By Dave, Cindy, and Amanda Walker

604-889-5004 or 604-531-1111

HomeLife Benchmark Realty and Dominion Lending Centres

Saturday, May 5 at 9:00 AM – Specialty Items Marked Below

Elgin Park: Off 144 Street, turn west onto 30A Avenue

1. 14322 30A Avenue – moving sale

Chantrell Park: Off 140 Street, turn west onto 22 Avenue, then right onto 139A Street,

loop around left to 138A Street

1. 2289 138A Street

- Loop back onto 20A Avenue and follow the road along to 138 Street

1. 2099 138 Street – furniture, sporting goods, children’s toys

Bell Park Subdivision: Off 140 Street head west onto 19A Avenue and simply follow the

addresses looping left around the circle:

1. 13868 19A Avenue – multi family sale, kids items, clothes, books

2. 13839 19A Avenue – toys, patio furniture, stroller, dvds, baby items

3. 13836 19A Avenue – kids items, books, furniture, home decor

4. 13824 19A Avenue

5. 13816 19A Avenue – clothes, shoes, sports items

6. 13669 19A Avenue – snowshoes, armoire

7. 13672 19 Avenue – estate sale including a sofa chair, an exercise bike, and a variety of other odds and sods

8. 1874 136A Street

9. 1851 136A Street

10. 1823 136A Street – garden items, furniture

11. 13676 18A Avenue – lamps

12. 13701 18A Avenue

13. 13761 18A Avenue

14. 13768 18A Avenue

15. 13781 18A Avenue – children’s toys and books, tools

16. 13885 18A Avenue – shrubs, perennials, electric lawn mower

17. 1944 139A Street

Bell Park South- Head west on 16 Avenue. Back lane access

1. 13849 16 Avenue – furniture; oak bedroom suite, roll top, chairs, microwave stand, bookcase, love seat.

electronics; 27” sony tv and stand, pvr, bluetooth

Amble Greene Subdivision: Off 16 Avenue, head north on 136 Street. West onto 18th Ave. loop to 17 Avenue

1. 13499 17 Avenue

- Off 136 Street

1. 13508 19 Avenue – baby items, children’s toys, furniture

- Off 20 Avenue and 129 Street

1. 12874 19A Avenue – brand name kitchen appliances, solid oak cabinetry, sinks/taps, studio sized pine harvest

kitchen table/pair of maple windsor arm chairs, pair of coordinating loveseats, metal wall art

Ocean Park Terrace – Off 24 Avenue turn south onto 129B Street

1. 2286 129B Street – kids toys, kids items, furniture

Not intended to solicit anyone under contract. Garage Sale Participants and Buyers are at their own risk. No liability offered

GARAGE SALE

Saturday, May 5 – 9:00 AM

Elgin Park: off 144 Str.

14322 30 A Ave.

Chantrel Park:

2289 138A Str. off 140 Str.

2099 138 Str. off 20Ave.

Bell Park: Off 140^th Street

13868, 13839, 13836, 13824 and

13816, 13669 19A Ave.

1874, 1851, 1823 136A Str.

13701, 13761, 13768, 13781 and

13885 18A Ave.

1944 139A Street

Bell Park South

13824 16 Ave. Back Lane

Amble Greene:

13499 17 Ave. off 136 Str.

13508 19Ave. off 136 Str.

12874 19A Ave. off 20^th Ave.

Ocean Park Terrace: off 128 Str.

2286 129B Street

Sponsored By: Dave, Cindy,

Amanda & Kimberly Walker

HomeLife Benchmark Realty

Dominion Lending Centres Leading Edge

604-531-1111  604-889-5004

We are busy getting routes, maps and merchandise lists complete.

Check back next week for all the details.

Thanks, Dave, Cindy, Amanda  & Kimberly Walker

HomeLife Benchmark Realty or Dominion Lending Centres Leading Edge

Once again: Pay down your debts before rates rise

ROB CARRICK |Columnist profile| E-mail

From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2012 7:53PM EDT

Last updated Monday, Apr. 23, 2012 10:12AM EDT

The decade’s most ignorable piece of financial advice: Pay down your debts before interest rates rise.

You’ve heard this warning a hundred times, you ignored it and rates held steady at historic lows. Now, the Bank of Canada is signalling that borrowing costs could rise if economic conditions keeps improving. Here are 10 reasons not to tune out this time around:

1. Rates will eventually rise – it’s inevitable

Financial stress now seems a permanent feature of the global economy. Will China’s economy stall? Will Europe’s debt problems worsen? Can the United States address its debt problems and get its economy going again? These are all open-ended questions that suggest there’s a chance interest rates will need to stay low for longer. Not forever, though. It could be years until stability rules, but it could also be months.

2. Borrowing means you can’t afford the stuff you’re buying

Borrowing is okay when buying houses and cars because few of us can pay cash for such large expenses. But using a line of credit to finance your lifestyle is like living on other people’s money. Exception: If you use your credit line strategically to acquire things that are paid off quickly without immediately running up your debt again. Question for you: How often are you using your line of credit? If it’s more than a few times a year, you’re likely overspending.

3. Cutting debt gives you a buzz

I paid off a five-year car loan three years early in 2011. What a high. Better than buying the car.

4. Less stress

I can tell from reader e-mails that people are stressed about debt and wondering what to do. Try taking your tax refund and using it to pay down your credit card or line of credit balance. Stop contributing to your registered retirement savings plan or tax-free savings account for one year and use the money to lower your debt. Get rid of that second-car loan.

5. Your next mortgage renewal could be scary

People who bought homes in the past couple of years have benefited from historically low mortgage rates. As recently as last month, you could get a fully discounted, five-year, fixed-rate mortgage for about 3 per cent. That compares with an average of roughly 4.5 per cent over the past decade and a high of about 5.5 per cent.

Use this Globeinvestor.com calculator to look at scenarios showing how much more your mortgage will cost if you renew at higher rates: http://tgam.ca/DKA7 (you’ll need to find out what your balance on renewal is).

And don’t tell me that future pay increases will help you afford larger mortgage payments. Big raises are scarce these days and, when you get one, you’re not going to want to see it eaten up by your mortgage.

6. Your kids need help affording university

One of my pet peeves is that parents are not saving enough in registered education savings plans. Cut debt and you have some free cash flow you can put into a regular monthly RESP contribution plan.

7. You get more control over when you retire

Reduce your debts and you can also increase your retirement savings. The more you save for retirement, the less likely it is that you’ll have to continue working in some capacity after you turn 65 to generate income.

8. You won’t retire with debt

People over the age of 45 are among the biggest debt fiends in the country. What are they thinking? That it would be fun to be on a fixed income while trying to cope with rising borrowing costs on lines of credit or mortgages? It’s hard to believe this even needs to be said, but a financially secure retirement starts with zero debt.

9. You’re covered for emergencies

People without debts are better able to afford a health or dental emergency, a basement flood, a leaky roof or a major car-repair bill. If you don’t have an emergency fund, pay off a debt and use the monthly payments you were making to build up your savings.

10. There’s no down side

No one has ever told me: “I really regret paying off my debts.” There’s always a use for the money you save, even if it’s to rack up more debt.

Fraser Valley house hunters looking for good buys; keeping prices resilient

SURREY, BC – The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) processed 1,412 sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March, a decrease of 22 per cent compared to March of last year, however only 13 per cent less than the 10-year average of 1,626 sales for same month.

Scott Olson, president of FVREB, says, “It was quieter than usual for March, but still steady with an increase in demand for more affordable properties, in particular detached homes for less than $500,000 and townhomes.

“Compared to last March, every community in Fraser Valley experienced a decrease in the sales of single family detached homes especially those priced at the higher-end; however Abbotsford, Langley and North Surrey all saw increases in the sale of townhomes.”

Olson adds, “Last year, single family homes represented 63 per cent of our residential market. This March, it dropped to 56 per cent, so we’re seeing demand for more affordable options. This is in contrast to last year when we saw elevated sales of higher-end homes in areas such as North Delta, South Surrey and White Rock.”

In March 2012 in Fraser Valley, the sale of detached homes with a value greater than half a million dollars decreased by 33 per cent compared to last year, explaining why average prices, which can be skewed by the dollar volume of high or low end sales*, are showing decreases year-over-year, while benchmark prices – homes with typical characteristics for the neighbourhood – are showing increases compared to 2011.

The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) benchmark price of a detached home in March was $572,700, an increase of 6.8 per cent compared to $536,200 last year. The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses increased by 1.5 per cent in one year, going from $310,300 in March 2011 to $315,000 in March 2012, while the benchmark price of apartments also increased by 1.5 per cent going from $210,600 in March of last year to $204,700 in March 2012.

The number of Fraser Valley properties on the market in March finished at 9,643, an increase of 5 per cent compared to the same month last year although the number of new listings received – 3,066 – represents a 9 per cent decrease compared to March 2011.

The average number of days to sell a detached home was 46 in March 2012, one day faster than last year. It took 49 days on average to sell a townhouse and under two months or 58 days to sell an apartment.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,903 real estate professionals who live and work in the BC communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission.  The FVREB marked its 90-year anniversary in 2011.

*For more information about the MLS® Home Price Index and how it compares to average and median prices, visit the FAQs tab at www.homepriceindex.ca.

See the full statistics package for March here.

Mortgage Prepayment Information

Purpose

The purpose of the Code is to ensure that federally regulated financial institutions (“lenders“) provide enhanced information in respect of credit agreements secured by mortgages where a prepayment charge could apply (“mortgages“) to assist borrowers in making decisions about prepayment of their mortgage.

Lenders currently provide substantial amounts of information relevant to mortgage prepayments to consumers in accordance with the requirements in the applicable federal regulations, including but not limited to federal cost of borrowing disclosure regulations and credit business practices regulations. The information that will be provided under this Code is in addition to existing information provided by lenders to borrowers.

Application and Implementation

Lenders will implement the policy elements of the Code with respect to new mortgages no later than six (6) months from date of adoption of the Code for Element 3 and Element 4; and no later than twelve (12) months from adoption of the Code for Element 1, Element 2 and Element 5. Lenders will apply the Code to existing mortgages where it is feasible to do so. The Code does not apply to mortgages that are entered into for business purposes or to mortgages entered into by borrowers who are not natural persons.

Compliance with the Code

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada will monitor and report on compliance with the Code.

Manner of Presenting Information

Lenders will provide the information in language, and present it in a manner, that is clear, simple and not misleading.

Policy Elements

1. Information Provided Annually

Lenders will provide the following mortgage prepayment information to borrowers annually:

• Prepayment privileges that the borrower can use to pay off their mortgage faster without having to pay a prepayment charge. Examples include making lump-sum prepayments, increasing the regular payment amount, and increasing the frequency of the payment to weekly or bi-weekly.
• The dollar amount of the prepayment that the borrower can make on a yearly basis under the terms of their mortgage without having to pay a prepayment charge.
• Explanation of how the lender calculates the prepayment charge for the borrower’s mortgage (for example, a certain number of months’ interest or the Interest Rate Differential (IRD).
• Description of the factors that could cause prepayment charges to change over time.
• Customized information about the mortgage, valid as of the date the information is produced, for the purposes of the borrower estimating the prepayment charge. The customized information will include, depending on the type of mortgage product held by the borrower:
  • The amount of the loan that the borrower has not yet repaid
  • The interest rate of the mortgage and other factors (for example, rate discount or posted interest rate) that the lender uses to calculate the prepayment charge
  • The remaining term or maturity date of the borrower’s mortgage
    For mortgages where the prepayment charge may be based on the IRD:
  • How the lender determines the comparison rate to use to calculate the IRD
  • Where the borrower can find the comparison rate (for example, on the lender’s website)
• Where the borrower can find the lender’s financial calculators that the borrower can use, along with the information above, to estimate the prepayment charge.
• Any other amounts the borrower must pay to the lender if the borrower prepays their mortgage and how the amounts are calculated.
• How the borrower can speak with a staff member of their lender who is knowledgeable about mortgage prepayments. For example, borrowers may contact a staff member through a toll-free number as described in section 5.

2. Information Provided When the Borrower Is Paying a Prepayment Charge

If a prepayment charge applies and the borrower confirms to the lender that the borrower is prepaying the full or a specified partial amount owing on their mortgage, the lender will provide the following information in a written statement to the borrower:

• The applicable prepayment charge.
• Description of how the lender calculated the prepayment charge (for example, whether the lender used a certain number of months’ interest or the IRD).
• If the lender used the IRD to calculate the prepayment charge, the lender will inform the borrower of :
  • the outstanding amount on the mortgage
  • the annual interest rate on the mortgage
  • the comparison rate that was used for the calculation
  • the term remaining on the mortgage that was used for the calculation
• The period of time, if any, for which the prepayment charge is valid.
• Description of the factors that could cause the prepayment charge to change over time.
• Any other amounts the borrower must pay to the lender when they prepay their mortgage and how the amounts are calculated.

3. Enhancing Borrower Awareness

To assist borrowers in better understanding the consequences of prepaying a mortgage, lenders will make available to consumers information on the following topics:

• Differences between:
  • Fixed-rate mortgages and variable-rate mortgages
  • Open mortgages and closed mortgages
  • Long-term mortgages and short-term mortgages
• Ways in which a borrower can pay off a mortgage faster without having to pay a prepayment charge. Examples include making lump-sum prepayments, increasing the regular payment amount, and increasing the frequency of the payment to weekly or bi-weekly.
• Ways to avoid prepayment charges (for example, by porting a mortgage).
• How prepayment charges are calculated, with examples of the prepayment charges that would apply in specific circumstances.
• Actions by a borrower that may result in the borrower having to pay a prepayment charge, such as the following actions:
  • partially prepaying amounts higher than allowed by the borrower’s mortgage
  • refinancing their mortgage
  • transferring their mortgage to another lender

Lenders may make this information available on their publicly accessible Canadian website where products or services are offered and upon request by consumers at the lender’s places of business in Canada, including when consumers are pre-approved for a mortgage. Â In addition, each lender will provide on its publicly accessible Canadian website links to information on mortgages provided on the website of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

4. Financial Calculators

Each lender will post calculators on its publicly accessible website for borrowers, and provide guidance to borrowers on how to use the calculators to obtain the mortgage prepayment information they want. Borrowers will be able to enter information about their mortgage into the calculator to get an estimate of the current prepayment charge. Borrowers will also be able to change the information they enter, such as the amount of the mortgage that has not yet been repaid or the remaining term, so that they can see how the payment choices they make affect the prepayment charge.

5. Borrower Access to Actual Prepayment Charge

Each lender will make available a toll-free telephone line through which borrowers can access staff members who are knowledgeable about mortgage prepayments. These staff members will be able to orally provide a borrower with the actual prepayment charge that would apply to the borrower’s mortgage at that point in time. These staff members will also be able to provide to a borrower, on request, a written statement of their prepayment charge, accurate as at the time the statement is produced. A lender will not proceed to take steps to pay out a mortgage until the borrower has confirmed that the borrower’s intention is to pay out the mortgage.

TYPICAL ‘PRE-SPRING’ SURGE IN HOME SALES & NEW LISTINGS KEEPS MARKET STEADY

(Surrey, BC) – The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) recorded 1,269 sales in February, an increase of 59 per cent compared to January and a 1 per cent decrease compared to the 1,279 sales during February of last year.

In terms of new listings, the Board received 2,846 in February, an increase of 3 per cent compared to January and a 6 per cent decrease compared to the 3,038 listings received last February, taking the total number of active listings to 9,037, an increase of 4 per cent compared to those available in February 2011.

As Board President Scott Olson explains, a seasonal increase in sales is typical for February; however this increase was not as robust as in years past. February’s sales finished at 4 per cent fewer than the 10-year average for that month.

“Although our market has picked up, it’s still favouring buyers. In terms of our clients, we’re seeing more caution and deliberation when house hunting.

“This could mean using a home inspection as part of negotiations, or asking for extras to be thrown in, or the client walking away if terms are not met. The other side is that selection at certain price points is limited depending on location, so if the buyer finds the right home, they act, which is keeping prices stable.”

The MLS® HPI benchmark price of a ‘typical’ detached home in Fraser Valley in February was, $569,200, an increase of 8.3 per cent compared to $525,400 last year. The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses increased by 2.0 per cent in one year, going from $305,700 in February 2011 to $311,900 in February 2012, while the benchmark price of apartments increased by 0.6 per cent going from $200,200 in February of last year to $201,500 in February 2012.

Olson adds, “We anticipate the new HST transition rules will generate more buying activity of new homes over the coming months and will have a spill-over effect on the resale market. The majority of new homes in the Fraser Valley fall under the new $850,000 HST rebate threshold and first-time buyers will be taking advantage of the refundable tax credit bonus of up to $10,000 available until March 31, 2013.

“These changes will improve accessibility in the Fraser Valley, a region already recognized for its affordability.”

–30 –

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,898 real estate professionals who live and work in the BC communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission. The FVREB marked its 90-year anniversary in 2011.

Full package:
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/statistics/Package%20201202.pdf