Home maintenance tips for the fall
Your house is an important investment that you want to keep in tip top shape, especially if you are planning to be there for the foreseeable future. It’s also your home, which means regular maintenance is necessary to ensure your family’s safety and ongoing enjoyment.
Fall is one of the most active seasons for home maintenance as you prepare for the upcoming winter months. CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) has compiled this general maintenance checklist to help you keep your home in top shape.
- Have furnace or heating system serviced by a qualified service company and as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Check chimneys for obstructions such as nests.
- Remove the grilles on forced-air systems and vacuum inside the ducts.
- Check and clean or replace furnace air filters each month during the heating season.
- Check to see that bathroom exhaust fans and range hoods are operating properly.
- Check smoke, carbon monoxide and security alarms, and replace batteries.
- Remove interior insect screens from windows to allow air from the heating system to keep condensation off window glass and to allow more free solar energy into your home.
- Ensure windows and skylights close tightly; repair or replace weather stripping, as needed.
- Ensure all doors to the outside shut tightly, and check other doors for ease of use. Replace door weather stripping if required.
- If there is a door between your house and the garage, check the adjustment of the self-closing device to ensure it closes the door completely.
- Cover outside of air-conditioning units and shut off power.
- Clean leaves from eavestroughs and roof, and test downspouts to ensure proper drainage from the roof.
- Drain and store outdoor hoses. Close interior valve to outdoor hose connection and drain the hose bib (exterior faucet), unless your house has frost-proof hose bibs.
- Winterize landscaping, for example, store outdoor furniture, prepare gardens and, if necessary, protect young trees or bushes for winter.
What is CHIP?
CHIP is a reverse mortgage, a loan secured against the value of your home. It lets you unlock the value in your home without having to sell or move. The money you receive is tax-free and yours to use as you wish.
• Pay off debts
• Improve your home
• Handle unexpected expenses
• Help your children or grandchildren
• Improve your day-to-day standard of living
• Make a special trip or purchase
Benefits of CHIP
Keep your home. Stay in your home and community. Maintain complete ownership and control of your home for as long as you choose to stay.
No payments.
With CHIP you never have to make regular payments until you no longer live in the home.
Relieve financial stress.
Use up to 55% of the equity in your home to pay off debts or handle unforeseen expenses.
Enjoy retirement.
The money you access through CHIP is tax-free.
Take control.
Get your fnances under control and gain the freedom to set your own plans and priorities.
How CHIP works
Who can qualify?
• Canadian homeowner
• Age 55 or older
• Own your home
• It’s your primary residence
*No health check required
Decide whether CHIP is for you.
- Weigh the options with your family and advisors.
- Receive your money.
Get up to 55% of your home’s appraised value, tax-free. - Enjoy.
No payments required. You maintain ownership and control of your home.
When you decide to move or sell, the proceeds of the home sale repay your loan. The equity left over after repayment is yours.
1. You are required to pay your property taxes, have valid and
adequate fire insurance and keep your property well maintained.
2. Some conditions apply.
Tick. Tock. The clock is counting down
By Amanda Reaume
Amanda Reaume wrote a book on personal finance for millennials called Money is Everything and blogs at Millennial Personal Finance.
Tick. Tock. The clock is counting down - but are you ready? Here are 5 things you should be doing now.
You might be counting down the months, the weeks or even the days before your retirement, but are you preparing for it? Retirement can be an exciting time and you can make the most of yours by being ready for the financial and personal changes involved.
Retirement is a major life change, so it may take time to figure out your new life and adjust to the financial shifts that take place. By preparing early, you can ease into your retirement lifestyle and focus on making the most of your new life.
Here are some things to consider doing in the five years before you retire in order to be both financially and personally ready.
1. Practice Living on Less
Depending on how much you’ve saved, practicing living on less could prepare you for retired life; however, decreasing your spending now may also help add to your retirement savings. Now is a great time to get a better understanding of your retirement needs. For example, if you find you want more financial flexibility, you might consider working part-time to add to your savings. Knowing this before you retire can help you adjust your plans today.
2. Review Your Debt
More people are headed into retirement with debt these days, so you’re not alone if you expect to still be paying off debt once you’re retired. Look at what you currently owe so that you can figure out which debt you want to tackle before retirement and which you might wait to pay off afterwards. Focus on paying off high-interest debt first or consolidating your debt to save on interest. This can help ensure your fixed income goes further.
3. Plan for Fun
You may have been thinking about your retirement for a long time and now is the time to make some big plans. Start planning vacations you might take in the first couple years. Revisit old hobbies. Make a list of places you want to volunteer or classes you want to take. By planning how you’ll spend your days you are more likely to finally learn how to speak Spanish and make sushi!
4. Think About Your Relationships
Your life changes when you retire and so can your relationships. If you’re married, that will mean spending a lot more time with your spouse and potentially shifting your household responsibilities. Talk through these changes with your partner to make sure you’ll be able to handle them in ways that ensure you’ll grow closer together.
You’ll also want to continue to cultivate old and new relationships to help make up for the social interaction that you used to get at work. Make frequent plans with friends and family or get out and meet new people. To expand your social network, join clubs or go to Meetup events in your community where you can connect with people with similar interests.
5. Talk with Your Advisors
Schedule regular check-ins with your network of financial advisors, such as your financial planner, lawyer, and accountant, to ensure you’re still on track to live the retirement lifestyle you’ve dreamed and planned for.
Get Ready For Your Best Years
Retirement is just the start of your next adventure! Whether you’re planning on spending your future free time hiking the Pacific Coast Trail or playing with your grand-kids as much as possible, by preparing for retirement you can be ready to make the most of all of your work-free days.
Further proof of mortgage rule impact
by Justin da Rosa25 Aug 2017
Finance Minister Bill Morneau has admitted last year’s mortgage rule changes aimed at cooling the housing market have had the intended effect.
“Preliminary data received since the government implemented its most recent adjustments to mortgage rules in October, 2016, suggests that the rule changes are having their intended effect,” Morneau said in a letter to the finance committee, per the Globe and Mail. “A decline in the share of new insured loans issued to highly-indebted borrowers suggests that the quality of credit is improving in the high-ratio mortgage market.
“This development helps to ensure that Canadians are taking on mortgages that they can afford.”
Indeed, a recent report from TransUnion suggested mortgage originations have been impacted by last year’s rules, which included a mortgage stress test.
The agency reported a 10.4% decline in origination volumes in Q1 2017 compared to Q1 2016.
That included a 12% drop in prime mortgages and a 5% decline for “super” prime consumers.
“Recent new regulations in Ontario appear to have had an impact on the volume of home sales and, consequently, mortgage demand,” Fabian said. “So while the number of mortgages is increasing, it is doing so at a slower rate than last year.”
The same report also found serious delinquencies (60 days or more past due) dropped four basis points to 0.56%.
“Home values continue to rise compared to the previous year, pushing overall mortgage debt levels up. However, we did observe an easing of this trend in the second quarter from the previous quarter,” Matt Fabian, director of research and industry analysis for TransUnion Canada, said in the report. “Despite increases in mortgage debt, serious delinquency rates remain low with very little volatility observed over the past two years. Consumers have so far been able to manage their mortgage obligations despite the increasing balance levels. We will continue to monitor these trends especially as interest rates rise, though we don’t anticipate a material impact on mortgages in the near term.”
The drop in serious delinquencies marks the third consecutive quarter of declines.