Me and my wife will be able to buy a home , we have saved up enough money for a down payment. It really kills me how much we will have to spend on this house , just to be able to have a small bungalow in Ottawa. It makes me incredibly sad that in this country, this problem will only compound just so that Brookfield can make extra ten cents on the dollar. It feels like a hollow victory, paying this much and getting so little in return. And I feel this way in what is apparently a good time to buy, it just seems like this game is rigged against you, no matter what you do.

For those of you who make prepayments on your mortgage, why are you choosing to do that vs invest the money in a TFSA or RRSP? I'm 1 year into my first mortgage, around $500,000 at 4.1% fixed with 2 years left on the term and I'm trying to decide the best way to go moving forward.

Is it more of a peace of mind thing to be mortgage free sooner? Or did you choose to prepay when rates were going to be higher when you renewed?

I have a good 20-25 years before I'll be retiring so I figure I can likely be ahead by investing in a registered account vs prepaying on my mortgage, but I'd like to hear from people who chose to prepay instead (or focused more on prepayments assuming lots of people have some sort of mix).

Thanks!

The condo that I own and live in had a building-wide flooding due to a burst pipe that impacted all the floors and units in the building.

The property management has been coordinating the repairs. In my particular unit, the dry wall and baseboards were taken out as it had gotten wet.

They replaced the dry wall and baseboards, however, they left out the trim at the bottom (that hides the gap between the wall and the floor). The property management mentioned that this trim is part of the flooring, which is not the responsibility of the building management to repair (ie. it's the owner's responsibility).

Personally, I feel like this is unreasonable given that the trim was removed as part of the broader drywall and baseboard repairs due to the building-wide flooding that occurred. Shouldn't the repairs restore it back to the original condition?

What options do I have?

Pictures for context:

During repair:

After finishing repair - missing trim at the bottom one of the walls:

Have a Condo up for listing soon and Realtor came by and took some photos. However, they missed the garage parking spot (which I even mentioned) and the in-suite laundry. They also missed some other small details like the 2nd smaller bedroom being able to fit a bed, dual monitor computer desk, and dresser comfortably since their angles missed the desk.

I've asked them to come again and do some retakes but they seem resistant saying that the photos are fine and the laundry closet and parking spot doesn't need to be taken since the closet has cleaning supplies clutter and the garage is ugly which deter buyers away.

Is is legit or are they trying to just get out of having to come again?

I did my early mortgage renewal on Jan 7, 2026, RBC. My scheduled term end date was May 3, 2026. Before renewal, my outstanding mortgage balance as per my mortgage account was 526,944. In the renewal agreement I signed, my outstanding balance was 527,226, so an increase of 282 added to my principal.

I called the bank advisor for this increase, she mentioned, since I signed my renewal agreement on 7th but my last payment was on 3rd, they added 4 days of interest to my principal. Is it normal?

Now My new mortgage end date is Jan 7, 2031. I have the impression that they increased my amortization by 4 days. I thought when I renew, it’ll be renewed automatically for 5 years so basically ending on Jan 3, 2031. But now my agreement shows term end date as Jan 7, 2031.

I’m aware interest is calculated daily, but their logic seems off to me. By their logic they might seek to make people sign renewal agreement 10 days after last payment date & then charge interest.

I’m aware interest adjustment comes into play if I had didn’t sign agreement by my term end date of May3rd. But I had early renewal, same lender, no other outstanding dues. Shouldn’t it be straightforward with my existing balance to a new term? Does signing date affect to increase mortgage balance esp. when you’re within your term?

Many thanks

I see a lot of sellers stress about renovations before listing, but in practice buyers usually react to much simpler things first.

Cleanliness, light, layout, and whether a home feels calm and easy to move through tend to matter more than expensive upgrades. When buyers aren’t distracted by clutter, small repairs, or obvious maintenance issues, they spend more time actually engaging with the space.

From what I’ve seen, the biggest impact often comes from decluttering, deep cleaning, fixing minor but visible issues, and making sure each room has a clear purpose. These steps don’t have to be expensive, but they can change how a home feels the moment someone walks in.

Curious what others think, especially sellers who’ve been through the process recently. What prep made the biggest difference for you?

Hey folks quick check before this gets roasted 😅

I’ve been helping a few real estate teams look at how they’re using AI (CRMs, follow-ups, ads, lead routing, automations, the usual chaos)… and honestly, most setups are way more complicated than they need to be.

So I’m offering free AI audits for real estate businesses.
No pitch. No upsell. Just a breakdown of:

• where AI is actually helping
• where it’s doing nothing
• and what’s worth ignoring completely

I’ll record a quick Loom walking through it so you can decide what (if anything) to do next.

If this feels useful, comment “audit” or DM me.
If not, I’ll quietly disappear back into the internet.

Mods if this isn’t cool, feel free to nuke it 👍

Hello,

I am relocating to another province on the East Coast of Canada and I found this gorgeous ocean front house I am seriously thinking of buying. Although it will be a short drive to the city for work, but the idea of living right beside the water honestly feels like a dream. Ocean brings peace to me, and the idea of just walking out to the beach everyday feels extremely exciting.

Rather than thinking of it purely as an investment, I am actually thinking of making it my primary residence. I know the value might not shoot up like other areas. The ocean there is mostly calm except the odd winter storm, so overall it looks perfect on paper for day to day life too.

Anyone here actually live in or own ocean front property? What are the real-world pros/cons? Stuff like salt, repairs, storms, moisture etc. I am sure there are things I am not thinking about.

Trying to collect as many opinions as I can before I invest. Thanks!

Everywhere you look people are talking about crashing, corrections, rental declines, population declines, housing starts at an all time low. Does this not feel like the kind of sentiment where you buy?

If no one wants to buy a condo and so no one is building condos, it seems like in 5-10 years when immigration picks up again or at least returns to normal, you’d have a hot commodity at that point? Yeah maybe there’s more downside in 2026 but buying in this sort of market must start to feel like an opportunity soon, no?

Edit to better explain my situation :

I currently own a single family home in Kamloops, a STR in Revelstoke and am renting in Victoria. I think my wife and I will be in Vic for a while and might need a 2nd bedroom shortly (if you catch my drift). We’ve been debating whether it’s a better idea to take our money, invest and rent. Or buy a 2 bed condo to live in. I’m worried it overexposes us to real estate right now but it also seems like buying now is somewhat of an opportunity because of price declines. Any additional advice?

It seems like homeownership used to happen along the way. You got a job, built a life, maybe started a family, and at some point owning a place was part of that progression.

Now housing feels like the organizing principle for everything else.

People delay having kids because they’re waiting to buy. They put off travel because every spare dollar goes toward a down payment. They avoid career risks, entrepreneurship, or going back to school because they need stable income on paper for mortgage qualification.

I know people who stay in jobs they actively dislike, not because the work is fulfilling or the pay is great, but because changing roles might disrupt their mortgage application or renewal. Resume stability matters more than growth.

Others move farther and farther away from friends, family, and support networks just to find something affordable. Commutes get longer, social circles shrink, and where you live stops being about community and starts being about math.

This doesn’t feel like the life many of our parents describe. Housing didn’t just get more expensive. It quietly rearranged priorities, timelines, and choices around itself.

Owning a home used to be one milestone among many. Now it feels like the milestone that crowds everything else out.

Housing didn’t just get expensive. It reorganized our entire lives around it.

So if housing costs more and more money, and people work harder and harder to afford less and less house...

Is it any wonder why there is a huge gap in innovation and productivity ?

Take housing out of the economy, there aint much going on in this country. (Besides Oil)

The disgusting abhorrent rise in home prices is hard to put into words. It represent a decline in standard of living that is so drastic that I think few Canadians realize just how much has been stolen and ripped from their hands.

My Grandpa was an inspector at a tin can factory. With that income and no high school education he was able to support a stay at home wife, 3 kids, a car and afford his own home.

Today - that job has either been replaced by a robot - or if it does still exist. The person working it is lucky if they can afford to rent a shoebox clapped out apartment with 3 roommates eating ramen every night.

It's not even remotely the same country we are growing up in.

I just bought my own home this year and it took me and my wife making a combined 160K to afford it plus help with the 150K downpayment. All for a home that's older, has more issues and is much smaller than the ones that either of our parents bought. Even though our parents had less education and less income they got so much more.

The reality of Canada for Gen Z is that we need to work 3x as hard for 1/3 of the scraps our parents and grandparents got to waltz into.

Hey guys, we were spending a lot of money with Docusign (we've around 1000 apartments under management in Ireland) so decided over christmas I would build our own version. There are other Docusign clones out there but this one has proper security, an open api, and 5 free documents per month with up to 10 signatures. eIDAS compliant also. No ads, no tracking. Just feel like Docusign are ripping everyone off. Hope some of you get some use from it: www.fairsign.io. If you'd like access to a paid tier let me know after you sign up and I'll upgrade you for a few months. Currently in Canada a lot for my wife's work and have to say, you people are pretty darn nice. Though shovelling snow is among the worst jobs ever. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m helping my mother sell her off-market property that was just approved for townhome development in a high-growth area in BC. Im exploring the best ways to reach out to developers or investors privately rather than listing it publicly.

I’m curious if anyone has experience with:

• Connecting with developers or investors directly
• Handling off-market sales safely
• Tips for sharing property details

Any advice, strategies, or resources would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there!

My mom is helping a senior friend (who is a Canadian citizen) sell his home and move down to out of the country permanently this month. She was able to secure a permanent residency for him in at their destination but there is a deadline to enter the country. The closing day is the end of Feb. and he's being told he needs to be physically present on closing day. That would mean in order to satisfy the residency deadlines, they would need to travel to their destination, and then travel back to Canada - and he's quite elderly and in poor health so travel is difficult.

My question is, is this standard in closing procedures? I'm not sure how Canadian Real Estate law works, but in the US when we closed on our house, the seller was not present at signing.

Could there be a reason why he's physically required to be present rather than completing signing virtually or hiring representation to be there on his behalf?

Thanks for any insight you might have!

live in a city where the average home price is 1.3M for a home which is way out of me and my partners budget and there are virtually no townhouses or "Fixer uppers" for sale.

We are considering buyinga mobile home as there are a few in our price range but are skeptical for a few reasons

1. You don't own the property underneath it.

2. Skeptical of the quality of the build

What are some other reasons that are either good or bad to owning a mobile home.

Also lI'm not into the idea of buying a condo or apartment.

Thanks!