The real estate in Mexico has witnessed steady appreciation in the last 5 years. Both, homes and condos in Mexico, new and resale have contributed to this growth. The real estate market in Mexico is usually popular with American citizens who look for a second home or vacation home in Mexico. The reasons for this popularity have been its close proximity to USA, low cost of living, better value for money and a warm sunny climate. Recent years have seen thousands of American expatriates buying retirement homes in Mexico. Moreover, infrastructure in Mexico has improved to international standards. This has made Mexico a much sought after destination.

You may very well ask why Mexican Real Estate industry won’t suffer as a consequence of the recent fall of US economy.

Destination like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta , Baja California region are very popular with real estate investors in Mexico. These areas are continually seeing new and grand real estate projects conceived and completed to meet the demands of the buyers eager to buy real estate in Mexico. With the introduction of Mortgage financing for foreign real estate investors in Mexico, the increase of foreign investment has strengthened the growth of real estate market in Mexico. Since, the lending process and criterion for foreign real estate investors has been simplified, it has served in increasing enthusiasm for Mexico real estate.

Mexico real estate market is much more stable than US real estate market. The residential mortgage backed securities, popular in the US property market, are not common in Mexico, so have a much less effect of the sub prime crisis afflicting US economy.

Another factor is that the buying market who are looking for the second vacation home is not really experiencing too much of the current recessionary effects in America.

One very interesting development seen in Mexican real estate market is the increase in real estate investors from Canada. Canada has experienced a very strong dollar in recent times. Strong economy and increased property markets, especially in the main areas of Toronto and Vancouver , have led to a large number of Canadian home owners able to spend money on a second or Vacation Homes in Mexico.

Mexican real estate market seems to be a promising and steady destination for investors throughout the coming years. Recessionary influences of the US have not shown any medium to long term negative impact so far on Mexico Property Market. Foreign investors from Canada and Europe are flocking to Mexico compensating for any dwindling of investment from USA. So go ahead and buy your dream vacation home in Mexico and secure your investment for the future.

Author: Insight Advisors

When you’re looking at your mortgage choices, you assess the long and steady fall of mortgage rates in Canada over the last decade and make your mind up to opt for a variable mortgage as you purchase your new home, at renewal or while refinancing your mortgage. Next, you track the mortgage rate movement, trying to guess the ideal time to lock in your mortgage. The idea is to try to speculate the bottom and you will not make out it is the bottom until it is very late. In today’s low rate condition, we have to admit that the majority of the homebuyers are in a profitable condition; on the other hand, it can still be a stressful.

One way to get rid of all of the speculation is to think about a capped-rate variable mortgage, even if there are just a few choices to be had in the market. There is an exclusive variable mortgage that is not derived from the Canadian prime rate the standard benchmark however on what is recognized as the Banker’s Acceptance rate, a benchmark that is intended for qualified money managers. Actually, the BA rate, as it’s identified, is the rate lenders charge one another or in short it’s inter-bank rates. Needless to say, it’s usually a great deal lower than prime. Actually, the effective rate of this variable mortgage has been constantly lower than competitive variable rate products derived from Prime. At present, a capped version is to be had.

A variable rate mortgage with a cap provides unrestricted decline in rate movement, although as well offers a security that the rate will in no way increase above a certain percentage higher than the initial base rate, regardless of where the lending rates are heading. The rate cap takes the speculation out of the variable mortgage. If rates keep on drop, your Mortgage rate as well drops so. Although if rates start on to go up, you know that, your own mortgage rate has a preset upper limit. Obviously, this type of flexibility comes at a small premium over a standard variable rate mortgage.

Formerly, more and more Canadians have passed on the safety of conventional fixed rate mortgages for the savings prospective of a variable rate. Furthermore, in an atmosphere of dropping rates, the variable rate option has confirmed its worth to homebuyers. With today’s rates amongst the lowest in our lifetime, a lot of homeowners continue to worry about whether or not they should lock in or not. In any case, we would not like to lose the flexibility of having our rate adjusted downward on the other hand; we’d like to have it preset upward as well.

If we could look into future, we could make ideal choices on our mortgage opportunities, and we’d be familiar with how to secure the best rate. However, a mortgage that reduces with falling rates and has a rate cap on the upside can be the next best thing to looking into the future and a capped variable mortgage is just that.

When you are looking to buy a house, Belleville should be one of the places that you look. Belleville, Ontario is a beautiful city with so much to offer.

Belleville is located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Ontario. The climate is one of the great benefits to living in Belleville. The summer season is warm and comfortable, with occasional rain. The winter is cold with snow but not exceedingly cold for Canada. Spring and fall are beautiful seasons.

Houses in Belleville tend to be spacious and quite reasonable. Classic architecture is quite popular in Belleville. The schools are excellent and you can select from public, private and Catholic/Christian schools for your children. Loyalist College is located in Belleville to continue one’s education.

There are many fun activities one can enjoy in Belleville. You can easily find ballet schools, bowling, batting cages, golf, a skateboard park, recreation centers, YMCA, fitness centers and the theater. Nightclubs entertain the young and young at heart as you dance the night away. Many believe that Belleville is well on its way to becoming a “hub” city like Toronto.

Living in rural Ontario can be challenging. You have a far way to go to connect with other neighbors at times. Often you have a farther distance than most to find typical services such as a grocery store, doctor or a gas station. This can be stressful in an emergency and just plain frustrating in everyday life. While often real estate costs are less than other areas, you typically get what you pay for. There are far less cultural and fun activities available in rural Ontario. Most people like to live in a place where they can connect with their neighbors.

Living in Toronto can also have its challenges. This city is quite large, inhabiting 2.7 million people. Living in a city this large can at times be overwhelming. It can be frustrating dealing with crowds and large lines of people trying to do exactly what you would like to do. When you want a quiet day at the park, there are hundreds of others with exactly the same idea. Living in a bustling city like Toronto is full of activities and culture. There is always something going on. However, living in Toronto is certainly much more expensive than living other places.

Living on Bowen Island, British Columbia is certainly a beautiful place. Located off the coast of Vancouver, this island is 6 kilometers wide and 12 kilometers long. About 700 people (both students and workers) commute from this island daily. 1,500 people visit this island during the summer. However, living on an island year-round can have its challenges. In bad weather, it can be hard to leave the island. You need to consider commuting off the island for many of your services and needs such as work, school and other requirements. This island is beautiful, but living on a small island does have its challenges.

Real estate fraud has been a hot topic in Ontario recently. There have been a number of stories reported in the Toronto area where innocent homeowners have had their title transferred to fraudsters and/or have had fraudulent mortgages registered on title to their properties. There was a particularly alarming case reported last year in the Toronto Star where an elderly homeowner had his property transferred to a fraudster and then subsequently transferred to an innocent third party purchaser without his knowledge. Given the state of the law in Ontario at that particular time, the gentleman ended up losing title to the property and he had to make an application to the Land Titles Assurance Fund (the “Fund”) to seek compensation. We will discuss the Fund later.

There are more than two million real estate transactions that occur in this province every year and the instances of real estate fraud are relatively low. That said, the province and in particular, the Ministry of Government Services, have taken the position that any level of fraud is unacceptable. The value of these fraudulent transactions are generally very high as they relate to either title to registered property or mortgage amounts that are in to the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The innocent victims in these cases are the existing homeowners who lost their property and/or financial institutions whose mortgage security is invalid.

There are generally two types of real estate fraud. The most common form of real estate fraud is what is known as title fraud in which case a fraudster using a stolen identity or forged documents transfers title of a registered owner to himself or herself without the owner’s knowledge. The fraudster then obtains a mortgage from a financial institution using the fake identification of the current owner. Funds are advanced under the mortgage and the fraudster disappears. The homeowner ends up receiving notices that his or her mortgage payments with an unknown mortgage company are in default. The existing homeowner contacts his lawyer who conducts a subsearch of the property and determines that in fact there is a mortgage registered on title and that the property is no longer in the name of the original homeowner.

The second type of fraud is what is known as mortgage fraud. The most common form of this mortgage fraud is a “value flip” in which fraudsters flip a property to one another artificially inflating the value of the property. Upon the value of the most recent transaction, the current owner applies for a mortgage. The fraudster will generally apply for a low value mortgage or secured line of credit on the property knowing that the lending institution will not require an appraisal or walkthrough for credit approval purposes. The result is a mortgager greatly exceeding the true value of the property. As such, there is no equity remaining in the property, the fraudsters disappear and the mortgage lender is forced to foreclose or power of sale on the property and recover substantially less than their mortgage advance.

The most interesting policy issue to address in the case of mortgage fraud is how to apportion loss amongst two innocent parties. In virtually every mortgage fraud or title fraud situation there are two innocent parties. There is generally the innocent homeowner who has had no knowledge that his or her property has been transferred to a fraudster and/or subject to a fraudulent mortgage and then there is the innocent purchaser or innocent mortgagee who is lending on the basis of the fraudster’s representations. In all cases, the fraudster has generally disappeared with the funds and the two innocent parties end up waging war over the most valuable asset that remains, the real property. In most cases, either the innocent homeowner or the mortgagee/innocent purchaser ends up obtaining registered title to the property and the other innocent party is forced to resort to the Fund. The Fund is established under Section 57 of the Land Titles Act (Ontario) and allows for a person to apply for compensation for certain loses suffered as a result of real estate fraud and other matters. The process has always been very arduous and time consuming for applicants, often resulting in minimal recovery for innocent parties. More on this later as we address the revamped Fund pursuant to Bill 152.

So what is being done to stop identity theft? Bill 152 is the province’s legislative response to increasing incidents of real estate fraud. We will discuss the Bill in more detail later. However, practically speaking, lending institutions, existing homeowners and solicitors are all becoming more diligent now than ever in relation to preventing real estate fraud. Parties to real estate transactions have started to realize that this is an increasingly important issue. As most real estate fraud is related to identify theft or fraudulent identities, all parties now are becoming more diligent in relation to reviewing, obtaining and ascertaining the identity of parties to a real estate transaction either from a purchase and sale perspective or from a mortgage lending perspective. The Law Society of Upper Canada has recently issued new guidelines governing the real estate profession so that two real estate lawyers must be involved on every real estate transaction, subject to some limited exceptions.

THE LAW IN ONTARIO

The three competing models of real property title are deferred indefeasibility, immediate indefeasibility and “nemo dat”. The law in Ontario for well over a century has been the deferred indefeasibility model of title. Before I explain the current law in Ontario (which is now deferred indefeasibility), I will explain to you the other two competing doctrines.

The doctrine of immediate indefeasibility means that once a transfer of title to a purchaser is registered that title is good and is not subject to challenge even if there were previous fraudulent conveyances in the chain of title. Of course if the purchaser had actual knowledge of previous fraud, then your title is not good however, in all other cases you can rely on the parcel register for the property to ensure that you are obtaining good title. The law of immediate indefeasibility places all the risk on the current owner in that if a fraudulent transfer is registered, the original homeowner who had no knowledge of the fraud would be required to make an application to the Fund for compensation . The innocent purchaser/mortgagee gets good title. The law of immediate indefeasibility was approved by the Ontario Court of Appeal in a case of Liu v. Household Realty Corp. (Ontario Court of Appeal 2005) (“Household Realty Corp.”). This decision disrupted over a hundred years of previous case law which had ruled that deferred indefeasibility was the existing law in Ontario.

“Nemo dat quod non habet” is another competing doctrine which has been thoroughly rejected in Ontario throughout the years. “Nemo dat” means that one cannot give that which one does not have. In effect, under this model if a conveyance is made to you by someone who did not have the right to convey the property because of a previous fraud, your title is void even though you had no knowledge of the fraud. In this particular case, one would have to investigate the entire series of property conveyances throughout the years in order to determine that no fraud had been purported previously. This rule goes against the purpose of the Land Titles Act (Ontario) which is that one should be able to rely on the parcel register as to the current state of title to a property. The law of “Nemo dat” has been discussed in a number of recent cases involving mortgage fraud but has been rejected in all court decisions.

As mentioned above, the law in Ontario up to the time of the Household Realty Corp. decision was that of deferred indefeasibility. Pursuant to this doctrine, once a transfer is made to an innocent purchaser or a mortgage is registered in favour of an innocent lender from a fraudster, those entities have the right to convey good title to a third party however, the original purchaser or mortgagee (the “Intermediary”) may or may not have good title depending on the circumstances. If title is not transferred to a third party from the Intermediary and the fraud is discovered, the original homeowner will have title restored to them and the Intermediary will have to resort to the Fund for compensation. The rationale is that the immediate party to the fraud, the Intermediary, has the best opportunity to detect and prevent the fraudulent transfer/mortgage and therefore they should be the party bearing the risk. The Ontario Court of Appeal in the case of Lawrence v. Wright (Ontario Court of Appeal 2007) reversed its own decision in Household Realty Corp. and therefore, rejected the doctrine of immediate indefeasibility. In this particular case, an innocent homeowner lost title to imposters who conveyed her home to a fictitious person who in turn mortgaged the home and disappeared with the proceeds. At trial, the original homeowner lost her fight with the mortgage company and the mortgage was deemed to be valid. The original homeowner lost title to the property. The Ontario Court of Appeal reversed this ruling and determined that the original homeowner would have title to the property restored to her and the mortgage company would have to resort to the Fund for compensation. The Court held that the mortgage company was in the best position to detect the fraud (i.e. identify the imposter) and prevent it from occurring.

BILL 152

Bill 152 received royal assent on December 20, 2006 and has been enacted as chapter 34 of the Statues of Ontario. The act amends a number of statutes including the Land Registration Reform Act, Land Titles Act and Registry Act. The majority of the amendments relate to issues relating to real estate fraud. Bill 152 is the Ontario government’s response to the growing problem of real estate fraud in Ontario. Generally speaking, ownership of a property now cannot be lost as a result of the registration of a fraudulent mortgage, transfer or counterfeit Power of Attorney. The new Bill deems that any of these fraudulent instruments will not have any effect on title and can be deleted from the parcel register for a property as the order of the Director of Titles. Bill 152 also improves the ability of the Director of Titles to rectify issues of suspected fraud and the Director of Titles can register cautions on title or prevent any dealings with properties in cases where fraud is suspected. Bill 152 also permits the Director of Titles to suspend the authorization of any person submitting documents if fraudulent transactions are suspected. Bill 152 also streamlines the procedure for an application to the Fund because as addressed above, there is always an innocent party that will be resorting to the Fund in the case of real estate fraud. Applications to the Fund, instead of taking years, are expected to be resolved in only a matter of months. Finally, the penalties for fraud related offences have been increased under both the Land Titles Act and the Registry Act from $1,000.00 to $50,000.00 and imprisonment for up to two years. Corporations can be fined up to $250,000.00. Finally, Bill 152 most importantly reintroduced by statute the law of deferred indefeasibility as it relates to real property in Ontario.

TITLE INSURANCE

The changes made pursuant to Bill 152 are important. But how can you as a homeowner or mortgagee protect against real estate fraud? Obtaining title insurance coverage for residential real estate transactions has become the norm in the past few years. Your title insurance company gives you excellent protection in relation to fraud related matters. For instance, your title insurer has a duty to defend your title, which will include paying your litigation costs associated with defending your title should a fraud issue arise. Also, if you lose title by way of a fraudulent conveyance or your title is subject to a fraudulent charge, the insurer has an obligation to pay to rectify title in most cases. The most important thing about title insurance is that you have coverage from the time you acquire the property going forward. If you are a homeowner prior to the advent of title insurance, all major title insurers offer what is known as an existing owner’s policy. This type of policy gives you coverage for fraud on a go-forward basis. In all cases, it is important to discuss your particular situation with a lawyer to see how best to protect against the growing problem of real estate fraud.

The number and variety of investment products that are accessible today is staggering and to the average investor, attempting to understand which one is right for you can be a tough task. There are various risks and rewards that go along with each one. One can feel that in order to understand each product requires an advanced degree, but you can improve your odds of success by doing your research.

You may have heard some investment advisers or institutions talk about a diversified portfolio. Having different types of investments instead of just one type helps to protect your money by diluting the risk. You can think of it in terms of being a multi-legged approach to investing. One prong or type of investment may be composed of stocks, bonds, and savings.

Commodities make up the second type of investment product. These are goods such as oil, gold and silver. They can result in substantial returns but at the cost of very high risk. Commodities are usually left to the experienced investor who has time to closely watch the market because they are very volatile.

Real estate has traditionally been a solid investment but not everyone has the funds to go out and start buying property. To apply the Toronto residential real estate market as an example the average cost of a home is over $300,000 with commercial properties being even more. This is where Real Estate Investment Certificates, or REITs come into play.

These are entities that go out and buy property or interests in hotels, office buildings, shopping malls and even mortgages. REITs themselves come in various forms to suit your investment style. REITs that are invested in physical real estate are called Equity REITs. The rents that are charged generate income. To use Toronto as an example again you may have shopping centers with a Wal-mart, Home Depot, Payless shoes etc. that are all leasing buildings from the property owners. All together these Toronto properties are all generating income from rents for the REIT and its investors. Mortgage REITs, however, comprises of investing, or lending, of mortgage money to property owners or developers. If you can’t decide which one you prefer you can choose to get a hybrid REIT which is a combination of the two.

One risky type of real estate invest is known as an option. This is simply a buyer is making what’s known as an “option for consideration”. The option entails an offer to buy real estate if certain conditions are fulfilled such as financing or inspections. During this period the property is taken off of the market in return for a small amount of money as a deposit. This can be risky because the buyer may be forced to forfeit their deposit if the conditions are not fulfilled. On the upside the buyer could earn a quick and substantial profit if they can quickly sell their option to a third party. To do this right a buyer needs to research the market thoroughly.

It can be confusing at times but the more you know the better off you will be. Long term investing is the key and real estate has proven to be a good vehicle for investors and even with the many possible risks involved it is considered to be the least risky when set side by side with other types of investments. And as such it is vital to include it in your investment portfolio.

These are important days for homeowners in Canada. If you have been living in your home even a few years, you have almost certainly witnessed a modest rise in the value of your home. Although you do not plan to sell, it is good to be familiar with that your property investment is flourishing. However, we are as well benefiting from a situation in which mortgage rates have touched remarkable lows.

The present amalgamation of strong valuations as well as low mortgage rates has an unparalleled number of Canadians seeking ways to make the most of on the excellent chance on hand to them. Whether it is to acquire their first home, upgrade to a bigger home, or pull out some equity from their homes, Canadians are making a choice on the prospect to borrow at current all-time low rates. Although several homebuyers are reviewing the value of fixed rate mortgages to lock in those low rates, you must remember that variable rate mortgages can still offer true value to homeowners. It is a matter of finding the right amalgamation of mortgage aspects and choices. Given that other lending organizations have joined banks, we have seen our options for Ontario mortgage choices grow so with a few groundbreaking new mortgage kinds presently on hand to help Canadians profit from current strange prospects.

There are now so many lenders out there with so many innovative home loan products like balloon option, variable rate interest or fixed rates interest and with tenures available from 5 years to 30 years. In some cases, even the amalgamation is possible by that it means you can pay lower variable rates for first five years and later on your mortgage shifts to a more stable fixed rate or vice-versa. Again, there is as well a chance that you maybe not affording bigger monthly payments right now although you know your potential that in years to come your income will increase and you might be able to easily pay bigger monthly payments, there are now home loans precisely for this type of situations as well.

Although it is the best time to invest with so many options available at present you should do some research on home loans, mortgage interest rates and options available. One of the best options for this is the internet. From the comfort of your home, you can search for the best available option to you. There are now several websites catering to growing demand of homebuyers, offering listing from several lenders. In addition, you can request for individual quotes for your condition, you can then compare them using free online mortgage calculators to make out the best deal.

So, if you are thinking about buying a home this year, or you have not had your mortgage assessed in the last several months, take the opportunity to get a professional opinion on your several choices from a mortgage expert. It might be the best investment you will make this year and is a homebuyers’ dream come true.

Searching for the right home takes some very serious considerations as it’s in most cases one’s most expensive investment. The single best piece of advice I would give to anyone looking at purchasing real estate is to Invest Time in choosing the right professional to serve you. Often I’ve heard people having trusted friends and family members help them in purchasing real estate. For all intends and purposes they try very hard. However, the resulted outcome has more often then not been disappointing.

If the choice of a realtor is correctly executed then it will save you time, minimize stress and often save you money. I offer anyone who doesn’t know me a free consultation in my office with no obligation. If they find I’m the right professional to serve them then that’s great. If they find that they are unsure then that’s fine too.

I often find consumers tend to go online in searching for a home and spend many, many hours searching on their own. Why do that when that’s part of my job. Do what you do best and enjoy time with your loved ones.

By using an array of techniques available to me this allows me to profile what my clients are looking in a home in a short period of time. Therefore, allowing me to pinpoint properties which meet their criteria. Keeping abreast of changes in real estate and technology allows me to add additional value when serving my clients.

I am very knowledgeable with the City of Toronto along with surrounding areas such as: Durham region: Pickering, Claremont, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Court ice. YorkRegion: Markham, Unionville, Vaughan, Woodbridge, Maple, Newmarket, Aurora, Thornhill. Peel Region: Brampton, Mississauga Halton Region: Oakville.

Here is a snapshot of what I recommend to buyers:

Determine your wants and needs

This is the single most important step. By asking a series of in-depth questions, I establish what you are looking for in a home. These questions go beyond the commonly asked ones, such as, “How much do you want to spend?” and “What neighbourhood do you want to live in?”

Pre-qualify

This shows you how much you can afford. Purchasers often realize they can afford more than they imagined. I connect you to financial professionals who minimize the time spent on this important process.

Know your costs

There are always additional or hidden costs in purchasing a home. I can assist in estimating these costs ahead of time, so you’re not faced with unpleasant financial surprises at closing.

Match dreams with reality

I perform a detailed analysis of properties available to locate those that match your desires. I have developed exclusive software to assist in this matching process. The result is that you spend far less time looking at properties that simply don’t meet your needs.

Offer to purchase

When we find the property that you want, I work with you to write your offer to purchase. I then represent you with the seller and negotiate the best price for your new home.

Real estate agents charge fees; money that could otherwise be going into your pocket. At least that’s the common misconception amongst home sellers. But is that the reality of the situation? Do real estate agents really take up a large portion of your house sale price? Does a professional real estate agent really cost you that much?

The first thing to acknowledge is that yes, a real estate agent is going to charge you a commission. However, he’s not getting something for nothing. In fact, when you realize what the real estate professional does, you’ll understand that although he does charge you a fee, you are not actually out of pocket. So what does a real estate agent do, and how do they earn their money?

The first thing that a real estate agent brings to the table is an up-to-date working knowledge about houses in your area, what price they are currently selling for, and who’s buying them. This is invaluable because they know exactly the kind of target buyer who will be interested in taking a look at your home with a serious interest in buying it. This kind of buyer is often already qualified so that if they like what they see, you’re more likely to see the sale through to closure than if the buyer hasn’t even started trying to raise finance to buy a home.

An experienced real estate professional will be able to advise you on what needs to be done to your home in order to sell it at the best selling price for your type of home in your area. It could be that his list is actually shorter than yours based on how much return you will get for investing time and money in repairs and updating such things as drapes. You may know your home better than he does, but he knows what sells, and his knowledge on how to place furniture in order to maximize natural light etc could make the difference between selling and not.

Selling a house isn’t like going to the store, picking an item off the shelf and buying it. There a lot of legalities and paperwork to be covered before a closing a house sale. A real estate agent works with this paperwork on a daily basis. They know how to simplify things and get the official process taken care of as quickly as possible. They will negotiate on your behalf with the buyers, the financial people and the legal people so that all the ends are tied up neatly and you won’t have a legal case on your hands in the future because of a form that didn’t get filed, or a negotiation clause that was forgotten in the excitement.

On the surface, it may seem that a real estate agent is there to take your money, but in actual fact, his experience and knowledge will help you speed up the process, and because of his negotiating skill, could put more money into your pocket than you pay into his.

One of the most important things to do when purchasing a home is to find a great real estate agent to make the process flow smoothly and effectively.  A question many people ponder is how to find a good real estate agent.  The best agent may not necessarily work at one of the top ten agencies in the area.  The agent who will work best for you would be an experienced agent who will listen to your needs, act in a professional and ethical manner and knows the market in your area.

1.)Word-of-Mouth or Referral
Most real estate professionals attract a sizable amount of business because of a satisfied client who recommends them to a friend, family member or neighbour.  When you are thinking of purchasing a home, it is a good idea to ask those around you who they have used and ask them to elaborate on their specific experience with the real estate agent in question.  Successful real estate agents strive to make customer satisfaction their number one priority and will do everything they can to facilitate a good experience for a customer.  Try to find an agent that has a proven track record and reputation for delivering quality service, customer satisfaction, and have experience in the neighbourhoods that you are looking in.

2.) Do an Online Search For Real Estate Agents
There are many online resources available when searching for a real estate agent referral, but this by no means ensures quality.  The agents referred online may have paid a fee to the website owner to be listed in the directory.  Performing a Google search of the top agents in your area and then reviewing their websites will give you a good list of agents to interview.  Agents who have experience in the field will tell you, but a newer agent will more than likely have the extra time to spend working with you.  Review any customer testimonials or feedback about an agent you may be interested in retaining.

3.) Visit Open Houses in the Area
You should visit some area open houses where you can actually meet with a potential agent in a non-threatening manner.  Here you can see how they work, collect business cards, formulate an opinion and talk with them on a personal basis.  If you are thinking about selling a home, pay close attention to how the agent presents the home.  Make sure the agent is polite, informative, approachable and professional.  Does the agent promote the home by handing out professional looking feature sheets or other related materials?  Is the agent trying to play up the features that make the home more enticing?  Or is the agent in the corner, back turned and uninvolved in the whole scenario?  

4.) Pay Attention to Real Estate Signs
Carefully monitor the real estate signs in your neighbourhood.  Observe how long from the day they go up until the home is actually sold.  An agent who has a high sales turnover might be a better choice than an agent who has lots of for sale signs but few sold signs.  An agent who gets results is what you want.

5.) Why Agents Use Printed Advertising
There are two main reasons real estate agents use printed advertisement.  First is to advertise and sell a specific piece of real estate.  Secondly, advertising is used to promote the agent handling the transaction.  By checking the local Sunday real estate ads in your neighbourhood and then checking the agents website, you can find the agents who may specialize in your particular neighbourhood.  Contact the agent and inquire about their expertise and ask any other relative questions you may have.

6.) Seeking Recommendations from Other Real Estate Professionals
Ask around and seek out other real estate agents for a referral.  Most agents are happy to refer a buyer or seller to another associate, if the service you require is not a specialty they can provide.  Some agents only specialize in resale property, while others work predominantly with the sale of new homes.  Other agents work exclusively with commercial or investment properties.  Mortgage brokers are a great resource for agent referrals; many brokers have first-hand knowledge and can point you in the direction of a top-quality real estate agent and remember professionals tend to refer like-minded peers. There is also typically a referral fee involved for the referring professional so be careful that they refer you to the best Agent not the one that pays the highest referral fee.

The housing market is looking fairly good right now. Sales are on the rise, thanks, at least in part, to ridiculously low mortgage rates. An article last week in the Financial Post discussed a survey by Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd, who sampled their agents to find out if they felt the current housing trend would continue. 61% of those surveyed felt it would, 28% did not and another 11% were undecided.

Mortgage rates are almost certainly a contributing factor in the housing market. We Canadians are drawn to low rates the way young children are drawn to candy. We see it and it makes us drool.

According to Statistics Canada, new home and resale home markets are up for the month of July. With the major banks and mortgage companies competing heavily for mortgage dollars, it’s not surprising those in the real estate industry are crediting low mortgage rates.

There is no definitive data regarding the impact of the home renovation credit on housing purchases, but it certainly stands to reason that members of the do-it-yourself crowd were spurred into action before the opportunity expires. You can barely pass a street corner without seeing the home renovation tax credit in a marketing campaign. Everyone from government, to hardware stores, to banks is urging Canadians to take advantage of the tax savings – now!

So, will the trend continue? The water-cooler chatter bugs across the nation are in an escalating debate over the answer. Yes, everybody’s got an opinion. Mortgage rates should stay low, with Bank of Canada promising to keep the Key Rate at 0.25% at least until June 2010. Then again, banks need to earn a profit too, so rates might creep up anyway.

Once the tax credit expires, less people will be interested in buying fixer uppers. Then again, a successful tax credit initiative for homeowners might mean it continues for at least another year. The points of dispute are endless, and what it comes down to is, nobody can really say for certain what is going to happen. The best we can do is deal with what we know today. Right now.

What we know right now is this: if you’re thinking of buying a home, you will get a fabulous mortgage rate. If you wish you had taken advantage of the below prime variable rates on mortgages, stop kicking yourself. Deal with right now, which has variable rates pretty close to prime.

What else do we know right now? We know it’s a great time to buy a house or condo. Prices are affordable on resales, pre-construction and new builds. Buyers are the current power of the market, after years of being at the mercy of the seller. If you’ve been watching the listings and witnessed some red hot deals pass you by, now is the time to jump on the bandwagon and make an offer on the next great buy you see. Save the tales about the one that got away for fishing.

When everything in the market is working to your benefit, you owe it to yourself to take advantage of the opportunities. You can argue and speculate about how long the current mortgage rates will remain this low, but one thing is agreed upon unanimously: sooner or later mortgage rates will definitely go up.