What’s the Difference Between a Second Mortgage and Home Equity Loan?
Second mortgages, home equity loans, home equity lines of credit – what’s the difference? If you’re a homeowner and looking to borrow money by tapping into your home equity, these are just a few of the different terms you’re likely to hear, and you might be wondering what the difference is. Is there a difference between a second mortgage and a home equity loan? And how does a home equity loan differ from a home equity line of credit?
Read moreMaking Upgrades to Sell your Home? Here are 3 to Avoid
If you’re trying to sell your home and are walking around with clipboard in hand, making a list of all the upgrades you want to make in order to help sell – stop! While making certain upgrades and repairs will help increase the value of your home, others will do the opposite and leave your home sitting on the market for months. Here are three of the most common mistakes homeowners make when upgrading their homes, and why you should avoid them.
Read moreTax-Free Savings Accounts not so Tax-Free After All
Tax-free savings accounts seemed like such an easy answer for homebuyers and homeowners when they first came out in 2009. Unlike RRSPs, the traditional method of saving for a home, with a tax-free savings account you can contribute as much as you want, up to $5,000 a year, take it out whenever you want, and use it for a mortgage, to help pay off a home equity loan, or anything else that you need – and all of it is tax-free! But, as many people who did just that in 2009 just found out last year, it’s not that easy and if you’re not careful with your TFSA, it could be something that really is too good to be true.
Read moreMore Baby Boomers Want to Stay in Their Homes; but Can They Afford It?
If there was ever a generation that wanted to stay in their homes as long as possible, and not ever have to think about moving in with their children or going to one of those dreaded “retirement communities,” it’s today’s Canadian Baby Boomers. With many Boomers already in retirement, and many more to come, the Baby Boomers are one of the largest generations in history to enter retirement all at the same time. This poses some questions, and the latest one being asked by the HomEquity Bank is where all the Boomers going to go, and are they going to stay in their own homes?
Read more3 Home Renos to do in the Summer
If you’ve taken out a home equity loan to make renovations on your home, or are thinking about doing so, then you need to get started right away on making those renovations. Summer is the best time to do any home renos, with longer days providing for easier work and nicer temperatures meaning that more can be done – inside and outside the home. Even if you have a long laundry list of renos that need to be done, here are the three that you should start with before frost sets in and snow begins to fall.
Read moreTapping Into Home Equity to Deal With Credit Card Debt
A Statistics Canada report released on Monday presents some startling facts about the level of household debt that we as Canadians have taken on. In total, household debt among Canadians has reached $1.5 trillion. This equates to $176,461 for each two-child household. While we have long taken pride in being more fiscally responsible than Americans,…
Read moreHome Reno Fever
Irrespective of market conditions, home renovation is always a good way to improve the quality of one’s home. Dianne Nice of the Globe and Mail recently mentioned a story that any homeowner would appreciate. Seeing the truck made her consider whether her home needed new eavestroughs which made her wonder if she and her neighbours…
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