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Harvey Spector

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3 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

This should be a decision made on a case-by-case basis. The amount we would need is very small (relatively speaking) to make 20% and would in turn save of >$10k in not having to pay mortgage insurance, which in turn would make mortgage payments substantially lower.

True but you are talking about the government here.  They won't take any risks.  You can't get the loan unless it's insured through CMHC, which means your total downpayment must be less than 20%, which means you have to pay the CMHC fee which gets added on to your mortgage amount.  There are no exceptions to that unfortunately.

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17 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

Property Managers usually charge anywhere from 5-8% of the gross monthly rent.  You can just hire a company to help find you a property, pay them a fee for finding you a tenant, usually 1/2 month's gross rent, and then sign a service agreement whereby they manage your property and you pay them the fee which is taken directly off the gross rent on a monthly basis.  If the property is located in the US then you will need to file an income tax return with the IRS and be subject to US tax laws for your income.  Also, be aware if you die and you have property in the US the IRS can come after you for the death tax which is prevalent in the US tax code which allows the IRS to tax you on your world wide assets when you die.  In Canada we don't have a death tax, we have an estate tax which is only 1.4% and doesn't include your principal residence or anything that is joint with your spouse.

Good to know.  I'd always assumed that those property managers take out a way bigger chunk.  

 

In regards to the US tax code (I know that taxes probably isn't your specialty), but when you say the IRS can tax my worldwide assets.... so I can have a house in Vancouver, but because I also own a small condo in the states when I kick the can, they get a piece of my Vancouver property too?  Also... if it's a joint property in the US with my wife, would the taxation be deferred until if/when she dies/sells the place?  Would creating holding/shell companies be beneficial to sheltering from the over-reaching hands of the mafia IRS?

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1 minute ago, Lancaster said:

Good to know.  I'd always assumed that those property managers take out a way bigger chunk.  

 

In regards to the US tax code (I know that taxes probably isn't your specialty), but when you say the IRS can tax my worldwide assets.... so I can have a house in Vancouver, but because I also own a small condo in the states when I kick the can, they get a piece of my Vancouver property too?  Also... if it's a joint property in the US with my wife, would the taxation be deferred until if/when she dies/sells the place?  Would creating holding/shell companies be beneficial to sheltering from the over-reaching hands of the mafia IRS?

Yes.  I have confirmed this with multiple people including a tax specialist at KPMG.  The US can tax you with their death tax which is 30% on ALL of your assets, not just the ones you own in the US.  

 

I am not sure about the joint property rule in the US, refer to a tax specialist on that.  And yes the way to get around the mafia is through shell companies and blind trusts.  That is what the rich people do.

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30 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

Yes.  I have confirmed this with multiple people including a tax specialist at KPMG.  The US can tax you with their death tax which is 30% on ALL of your assets, not just the ones you own in the US.  

 

I am not sure about the joint property rule in the US, refer to a tax specialist on that.  And yes the way to get around the mafia is through shell companies and blind trusts.  That is what the rich people do.

Yep.  Just digging a little further to confirm what you said... apparently it has gone up to 40% now, but pro-rated for Canadian and there's a ~$5 million exemption.

 

But yeah, I guess I'll have to really delve more into potentially using holding companies/incorporating.... which then opens another can of worms.... :wacko:

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This applies to Vancouver real estate as well...

 

These are the missing ingredients for a Toronto real estate crash

 Josh Sherman  Aug 29, 2017

     

toronto-housing-crash-1024x666.jpg

Photo: James Bombales

 

Home prices in Toronto are falling, sales activity is drying up and anxious owners continue to list properties — all things that would likely be happening amid a full-on market crash.

 

But as TD Economics sees it, the Toronto real estate market isn’t crashing in response to Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan, which was announced in April and included a foreign-homebuyer tax as well as more robust rent control measures.

TD Bank’s economics department does expect prices to fall, sure, but only back to where they stood about a year ago.

 

“An important nuance to understand is that a critical feature of a market crash is missing in this cycle,” reads the report, authored by TD Chief Economist Beata Caranci and Senior Economist Diana Petramala.

 

“Listings shot up in the GTA following the policy measures, not because homeowners suddenly became incapable of affording their homes, but because speculative activity is being squeezed out,” the TD economists continue.

 

Missing ingredients of a potential Toronto housing crash include households increasingly falling behind on mortgage payments and rising unemployment rates, TD suggests.

 

Citing Equifax and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation numbers, TD says that as of 2016’s final quarter, 0.1 per cent of Toronto households had fallen more than 90 days behind on their mortgage payments.

 

“Canadians have been taking out record amounts of debt to fund the purchase of relatively expensive homes,” Caranci and Petramala cede. “But, what sometimes gets overlooked is the fact that low interest rates have allowed mortgage holders to pay down their principal at an accelerated rate,” they note.

 

TD suggests on average mortgage holders should be able to shoulder higher mortgage payments that come as a result of rising interest rates.

 

“With the unemployment rate holding low, it is unlikely that households will be forced to sell in the near-term,” the TD economists state. “It’s important to remember that interest rates are rising because the economy is doing better,” the report reads.

 

The Bank of Canada increased its historically low overnight rate last month by 25 basis points — something it hadn’t done in seven years — in response to the economy’s adjustment to an oil price shock that roiled it.

 

With the overnight rate, an influencer of the mortgage market, currently at 0.75 per cent, many observers anticipate the central bank will hike the rate again before the year’s over.

 

But mortgage rates, still hovering at historically low levels, aren’t expected to rapidly rise, which bodes well for the market. “Should it prove otherwise, this could be a recipe for a harder landing,” the report adds.

 

http://news.buzzbuzzhome.com/2017/08/missing-ingredients-toronto-real-estate-crash.html/amp

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5 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

rates set to possibly increase tomorrow

 

That's pretty close to the last increase.

 

Could finally start seeing some issues pop up in the housing market

I hope all the property speculators see their investments crash....

 

 

Edited by kingofsurrey
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6 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

I hope all the property speculators see their investments crash....

 

 

Yep and hopefully all them retirees with income properties, young homebuyers with variable rates and those taking out loans/LOC to remodel their homes.  

Screw them all!  

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2 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

Yep and hopefully all them retirees with income properties, young homebuyers with variable rates and those taking out loans/LOC to remodel their homes.  

Screw them all!  

Retirees will be   just fine.  Most of them bought many years and are WAY ahead even with a large correction. 

 

 

Edited by kingofsurrey
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25 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

rates set to possibly increase tomorrow

 

That's pretty close to the last increase.

 

Could finally start seeing some issues pop up in the housing market

It's going to take more than a couple 1/4 point increases to have any meaningful effect. And the BOC isn't likely to raise them at a rate or amount to cause a large scale correction. 

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9 minutes ago, J.R. said:

It's going to take more than a couple 1/4 point increases to have any meaningful effect. And the BOC isn't likely to raise them at a rate or amount to cause a large scale correction. 

This increase is only a potential, but coming so closely on the heels of the last one which was the first in  over 7 years with a population now owing on average $1.71 in debt servicing for every actual dollar they bring in that is a worrisome trend.  This increase was not expected but is now actually anticipated due to the issues in the US and the strength of the canadian economy which is outpacing most expectations.

 

An increase tomorrow and another to end the fiscal year would be almost a full percentage in what would be considered light speed by comparison to the last 7 years.

 

With an estimated 50,000 plus living pay cheque to pay cheque in Canada another increase so soon is a big deal

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I feel like Canada is in some kind of inflation denial. I keep seeing all of these stats stating that the inflation rate is only 1-2%, but that doesn't jive with what I'm seeing at the cash register. The price of everything seems increased. Rent, cars, gas, food, restaurant bills, cars, etc.., and it seems to be happening across Canada. As someone who doesn't like to borrow, I'm hoping an increase in interest rates will curb this. 

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2 minutes ago, taxi said:

I feel like Canada is in some kind of inflation denial. I keep seeing all of these stats stating that the inflation rate is only 1-2%, but that doesn't jive with what I'm seeing at the cash register. The price of everything seems increased. Rent, cars, gas, food, restaurant bills, cars, etc.., and it seems to be happening across Canada. As someone who doesn't like to borrow, I'm hoping an increase in interest rates will curb this. 

I agree totally

 

I keep hearing "food down" "gas cheaper" but I am not seeing it.  My dollars aren't stretching like they used to and my needs haven't increased.

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1 hour ago, Lancaster said:

What about those who are just getting into them now?

Too many people are speculating in our real estate market  buying multiple properties and renting them out or locking them up.

We need to a real estate melt down to sort out this investors that are profiting in others peoples  way too high rents....  

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2 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Too many people are speculating in our real estate market  buying multiple properties and renting them out or locking them up.

We need to a real estate melt down to sort out this investors that are profiting in others peoples  way too high rents....  

You still haven't answered the question...

So you believe that the old lady down the street with a 2nd property to supplement her income... shouldn't be allowed to do that?

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

You still haven't answered the question...

So you believe that the old lady down the street with a 2nd property to supplement her income... shouldn't be allowed to do that?

 

 

 

Too much real estate in BC is owned by investors that too often do not live in the home or even rent it out.  Taking homes out  of the housing pool and holding them as investments has artificially driven up real estate costs and rent in BC.  

 

This has hurt our province as young skilled workers are fleeing BC and others in Canada will not take jobs here....      

 

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1 hour ago, Lancaster said:

You still haven't answered the question...

So you believe that the old lady down the street with a 2nd property to supplement her income... shouldn't be allowed to do that?

 

 

 

I think what he's getting at is the Money Launderer from China, Iran, Korea, Japan, etc... that's buying multiple multi million dollar homes....

 

Has kids here and got all those kids a bonus condo under 750k and has the government pay the mortgage since they announced the new mortgage assist... 

 

That's our problem in Vancouver. Not local people that work hard, pay far taxes, and have built up the city. 

 

Don't get me wrong... Vancouver would certainly not be as nice of a city as it is today, in terms of shops, amenities, etc if not for the government making it a haven for money launderers of shore... after all, that's mainly what's infused so much $$ into our local economy. 

 

Launderer buys home from locals for 5 million... local paid 500k for it countless years ago... local buys cars, gives money to kids to buy condo's... spends money locally... etc. 

 

It's done wonders for our city's development and growth but it's time things changed. The government needs to put a stop to this otherwise young professionals will have no choice but to leave and all those nice stores... restaurants, hotels etc won't have many employees. 

 

Look at Whistler for example... every single hotel, restaurant, business is having hard time keeping employees. People can't afford their housing. The only hotels doing fine there staff wise are the ones that have staff housing offered. 

 

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3 minutes ago, apollo said:

I think what he's getting at is the Money Launderer from China, Iran, Korea, Japan, etc... that's buying multiple multi million dollar homes....

 

Has kids here and got all those kids a bonus condo under 750k and has the government pay the mortgage since they announced the new mortgage assist... 

 

That's our problem in Vancouver. Not local people that work hard, pay far taxes, and have built up the city. 

 

Don't get me wrong... Vancouver would certainly not be as nice of a city as it is today, in terms of shops, amenities, etc if not for the government making it a haven for money launderers of shore... after all, that's mainly what's infused so much $$ into our local economy. 

 

Launderer buys home from locals for 5 million... local paid 500k for it countless years ago... local buys cars, gives money to kids to buy condo's... spends money locally... etc. 

 

It's done wonders for our city's development and growth but it's time things changed. The government needs to put a stop to this otherwise young professionals will have no choice but to leave and all those nice stores... restaurants, hotels etc won't have many employees. 

 

Look at Whistler for example... every single hotel, restaurant, business is having hard time keeping employees. People can't afford their housing. The only hotels doing fine there staff wise are the ones that have staff housing offered. 

 

 

I have heard that the exclusive private schools in Vancouver - where our politicians send their kids LOL...   are looking at building / owning housing for their employees / teachers.   Subsidize the rental fee as teachers in Vancouver can no longer afford to live in the city...

 

Vancouver was a great city pre expo 1986  when i used to live there.   Now Vancouver is just a shell of the city it used to be.   No longer friendly for families, artists, working class people......    Pretty boring city when that kind of wealth dominates all its neighbourhoods. 

 

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