A financial levy made by lawful process against those specific parcels of property that directly benefit from the special assessment.

For real estate practitioners, special assessments are typically encountered in two areas: taxation and condominium property. Under taxation, the taxing authority may levy a special assessment for improvements within a particular area (for example: installation of curbs and sidewalks), in a residential subdivision. Individual property owners benefiting from this increased utility are levied a special assessment over and above usual property taxes to pay for the expenditure over a pre-determined period.

With condominium property, special assessments are normally levied against all unit owners to make up a deficiency in the reserve fund in contemplation of repair/replacement concerning the common elements of the condominium corporation.

Past vocabulary words:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R

Keith Marshall is a real estate agent with Prudential Grand Valley Realty, serving Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. If you’re thinking of buying or selling your home, please give me a call. I aim to take the stress and mystery out of the home buying and selling process. If you have real estate questions, you can chat with me live on my homepage or contact me by phone or email. Sign up for my newsletter.

Filed under: real estate vocabualry by Keith Marshall
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I was working with a young man recently who decided after seeing only a few houses that he would rent for another year. I asked him why he changed his mind and he told me that he thought RIM was in trouble and the price of real estate would likely fall within the year.

Wishful thinking. There are better reasons not to buy.

But as to that argument, we all know how strong the local economy is and the local economy isn’t RIM. There are hundreds of high-tech firms, two universities, two large insurance companies and an assemblage of employers keeping our local economy and housing market strong.

Owning the roof over your head should still be a goal for most Canadians as paying rent is like paying someone else’s mortgage.

While a growing number of real estate watchers and some economists are forecasting property prices will decline, the Bank of Canada gave its clearest signal so far this week that interest rates are set to rise. On a national level house prices may fall a little, but here in Waterloo Region I predict steady but slow growth.

Given such scenarios written in national newspapers, some first-time buyers may be tempted to hold off on what’s likely to be one of the biggest purchases of their lives.

That would be a mistake.

Get into the market is my advice. Even if you have to lower your expectations about what you can afford it’s better, especially if you are young, to put your money into buying rather than renting.

About two-thirds of Canadians currently own their own homes, with men more likely to be homeowners than women at 69% compared with 63%, according to a recent BMO survey. Those least likely to have taken the plunge were in the 18 to 34-age bracket, where only a third were homeowners.

If you have the opportunity to get into the market, it’s a great time to buy. I would say that the Kitchener Waterloo real estate market is balanced at this time. Prices have leveled off – instead of increasing at about 6% per year they are increasing at about 1%.

The rents are high in Kitchener Waterloo because the vacancy rate is low. There are a lot of renters out there and it’s very lucrative to have a rental property.

According to the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corp. the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom place was $864 in April, up from $848 in April last year.

That price rises to $1,181 in Vancouver and $1,124 in Toronto, Canada’s costliest cities.

With interest rates currently so low, on the purchase of an average $300,000 property, mortgage payments are unlikely to be much higher than rental payments.

A fixed-rate mortgage of 5% and an amortization period of 30 years would put monthly mortgage payments at $1,521.02. Adding in property taxes monthly payments are likely to be about $1,771.02, according to figures supplied by BMO.

If a monthly rental of $1,200 increases by about 5% a year, after eight years your mortgage payments will be less than your rent, BMO says.

The only real argument in favor or renting over buying is if you are highly mobile and plan to be in a location for less than five years. Then renting is probably the best option.

Filed under: advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, editorial, general news, home, home owners, Industry, interest rates, investing in real estate, mortgage, real estate trends by Keith Marshall
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Most modern beds consist of a mattress on a bed frame, with the mattress resting either on a solid base, (often wooden slats), or a sprung base. In North America many beds include a box spring inner-sprung base, a large mattress-sized box containing wood and springs that provide additional support and suspension for the mattress.

In Europe, Australia and Japan, people prefer to dispense with the box spring and bed frame, and replace it with a platform bed style.

Bed sizes vary considerably around the world, with most countries having their own standards and terminology.

While the double size appears to be standard among English speaking countries, based on the imperial measurement of 4 ft 6 in by 6 ft 3 in (137,16 cm x 190,5 cm), the sizes for other bed types tend to vary. The mainland European sizes differ, not merely because of difference based on use of the metric system.

A king-sized bed differs from the other sizes in implementation, as it is not common to have a king-sized box spring; rather, two smaller box-springs are used under a king-sized mattress.

What is referred to as a “single bed” in many parts of the world is known in U.S. terminology as a “twin bed.” In some countries, a “twin bed” may also be used to describe one of two single beds in the same room.

Early beds were little more than piles of straw or some other natural material like maybe a pile of palm leaves. Raising them off the ground, to avoid draughts, dirt, and pests was the first step leading to beds as we know them today.

We’ve come along way, perhaps gone too far.

Filed under: just for fun by Keith Marshall
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QUESTION: My mortgage is coming up for renewal. In shopping around for the best interest rate, I am wondering if there is anything else I should be considering?

ANSWER: The following considerations apply whether you are renewing your existing mortgage, or, are about to enter into your first mortgage.

The interest rate offered on a mortgage is definitely the highest priority in most cases. However, aside from the interest rate, a second important consideration should be the prepayment options available under your mortgage. In other words, does your mortgage offer various options, which give you the ability to pay down your mortgage as fast as possible? For example, if you receive an unexpectedly large Christmas bonus at work this year, will you be permitted to apply that bonus to your mortgage thereby paying down the mortgage faster (this is known as a Lump-Sum Payment — see below)?

So what types of prepayment options should you be looking for? Below is a brief list of some options available out there.

1) Lump-Sum Payment: This option permits you to make a payment above your regular mortgage payment once a year. The amount of the payment is usually restricted and varies between lending institutions. Generally however, the size of payment allowed varies between 10 – 15 percent of the mortgage amount.

This payment is applied entirely and directly to your principal! Remember, your regular monthly payments are applied partially to pay down principal, and, partially towards interest. This option comes in very handy when you receive a Christmas bonus, tax refund, small cash gift/winning and so on during the term of your mortgage.

2) Annual Payment Increase: This option permits you to increase your regular mortgage payments once each year. The option is useful since it will give you the flexibility to accommodate for any yearly increases in your salary during the term of your mortgage. By using this option, you will be able to use any increases in your salary towards paying down your mortgage quickly.

The amount by which you increased your regular payments will be applied directly to decrease your principal.

3) Double-up Payments: This option is perfect for those of us who do not want to commit to an increased regular mortgage payment for an entire year (as would be the case with the Annual Payment Increase option). This option enables you to make additional payments beyond your regular payments whenever you have the extra funds to do so. The amount of additional payments, and, how often you can make those additional payments varies between different lenders. Generally, however, the amount of the payment will be restricted to anything less than or equal to your regular monthly payment.

Again, the additional payment will be applied directly to your principal!

4) Accelerated Payments: This option is offered by almost all lenders. Simply, you can chose to make your regular payments, either weekly, bi-weekly, or, monthly. By simply increasing the frequency of regular payments, you will substantially increase the savings over the life of your mortgage.

For example, if you made monthly payments on a $100,000.00 mortgage at an interest rate of 6.9%, the interest paid over an amortization period of 25 years would be $108,367.70. However, if you made your payments weekly on the same mortgage, the interest you would pay over the 25 year amortization period would be $84,963.57. A savings of $23,404.13 in interest payments.

Note also, by paying weekly, you will pay off your entire mortgage in 20 years and 5 months. With monthly payments, you would pay off your mortgage in 25 years.

5) Prepayment Penalties: Although not an option, you should also consider what prepayment penalties you will incur if you ever decide to prepay the mortgage either partially or entirely.

Aside from interest rates, and prepayment options, other considerations when searching for a mortgage should include portability of your mortgage, assumability of your mortgage, fixed or open mortgage, etc.

Finally, shop around, ask questions, and research thoroughly the features various lending institutions offer. Make up a chart to compare features between different lending institutions and choose the one which best suits your present and potential future needs. As you can gather, the interest rate should not be the only factor you should consider. Best of Luck!

Victor Hussein is a Kitchener Waterloo Lawyer specializing in real estate

Filed under: advice, Interviews, Q&A by Keith Marshall
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This $39,000,000 home in West Vancouver is the priciest listing in Canada. The 5.44-acre property at the top of 21st Avenue in West Vancouver, B.C., has panoramic views of downtown Vancouver and Burrard Inlet and also boasts a barn, doll house, tennis courts and two homes — one a cozy 21,000-square-foot rancher, the other a nearly 7,000-square-foot guest house.

The property also features plans for an Olympic-size negative edge pool, 16-car garage and 2,600-square-foot maid’s quarters. Based on a $5-million down payment with a five-year mortgage rate of 4.5 per cent over 25 years — your mortgage payment would be about $166,749.75 — every month.

Filed under: just for fun, real estate by Keith Marshall
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