Having touble finding your "dream home"?

Sometimes you find a home that's almost what you want - but it just needs a few renovations. Perhaps a new roof, furnace or hot water tank, new kitchen cabinets, updated flooring or a garage for your toys.

It is possible to obtain financing for a mortgage on your prinicpal residence or revenue property PLUS home improvements. At the time of application provide your mortgage specialist with quotes for the renovations to be completed on the property. This allows you to budget for the renovations upfront without having to use your credit cards etc to pay for them.

Overview:

	The Average List Price of Single Family Homes dropped 5.7% compared to this time last year, from $474,210 to $447,022 reflecting sellers continuing adjustment to the current market. The number of homes actively listed was 686, compared to 685 last year.
	150 homes sold in the 3 months to January 31st, compared to 136 in the same period last year. However the Average Sold Price dropped 0.5% from $378,526 to $376,301.
	The supply of homes listed in the North Okanagan dropped to 14 months, putting us in an Extreme  Buyer's Market, although there is quite a bit of variation between different neighbourhoods (see details below).

Sellers often say, "I don't want to give away my house." Of course, not. But you do want to sell it. To sell your home, the price must be right, and there are a number of factors that go into determining what that price should be.

Interest rates:

The lower interest rates are, the more buyers can afford to pay. Current mortgage rates are still at historic lows, but predicted to gradually rise over the next 2 years. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) forecasts 5 year mortgage rates will rise to approximately 5.6% by the end of 2012. Please Click here to read the BCREA mortgage rate forecast published in December 2011.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2012 First Quarter Housing Forecast today. “Modest economic growth at home and abroad is expected to limit growth in consumer demand both this year and in 2013,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 2.1 per cent this year, increasing a further 2.7 per cent in 2013.

“While European sovereign debt concerns and a sluggish US economy will continue to impact consumer confidence, strong demand in the bond market is expected to keep mortgage interest rates at, or near, record lows for most of 2012,” added Muir.

The number of residential sales in the Okanagan are forecast to increase 4.1% in 2012, while the average price is predicted to rise 0.6% to $382,000.

Key decision 5 > How will you reduce your risk?

As a business owner, you’ve worked hard to accumulate your assets, so it is important to take precautions to protect them from risk. Following are some strategies that may help.

Protect personal assets:

• Gifting assets. If you gift assets to family members you may reduce the amount of assets that may be available to your creditors, but bear in mind that those assets may now be at risk from creditors of the family members who receive them.
• Using insurance. Depending on the province where you live, placing funds in an insurance policy may safeguard them from potential future claims. In many cases the investment component of an insurance policy and the interests of the beneficiaries under the insurance policy may offer protection from the claims of creditors.