MY TORONTO by SHAWN VENASSE - Sales Representative

RRSP vs. TFSA: Which is the Best Investment Tool for First-Time Home Buyers? So, you've decided you're ready to buy a home. Now the real work begins--saving enough money for a down payment. “It's absolutely critical the down payment is a good size on a first home—somewhere in the range of 10 to 20%,” says Lesley-Anne Scorgie, a personal finance author. “The rationale simply being that the habit of saving is the same habit you'll need for actually owning a home—keeping up with the payments and preparing yourself and your bank account.” There are many online mortgage calculators available to help you determine how much home you can afford. REALTOR.ca's  mortgage affordability calculator  can help guide you through this entire process. It's important to save a healthy down payment to avoid, what could be, steep mortgage insurance fees. To help, the federal government has set up a number of tools you can use to build up sizeable sa

BUYING A CONDO IN TORONTO It’s 2019 – why are you still paying rent? This is the year that you can change how you invest in yourself. Instead of giving your hard-earned money to your landlord each month, why not invest it in yourself and your own property? It is possible, especially in Toronto! If you work in Toronto, commuting will not necessarily save you money in the long or short term. Living as close to work as possible is one of the smartest financial decisions you can do. So why not step the ante up and see what you can buy? Here are some essential tips to help you buy a condo in Toronto. Redo Your Finances With the market being so hot right now, it’s almost guaranteed that the prices of downtown Toronto condos have increased from the time you began saving for a down payment. So if your budget was $500 000 and you had your eye on a specific type of condo with that price, chances are that condo is now worth $550 000. So either you ne