At Clyde, Experience the Great Indoors

Michelle Hopkins
REW

 As much as Angela Ross likes living in downtown Vancouver, she was ready to sell her 20-year-old small condo for something new and larger. Having grown up in Port Moody, Ross decided to search in her old ‘hood.

“I looked at other projects out there but Clyde’s finishes were a lot nicer,” says Ross. “The condos are so stunning and bright. I also like the great amenities, including the gym and the courtyard with fire pits, which really encourages a sense of community.”

Ross bought a 900-square-foot two-bedroom and den condo on the third floor, which offers views of the growing city, and she couldn’t be happier. “I think Port Moody is an underrated gem … you have easy Skytrain access, nearby lakes and hiking trails and it still has that small-town feel with big-city amenities,” says Ross.

Clyde is an impeccable collection of 117 one, two and three-bedroom homes starting at $439,900 for a one-bedroom. Designed by award-winning Ross & Company, each home features herringbone flooring in the main living areas, 8’ to 10’ ceiling height throughout with oversized windows bathing the homes in natural light. 

 

Soak up your worries in your deluxe deep soaker tub, before heading into your gourmet kitchen to start dinner. Here, you will fall in love with the woodgrain detailed open shelving, the island breakfast bar for extra seating (in most homes), Quartz countertops and porcelain tile backsplash and high-end stainless-steel appliance package. 

Ross’ sentiments are echoed often by those who have already bought in Clyde, says Emily Paris, marketing coordinator, Porte Communities. “Buyers have told us they love both Clyde’s location and finishes, bridging the gap between luxury and attainability,” says Paris.

After an exhilarating day on the trails, kick back with friends and family on your generous-sized deck or around the indoor social lounge that extends onto the courtyard for parties – a fully landscaped courtyard with a BBQ area, fire pit and space for children to play and dogs to roam. Or hit the fully-equipped fitness centre for a great workout. Everything is possible at Clyde.

“All homes at Clyde have expansive patios and the sixth-floor homes feature stunning private rooftop patios with great views – these homes are what patio dreams are made of!” says Paris.

To make it even sweeter, Porte Homes is offering a limited-time promotion of $10,000 off two-bedroom homes and $15,000 off three-bedroom homes.

This former “lumber and mill town” has morphed into an affordable, hip and active community, all while embracing its rich heritage. With over one-third of the city’s 25.89 square kilometres dedicated to parkland, people are attracted to its outdoorsy lifestyle. 

Beer lovers rejoice too. Where can you visit five breweries on a three-block stretch of the same street? Well, you can at Brewer’s Row.

For more than five decades, Porte Homes doesn’t just develop or manage properties, they build communities. They are also a Vancouver-based, family-owned company with heart. “We have partnered with the Breakfast Club of Canada which means that for every home sold at Clyde, we are able to help feed a child for 50 days through a breakfast program at a local elementary school in Port Moody. We are always excited to be able to support the communities we build in,” says Paris.

Clyde presentation centre, located at 2545 Clarke St., Port Moody, is open by appointment only. For more information about the promotion or to register, call 604-949-3454, email [email protected] or visit www.clyde.porte.ca. 

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© 2020 REW

New commercial rent relief plan bypasses landlords

Frank O?Brien
Western Investor

Business tenants can apply directly for federal subsidy that includes covering up to 90 per cent of losses due to pandemic lockdowns until June 2021

In a November 2 announcement, the federal government launched the amended Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy that will provide rent and mortgage-payment assistance to commercial real estate tenants and owners, along with wage assistance measures.

A key change in the commercial rent subsidy is that tenants can apply for the aid directly, without the need for their landlord’s support, as was required under the former Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance.

“These measures are designed to help businesses get through the second wave of the virus so they can protect jobs, continue to serve their communities, and be positioned for a strong recovery,” according to a statement from deputy Prime Minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, who tabled the legislation.

The business supports include:

• The new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, which provides direct access to rent and mortgage interest support to tenants and property owners until June 2021 for qualifying organizations affected by COVID-19. The new rent subsidy would support businesses, charities, and non-profits that have suffered a pandemic-induced revenue drop by providing support up to a maximum of 65 per cent of eligible expenses until December 19, 2020. The government is proposing to allow claims retroactively for the period that began September 27 and ended October 24, 2020.

• The new Lockdown Support, which provides an additional 25 per cent qualifying organizations that had to shut their doors or significantly limit their activities under a public health order. Combined, this would mean that hard-hit businesses subject to a lockdown could receive rent support of up to 90 per cent.

• The extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy until June 2021, which remains at the current rate of up to 65 per cent of eligible wages until December 19, 2020.

Ottawa’s previous commercial rent relief program required a buy-in from landlords, but some landlords did not apply for the assistance on behalf of their tenants. The new program provides the direct subsidy to tenants for eligible fixed property expenses, including rent.

As of late October, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy had spent $2 billion in support of more than over 138,000 small business tenants across the country, according to Friedland’s announcement.

 

 

© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

Survey shows two-in five Canadians won’t know what to do when deferrals end

Duffie Osental
Mortgage Broker News

RBC economist outlines how the pandemic is changing Canada’s housing market

Duffie Osental
Mortgage Broker News

 Few sectors have felt the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic more than real estate – and according to RBC senior economist Robert Hogue, it is still unclear whether the changes brought about by the crisis are “permanent or transitory.”

“In just months, the landscape of Canadian real estate has been shaken to its core,” Hogue said in his latest housing report. “The battle to control the spread of COVID-19 has not only altered how and where Canadians work, but also led many to question where and how they want to live.”

Read more: Home prices have some support despite sales slowdown – RBC Economics

According to Hogue, the “sheer economic shock” of the pandemic has had a direct impact on the income of many Canadians – and the housing market could see an uptick in listings because of this.

“Almost 780,000 people opted to defer mortgage payments since the start of the pandemic, representing 16% of mortgages in bank portfolios,” said Hogue. “By the end of August, the vast majority of mortgage holders whose deferral period has expired had resumed regular payments. However, it remains unclear how many will ultimately be able to continue as outlook for jobs remains bleak for many Canadians. This poses a risk for the housing market, especially in areas where the economy is shakiest. Financial strains could potentially unleash a wave of properties for sale.”

Canada’s falling immigration numbers could also have a negative impact on the housing market. Hogue called immigration a “key pillar of Canadian housing demand,” – yet in the second quarter of 2020, the number of new permanent residents plummeted 64%, with total net migration collapsing 94%.

“To date, weak in-migration has had minimal impact on Canada’s overall housing market,” said Hogue. “But if sustained, we expect it will temper rental demand in larger markets as immigrants tend to rent in their first five to 10 years after landing into our country. This could have negative repercussions for condos and longer term, an extended period of weak in-migration could deplete future cohorts of first-time homebuyers.”

Despite the uncertainty, Hogue said that the Bank of Canada’s commitment to keep interest rates low until at least 2023 has made it “more affordable to own a home.”

“Generous government income support programs for households most affected by COVID-19 also made it easier to carry mortgage payments,” said Hogue. “Overall, Canadian households received more money ($56 billion) from government aid programs such as CERB [Canada Emergency Response Benefit] and other transfers in the second quarter than they lost in wages and salaries due to the pandemic ($23 billion). On net, household disposable income spiked 11% in Canada. This substantially increased buyers’ purchasing power.”

 

Copyright © 2020 Key Media

New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports

Clayton Jarvis
Mortgage Broker News

 It’s a refrain Mortgage Broker News readers will be all too familiar with: “Why isn’t my credit score better? I pay my rent every month. How can that not matter?”

Rent is the biggest monthly expense for independent Canadians who don’t own their own homes. Paying it on time isn’t always easy. For thousands of Canadians, paying rent requires making a choice between meeting one financial obligation or another, but they overwhelmingly make rent a top priority.

That such responsible behaviour has traditionally been ignored by Canada’s credit bureaus while credit card purchases and auto loans are given outsized importance is a dichotomy many rejected borrowers will fail to wrap their heads around. Why should a dozen late Visa payments spread over a period of years do damage to a credit report while a decade of on-time rent payments aren’t even considered?

In an attempt to smooth out that perceived imbalance and help renters build more robust credit histories, the Landlord Credit Bureau recently started sharing rent payment data with consumer reporting agency Equifax. By sharing the information as a tradeline and thereby becoming part of a tenant’s credit score, LCB CEO Zac Killam says renters’ payment histories will carry weight with “any credit granter who is reviewing a credit report to make the decision whether you’ve been responsible with your financial history.”

Premier Mortgage president Don MacVicar says the rent data’s status as a tradeline means lenders may view it in much the same way they would a mortgage payment. They can also use the amount paid in rent to calculate a renter’s “shelter shock” levels.

“For example, if one pays $1,800 in rent, it would be reasonable to determine that one could afford a mortgage payment and property taxes for the same amount or higher when looking at affordability,” he says. 

Landlords or renters can sign up to be a part of the LCB platform. If renters are the ones signing up, they will need buy-in from the landlord before any data can be shared. Landlords who take part must register their tenants and report each one’s rent performance – paid, paid late, didn’t pay – on a monthly basis. Renters have the opportunity to log in, review their tenant records, and dispute any discrepancies or errors.

Responsible tenants are given the option to share their positive rent histories. Delinquent tenants, however, will automatically have their information sent to Equifax.

“Adding depth to credit bureau data is always helpful,” says Equitable Bank vice president Paul von Martels. “If we see an applicant’s history of consistent payments, we’re certainly better off. Likewise, if someone has a checkered past of paying rent, we’d like to know!”

Borrower benefits

The program could be a boon for two key demographics: young Canadians and newly arrived immigrants; groups that, because of their short or non-existent credit histories, often struggle to demonstrate their creditworthiness to lenders.

“We can help those people build their credit report more quickly by putting their largest monthly expense onto their credit report,” Killam says.

InTouch Mortgage Solutions’ Anthony Venuto agrees.

“This would be a great measure if used and recoded properly by landlords,” he says.

Reporting rent performance could also help renters with poor credit who have nonetheless established a history of always paying their rent on time.

“These people may have made financial missteps previously, but they’re not able to recover from them because landlords are pulling credit reports that haven’t included rent data,” Killam says.

Another group that stands to benefit is renters who have had their incomes disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic but are still paying partial rents. By agreeing with their landlords to an alternate payment plan – and actually sticking to it – these renters can still receive positive tenant reports from their landlords.

“This is actually a way in which people can be improving their credit report despite being in a financially difficult situation,” Killam says.

Although he believes in the platform as a whole, Venuto has one reservation.

“My fear is that landlords may use this in an unethical way to possibly charge higher rents or cause issues,” he says.  

That hasn’t been the case so far. Killam says “more than 90 percent” of the tenant records have been positive in nature.

“Are they using this to reduce late payments and delinquencies? Yes, but overwhelmingly they’re also using it to reward responsible tenants,” he says, adding that the landlords and property managers using the platform have experienced a 36 percent decline in late payments and delinquencies, dramatically improving property owners’ net operating incomes.

Now a landlord himself, Killam says his squeaky-clean history as a renter, if incorporated into his credit report, could have made his own homebuying journey that much shorter.

“Without question, including my 16 years of on-time rent payment onto my credit report would have enabled me to jump into buying my own home much more quickly.”

 

Copyright © 2020 Key Media