MacKay & McLean provides the professional services of a large Regina law firm, with the intimate attention of a small firm. The legal process can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. MacKay & McLean is with you every step of the way.

MacKay &  McLean are TRUSTED REGINA LAWYERS

When looking to buy, sell, or refinance a property, you need to hire somebody who is not a stranger to addressing the real estate needs of individuals and families. 

How to avoid realty mistakes

If you are selling or Investing in a home can be overwhelming and stressful. It is, perhaps, one of the most important decisions you will ever need to make.  It is fraught with potential pitfalls and you must do everything you can to avoid making costly mistakes. the following is list of the biggest mistakes we all make when buying and selling our homes.

Failing to Showcase Your Home and Making Small Cosmetic Changes

When you are selling your house, you have to really look at it objectively and think about it from the viewpoint of the house hunter. Make minor enhancements to the house and maybe hire a professional stager to come and arrange your furniture. 

Staging is about decorating your house for the buyers' taste, not yours.

 A great place to start is with the front of the home and the main entryway. Home staging is designed to increase the potential selling price and reduce the amount of time the house stays on the market.

Setting Too High of a Sale Price

As a seller, it's really important to do your research. To come up with your sale price, look up what comparable homes in your neighborhood have sold for. Figure out what the going price is and try to put yours right in the middle of that, unless you have something extra-special to offer. It's always better to price a home that way than to start too high and have to reduce. Once you reduce, it always looks like something is wrong with the home.

Skott Enns's goal isn’t to simply help you get a mortgage with the best mortgage rates, it is to help you figure out a plan to pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible!  Has been voted Regina’s best mortgage broker for 2013, 2014, and 2015 & 2016 by Prairie Dog Magazine and named to the Summit 20 group, which means that he is in the Top 20% of all TMG Mortgage Brokers in Canada for the last two years. If you are looking for honest, unbiased advice from a mortgage broker in Regina they would love to talk with you! TMG The Mortgage Group Skott Enns is a Trusted Regina Mortgage Broker

Skott Enns sat down with CBC and explained the First Time Home Buyer Incentive program.

In a recent interview with CBC News our Trusted Regina Mortgage Broker  Skott Enns sat down and explained the new features of the First Time Home Buyer Incentive Program.  In addition, Skott goes on to examine some potential pros and cons of this program.  

He begins by stating that:

Starting September 3rd for any homes where possession is starting in November if a potential first time home buyer has the minimum 5% down payment, CMHC will provide them with an additional loan of 5% for an existing home or an additional 10% for a new build for the down payment.  

He also states that outside of being a first-time home buyer the maximum household qualifying income that they can use for mortgage approval is $120,000. per year.  So if your household makes more than this you will not qualify for this program.  Additionally, the largest purchase price for approval is four times the amount of your qualifying income.  

Something buyers need to note is that when you do choose to sell the home the monies that CMHC provides will need to be paid back to them though the loan is interest free.

Benefits of the Program

When asked as a Regina mortgage broker what are some of the benefits you see to a program like this Skott detailed his perspective as follows:

• It allows a first time home buyer to keep their cost as low as possible when considering principle and interest payments
• The program will reduce your CMHC premium

Negatives of the program

To be honest this is the first bit of good news that we have had in terms of qualifying for a mortgage.  

Watch the entire interview here

MacKay & McLean provides the professional services of a large Regina law firm, with the intimate attention of a small firm. The legal process can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. MacKay & McLean is with you every step of the way.

MacKay &  McLean are TRUSTED REGINA LAWYERS

When looking to buy, sell, or refinance a property, you need to hire somebody who is not a stranger to addressing the real estate needs of individuals and families. 

Bank of Canada lowers qualifying rate used in mortgage stress tests

The Canadian Press - Jul 19, 2019

With files from BNN Bloomberg

It's the first decrease in the five-year fixed mortgage rate since September 2016, when it dropped from 4.74 per cent to 4.64 per cent, and increased steadily since.

When looking to buy, sell, or refinance a property, you need to hire somebody who is not a stranger to addressing the real estate needs of individuals and families. Robert MacKay is the man to call. ROBERT MacKay is your TRUSTED REGINA REAL ESTATE LAWYER!

Buying a home can be a stressful but exciting time. Robert Mackay,  our Trusted Real Estate lawyer cautions about some potential scams when buying your home! 

Real estate fraud can cause you to have large financial losses. If you are a victim of real estate fraud you may find out that you no longer own your home or that there have been additional mortgages taken out in your name.

There are two main types of real estate fraud that may result in financial loss: 

Title Fraud 

Title fraud happens when the title to your home is stolen, and then the fraudster sells the home or applies for a new mortgage against it. Title fraud usually starts with identity theft, which can happen if somebody steals your personal information.

"Title insurance" is the best protection against this type of fraud. As well as protecting against title fraud, it also guards a new owner from against existing liens against a property's title (such as unpaid debts from utilities, mortgages and unpaid property taxes), encroachment issues (a structure on a property needs to be removed because it is on your neighbor's property) and errors in surveys and public records.

Foreclosure Fraud 

Foreclosure fraud usually happens when you are having problems making your mortgage payments. You may be tricked into transferring your property title to somebody to get a loan that will help you make your payments. Fraudsters usually keep the payments you make and also possess the title to your home, which they can resell or remortgage.

Two common scams that exploit a victim's need for cash are foreclosure fraud and home-equity fraud.

Cash-crunched property owners or investors seeking can be vulnerable to other scams or unscrupulous behavior to tap equity. There is always risk when leveraging properties, but a legitimate bank, broker or private lender should be forthright when explaining risks. However, those looking to borrow on equity should be alert for less scrupulous lenders, such as those who invite owners to embellish their application by exaggerating income, down payment or property assessment value sources in order to secure a larger loan.

Other types of scams you should be aware of include

Online rental/sale scams.

In these scams, rental property is advertised (usually at low costs) on online classified sites like Craigslist or Kijiji. The ads use information and photos describing the property that has been "scraped" from legitimate ads, such as those on the MLS. A scammer will impersonate the landlord, property manager or estate agent and will respond to emails and calls from prospective tenants. The scammer indicates he or she is unable to meet a prospective renter at the property, and instead proposes a meeting off site to exchange keys, sign a tenancy agreement and collect rental deposits. Victims may only learn they've been duped when they show up at a property to discover that it is already occupied.

Things to be alert for in such listings include claims of urgency, such as "must sell now," promises of high returns or "low-cost/no-cost" financing. These sort of claims are usually too good to be true, and they also can be prevalent in off-line scams.

Property investment seminars and courses.

Educating yourself about property investment can be essential for success, but prospective investors should be alert and do their research on seminar providers. There are legitimate speakers and seminars that provide beneficial information, others exist primarily to take money from the credulous … and there are some that are in between.

One common type of seminar is designed to hook buyers into "sure-fire" investments that are promoted by the seminar hosts. Potential investors may be invited to these seminars through an ad in a newspaper or magazine, a phone call, an email or other method. These seminars may include a motivational speaker, an "investment expert" or a "self-made millionaire."

The basic advice, be skeptical of claims and do your due diligence before committing any money to an expensive course or investment.

Remember there are no get-rich-quick schemes: the only people who make money are the scammers.

For more questions and help with any legal property issues consult with our Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer Robert MacKay

Here is a list of more consumer tips by Robert MacKay 

• Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer Robert MacKay warns about the potential implications of renting your property.
• Robert MacKay your Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert explains how CRA may penalize you if you fail to report it.
• Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer Robert MacKay asks: Do you know what kind of mortgage you have?
• Robert MacKay Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert tip on Buying Farmland
• Robert MacKay Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert tip on choosing a Regina real estate lawyer
• Robert MacKay Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert tip on GST & Acreages
• June is Credit Score Month and our Trusted Regina Partner Robert MacKay want's to help you understand the importance of your credit score.
• Robert MacKay your Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert tip on buying property at the lake
• Robert MacKay your Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer expert shares a tip on Legal Fees
• Robert MacKay Trusted Regina Real Estate Lawyer shares a Tip about Title Insurance

MacKay & McLean provides the professional services of a large Regina law firm, with the intimate attention of a small firm. The legal process can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. MacKay & McLean is with you every step of the way.

MacKay &  McLean are TRUSTED REGINA LAWYERS

When looking to buy, sell, or refinance a property, you need to hire somebody who is not a stranger to addressing the real estate needs of individuals and families. 

What an exciting time – the old house is sold, the new one is ready, and all that’s left is the move…..oh wait – not quite yet! There is all that legal “stuff” to deal with now….signatures….titles to be given…and pages and pages of documents that need to be signed before the key is in your hand!!! And to top it all off – who really knows a good real estate lawyer?

Do you know what kind of mortgage you have?

Hardly anyone pays attention to what type of mortgage they have. 

Sure, they know whether they have a fixed rate, a variable rate or an adjustable rate but few are aware that their mortgage will have a particular legal standing or why it is important.

When a market goes up, it's all roses and sunshine, at least if you already own your own home. Trying to buy in such a market can be a scary proposition. When the market goes down, well, that's scary too but for different reasons. 

Buying a house to find out it might be worthless in a year's time is not a fun proposition. However, we all still need a place to live and the markets will do what it will do.

In the event the downturn is significant or if you know what hits the proverbial fan, all of a sudden that legal distinction can be very important. 

Purchase Money Mortgage

For if you have what is known colloquially as a "purchase money mortgage", money borrowed to buy the property, then the bank's recourse is limited to the seizure and sale of the property.

So, if it sold for $1.00 but you still owed $1,000,000, well, the bank will be hoping its mortgage was insured, as they are not unable to chase you for any deficiencies under the mortgage.

This is an important consideration in a lot of foreclosures, as a lot of people have refinanced their property to consolidate debt or finance renovations. Luckily, the portion of the mortgage that related to the property's purchase is still protected.

Once you have committed to either buying or selling your property, simply tell your realtor and lender, as applicable, that Robert MacKay will be representing you and to forward the appropriate instructions to MacKay & McLean, attention "Robert MacKay". 

Robert MacKay's team provides professional, personalized service and with their assistance, you can rest assured that your real estate transactions will be handled with the utmost consideration and care.

They  provide a full range of legal services including:

• Real Estate & Mortgages
• Wills & Estates
• Family Law & Divorce
• Commercial & Corporate Law
• Litigation & Personal Injury

ROBERT Mackay is your TRUSTED REGINA REAL ESTATE LAWYER!