How much home could your rent buy?

How much home could your rent buy?

The days are getting longer and mortgage rates are wonderfully low as we move into spring housing market 2012! In fact, homeowners are locking in some of the lowest rates in history.  This Great Canadian Mortgage Sale is a good time to take a look at how much mortgage you could afford given your current rent.  Your dream home may be more affordable than you think!

Rent Today	Mortgage Tomorrow*	Home Purchase
$1,250	$290,176	$296,861
$1,500	$348,211	$356,233
$1,750	$406,246	$416,606
$2,000	$464,281	$474,727

Your monthly rent cheque doesn't have to be money out the window. It could be building equity in your own home.  

Keep in mind that home ownership involves costs beyond the monthly mortgage payment like utility bills, insurance, and property taxes. We can help you determine what you can comfortably afford.  

^{*Assumes 30-year amortization, 5% downpayment, 2.95% mortgage insurance premium, 5-year term, 3.19%, OAC, subject to change. For illustration purposes only.}

7 Things I've learned, and still am learning

I love lists, particularly lists that help me do a better job with my life. So here's one such list: Things I've Learned (and am still learning):  

1. You can't change the past, so don't worry about it.

This is one of the most obvious rules on the face of the earth, but most of us worry to some extent about the past. We think about things we should have said, should have done, might have done better, could have done worse, who we might have married, what jobs we should have taken, what we might have studied in college, and what we shouldn't have ate.

We also worry about hair we've lost, weight we've gained, problems we've had, conversations never started, diets never followed, and roses we should have stopped and smelled (bad phrase, but you get the idea).

It's a stupid thing to do. We can't change the past, no matter how hard we try. We can't "undo" the decisions we made 20 years ago or even yesterday, and we can't re-make decisions that we really should have made.

But here we are -- every day, millions of people shortchange their present by worrying about things that took place (or didn't take place) sometime in their past life.

Let's face it -- short a time machine, we will never change our past. Get used to it. Forget about where you were, concentrate on where you are now. You can't drive very far by looking in a rear-view mirror. Sure, we can lie about our past, if we wish, but that's a job best suited for a historian or a politician. Get used to who you are, and make amends with where you came from.

2. Change is inevitable. Adjust.

What's that old adage? "Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine." Things change. We change. Our loved ones change. We may lose hair on the top of our head, and gain hair in other areas. Companies go under, people change jobs, people are born and die. The seasons around us change, and the seasons of our life change as well.

Change is something that we live with every minute of every day, and yet it's one of the hardest things that people deal with. Every new hire and every retirement is a change. Every house sale, new listing, or expired listing chances the real estate market. The mix in our families changes as people move, become ill, are born, or die. Things change, and we have to change with it. Some time ago, I listened to a set of lectures by Dr. Murray Banks, a psychiatrist who gave speeches and wrote books on the side. One of the things I remember the most about that set of lectures is that much mental illness comes about as the result of people not adjusting well to the world around them.

I know I've mentioned it before, but if you haven't read the short book "Who Moved My Cheese," then consider reading it. It takes just a little time to read, but if you spend some time thinking about it, it can change much of the way you look at life. Essentially, it boils down to this: Circumstances change; adjust to the change, don't sit around looking for the good old days to return.

3. We can choose what we think about -- and we should choose to think positively.

Earl Nightingale, absolute genius, called this his "strangest secret:" We become what we think about. If that's true (and it is), then we should choose to think about those areas that make us better -- but many of us concentrate on thinking about things that make us worse. Too many times, we choose to dwell on the bad things in life -- but all that does is make things worse. Dwelling on the best things in life -- the positive things that happen in our life, or our positive prospects for the future -- make us better.

4. Give credit, give love, give guidance, give support, give courtesy.

Many people never learn this lesson: give. Sure, they give at Christmas or birthdays, but they never learn to give the things that really matter.

Give credit where it's due, and recognition to the person who sacrificed to make something good happen.

Give love to those who should feel our love -- our families, our friends, our "loved ones;" -- so many times, people suffer a drought of love in their own lives, and they never realize that in order to gain love, you show love to others.

Give guidance to those who work for us, or to our children, who are trying to learn from us. By giving guidance to others (at least when you're right), you show leadership values, and become a leader.  Everyone needs a leader.

Give support to all who need it. Around us are people (some of them are friends and loved ones) who need a helping hand, and those who have a hole in their lives. Your support and encouragement will help them to pull their lives back into focus.

Give courtesy to your loved ones. It's strange to say it, but usually we will show a greater courtesy to a common stranger than we will to our closest family members. Look at your own life -- I bet you can see it. It's time to change it.

5. Life is a do-it-yourself proposition.

Sounds funny, doesn't it? But too often, people wait for something or someone else to change their life. We wait for the government, or the school, or our work, our faith, our spouse -- we wait for all of them to make a difference in our life. We wait for the lottery to bring us riches, or we wait for some talking head on TV to tell us what to do.

Life is a do-it-yourself kind of thing. But most of us don't learn that until later in our lives. It's time we learn it when we're young -- "If it's going to be, it's up to me."

6. Persistence pays off.

I've got a quote from Benjamin Franklin on my wall: "Stick to it steadily and you will see great effect." Invest steadily, Save steadily, Exercise regularly. Vacation regularly. Put time and effort into anything and everything, and your efforts will pay off.

7. Learning matters. Learn deeply and keep learning.

Did you ever see the movie "Groundhog Day?" Bill Murray spends the same day over and over and over and over again. Finally, he decides to learn and grow -- and as a result, he becomes a greater person. You might not be living February 2 over and over again, but I bet sometimes it feels like it. But learning should be a never-ending quest for enlightenment. It should be more than merely reading a book or two a year. It should be a planned, developed quest for self-improvement. It should be something we all relish doing. Through constant, life-long learning, we can become the renaissance man or woman that we really should be.

"In order to learn, one must changes one's mind."

Oh by the way, if you, or a family member or friend are thinking of buying or selling real estate in the near future, give me a call! I will be happy to help with all of your real estate needs.

Weird, but what you truly want, you will truly get.

Today is one of the days that I get to see the results of the Law of Attraction.  I know some of you reading this may not be familiar with or may not believe in the law of attraction but over my life time I have came to believe two things undoubtedly.  First one is Karma, what goes around comes around, you get what you give, give love and you will receive love.  How ever you want to put it.  I have over my life time seen great evidence of this.  Another is the Law of Attraction.  Or what you think about and how you feel most of the time will determine what life and this physical world will project and give back to you.  What you truly want on a subconscious level you will in turn receive.  I would like to talk a little about that today.


When I was young at high school I used to joke while walking around the hall ways during long break or lunch time, saying that one day I would go to work every day and wear a suit.  At the time I didn't think or realize that I was in any position, financially or intellectually, to actually get myself into a career that would enable me to dress to impress.  Well lets just say a few short years later, I dress to impress myself.  Everyday I get up and put on a shirt and tie and a nice jacket.  And amazingly, to wear classy clothes every day has impressed me.  Back in the high school days I personally only said I would wear a suit to work as a joke, thinking in 20 or 30 years it may be a possibility.  Well my subconscious mind took it in, and because obviously that is what I really wanted, it made it a reality.  Now, I don't just love my career in real estate because I get to dress nice.  Not at all.  There are many more reasons I love my job.  I have a passion for the product, which is homes.  And I am a people person so I really enjoy working with buyers and vendors of residential real estate.  The incredible atmosphere, and learning environment I have been put into is more then I could have asked for. Personally I believe the education I receive from my brokerage and managing brokers, as well as my own self education is far more advanced and usable in everyday life then any education a leading university could give me.  I am now living full on past where I personally believed and thought was possible for myself.  What I truly wanted I didn't even know on a conscious level.


Consciously, to improve myself further, I decided to write down 101 goals.  Outrageous goals which many of them I personally thought would be impossible complete.  This was just over a year ago.  The book "The Power Of Focus" told me this would be a great exercise for programming my subconscious mind.  Therefore helping me get where I wanted faster then I ever thought possible.  I'm not going to give you a list of my goals because they are personal and for my eyes only.  I will let you know that I have completed well over 10% of those goals in just over a years time and never thought that was possible.  Many times I will complete a goal and think back after and say, "Hey, that was one of the goals that I wrote down, I can go back and check that off."  And I feel a sudden rush of endorphins release in my brain and it's like I'm on a natural high.  Today was one of those days.  One of the first goals I wrote down was to join a local Toastmasters Club.  And for those of you who do not know what Toastmasters is, No! it is not a place to go and learn how to make great toast.  Even know that would have helped my keep my last girlfriend.  It is a club organized to help people overcome their fear of public speaking.  A place where you can go to learn to communicate ideas clearly and confidently.  To improve your ability to persuade and convince other, and simply improve your self-confidence in front of a group of people.  


Now personally I don't read the paper often.  To me, I feel like main stream media is more often then not just trying to pull the wool over our eyes.  It really bothers me with real estate.  One article says prices are way up, the next says that prices are way down, and the actual numbers that I get from Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board and from my brokerage Royal LePage Kelowna says that housing prices are stable, rising slowly and steadily like we want to see.  So to make my point clear it is not often you will see me with a news paper in front of me.  But somehow, last week, my subconscious mind took over once again and I picked up a local paper and started to browse through the article titles.  I read one or two and once again realized why I don't read the paper.  I flipped through the classifieds, (checked for free stuff because, really, who doesn't want to get something for nothing) and then on to the community events.  Ah ha! what did I find?  In Peachland, where I have been living since last June, there was going to be the first ever Toastmasters Meeting next Tuesday (today).  What were the chances that I picked up the paper that day and found that one very small section at the back that told me where to go and when to be there.  Just like that I was in.  Somehow and someway one of my important goals, which may not be very important to you, came to me.  The world, through the law of attraction, chewed up and spit out the information I needed to know to get where and what I wanted.  I didn't even go out of my way to look for it.  It was right there in my path.  I literally tripped and fell right on top of it.


My decision to join Toastmasters was purely to improve myself and the skills I use in life.  100% selfish I know.  But I see that in improving myself, I also improve the lives of other people around me.  Therefore improving life not only for myself, but all the lives I touch.  Let just say that the first meeting I went to I thoroughly enjoyed.  I can see the true benefit of a weekly meeting with like minded people.  Even know I was probably the youngest person there by a number of years, I can see that I will fit in well.  As well I can see the tremendous value in the education I will receive through the constructive criticism of my peers involved in this Club.  


Once again the laws that govern this world have astonished me.  


Write goals and work daily to achieve them.  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.


What you truly want, you will truly get.


I hope this has inspired you to try and reach out and grab life by the horns.


If you don't make the choice, someone else will make the choice for you.


It's a great life!


Derek Weatherhead

Royal LePage Kelowna

#1-1890 Cooper Road

Kelowna BC V1Y 8B7

Cell: 1-250-864-3325

Office: 1-250-860-1100

Toll: 1-800-421-3214

Fax: 1-250-860-0595

derekweatherhead@royallepage.ca

Oh by the way,  If you, a family member, friend, or relative, is thinking of buying or selling a home in the near future, and would appreciate an exceptional level of service, please call me with their name and number.  I will be more the happy to follow up, and take great care of them for you.

A 2 hour presentation on success cut down to 3 mins

Did you know that the S & P 500 index delivered a whopping 3.71% return to investors over the last 10 years? That is not an annual rate of return, but rather the total return over the 10 year period. How do you think that compares to investing in real estate?

Did you know?

Did you know that the S & P 500 index delivered a whopping 3.71% return to investors over the last 10 years?  That is not an annual rate of return, but rather the total return over the 10 year period.


How do you think that compares to investing in real estate?  Well let me tell you... and I hope you're sitting down!  Based on the average house price in Canada, over the same 10 year period, real estate went up 232%.


In dollars and cents that means if you invested $10,000 in the index, you would have earned $371. That same $10,000 invested in real estate, would have earned you $23,200.  It gets better, the real estate earnings could be tax free if you invested in a principle residence!
Invest today in something you know will be there in the future. Real Estate has generated wealth for generations.  The sooner you get started, the sooner you will start to enjoy the benefits and get off the investment roller coaster!


Call Today...

Michelle Haddad

Mortgage Professional

LendingMax

Cell: (250) 317-4723

Oh by the way,  If you, a family member, friend, or relative, is thinking of buying or selling a home in the near future, and would appreciate an exceptional level of service, please call me with their name and number.  I will be more the happy to follow up and take great care of them for you.

 

Derek Weatherhead

Royal LePage Kelowna

#1-1890 Cooper Road

Kelowna BC V1Y 8B7

Cell: 1-250-864-3325

Office: 1-250-860-1100

Toll: 1-800-421-3214

Fax: 1-250-860-0595

derekweatherhead@royallepage.ca

The 7 %

7% - Written by a 90 year old Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio. To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more: 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry. 13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye But don't worry, God never blinks. 16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. 17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 22. Over prepare, then go with the flow. 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. 24. The most important sex organ is the brain. 25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' 27. Always choose life. 28. Forgive everyone everything. 29. What other people think of you is none of your business. 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 33. Believe in miracles. 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. 35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young. 37. Your children get only one childhood. 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back. 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 42. The best is yet to come.  43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up. 44. Yield. 45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a "gift." Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'. I'm in the 7%. Friends are the family that we choose.

Did I live a useful life?

This is taken from a great Monday Morning Motivator that I get from the Adam Ad Group.  Thought I would share with you.  I quite enjoyed it so I hope you do too.

This week renowned author and leadership expert, John Maxwell asks us the question, "What are you doing with this gift of life"? When you are 80 years old, sitting in your porch rocking chair and reflecting on life, questions such as Did I live a useful life? will cross your mind. There’s no doubt this question will be important to you at 80, so it really should be important to you now. Unfortunately, a lot of people make a habit of postponing life. They think that somehow, some way, somewhere at some time, life will get better. This rather poignant saying helps illustrate my point: First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. And then I was dying to marry and have children. Then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could return to work. Then I was dying to retire. And now I am dying and suddenly realize I forgot to live. Isabel Moore said, “Life is a one-way street. No matter how many detours you take, none of them leads back. And once you know and accept that, life becomes much simpler.” I’ve understood for some time that the only day I have is today. Even so, having a heart attack a few years ago crystallized that concept in my mind. Life is a one-way street. This isn’t a dress rehearsal—it’s a live performance. We need to take special care to live a useful life, starting now. So what does it mean to live a useful life? For me, the usefulness of my life is determined by: •    The relationships I form •    The decisions I make •    The experiences I encounter The Relationships I Form Relationships help us define who we are and what we can become. More than almost anything else, relationships determine the kind of a life you lead. In fact, most people can trace their failures or successes back to pivotal relationships. Our relationships with others fall into one of four categories: 1. Addition—Some relationships add to who we are. 2. Subtraction—Some relationships take a little bit out of us. 3. Multiplication—Some relationships can multiply our strengths, results and contacts. 4. Division—Some relationships can divide us. Think about the people in your life. Where do they fit into these categories? I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to put names beside each category, right? Many of the sorrows we experience spring out of relationships with the wrong people. But it is also true that some of the greatest joys we experience in life develop as the result of our relationships with the right people. With that in mind, work to increase the time and energy you invest in the relationships that improve your life. And, perhaps above all, work on becoming a person who improves others’ lives. The Decisions I Make Our decisions also determine the usefulness of our lives. One of my favorite quotes on making decisions comes from the great John Wooden, who said, “Make each day your masterpiece.” There are two ingredients necessary to make every day a masterpiece: decisions and discipline. Decision-making takes care of goal setting, but discipline also takes care of goal-getting. Decisions and discipline can’t be separated; one is worthless without the other. Since I’m talking about living a useful life, let me share what I consider to be a few of my own life-changing decisions. • I am committed to continual personal growth. I believe growth is happiness, it is essential. Out of my growth I live, and out of my growth, I give. • I will give and serve on the front end. Many of the blessings I enjoy today are the result of the decision my wife, Margaret, and I made to try to live a life of giving with no strings attached. • I will exhibit a great attitude, regardless of the situation. Virginia Satir said, “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” It’s not the circumstances life deals us that determine our success or failure. It’s our response to it. The Experiences I Encounter Finally, the experiences we encounter on a daily basis impact our ability to live a useful life. Joseph Campbell put it best, “People say that what we’re all seeking is meaning for life…. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.” Our experiences determine how fulfilling our life is, and there are four realms to every experience: 1. Entertainment—Absorbing experience through the senses 2. Educational—Participation of a person’s mind or body, sometimes both 3. Escapist—Completely involves the person, like going to a theme park 4. Esthetic—Immersion in an environment but not affecting it Jim Gilmore was spot-on when he said, “The richest and most compelling human experiences draw from all four realms.” If you are a leader or a communicator, ask yourself: When I am communicating with or leading people, do I involve all four experiences? Final Thoughts If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. If you’re doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. Life does not consist of years lived, but of its usefulness. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging and adding value to others, you have a useful life! Have a great week unless you choose otherwise. Drago (by the way you can also follow us on twitter now @AdamAdGroup)