House? You need a will.
You can add one more wrinkle to the impact a booming housing market is having on Canadians — it’s getting them to make out a will.
Perhaps buoyed by the ever increasing value of their homes, which reached an average of $369,677 nationally in March, a new study says all that perceived wealth is convincing some they need a legal document to say who will get that money when they pass away.
And that’s a good thing. Not having your final arrangements organized all but guarantees your descendants will face more costs, not to mention the very likely reality that your money will end up in the hands of people you didn’t want to have it.
LawPro says 13% of Canadians were prompted to get a will when they bought a house. “It seems to turn on milestones and everybody agrees getting your first house or any house is a milestone for most people,” says Ray Leclair, vice-president of public affairs at LawPro. Despite the impetus of buying a home, LawPro’s survey still finds that 56% of Canadians do not have a signed will. The survey was conducted by Angus Reid from March 21-22 from a sample of 2,013 Canadian adults and is considered accurate to within 2.18 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.“It is a surprisingly large number,” said Mr. Leclair. “There are a whole slew of reasons.”
“The flip side is they now maybe have something of value [in a home],” says Mr. Leclair, joking most people probably have more mortgage than they have equity. He says the idea wills are just too expensive probably doesn’t wash because it’s less costly than your high-speed Internet on a yearly basis — in the $500-range. Prices vary based on the complexity of the will which includes issues like second marriages and, dividing up businesses.
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Kind Regards,
Tibor Bogdan
What is a pre-sale? Example scenario: When the developer intends to build an apartment building and applies for financing, the bank will grant financing under certain conditions. One of them will likely be a certain percentage of pre-sales the developer will need to secure before receiving the funds.
It is common practice for a developer to approach several real estate investors and offer them an opportunity to purchase units of the non-existent building at a discounted price, and on good terms. Once the number of pre-sales is accomplished, the developer goes ahead with the construction, which will likely take two years or longer to complete. During construction, their marketing team offers the remainder of the units for sale at market value to the public. If you are a RE investor, you know that it is preferable to be buying at the pre-sale prices, not market value prices. The question is, how do you get the invitation to buy a pre-sale? In the past many years, investors have made substantial income by buying at wholesale prices and selling at retail prices even before they needed to complete their purchase. I saw many of them lining up and sometimes even camping overnight in front of the sales center to get a chance to buy at lower prices, but not everyone was lucky enough. You needed to be well-connected to get an opportunity, and you had to act fast. Today is a bit of a different story. Several projects in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley offer really good prices and incentives to secure a unit now and complete the purchase two or three years later. The list of incentives varies from one project to the next. Besides attractive prices, you can get low deposit amounts (5-15%), low or no assignment fees, free updates, a mortgage rate buy-down program, extra parking and more. A month ago, I helped a few of my clients purchase a presale in Surrey that sold out in 2 days, and I know of another good developer that will be offering a few units for sale as well. If you would like to know more about these opportunities, I would encourage you to call or email me, and I’ll be happy to send you details on those projects. Kind regards,
Tibor Bogdan
Century 21 Creekside Realty Ltd. 45428 Luckakuck Way #190, Chilliwack, BC V2R 3S9 cell: 604-855-2521 |
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