"Toronto City Council has approved a municipal land transfer tax that will be levied on top of the provincial land transfer tax. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) worked very hard to oppose this tax. TREB took a strong position to oppose this tax as unfair in principle and refused to compromise. Details of the City's land transfer tax are available from the City's web site."
If you are buying a home, then, before you decide on whether this home is your dream home, the following checklist will help you look at prospective homes with a critical eye. We suggest printing this page and putting it on a clipboard. When you find a home that really interests you, mark the features you see and note their general condition on this list.
Home value sometimes referred to as "Value in Use", is best described as the probable price at which a home trades in a free, competitive, and open market and is synonymous with the market value.
The Income Tax Act does not specifically set out whether or not a gain or loss is capital in nature. The taxpayer is responsible for reporting the gain as income or capital gain. This report may then be challenged by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency with the onus of proof on the taxpayer.
SELLING YOUR HOME ON YOUR OWN - OR USING A REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON
SELLING YOUR HOME - WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME?
HOW REAL ESTATE MARKET CONDITIONS AFFECT YOUR OFFER PRICE
If you have decided that now is the time to sell your home, you might be thinking: should I hire a Real Estate Sales Representative or do it alone. Have you ever considered repairing your own car? Anyone can buy the tools and parts. However, most of us just do not have the knowledge, training, experience or the expertise and commitment of time to do the job properly. Besides, there are plenty of experienced professionals to do the work for us.
When should I sell my home? Your answer to this question might be right now! If you have taken a job in another city or made an offer on a new home, or had an addition to your family, selling your home fast might be the most important goal you have. Most people, however, have some flexibility when they sell their home. Let us take a closer look at the most important factors that can go into this decision.
A hot market is a "seller’s market". During a seller’s market, properties can sell within a few days of being listed and there are often multiple offers. Sometimes homes even sell above the asking price. Though most buyers want to get a "deal" on a home, reducing your offer by even a few thousand dollars could mean that someone else will get the home you desire.
There are many television shows today that focus on home staging. If you have not watched any, do yourself a favor and tune in. They all say the same thing: do not even consider putting your house on the market until you have taken a close look at its condition. Experienced sales people know that you only have one shot at impressing potential buyers, so take some time to prepare your home for showings. You will be rewarded with a faster sale and a higher offer.
A very accurate saying is that "Any home will sell once you get the price right." Of course, this is usually said from the perspective of dropping a price until it's too attractive to pass up. Actually, the accurate pricing of your home prior to listing is as much an art as it is a science.
You may have lived in your home for many years. The location factors that you considered when making your purchase decision may not apply to today’s buyers. The task is to identify the current positive aspects of your home’s location and market them aggressively. When it comes to positive locations, people’s different attitudes and preferences will determine if a location is a “good” one.
New study says tax harmonization would slam door on homebuyers
Ontario's new homebuyers would face a massive tax grab under the proposed harmonization of the federal GST and Ontario PST, a new report released today concludes.
The report on the implications for sales tax harmonization on new home buyers in Ontario was written by veteran housing analyst Frank Clayton, PhD, of Canada's largest independent real estate consulting and advisory firm Altus Group, for the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). BILD is the Greater GTA affiliate of the Ontario Home Builders' Association.
The report looked at nine Ontario municipalities and three different home types. It revealed tax increases for single detached homes ranging from $8,957 (Windsor) to $17,049 (Ottawa) in markets outside the GTA, and from $24,566 (Mississauga) to a whopping $46,676 (Toronto) within the GTA.
"All told, harmonization of PST and GST without any offsetting measures by the provincial government would rip $2.4 billon dollars out of the pockets of new home buyers, slamming the homeownership door shut in the face of many Ontarians," said Stephen Dupuis, President and CEO of BILD.
BILD Chair Leith Moore added that the proposal for GST/PST harmonization couldn't come at a worse time and runs completely contrary to the Province's efforts to stimulate spending and jobs.
"There's no point putting the gas pedal to the metal from a stimulus standpoint while braking equally hard with the other foot, but that's what harmonizing the sales tax on housing amounts to," Moore said.
Meanwhile, Ontario Home Builders' Association president Frank Giannone said harmonization is a "poison pill" for housing. "Housing is the only product that keeps on paying property tax after it is consumed. So to cripple the new home buyer market at this time not only damages the provincial economy, it also hurts governments in terms of revenues. In addition, the HST would also add additional tax to future renovation projects, and we all know tax increases drive consumers into the underground economy and into cash deals. It makes no sense," he said.
Dupuis explained that builders are not fighting harmonization, but fighting for fair treatment of housing under a harmonized sales tax regime. "The reason housing gets hit so hard is that it is the biggest of the big ticket items and it's not currently directly subject to PST, for good reason," he said.
"As matters currently stand, builders are paying an average of two per cent PST embodied in the price of each new home and they're prepared to keep on paying at that rate, notwithstanding all the other taxes, fees and levies they must endure.
"What home builders are not prepared to do is to sit idly by while home buyers are hammered to the tune of $2.4 billion due to harmonization. That's not on," Dupuis concluded. (CREA 11/03/09)
