Sasha Dear

I imagine that EVERYONE has at one time or another experienced a 'road rage' incident. I have to say that, due to the amount of driving I do, I have certainly had my fair share of road rage experiences. The latest happened very recently, and led to a train of thought that has left questions un-answered.

Here is my story.....

I was driving home at around 4pm last Thursday. The road I was travelling on has a speed limit that ranges between 70km and 80km. There wasn't much traffic at all on that part of the road at that time, but I did notice another car in the distance behind be. Within no time at all, this other car was quickly closing the gap between our cars. I was already doing 10km over the limit on a bendy road, and did not want to drive faster just to accommodate this other cars need for speed.

Within a minute or 2, I noticed a flag woman up ahead waving a stop sign. I started to slow down, and looked in my rear mirror to check that the car behind me was also slowing down before I came to a complete stop. Although I used my brakes to give the car behind warning that I was stopping, it didn't look like it was slowing down at all...so much so, that I ended up stopping a little bit further along the road than I normally would for construction.

As I came to a complete stop, the car that was behind me drove onto the other side of the road and passed me while sounding the horn. I sounded my horn back. The car stopped a short distance ahead of me, and a man in his late 50's got out of the car. He was ranting extremely loud, and gestering to me...then he stopped...when he saw the flag woman at the edge of the road.

She asked him what he was doing, and he said....."I wanted to know why the hell that car had stopped in the middle of the road". He was still shouting.

She told him to get back in his car and to wait until the construction vehicles had passed.

I looked at her...she looked at me...both of us with this huge expression on our faces as if to say "what on earth is this guys problem?"

Now you would think, given the embarrasment he must have been feeling, that when we were permitted to go on our way, he would start driving a little more 'calmer'. But no, he sped off into the distance, probably still feeling angry at....what?

So he obviously did not realise that we HAD to stop for the construction. He did not see the signs, or the flag woman. He just assumed that I had decided to stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason, and was sooo mad about it that he sped passed me sounding his horn. With me sounding my horn back at him, this must have tipped his anger over the edge, so he decided to slam his brakes on...stop ahead of me...for the objective of having a road rage confrontation with me.

Two directions of thought hit me with this:

1) How scary is it that people can get so worked up when driving, that they actually embrace actions that are not socially acceptable.

2) What if I had been having a problem with my car and didn't have a choice but to stop. Or worse...what if I was having a medical emergancy which forced me to stop my car in the road? Would he be wasting crucial time to shout and scream at me instead of assisting me?

There are a few documentaries shown on TV that cover theories about why road rage is becoming more increasingly a part of our every day lives.

Some suggest that our social skills have drastically deteriorated due to extreme lack of personal interaction in todays world of texting.

Some may suggest that integration of different cultures could be to blame, with tolerance levels for lack of understanding becoming low.

It is interesting to analyse why this is happening to us, but I have to say this......

As an entity, we still know what is right and wrong. We still have the intelligence to be able to make decisions. We are still responsible for our own actions.

Therefore it doesn't matter what theories there are....we can either choose to be decent people, or choose to be assholes on the way home.

The table shows how many real estate sales there have been in Muskoka so far this year, compared to 2008 sales. Price ranges and this months sales are included to show you who is in the market for buying property.

It is interesting to see that those who have 1 million plus to spend, have bought more properties compared to 2008.

Notice that the other price-point increase has been between $260,000 - $500,000

Overall there has been a definate 'bounce-back' in the real estate market since last year. Lower mortgage rates has helped, along with consumer confidence levels being alot higher than that 12 months ago.

For a more detailed report on homes in your local area, please contact Sasha Dear via email.

Sasha Dear - salesperson

Royal LePage Lakes of Muskoka Realty - Brokerage, independently owned and operated.

Statistics courtesey of Haliburton and Muskoka Real estate Board

Great opportunity for first-time homebuyers

If you've been thinking about purchasing your first home, but haven't yet made up your mind, now is an ideal time to think about taking the plunge into homeownership.

Your first step in the home-buying process should be to talk to a licensed mortgage professional. These experts have access to a vast array of lenders - up to 90+ institutions, including big banks, credit unions and trust companies - which enables these professionals to negotiate the best possible mortgage products and rates on your behalf. In comparison, if you approach your bank with a mortgage request, they can only offer you a narrow choice - namely, their own products.

Mortgage professionals can get you pre-approved for a mortgage so that you know how much you can afford to spend on a home before you start shopping.

And thanks to the latest federal budget, there are a couple more reasons why now is the optimal time to purchase your first home.

First, the budget proposes a $5,000 increase to the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, meaning first-time homebuyers can now withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs for a down payment - tax- and interest-free.

The budget also proposes a $750 tax credit for first-time homebuyers to help with closing costs, such as legal fees, disbursements and land transfer taxes.

The tax credit is based on an amount of $5,000 for first-time homebuyers who acquire a qualifying home after January 27, 2009 (ie, the closing is after that date).

An individual will be considered a first-time homebuyer if neither the individual nor the individual's spouse or common-law partner owned and lived in another home in the calendar year of the home purchase or in any of the four preceding calendar years.

If you're thinking of buying your first home, Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professionals can answer all of your mortgage-related questions.

Contact Shaun O'Flynn for more information 705-791-4685

or go to www.SashaDear.ca to find your perfect first home

Bank of Canada maintains interest rates

The Bank of Canada held its benchmark overnight lending rate steady at 0.25 per cent at its setting on October 20^th, 2009. The trend-setting Bank rate, which is set 0.25 percentage points above the overnight lending rate, remains at 0.5 per cent.

The Bank acknowledged that recent indicators point to the start of a global recovery, and that economic and financial developments have turned more favourable than it had previously expected. While recognizing that the Canadian economy is rebounding, it expects the recovery to be weak by historical standards.

The Bank downgraded its forecast for Canadian economic growth this year, while keeping its forecast unchanged for 2010. It also lowered its forecast for economic growth in 2011.

In its September announcement to hold interest rates steady, the Bank forecast that inflation would return to its two per cent target in the second quarter of 2011. The Bank has now moved that date out to the third quarter of 2011.

The Bank's commitment to keep interest rates on hold until the second half of next year is conditional on the outlook for inflation. Since inflation is not expected to pick up sooner than it previously expected, the Bank repeated its commitment to keep interest rates on hold. "Conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010 in order to achieve the inflation target."

The Bank pointed to the rapid rise in the Canadian dollar in recent weeks as a risk to the Canadian economic recovery, saying "Heightened volatility and persistent strength in the Canadian dollar are working to slow growth and subdue inflation pressures." The Bank now expects that the domestic economy will be a greater source for economic growth, at the expense of weaker net exports.

The Bank expects the output gap to close in the third quarter of 2011, one quarter later than it had projected in July when it said production would reach capacity in mid-2011.

"The Bank threw cold water on recent speculation that it may raise interest sooner rather than later," said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "By highlighting the recent rapid rise in the Canadian dollar while intentionally failing to mention the rebound in the Canadian housing market as sources for concern, the Bank aimed to end recent speculation that it will hike rates before its repeated pledge of not doing so until at least July 2010."

As of October 20^th, the advertised five-year conventional mortgage rate stood at 5.84 per cent. This is down 1.36 per cent from one year earlier, but stands 0.35 per cent above where it stood when the Bank made its previous interest rate announcement on September 10^th.

Improving credit market conditions have enabled lenders to reintroduce discounts off posted mortgage interest rates. Discounts of up to a percentage point can be negotiated, depending on lender-client relationship.

http://creastats.crea.ca/natl/interest_rate_trends.htm

(CREA 10/20/2009)

In today's economic climate of tighter credit requirements and increased unemployment rates taking their toll on some Canadians, there's no doubt that many people may not fit into the traditional banks' financing boxes as easily as they may have just a year ago.

Your best solution is to consult your mortgage professional to determine whether your situation can be quickly repaired or if you face a longer road to credit recovery. Either way, there are solutions to every problem.

Mortgage professionals who are experts in the credit repair niche can help credit challenged clients improve their situations via a number of routes. And if the situation is beyond the expertise of a mortgage professional, they can help you get in touch with other professionals, including credit counsellors and bankruptcy trustees.

If you have some equity built up in your home and still have a manageable credit score, for instance, you can often refinance your mortgage and use that money to pay off high-interest credit card debt. By clearing up this debt, you are freeing up more cash flow each month.

In the current lending environment, with interest rates at an all-time low, now is an ideal time for you to refinance your mortgage and possibly save thousands of dollars per year, enabling you to pay more money per month towards the principal on your mortgage as opposed to the interest - which, in turn, can help build equity quicker.

Following are five steps you can use to help attain a speedy credit score boost:

1) Pay down credit cards. The number one way to increase your credit score is to pay down your credit cards so you're only using 30% of your limits. Revolving credit like credit cards seems to have a more significant impact on credit scores than car loans, lines of credit, and so on.

2) Limit the use of credit cards. Racking up a large amount and then paying it off in monthly instalments can hurt your credit score. If there is a balance at the end of the month, this affects your score - credit formulas don't take into account the fact that you may have paid the balance off the next month.

3) Check credit limits. If your lender is slower at reporting monthly transactions, this can have a significant impact on how other lenders may view your file. Ensure everything's up to date as old bills that have been paid can come back to haunt you.

Some financial institutions don't even report your maximum limits. As such, the credit bureau is left to only use the balance that's on hand. The problem is, if you consistently charge the same amount each month - say $1,000 to $1,500 - it may appear to the credit-scoring agencies that you're regularly maxing out your cards.

The best bet is to pay your balances down or off before your statement periods close.

4) Keep old cards. Older credit is better credit. If you stop using older credit cards, the issuers may stop updating your accounts. As such, the cards can lose their weight in the credit formula and, therefore, may not be as valuable - even though you have had the cards for a long time. You should use these cards periodically and then pay them off.

5) Don't let mistakes build up. You should always dispute any mistakes or situations that may harm your score. If, for instance, a cell phone bill is incorrect and the company will not amend it, you can dispute this by making the credit bureau aware of the situation.

If, however, you have repeatedly missed payments on your credit cards, you may not be in a situation where refinancing or quickly boosting your credit score will be possible. Depending on the severity of your situation - and the reasons behind the delinquencies, including job loss, divorce, illness, and so on - your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional can help you address the concerns through a variety of means and even refer you to other professionals to help get your credit situation in check.

Feel free to contact Shaun O'Flynn Mortgage Agent

Tel: 705-791-4685

or go to www.sashadear.ca and email me for more information on how I can help you become a home owner