Approaching one’s retirement years can be a very exciting time. You’ve made it through your work years, you’ve raised a family, the kids have left the nest, and you’re finally ready to enjoy more time at home and doing the things you’ve been waiting your whole life for. However, you may find that your current home does not fit your new lifestyle. It’s too big, too much to maintain, and too expensive. If that is the case, it may be time to think about downsizing to a smaller home that will better suit your lifestyle.Determine What You Need in a Home in RetirementIf you’ve been living in your home for many years, it can be challenging to make a significant life change like selling your home. Your current home is full of memories, and your neighbours have become close friends, which can make it hard to leave. But you may recognize that as you’re getting older, it is getting more difficult to maintain a large home with a yard, leaving you with little time and energy to enjoy your retirement lifestyle.For those approaching retirement, the number one reason to consider downsizing is to be closer to loved ones, friends or relatives. Downsizing could allow you to move closer to a child living in another city of province, or live someplace that is more easily walkable to amenities nearby, or find a smaller and more cost-efficient home that frees up some money to take that trip you’ve always dreamed of.The bottom line: If you believe that downsizing will help you live a life that is easier on your health and more enjoyable for your retirement years, then it’s time to consider what your next home will look like for you.Save Money by Downsizing to the Right HomeThere are many practical reasons that downsizing can be a wise choice for your retirement years. A smaller home means that your monthly bills will be lower, because you’ll use less energy to heat and cool your home. You won’t have to spend as much time cleaning and maintaining the house and yard, leaving you more time to do the things you want to do.If you have the money upfront, you don’t necessarily have to sell your home. Your current home can be rented out to provide an extra source of income, giving you more than enough income to pay for your new home and enjoy an additional source of income.The ideal home for your retirement years should be affordable, easy to maintain, and safe from intruders and potential accidents. Staying safe in your home while living your retirement years stress-free can help you live a long, happy life.Stay Organized While DownsizingOnce you’ve decided to downsize, be prepared for a lot of work initially. You’ve built a whole life in your current home, and you don’t need to sort through everything in one day. Give yourself time to carefully consider what you want to bring to your new home and what you want to leave behind.You’ll have to go through all your possessions to determine what needs to be kept and what can be given to loved ones, donated to a local thrift store, or thrown away. Be ruthless – your new home will not be able to accommodate everything that you currently own, so you need to get rid of the items that are less important to you.Consider renting a storage space during the moving process if it is helpful. It may be that the moving dates don’t quite line up, or you need a little bit more time to sort through your possessions, so a storage facility could be beneficial while you transition to your new home.Once you have packed up and moved, your new home will be ready and waiting for you to decorate it and make it yours. You may find that some oversized items may not properly fit in your new home, so feel free to treat yourself to new pieces you love. There are many ways to make a smaller home work for your lifestyle.If you are newly retired and looking into the possibility of downsizing your home, talk to a real estate agent today. They will walk you through the process of downsizing and make it as easy and stress-free for you as possible while you move into this new phase of your life..fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 1.92%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 1.92%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}The post Retirement May Change What You Need in a Home appeared first on RE/MAX Canada.

In today’s market, you might be considering building vs. buying a home. This is certainly a viable option, but it has its advantages and drawbacks, just as buying a resale home does. There are many factors to consider, such as time-frame, location and design of the house. Let’s take a closer look at the difference between building and buying a home, so that you can make an informed decision.Benefits of Building vs. Buying a HomeCustomization of your home – This is a huge advantage of building a house. When you build a home from scratch, you have control of its various elements rather inheriting someone else’s preferences, from layout to materials right down to little things like what covers go on your light switches.Better energy efficiency – Newer homes are typically built with energy efficiency in mind. They are more environmentally friendly than older homes are, and can save you money on your monthly utility bills.Less market competition – Housing inventory in Canada is critically low, which contributed to the frothy market and rising prices. This isn’t necessarily the case when buying vacant land.Risks of Building a HomeLonger wait time – While a new home can be bought in a matter of days, it takes much longer to build a house. For the average of seven months that it takes to build a new home, you will have to be involved in the planning and still pay for somewhere else to live.Unexpected costs and delays – Your contractors will provide you with an estimate of the costs for their products and services, but unexpected expenses often arise, along with potential delays. These can set you back a significant amount of money, plus weeks if not months.Little wiggle room on price – Because you are paying for contractors and materials instead of real estate, there will not be any price negotiation on the built component. Plus, land can be more challenging to obtain, often requiring a higher down payment and with a higher interest rate on the borrowed amount.Benefits of Buying a HomeLess costly – Overall, buying a pre-existing home is less expensive than building one, but this can change depending on location and market conditions. When you buy a home, a smaller down payment and a lower interest rate are required, and you can move in sooner.Established location – If you want to be close to an urban centre or in an established community, it is much easier to find a home for sale than it is to find a land lot. Oftentimes, all existing lots will have houses built on them, so it is better to look for a house for sale if you want to live in a neighbourhood setting.Mature locations and landscaping – Further to the above-mentioned benefit, buying an existing home generally means that you’ll be living in an established neighbourhood with full-sized, mature trees. In contrast, young neighbourhoods with newly built houses may only have small trees, or if the community is very new, no trees or lawn at all.Risks of Buying a HomeHouse-buying stress – Searching for a suitable home and fielding other buyers can be both time-consuming and stressful. You might face a bidding war, rejected offer, and be placing bids on multiple houses before one of your offers is accepted, and you can move in.Compromise on style – Even if you are flexible about what you want in a house, finding one that feels like home and reflects your personality can still be tricky. If there is a particular feature you are looking for, then this gets even more challenging.Maintenance issues – Pre-existing homes often have older appliances and materials, so you could be looking at upgrading and replacing things sooner than if you were to build a house. Plus, if you buy a home built before 1970, it may contain asbestos or lead paint, and these will need to be dealt with immediately, especially if you have children. Regardless of the type of home you purchase, getting a home inspection is always recommended.Both building a home and buying one can be viable options for a prospective homeowner and it can be challenging to decide which is better. If you carefully consider each factor and consult with a professional and experienced real estate agent, you can be confident that you will make the best choice for your budget and lifestyle.Find an agent.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 1.92%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 1.92%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}The post Building vs. Buying a Home appeared first on RE/MAX Canada.

The Canadian real estate market is showing signs of slowing, now that interest rates are rising. Despite sales activity sliding and prices moderating, the country’s housing sector is still leaving many hopeful homebuyers sitting on the sidelines.According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales tumbled at a monthly rate of 3.9 per cent in September. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) declined by 1.4 per cent month-over-month but was still up 3.3 per cent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average sale price declined 6.6 per cent year-over-year, to $640,479.New residential listings fell 0.8 per cent month-over-month, and months of inventory edged up slightly to 3.7 months.Of course, some housing markets are much more expensive than others, such as Toronto. Could a rent-to-own program be the solution for many Canadians itching to become homeowners, particularly in markets that are in high demand?The option is becoming more prevalent as prices continue to be out of reach of many Canadians.How Do Rent to Own Programs Work?Households paying rent to a homeowner or property management company can feel like throwing money out the window instead of putting it toward equity on a home of their own.This is why more companies and even the government are looking into rent-to-own programs. The innovative service works much like the rental market, except a portion of your monthly rent goes toward the purchase of the residential property you are renting. For the most part, your rent will be divided into two parts: a large percentage for the rent and a smaller percentage for your down payment and home equity.Now, there are two types of rent-to-own programs:Option-to-Purchase: An agreement that provides the tenant with an option to acquire the home when the rental term is complete.Lease Purchase: A deal to buy the property at the end of the term, and if you fail to do so, you will pay the penalty.Put simply, you complete your monthly payments, accumulate rent credit, and then apply for a mortgage at the end of the term. It works similarly to how you pay rent in your apartment building.Here are some other features of a rent-to-own program:The future purchase price of the house is typically locked in, although some contracts might include the future appraised value at the end of the lease.Tenants pay an initial fee of at least two per cent of the agreed purchase price.You might need to make additional regular payments to add more to your down payment.Households are responsible for covering the cost of maintenance and repairs.Finally, housing experts note that Canadian homebuyers may not be approved for a mortgage because of tightening standards, from the enhanced mortgage stress test to growing income requirements. And this could impact your money.“If they do not qualify, [they are] at a significant risk of losing any sweat equity or savings they may have put into the home,” Melanie McLister, a co-founder and mortgage broker at intelliMortgage, told Global News. “Some put in a considerable amount of both, feeling confident the home will be theirs in the end.”But is it popular enough? Ottawa seems to think there is an appetite in the marketplace, especially among the large number of renters who want to enter the real estate market but do not possess enough upfront capital. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government have pledged to commit more than $1 billion toward various rent-to-own initiatives across the country.Market analysts question if there is enough demand among renters for this program.“One of the reasons why it hasn’t been that prevalent and not that common is that it’s just not that clear that it’s in the renter’s interest to get into these contracts,” Peter Norman, chief economist at Altus Group, a real-estate consultancy, told TVO. “It’s a little bit like leasing your car — if you run the numbers on that, it’s often a lot less affordable than actually buying one; all it does is provide you an opportunity not to have to put all the money upfront.”Indeed, with price inflation eating away at wage gains and forcing consumers to touch their immense pandemic-era pent-up savings, it is increasingly more challenging to get involved in the Canadian real estate market boom.Consider these two statistics, courtesy of the Desjardins Affordability Index (DAI). The first is that payments for the typical home jumped 11.6 per cent in the first quarter. The second is that Canadians now need a little more than $42,000 a year to cover payments.“But affordability will remain under pressure as mortgage rates go up in response to the Bank of Canada’s recent quantitative tightening and policy interest rates have begun to rise,” the bank wrote.Still Have Questions?Buying or selling a home is a complicated process, so it’s okay if you don’t know all there is to know. RE/MAX Canada hit the streets in a new video series, to find out just how much (or how little) the average person knows about Canadian real estate, and to offer some answers in the process..Still wondering? Connect with a RE/MAX agent for answers to all your real estate questions..fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 1.92%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 1.92%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}The post How Do Rent-to-Own Programs Work? appeared first on RE/MAX Canada.