Ariana Leroux Mortgage Blog

Take a peek at our top picks of dog breeds for apartments Size does matter – especially if you live in compact quarters. Whether you live in a cramped condo, an adequate apartment or closeted quarters, there’s a dog that will fit into your living space. We’ve come up with a list of our Top 10 best dog breeds for apartments. 10. ENGLISH BULLDOG : This medium-sized dog doesn’t like to move around much, so an English Bulldog makes a wonderful dog for an apartment. If this breed could talk, he would tell you he’d much rather hang on the couch than at the dog park. And if you don’t like to move about much, good news – the English Bulldog is just as lazy as you! 9. SHIH TZU:  This regal-looking companion is   small in size and maintenance. She doesn’t need much room to move around in. As long as she’s pampered, she’ll be happy. They aren’t a high energy dog, so you won’t need to make many daily trips ...

 Snow shoveling isn't fun, but it's often unavoidable. In Canada, especially it seems lately in Edmonton, Alberta... we are getting blizzards weekly. At least this week we are on our second one, and this time it does not look like it is going to let up. I have been out 5x today already. Shovelling is a requriement here, and you want to get it off the driveway before it builds up, or worse becomes ice.....And while, yes, you can apply ice-melt products to it after the fact, why waste the money? Even those who use snowblowers often have to "touch up" later in certain areas with a shovel. Consult the snow shoveling tips below to the make the job go more smoothly -- and to make it less boring, as well.   1. Snow Shoveling Preparations: Safety, Comfort, Efficiency As for any yard maintance job, priority #1 in snow shoveling is safety, followed closely by comfort and efficiency. Consider doing the following before you even step outside: Stretch your muscles t...

This top ten checklist was created to help you make your house more desirable to buyers when you put it on the market . The most important thing to do for your sanity and peace of mind is to start to disassociate yourself with your home. For some, more than others, this can be a challenge. Selling your home can be emotional. However, I suggest that you make the mental decision to let go of your emotional attachment to your "home," and think of it as a "house" and focus on the fact that you will be soon living in another home. As hard as it may be, don’t look backwards, but focus forward on your future. 10. DE-CLUTTER! A de-cluttered home feels more spacious – and everyone wants more space.  When you begin this process, ask yourself, “Have I used this in the last year?”  If the answer is “no” then you probably don’t need it so make plans to sell or donate it.  Think of this de-cluttering process as a head start on your packing to move.  Pack u...

Edmonton, March 4, 2013 The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton reports: That the housing market in the Edmonton CMA1 remains active. Residential listing activity was up 10% as compared to January and sales increased by 18.2%. The all-residential price (includes single family detached, condominiums, duplexes and row-houses) rose 4.3% in a month. While the average price for a single family detached home broke through a psychological barrier at $400,973 in February ($399,832 in January), it was up just 0.3%. Condo prices showed stronger gains, rising 7.3% from January to $231,866. Duplex and rowhouse prices were also up month-over-month at $332,285 on average. The all-residential average price was $342,735 (up 2.9% from February 2012). “REALTORS® were busier last month than in January both listing and selling more homes,” said President Darrell Cook. “As usual, sales activity will continue to increase as we move into spring. The inventory of available homes has in...

National Post Mark McInnis, vice-president insurance underwriting, servicing and policy with CMHC, said the CMHC policies on disclosure have been in place for decades. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is making no apologies over its tactic of not disclosing a house has been repossessed when it puts the home back on the market. The Crown corporation says it is acting like any other seller — just trying to get the best offer it can. Critics charge CMHC should disclose more information, given its role as Canada’s national housing agency. “We don’t want to attract low-ball offers,” said Mark McInnis, vice-president insurance underwriting, servicing and policy with CMHC. Mr. McInnis agreed to discuss CMHC’s policy on repossession in the wake of a Financial Post story on Wednesday that said Quebec realtors were balking at a demand to not disclose the fact properties the Crown corporation was selling were previously repossessed. The agency said listing a property as f...

Canadians may finally be grasping the obvious when it comes to how to get the best mortgage rate. Shop around. Savings are basic once you are armed with information about the best rate and the best product. It has never been easier thanks to the Internet. Google says it saw a 50% jump in the number of people using the term mortgage after one of the major banks announced it was cutting its five-year posted rate 10 basis point to 2.99%. It is a relatively modest change but it comes as the spring market is about to kick in and consumers are thinking about purchases. David Resnick, head of industry and financial services for Google Canada, says consumers actually start ramping up their search engines in January when they begin thinking about buying. “We are seeing relatively similar volumes in mortgages that we saw last January,” said Mr. Resnick. “Whether it translates into home sales will depend on market forces but there is pent-up demand for hous...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY  MARCH 17, 2013 The Competitive Mortgage Market- It Is Not Always About Rate The recent announcement that BMO has lowered its 5-year fixed rate from 3.09% to 2.99% has caused a flurry of speculation from market analysts and warnings from the federal government. For the past year the Bank of Canada has been warning that high household debt levels, the bulk of which come from mortgages, are the largest risk facing the country’s economy. BMO’s recent rate cut prompted Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to issue a warning to the country’s banks that he expects prudent lending practices – not the type of ‘race to the bottom’ practices that led to a mortgage crisis in the United States. It’s clear that in our current market where homes sales have slowed and the spring buying market is kicking into gear, that competition is strong among lenders. Mortgage lending is a large part of their bottom lines.  Gord Nixon, CEO of Royal Bank of Ca...

PSST... HAVE YOU HEARD YOU CAN BE MORTGAGE FREE SOONER???? Paying off your mortgage faster has the excellent benefit of reducing the amount of interest that you pay on your mortgage. How? By using privileges provided by the lender. There are two types of mortgages; open and closed mortgages. OPEN mortgages there are no limits as to how fast you can pay down your mortgage; however you do pay a higher interest rate for this privilege. Typically, this type of mortgage is used by real estate investors who know they are only going to hold the property for a short time. Their interest expense is also tax deductible. CLOSED mortgages are the preferred choice for owner occupied properties and also offer privileges for paying down the mortgage faster with the ultimate benefit of reducing the interest you pay over the life of your mortgage. These programs differ from lender to lender; at the end of the day you would not choose a lender based solely on this. P...

      This is something I do for my clients on a regular basis, 24/7. Can you say the same about your bank? or even your current mortgage planner?  If you want to save time, reduce your legwork, understand all your options & make sure you find the best possible deal - a licensed Mortgage Associate is the ideal solution. The best news is that you can get started without even leaving your house or office; you can even do while you are on vacation or a business trip. Take advantage of the expert knowledge provided by a; TMG Mortgage associate to make an informed mortgage choice.            Benefits of using a Mortgage Associate Access to numerous lender's & products -One Credit Pull Products available exclusively through Brokers - Monitors Rate Drops Works on your behalf - Free of Charge(OAC) Access to new products imm...