Page 24 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 103

24 Issue #103 August 2021 www.sportsenergynews.com

om Our
Local Pr
ofessionals
Advice Fr
Neighbourly
Neighbourly Advice From Our Local Professionals

that just don’t exist. As humans, we can a crisis at the moment will work out, but
Max Ming P.Eng. CFP ®
Financial Planner suffer from something called “hindsight we do have faith that over time, we will
bias” which means we tend to think we see move forward as a society and overcome
Letting Go of the ‘Why’ a past event as having been predictable, the obstacles ahead just like we have in the
Watching the constant flow of positive despite there having been little or no basis past. This is why a disciplined long-term
and negative news unfold over the last 25 for predicting it. Many intelligent people plan is key to building family wealth.
years has made a number of things very who work in the industry are overconfident
clear to us. First of all, no one really knows in their abilities – and it becomes an ego Either way, investors have to ask
what’s going on in the markets in the short thing, which is why so many investors take themselves the following question when
term. the markets personally when it goes against preparing for the inevitable corrections that
Some of the most brilliant people we’ve met are terrible investors them and their chosen story. occur in the financial markets: “Do I want
because they’re constantly seeking out ways to explain why things Long ago we decided to let go of the to be right about the reason for the fall or
happen the way they do in the markets. Even when you’re right ‘why.’ It’s not worth it to constantly try to do I want to have a plan in place to deal
about the way something transpires in the big picture, you may play the guessing game about how things with the downturns when they occur?” The
come to the wrong conclusion about how the financial markets will will work out with every single headline two don’t have to be mutually exclusive,
react to that event. event. There’s no need to add unnecessary but trying to outguess the markets doesn’t
When you’re constantly looking for a reason to explain every stress to an already complex market. We constitute much of a plan when looking at
single move in the markets, you start to see signals and correlations don’t know how each event that seems like (inevitable) short term negative returns.

By Michael VanderMeer considering the amount of money you want and countertops would work in a kitchen
Real Estate Agent to put into your home as this will greatly or a new vanity and floor in a bathroom.
influence the price range of the home you There are a lot of great ideas for sprucing
KITCHENS & BATHROOMS are trying to sell. You do not want to put a up your kitchen and bathroom that don’t
The old saying in real estate is that kitchens $40,000 kitchen in a $100,000 house and break the bank to get good results. How far
and baths sell homes and in my experience you do not want to put a $5000 kitchen in a you want to go and how much you spend
this statement is dead on. Kitchens and $400,000 house. will be up to you. Doing the right job can
bathrooms can get quite costly to fix or There could be alternatives to replacing greatly improve the value of your home
renovate so you should be careful when everything as well - maybe new hardware and how quickly it might sell.

By Brian Johnston (33% for those aged 18 to 24) housing costs, including:
Mortgage Specialist • 6% have a hybrid o moving expenses (32%)
(combination of fixed and variable) o land transfer tax (25%)
MAJORITY OF CANADIAN BUYERS • 3% don’t know o home inspections (24%)
BORROWING THEIR MAXIMUM APPROVED • 56% of borrowers have a 5-year term o mortgage application fees (14%)
MORTGAGE o 8% have a 1- or 2-yr term o mortgage-default insurance (13%)
Soaring home prices over the past year have forced o 16% have a 3-yr term First-Time Buyers Incentive
most of today’s homebuyers to use the maximum o 11% have a 4-yr term • 72% of first-time buyers were aware of CMHC’s
mortgage amounts they’ve been approved for. More o 5% have a term greater than 5 years First-Time Home Buyer’s Incentive
than 65% of recent buyers bought the maximum • 45% of first-time buyers have an amortization • 74% said they would rather maintain the
amount of house they could afford, according to the of 25 years or more equity in their home vs. participating in the
• 41% make monthly mortgage payments shared-equity program
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) latest consumer survey. (53% of first-time buyers)
For about 6 in 10 buyers, that amount was less than $500,000, while 8% of o 13% have semi-monthly payments Homebuying Process
buyers spent over $1 million on their purchases. Yet, only about a quarter (27%) o 26% have bi-weekly • 28% said price/affordability was the top factor
said they paid more than they had planned on their home, while 20% said they o 8% have weekly when considering buying their current home
paid less than expected. o 7% have an accelerated bi-weekly o 13% said type of home
“This year’s survey includes important takeaways about affordability and how Prices Paid o 10% said neighbourhood
the market has reacted to the pandemic and current economic conditions,” • 31% of buyers were involved in a bidding war o 10% cited living space
noted Sam Carnavole, CMHC’s Director of Client Relationship Management. during their home purchase o 4% said proximity to work
Key Consumer Mortgage Trends • 66% believe that the bidding process should be Down payments
CMHC’s survey presented extensive data which provides important insight into more transparent and that all parties should be • 37% of respondents put down more than 20%
today’s mortgage consumers. Here are some of the key findings from this year’s survey: privy to the bids submitted of their home value
Mortgage Types • 45% said if the bidding process was transparent, o of those, 28% wanted to avoid paying mortgage
• 70% of mortgage consumers have a fixed-rate mortgage theythey’d be less inclined to use a real estate agent default insurance
o 21% have a variable rate o 26% wanted to pay down their mortgage as fast
• 32% of buyers incurred unexpected as possible Continued on page 25