CMHC And The First Time Home Buyer

As the Government of Canada’s national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), plays a major role in Canada’s housing industry. The agency offers numerous housing services including research services, market evaluations, and access to affordable financing choices. Programs include aboriginal housing, residential rehabilitation assistance, home adaptation for seniors independence, public and private partnerships and numerous grants and awards.

For many people, especially first time home buyers, saving the necessary down payment is a challenge. Additionally, with less than 25% of the purchase price to put down, a lender requires mortgage insurance for protection against any payment defaults. CMHC makes it easier for Canadians to obtain a home, by providing mortgage loan insurance. By providing this insurance, CMHC limits the lenders’ risk, allowing the lender to finance up to 95% of the purchase price of a new home. You can purchase a property with as little as 5% down. If the cost is $150,000, you only need a down payment of $7,500.

You can become a homeowner, even if you don’t have a large down payment put aside. You just need to meet the following conditions and home ownership can be within your reach.

* The home must be located in Canada and considered your principal residence.
* You must have a down payment of at least 5% of the purchase price.
* Your home-related expenses must not exceed 32% of gross household income
* Your total monthly debt load must not exceed 40% of gross monthly household income
* You must be able to pay closing costs equal to at least 1.5% of the purchase price.

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Paul Lake and Pinantan Lake, Kamloops, B.C. Real Estate

For up to date Kamloops real estate information and surrounding area homes for sale click here.

Paul Lake, KamloopsPaul and Pinantan Lakes are beautiful lakes just outside of the Kamloops city. Paul Lake is 20 minutes (roughly 21 kilometers) north east of Kamloops and Pinantan is 25 minutes north east (26 Kilometers), just past Paul Lake.

Paul Lake is 390 hectares in area with a mean depth of 28.9 meters and max depth of 55.2 meters. There is a provincial campground which attracts a number of visitors in the warmer months. Situated at the provincial park and campground visitors can access a public boat launch. Paul Lake does allow power boats, wake boarding and water skiing. At Paul Lake you can also enjoy canoeing, swimming, fishing (rainbow trout average 3.5lbs), cycling and hiking to name a few activities.Paul Lake Provincial Park

Many properties border the lake. The Kamloops Indian Band leases properties for 25 year terms. There are often properties for sale on Paul Lake with water frontage. The annual lease rates range between $3,500 to $5,500 per year. There are a select few properties which are freehold land titles on Paul Lake. These properties tend to be more expensive than the leasehold properties.

Deerwood at Paul Lake is a freehold strata development with a number of townhomes. Deerwood has breathtaking views, beautifully kept lands, docks, in-ground pool, workshop, Paul Lake Provincial Parktennis and unlimited RV parking.  Click here to find Paul Lake real estate listings.

Pinantan LakePinantan Lake, named this because it means  ‘shoe’ or ‘moccasin’ in traditional Aboriginal language. This name given because of it’s shape is much like a moccasin. Pinantan has a general store, a resort, an elementary school, and about 500 residents. The lake itself is two parts, Big Pinantan and Little Pinantan. The lake itself is 68 hectares in size, with a mean depth of 10.6 meters and max. 18.5 meters. Unlike Paul Lake, Pinantan properties are freehold properties not leased land. There are a number of boat launches at Pinantan Lake. Only electric powered boats are allowed on the lake. Fishing (rainbow trout average 1 lb) and swimming are permitted in Pinantan lake. There are also hiking Pinantan Lake, Kamloopstrails and other outdoor activities in and around the area to enjoy year round.

There are a number of homes in the Pinantan, some are used only as summer cabins and other homes are year round residences. There are a number of MLS listings in and around Pinantan Lake. For more information on Pinantan properties click here.

Paul Lake and Pinantan Lake both begin to ice over in November and thaw around mid April. Paul Lake has an elevation of 796 metres and pinantan-01Pinantan 878 metres. Both lakes offer the opportunity to live rurally with convenience of a short commute to the city of Kamloops.

To read more about other neighbourhoods click the link below:

Aberdeen                                          Barnhartvale                          Batchelor Heights

Brocklehurst                                    Campbell Creek                      Dallas

Deloro/South Thompson Valley      Cherry Creek                       Dufferin/Southgate

Heffley                                                Knutsford                               Juniper Heights

North Kamloops                           Paul Lake/Pinantan Lake        Pineview

Pritchard                                            Rayleigh                                  Sahali

South Kamloops/Downtown         Sun Rivers                               Sun Peaks/Whitecroft

Valleyview/Rose Hill                      Westmount                             Westsyde

Surrounding Communities

Barriere                                        Mclure/Vinsula                         Savona/Tobiano

Featured Property: 693 St. Paul Street, South Kamloops

St Paul Street, South Kamloops, Sold

South Kamloops is a great area of Kamloops to live. It is near a number of amenities;  schools(elementary to high school), downtown shopping and the hospital. All of these things are St. Paul Street, South Kamloops: living roomwithin walking distance of this home. If you are needing to get to TRU, a short bus ride is all that it takes.

There are a number of MLS listings in the South Kamloops area. This three bedroom one bathroom old timer is a great home for a first time home buyer, investor or someone who wants to downsize. From the front entrance you enter into the dining room and living room. This home is on a corner lot, which allows for a lot of natural light to come into the home through the large north and east facing windows. St. Paul Street, South Kamloops: bathroom

There is one bedroom on the right and the entrance to the kitchen straight ahead. The Kitchen is very large, it has updated floors and newer counter tops. The second main floor bedroom is just off the kitchen as is the four piece bathroom.The floor plan of this home is great and for the right person can definitely be modernized to an open floor plan.

St. Paul Street, South Kamloops: kitchenDownstairs there is a single bedroom, den and laundry room. The basement does need flooring but otherwise is in good shape. There is a lot of storage space in the basement as well as a separate entrance.

This home has a lot of character, there are a number of features such as original doors andSt. Paul Street, South Kamloops: kitchen doorknobs, crown moulding above the doors and high ceilings. The electrical has been updated to 100 amp service. There is a small deck off the back of the home as well as a storage shed.

Call for more information or to book an appointment to view.

My Opinion On The Kamloops Real Estate Market

Over the past couple days I have been through a whole variety of single family homes in Kamloops; upwards of 25 or so listings. I have found that in today’s market the pricing of these properties is all over the place. It appears that there is no consistency in the pricing of listed properties and I think this is because of either the home seller or agent confusion.

First, in my opinion, since the market has dropped some sellers are stuck at 2007 values, where homes were 10% or so higher than today’s market value. We were living in a real estate bubble where housing prices “would never go down” or “buy now or be priced out forever”. It is a fact that when we are in the midst of a housing bubble, people feel like it will never end, probably because of human nature. It is easy to get caught up in the euphoria of it all. I have to admit, that was the feeling I got from a lot of people around me, but I personally felt the change coming. We are now getting back to reality and working towards  a balanced market, but are still far from it. Sellers have to price their homes competitively to sell, there are far more homes rejected from the market because of price in comparison to the number of homes that sell. To get your home sold, price your home right from the beginning. If you as a seller want to reduce, approach your agent, they should welcome the idea.

Secondly, there is this belief out there that prices will return to previous levels in the spring. This is felt by some sellers and Realtors alike. I have a very hard time believing that this could be remotely true. With the incredible uncertainty in today’s economy from job losses to a lack of confidence in the markets, there are no indicators out there that show that the market will return to previous levels anytime soon. This is my opinion of course.

The encouraging news to sellers is that over the past couple weeks I have seen an increase in the number of buyers looking to purchase a home. There are always people that have to sell their home and buy another. The Kamloops Real Estate Board has been reporting more sales lately than we saw last month. The statistics will come out in early February and I will include them here.

If you are thinking about selling your home, my suggestion would be, get it on the market sooner rather than later. There are a number of sellers wanting to go on the market in the spring. Beat the rush and get your property on the market and advertised to the public before the spring rush and  increased competition.

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