Your Opportunity to Own the Smallest House in Canada

My Mortgage BC.com note: This post comes courtesy of Reuters news service. I have to ask, would you live here? I onced lived in a place that was about 550 square feet that I thought was fine but this place is almost half the size. You also might have trouble finding a lender that wants to mortgage the house.

I have to ask... Would you live here?

"TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - To exit through the back door of Toronto's "smallest house," first fold the Murphy bed back into the wall; it takes up the entire seven-foot width of the bedroom.

Built in 1912, the pint-size "Little House" features one bedroom, a kitchen with folding table and chairs, a living room and a full, if narrow, bathroom. With a living area of just 300 square feet, it was bought and renovated this year, and is back on the market for C$173,000 ($172,000).

"Holy cow, that is the smallest house," said cab driver Kamran Ghuman, after pulling up outside 128 Day Avenue in Toronto's west end. "It looks like it used to be a garage and then they made a house out of it."

Dwarfed between two larger homes, the detached bungalow was bought last spring for C$139,000 and redone inside and out, including a new decorative window for its gabled roof, hardwood floors, new cabinetry, appliances, a stone walkway and gardens.

"It reminds people of a small cottage or what they may have seen in a storybook," said owner David Blois, a property manager who took on the "flip" project.

Many neighbors agree.

"Look how cute it is. It looks like a little chapel," said Marika Wheeler, who has lived down the street for over 30 years and has seen the house change owners several times.

Blois says the house was built by a contractor on a strip of land where the city forgot to cut the curb for a laneway. He lived there for 20 years.

Since then, it has been home to several families, including immigrants from Hungary, Italy and Brazil.

Blois said one man who walked by the house during the renovations said he had lived there with his wife and three children.

Real estate agent Cristina Lopes said the property was a steal compared with bachelor or one-bedroom condominiums in Toronto, typically priced at over C$200,000 on property Web site mls.ca.

"Even though this is only 300 square feet, it looks more spacious than a condo that's 700 or 800 square feet," Lopes said. "It all depends on the layout and the layout of this home was really nicely done."

The house, on a street of two- and three-bedroom homes, also boasts a patio and parking for two cars, as well as a storage basement, accessible through a trapdoor in the floor.

Lopes said the owner has received a few offers since the house went on the market in the fall, but they fell through."

Completing a House Purchase in December?

It's important to note that during the holidays most legal offices, real estate offices and mortgage brokers will be operating at reduced capacity (or closed) during the last week of December. Many offices will close early on Friday December 21st and it's safe to assume most offices will operate with a skeleton staff during the following week. It's important to ensure your mortgage broker, realtor and lawyer have all of the required documentation earlier than normal. It is especially important this time of year because with the holidays it may be difficult to track someone down for a signature or last minute documentation.

For all of mortgage enquiries or clients we will be available at My Mortgage BC .com throughout the holidays and can be reached during the holidays via email or phone at 604-764-6336 or toll free at 1-888-665-1344.

A little planning ahead will help make this holiday season an enjoyable one.

Seven Easy Tips to Help Pay Off Your Mortgage Quicker

Seven Easy Tips to Help Pay Off Your Mortgage Quicker

Mortgages in Canada are generally amortized over a 25 year period and more recently up to 40 year terms of repayment. Although a long amortization is normal, it doesn't have to take a mortgage borrower that long to pay off their mortgage. With a little bit of planning ahead, most mortgage borrowers can manage to pay off their mortgage easily in as little as ten years. How? Here are seven key tips, which if they're followed, can lead to mortgage freedom much quicker:

Tip #1 Make your mortgage payment each week, or every two weeks. One great strategy to pay off your mortgage in a shorter period of time is to opt to pay your mortgage each week, or even every other week. Both options lower your interest paid over the term of your loan and also result in the equivalent of an extra month’s mortgage payment each year. Paying your mortgage bi-weekly can reduce your mortgage amortization from 25 years down to 21.

Tip #2 When your income increases, increase your mortgage payments. If you get a 5% cost-of-living raise each year at your place of employment. If you live like you never got a raise, spending what you did before the raise, and you send that extra 5% of your income to your mortgage, then you will never miss the money and your mortgage balance will drop a lot faster. This is a very painless way of paying down your mortgage without feeling like you are sacrificing your way of life in any way.

Tip #3Make an RRSP contribution and pay down your mortgage with your income tax refund each year. If you're in the position where you get an income tax refund each year, use that money to put directly on your mortgage as an extra payment on the principle of your mortgage loan. You won’t miss the money, and your mortgage will get a nice reduction which will save you a ton of interest over time. You'll also have money in your RRSP so you'll have some cash to enjoy yourself when you have that mortgage free home

Tip #4 If you renew your mortgage at a lower rate, maintain the same payments. When you renew your mortgage and find that you are able to get a lower rate (like through a mortgage broker like myself) ignore the lower payment and continue to pay what you were paying before the new term took effect. The key to this stratagey is that all of the extra money paid will go towards the principle of your loan and once again you do not feel like you have to come up with extra money to make the extra principle payments with.

Tip #5 Round up you mortgage payments. Assume for a moment that your mortgage payment is $756 per month. You can very easily add extra principle payments on your mortgage by paying a more rounded number, such as $775 or $800 each month. Over time, by rounding up, the payments will lower your overall mortgage debt. I like seeing people utilizing this strategy in conjunction with tip #1.

Tip #6 Think about getting a variable rate mortgage. It has been shown that variable rate mortgages can save you money over time. If you can deal with the rate fluctuations, a variable rate mortgage is worth serious consideration.

Tip #7 Always use the services of a mortgage broker to ensure that you get unbiased advice and the lowest rate available.

Each of these seven tips are not complicated and the strategies may not seem like big money or time savers initially but over time when consistently applied you can save years off your mortgage.

Canadian Mortgage Rate Update December, 2007

Canadian Mortgage Rate Update December 7, 2007

Bank of Canada reduced the prime rate by .25% which will save the people in variable rate mortgages some money. There has been very little change in mortgage rates in the last couple months. Fixed term mortgage rates remain unchanged even after the Bank of Canada announcement.

The Bank Prime Rate is currently 6.00%.

Best Fixed Mortgage Rates:

1 Year Fixed 5.60%
2 Year Fixed 5,65%
3 Year Fixed 5.70%
4 Year Fixed 5.95%
5 Year Fixed 5.99%
7 Year Fixed 6.05%
10 Year Fixed 6.15%

Best Variable Rate Mortgage:

Best variable rate is Prime -.60% or 5.40%

MyMortgageBC.com is a mortgage broker located in Vancouver, BC. If you would like the best mortgage rate, or have any questions regarding the mortgage process you should give us a call at 604-764-6336.