This isn't one of my typical blogs but it is a topic that seems to have creeped up and I thought I would share. :)

Getting older....

I am really not too sure when it happened...I still don't really feel as though I am getting OLD. But somewhere along the way you start to realize you are not that young anymore. Perhaps it is that I turn 40 this year. Age really has never mattered, I don't really think it will this year. I just like saying I am younger than my husband and all of my friends, some of which are in their 50's. Life still goes on...but I feel like I have finally made it in to that adult club that you never really thought you would ever join. 

When you are in your 20's and even early 30's....you look at others when they say "when you get to my age you will understand- life just changes." I don't think we ever really believe or understand people until we hit that age....when that is I am not sure. I would imagine it may be different for everyone.

Of course, I have noticed little changes...not just in how I look or feel. But also how I look at life - I honestly think that's when it hit me that I wasn't as young as I used to be. What used to be so important to us when we were younger now just isn't. Planning for our retirement, what we once wanted again is no longer as important as it once was. 

My husband and I went to Palm Springs last month. It took friends of ours a couple years to get us down there, once there we did not want to come home. We have been to many places in the US and never understood the appeal for snowbirds. But I think we do now, when you look at how precious each and everyday is and how fast the days go by. Again, that is where I realized I am not getting any younger and sometimes we all just need to stop and take a breath. What was appealing about Palm Springs over say Florida is that you are pretty much guaranteed to have good weather. Even if the day is overcast, it's still very warm out and there's no rain to worry about. 

I do have to say, when we were starting our family most of our friends were off traveling and starting their careers. So many of the people I grew up with are just having kids now and I couldn't even imagine going back to that baby stage....as cute as it was. We now have one child in University and our 2nd child is only a year and a half away from graduating highschool. We feel as though our lives are only just beginning as we look at our 5 and 10yr plan. 

i have come to a conclusion "You are only as OLD as you feel". I don't feel like I am 40 most days.... so I think I will go with that. :)

As much as we don't like losing an hour of sleep (or at least I don't :). I think the trade off is worth it, by gaining an extra hour of daylight....which we so need at this time of year. Looking forward to longer, warmer days.

Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead before you go to bed tonight! 

Watch for these electrical hazards in your home

Electricity in the home is so commonplace that it's easy to forget how dangerous it can be. According to the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, an electrical shock can knock you unconscious, cause a serious burn, or even stop your heartbeat.

Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to reduce the risk.

• Install safety plugs in outlets that young children can reach. 

• Never plug in anything with a frayed or otherwise damaged power cord.

• Never use a plugged-in computer, hair dryer, or other electrically-powered item near a filled sink or bathtub. This includes phones with power cords.

• Never touch anything electrical with wet hands or while standing in water. (Water is a remarkably efficient conductor of electricity.)

• Always turn off the appropriate breaker before doing any electrical work, such as installing a new light fixture.

When replacing a broken light bulb, turn off the breaker first. Although the glass is broken, the filament may still be conducting electricity.

Finally, unless you're an expert or an electrician, never do any major electrical work on your own. Hire a professional. 

The Real estate market has certainly started heating up for the typical Spring surge and the news release out from our Fraser Valley real estate board today confirms that. 

Kara and I have been quite busy helping our clients with not only the sale of their homes, but with purchases as well. We have noticed if a home is priced right it isn't sitting long forcing buyers to make a decision quickly before someone else does and they lose out on their future home. Today's news release has us leaning towards a balanced market which is good for both buyers and sellers. Prices don't seem to be going down, but they don't seem to be going up too much either. The key thing is that well priced homes are selling. 

To read more on today's news release click on the following link:
Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

If you are looking to buy or sell your home, please feel free to give Kara or myself a call and we would be more than happy to help!

Monday March 2014 is the last day to contribute to your RRSP's (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) for the 2013 taxation year. RRSP's are one of the ways you can save for retirement giving your money a chance to grow without having to pay taxes on it now. At the same time as making your contribution you may be able to benefit from an immediate tax reduction. Here are links to 3 of our major banks and BC's largest credit union offering advice on what you need to do!

Please give us a call and we would be happy to put you in touch with the contact information for investment professionals we know and trust.

Vancity

Retirement Planning

RBC

Retirement Planning


TD bank

Retirement Planning


Scotiabank

Retirement Planning

If you're thinking of making a move within the next few months, there are two important things you need to know.

The first is the market value of your current property. That's the amount your home will likely sell for in today's market. When you know its market value, you'll have a better idea of how much money will be available to invest in a new home.

The second is an overview of what's available on the market. Which of the homes currently available for sale meet your criteria with respect to type of home, special features (such as a big kitchen or pool), neighbourhood, etc? How much are these homes selling for?

With those two pieces of information, you'll be able to make a better decision.

A good REALTOR® can get that information for you. Give us a call today.

CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) announced today that they will be raising the insurance premiums in order to insure mortage loans by up to 15% depending on how much money a Buyer has to put down on their mortgage.

Many home Buyers only have 5-10% to put down on their mortgage, unless they have a 20% downpayment then they will need to have their mortgage insured by 1 of the 3 mortgage insurance companies that we have here in Canada - CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty. It will be interesting to see if the other 2 companies follow suit.

Overall this increase could add thousands of dollars to the overall purchase price when amortized over a number of years. CMHC estimates this increase will only add on average about $5/month. 

Certainly nothing to panic about and isn't expected to affect the housing market adversely. But for those Buyers concerned about having mortgage insurance premiums it is good information to have. 

From all of us at The Bettina Reid Group we want to congratulate all of our Canadian Olympic athletes for making CANADA proud!

Sad to see the Winter Olympics is now over. Such a sense of pride always seems to sweep our Nation and these Olympics were no exception. We cheer for all of our Olympians and feel for them when they don't achieve what they were hoping for. But we also beam with Pride for all of them no matter where they ended up just for having the courage to compete for our Nation.

Congratulations to all of our athletes. We are Canadian!!!

Great news for First time Home Buyers. The BC government came down with their budget yesterday and Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced a new savings for First Time Home Buyers by raising the tax threshold from $425,000 to $475,000. 

Which means as long as you are a Canadian resident, have lived in BC for at least a year, never owned a property anytime or anywhere in the world. Then as of today you will likely qualify for full exemption of the Property Transfer Tax owed on the purchased property as long as the purchase price is $475,000 or less. You may still qualify for a partial exemption if the purchase price falls between $475,000 and $500,000. This could amount to up to $7500 savings to First Time Home Buyers.

Having volunteered on the government relations committee for a couple years, I know how hard our Fraser Valley Real Estate Board has been working at lobbying the government for years to make these changes. The tax threshold was implemented in 1987 as a wealth tax. In 1994 the First Time Home Buyers Program was introduced and the threshold has remained the same since then, when house prices were much lower. Our government relations committee has been trying to get the threshold raised to $525,000 and even though it was only raised to $475,000 it shows their lobbying was worth it. 

I know The First Time Home Buyers we are presently working with are quite excited to be saving a few dollars. Providing them some extra money in their pockets that they didn't think they would have.

For full details visit the following link:

First Time Home Buyers