Councillor Chadwick "Flamed"

The article in the July 23rd edition of the Enterprise-Bulletin entitled "Chadwick's blog, speed bumps criticized at council" is long overdue. Councillor Chadwick's use of his personal blog to continually attack the Mayor and and now criticize Town staff is unprofessional to say the least. If this type of behaviour was exhibited by an employee in the private sector world, you'd get a severance package handed to you pretty quick. It's hypocritical to denounce his fellow Council membcrs and criticize Town employees via his blog while constantly claiming that the Mayor does nothing to promote a co-operative and cohesive "team" effort at the Council table. Congratulations to Mayor Carrier, Councillor Edwards and Public Works Director Ed Houghton for standing up to and "flaming" this Council member as the EB article stated. Unless I am mistaken, this two time Councillor was hardly given a ringing endorsment by the voters in the last two elections finishing last on the list candidates to obtain his place at Council. Hopefully should he elect to run again, the voters of Collingwood will be the ones to "flame" him the next time.

New Rules for Government Backed Mortgages

Although the Canadian real estate market has softened in recent months, its overall condition is nowhere near the current if not worsening plight of the U.S. market. The sub-prime mortgage mess south of the border is the result of lending practices that are not part of the Canadian mortgage landscape and the Government of Canada has annouced further rules to ensure that it never does.
Amongst the new lending measure that will come into effect are:

1.) The maximum amortization period for new government backed mortgages is capped at 35 years.
2.) A minimum down payment of five (5) percent is required for all new government backed mortgages.
3.) A new minimum "consistent" credit score requirement has come into effect along with new loan documentation standards.

While attending a real estate conference in the U.S. where considerable dialogue took place regarding the melt-down of the sub-prime mortgage market, it was learned that in many instances credit checks were not done on borrowers. Even worse, lenders granted mortgages without obtaining verification of the borrower's income. In many instances a borrower simply signed the mortgage application after which the lender filled in the person's income to whatever level was required to secure the desired mortgage amount.
The new regulations come into effect this October and only apply to new mortgages. Private mortgage lenders/insurers are still free to offer mortgages with amortization periods of 40 years and 100% mortgage financing should they so desire however the lack of government backing on these loans will result in higher risk and increased costs to consumers in order to insure these loans.
Through these initiatives, the government intends to ensure that the Canadian housing market remains strong while reducing the risk of a U.S. style housing castastrophy, something for which we will all benefit.

Buying A Recreational Property

A large segment of the Georgian Triangle treal estate market consists of buyers looking to purchase a recreational property. No longer known primarily for skiing, Collingwood and the surrounding area offers a true four season recreational lifestyle making it the ideal location to purchase a recreational condominium, chalet, waterfront home or other property to use year round.

Buying a recreational property differs significantly from the purchase of a full time home. If you are contemplating a recreational property purchase I am please to offer the following video via Royal LePage TV "Tips On Buying A Recreational Property" detailing some of the considerations you need to be familiar with regarding the purchase of recreational real estate. More importantly, utilizing the services of a competent REALTOR® will ensure that any Agreement of Purchase and Sale you submit, will contain the necessary conditions and clauses relative to the various issues that need addressing prior to firming up your purchase.

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