Ask Ross

Everyone was caught with their pants down in the USA back in 2008 when the reality of a flawed mortgage lending environment caught up with homeowners and investors. Four years later it seems like everyone with a keyboard and a pulpit wants to be the one who warned us of a similar inevitable doomsday scenario …

Today’s topic is income properties – are they a good thing, and what about considering them for first time home buyers? Richard Woodbury from Halifax is a freelance writer who contacted me last week about a feature article he is writing for Metro newspaper. Here are the questions Richard asked me and the answers I …

So much is being written these days about Canada being a debtors’ nation, and that average household debt is at an all-time high. What kind of relief can people get from their debts? There are several approaches, some of them worthwhile, some of them offensive. We recently spoke with Jordan Rumanek of Rumanek & Company …

There’s nothing more sickening than being approved for a 29% car loan, or only qualifying for an 8% private mortgage. I cannot stress enough the importance of rebuilding your credit history after a major event like bankruptcy or consumer proposal.  It’s just as true if you have recently paid off your bad debts some other …

Dear Ross: I really enjoyed your recent posts about investment properties, and my question is do you think it only makes sense to invest in a property if you are going to live there? I ask because should I get in to a school for further studies, I am not certain where I would be …

Dear Ross, I currently have a $50, 000 CAD student loan which I must now start paying off. I have a short term work contract, making a $70,000 a year salary. I have about $10,000 in savings, but am unsure about how to use this. I would like to buy an income property in the …

Over the course of the past couple of years, I have written hundreds of blog posts. That’s a good thing, but it can make it hard for someone visiting my site trying to find specific information. So here are some of my better posts about buying a home. When to buy your first home Buying …

Spring season is beckoning, and with it comes more home listings and more headaches for buyers wishing to buy their dream home. The past couple of months have been characterized by low levels of inventory in prime locations, and multiple offer battles on prime properties have been seen on all fronts. Realtors from all over …