C21 Life Hacks - financial

Dealing With Multiple Offers - For Buyers and Sellers

Deciding which offer to take when presented with multiple offers takes more than just picking the highest bidder. Every seller has to consider a number of factors about the potential homeowners they're dealing with, such as their financing and offer commitment. On the opposite side of the transaction, buyers need to weigh things like conditions in fine print - even blind bidding. So, how do you begin to even deal with a multiple offer scenario? This week, we look at five considerations for both buyers and sellers:

1) Priorities

First and foremost, discuss priorities with your Realtor. While you might have to compromise on some things, your Realtor will do what it takes to check off as many of your goals/priorities as possible. 

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Tips For Single Home Buyers

Purchasing a home is an exciting milestone in life. At the same time, it's stressful and seems like such a daunting process. For single individuals, this stress is amplified. This week, we're giving out our top tips to make any bachelor or bachelorette a savvy home buyer:

Be Aware of Your Finances

It's hard enough to qualify for a mortgage as a couple! Qualifying for a mortgage while solo carries more stress, amplified further by the fact that interest rates are on the rise right now. It's essential for the singles out there to know where their credit stands, since the higher your credit score is, the more favourable your interest rate will be. If your score is lower than you'd like it to be, check out our surefire ways to improve…

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Helping Your Adult Child Buy A Home

When it comes to purchasing a home, many millennials and Gen Zers have insurmountable worries. When mom and dad were buying their first home, housing prices were significantly lower, lending guidelines weren't as rigid, the cost of living was comparatively better, and the debt to income ratio wasn't large. A 20% down payment was an attainable financial goal in the 70s and 80s - now, not so much. For these reasons, many young people are turning to the Bank of Mom and Dad to turn their real estate dreams into reality. What options are available to you, as the parent of a to-be homeowner?

Can You Afford It?

Anything you contribute in this matter will be significant, so it's important that you consider your finances before making any…

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The 3 Selling Strategies for Move-Up Buyers

If you're reading this because you're looking at purchasing another home, potentially your "forever" home, you are at an exciting time of your life! This is why we like to call you a Move-Up Buyer - because you're movin' on up!  When you were a first time home buyer, you were probably young, broke, and a tad naive. You had to make some sacrifices for the sake of your affordability, and that's okay. That's life! But now, you've got some savings and some home equity on your side. Looking at homes this time around will feel a lot less like compromise, and more like mindful selection. With that being said, there are still some challenges you'll need to face with a strategy. Here are the three selling strategies for you:

1) Sell Current Home…

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They're Coming: Higher Interest Rates

We saw with the global pandemic a major drop in interest rates for homes (this wasn't limited to houses, but for the sake of this topic, we'll limit it to houses). The cost of borrowing money was lower than it had ever been before because of the unprecedented situation. Among the negative crap storm of the world being affected by COVID-19, low interest rates were a positive ray of sunshine. Buyers were able to take advantage of this side effect, which made affording a home easier than it had ever been before.

Now, as the world adapts to live despite this virus, the economy is adapting to be able to recover. This means that interest rates will be on the rise, affecting all types of borrowing. We are already seeing banks here rise their rates, though in…

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7 Horrible Habits for Homeowners to Halt

Bad habits are easy to fall into, and hard to break out of. Take, for example, the use of alliterative titles. It was our resolution to stop with the cliché, but it's a tougher habit to break than we thought!

All jokes aside, there are bad habits that you can fall into as a homeowner...habits that can end up costing you money. We'll list them below, as well as solutions:

1) Compulsive Sale Buys

We know, getting a deal on anything for the home is such a rush when you're a homeowner...but budget buying may actually cost you more in the long run. Cheaper isn't always better. For example, cheaping out on paintbrushes seems like a good way to save money, but dollar store brushes can leave annoying streaks and uneven strokes. Depending…

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