Chris Grimes

Bank of Canada has held true to their last statement that the key lending rate would remain at 0.25%. Bank of Canada has set their next announcement for July 21^st. This should leave the Prime rate fixed at 2.25% with many banks.

With fixed rates on the rise, many lenders are moving above the 4% threshold they have stayed below for the last month. The pressure from the Canadian bond market has forced earning spreads for the lenders to below 2%. Many lenders find it difficult to make profit in this territory and have recently been moving their rates up. RBC was first to increase their 5 year posted rate by 0.20% to 5.45%, shortly after the remaining 4 major banks followed. However, there are some rates holding below 4% and if you are considering buying or refinancing it could be worth a call to your Mortgage Agent as we may not see fixed rates this low again.

However, if you aren't lucky enough to lock in to one of the great fixed rates due to your mortgage renewing later this year or early next year, you may want to turn to variable rates. Many lenders have begun to make their variable rate products more attractive to potential mortgagees. The lowest we've seen is 2.65% or Prime - 0.40%.

If you're planning on putting your home on the market soon, here are some designer tips to help you show off your home through a celebration of spring!

•· Remove old curtains to let the light flow in. Install glass shelves, and show off an arrangement of colored glass bottles and vases, set closely together, to create an artistic and beautiful privacy screen.

•· Replace heavy lampshades with lighter styles featuring pleats or folds in creamy silks, or recover an old shade with a cheerful, bright chintz. Replace white light bulbs with lavender or pink ones for a natural, soft glow.

•· Arrange a simple vase of forsythia, quince, plum or other shrub branches. Clip stems and place them in lukewarm water. Try to find branches at least a foot long, gently mist, and watch the colorful blooms burst far ahead of schedule.

•· Inexpensive terracotta pots painted white and planted with paper whites, hyacinths and tulips add cheerful color. Set in groups on a coffee table.

•· Add green topiaries in different shapes, and place a vase of pussy willows - a classic harbinger of spring - in the center of your design. Sprinkle natural, colored round stones or colored glass pebbles around your pots. For greater impact, group plants together.

•· If you have deeply set windowsills, set a window box directly on the sill. Explore antique and secondhand shops for a small wire garden table, and use it as a base for your box. Place it directly under a window, where plants will thrive in the light.

•· Before you fill your box with soil and plants, line it with plastic to prevent leakage. Or set plants in the box individually, placing each pot on a small tray or plate to catch drips.

•· Splurge on extra-soft, 250-count Egyptian cotton sheets. An all-white sheet set feels refreshing and restful.

•· For an instant facelift, add textured fabric bedspread or old-fashioned patchwork quilt. Drape a spread over a round table for an instant table skirt.

•· For an instant change, find a fresh fabric you adore and use it to re-cover dining room chair seats, or your favorite single chair. Many chairs have seats that are easily removed with a screwdriver. Remove seat, measure, and cut fabric into a shape large enough to tuck edges under. Use a staple gun to attach silk around the seat.

•· Take the smallest room and make the biggest change. For example, transform the look of a tiny powder room by painting walls creamy ivory or soft white, switching weighty curtains to simple sheers, and hanging a gold mirror over your vanity.

•· If you're lucky enough to have hardwood floors under your area rugs, why not roll up those heavy things and store them until next fall? Replace with colorful rag rugs for an American or French country look. Put down a sisal rug and watch how it completely changes the room. Many carpet stores offer huge sales in January and February.

Outdoor Space is important!

In the short Ottawa summers, your outdoor living space becomes important! It creates an extra room and expands the feel of spaciousness of the home; people can picture themselves entertaining outside in a well planned space. Don't choose a design based just on what is in style. Take a cue from your home's architecture: look at the lines of your home - the simplicity or the complexity of them - and make decisions on whether you want to contrast or complement them.

If your house architecture is very busy, you might want to contrast it with patio furniture that is extremely elegant.

Conversely, you can take a modern house with sleek lines and complement it with Asian-style furniture because of the cleanliness of lines. You can mix cross culture styles when you use the same aesthetic in all your pieces.

Be aware of just how big - or small - your furniture will be outside. Scale can be tricky. A big chunky Craftsman-style house would not be complemented by small, fussy Victorian wrought-iron patio furniture when wood would be a better choice.

You should consider your outdoor furniture as an extension of your home's interior decoration and make a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors.

Buying your first home can be quite a challenge. This can be especially true for 20-somethings who may be fresh out of school and may lack the savings needed for a downpayment or the income needed to qualify for a big enough mortgage. Still, owning a home, as opposed to renting, is a much better financial option in the long-run. So, maybe it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that there are a growing number of young, single people teaming up to jointly buy a home together.

The catch-phrase for this emerging type of venture is "co-hos", short for ‘communal homeowners'. Carolyn Ireland, wrote an interesting article on this subject in The Globe and Mail. The central appeal of buying a home with a friend is that by teaming up, homebuyers are able to afford a much nicer property. Plus, of course, there is the benefit of building equity in the home as opposed to simply paying rent. Forming a partnership and being accountable to someone else, can also help build financial discipline.

Clearly, in order to make this type of arrangement work, the partners need to get along. More importantly however, they should have a written plan that describes how they will deal with regularly occurring issues (such as mortgage and utility payments) and special scenarios (such as if one of the partners moves out). Having a written agreement can save headaches down the road. Personal and work situations can change quickly, sometimes making it necessary to move, so having a plan for the property is very important.

Have you had any experiences with a "co-ho"? If so, please let us know via the comment section below!

If you're one of the ones still sitting on the fence allowing yourself to be bombarded by dreary economic news, it's time you started to think about the positives of owning your own home! Stability is one of the bigger reasons and if you've got a down payment, reasonable credit score and have been in the same job for about a year, there really aren't many reasons to not jump off that fence and secure your future!

Building equity through the regular mortgage payments increases your borrowing power down the road. Eventually, owning your own home is actually cheaper than renting! If you're worried about job loss, keep in mind that it's much easier to evict you for non-payment of rent than it is for banks to foreclose on you in Canada! There is also job loss protection that comes with certain mortgages and/or insurance policies that keeps your investment safe. If you're worried about your job, you may want to look into it. So, what's holding you back?

Get over your fear!

1- Stop listening to the negative and concentrate on the positive! Historically low mortgage rates, lower prices and more selection of homes are the hallmarks of spring 2009.

2- Overcome your fear of failing, you have to live somewhere, right? You're building someone else's wealth when you're renting.

3- Find a good real estate agent. He or she will be able to show you many options you may not have thought about!

4 - Family and friends are well-meaning but rarely understand the complexities of Real Estate. Their opinions might not be based in fact; that's why you turn to the professionals!
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How to come up with the down payment?

Your Mortgage Broker will probably help you with a plan, once you've established what mortgage payment you are going to be comfortable with. He or she will likely suggest some of the following as ways to save up that down payment (or increase it while you're looking for that new home!)

• Have some money transferred to a separate savings account every week (opened that TFSA yet?).
• RRSPs give you some tax sheltered ways of coming up with cash.
• Pay off your credit cards or consolidate them to reduce your debt and the interest you're paying.
• Consider a part-time job with that pay cheque going directly into that savings account.
• Some relatives might be interested in helping, don't be afraid to ask!
• Do you have investments you could liquidate? Put the proceeds into the savings account.

Your Mortgage Agent and your Realtor make up a dynamic team that can get you into your own home as soon as you are ready! Don't be afraid to climb onto the first rung of the property ladder!

According to Canwest News Service, the continued recession means that for the second consecutive year, Mom will be taking a hit on Mother’s Day!

U.S. consumers will spend $123.89 on average on Mother’s Day, down more than 10 percent from a year ago, according to a survey released on Thursday by the National Retail Federation. Generally speaking, Canadians are similar in their spending habits.

Market research company BIGresearch reports that, in their survey conducted between March 31 and April 7, 2009 (8,667 consumer participants), there has been a decline to $138.63 in 2008 from $139.14 in 2007 in spending on Mother’s Day.

Around 66.8 percent or people will buy flowers for their mothers and 54.8 percent say they’re planning on treating Mom to dinner or brunch, according to the survey.

Spending on that special outing is expected to total $2.7 billion, with jewelry spending coming in next at $2.3 billion, they added.

Where are people likely to shop for Mom? About 30 percent of those surveyed said they would purchase a gift from a discount store, while 27.2 percent said they would go to their favorite department store. Also, 33 percent said they would go to a specialty store like a florist, gift shop or electronics store.

The survey of 8,667 consumers was conducted March 31 through April 7 of this year. Things have certainly rebounded in the past month since the survey and Ottawa hasn’t been as hard hit as the rest of the country, economically speaking. So come on, if you’ve got a bit of extra cash, use your mom as the excuse you need to contribute a little economic “stimulus” into the retail scene. She’ll love you no matter what, but extra brownie points are always worth it!