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Be sure to factor in all costs before renting a home.

If you’re in the market to rent a house, you may end up having to make a few compromises when it comes to choosing the neighbourhood, features, and price range of your next home.

To help you make the best decision possible, it is a good idea to make a thorough list of all your needs, requirements and preferences before you begin your search.

For most people, one of the most important considerations is cost. While the basic monthly rent is an obvious cost, there are also many other less-visible expenses that are often overlooked, but which can easily add up over time. When figuring out how much home you can afford, don’t forget to consider such questions as:

Are utilities such as heat, electricity, water, cable television and internet connection included? If these costs aren’t included in your rent, find out which utility companies provide services to the building, and contact them to see if they can give you an idea of the average monthly costs. Of course, the exact costs will fluctuate in different seasons and from tenant to tenant, but these estimates should at least give you a good idea of how much you need to budget on a monthly basis — and help you avoid any unwelcome surprises later.

• Are features such as laundry and parking included, or will you need to pay more for the use of these services?
• Will your monthly travel costs increase, decrease or stay about the same at the new location?
• Will you need to purchase or provide your own appliances?
• Is there any form of provincial or territorial rent control in place? If not, what are the landlord’s plans for future rent increases?

How much you can afford to spend on rent depends on a number of factors, including your overall household income, how much debt you or your family are comfortable with, how important your lifestyle is to you and how much you want to put aside for the future. As a general rule, however, your entire monthly housing costs — including rent, electricity, heat, water and municipal services — should total less than 30% of the before-tax income of your household.

This doesn’t include the cost of property insurance, parking, cable, telephone and Internet service, each of which should also be figured into your budget if you plan on using them. If you can’t find a suitable place in the area where you’re looking that meets your price range, you may want to revisit your list of preferences, and decide if there are any other cost-saving measures you can make.

After cost, location can be the most important factor in a rental search. Prime locations that are close to work, school, public transit or other amenities usually cost more, but they may also offer other advantages, such as reduced commuting time and expenses.

Lastly, other important considerations in choosing a rental home are the safety of the building and community, as well as the proximity to family and friends. To help you decide, prepare a list of locations that best match your needs, and then add another list of secondary locations that you could also consider if necessary.

To consult or download a free copy of CMHC’s Your Guide to Renting a Home, visit www.cmhc.ca. For more than 60 years, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been Canada’s national housing agency and a source of objective, reliable housing expertise.

All information originally from www.cmhc.ca. for more information please visit www.cmhc.ca.

Having decided Canada would not face the same scenario in the real estate market as the United States there was still speculation late last year about supposed free-falling property prices, fuelled by market trends in British Columbia and Alberta where rapid price increases and speculation had been prevalent. Based on current statistics there is now an emerging body of evidence that the Southern Central Ontario real estate marketplace is seeing what is best described as a “market adjustment” resulting in a soft landing and not the crash that much of the media projected.

In our local area, residential resale activity for June is up on the same month last year. In ottawa, by 18% and the ever
expanding manotick by 34%. Current data would suggest little movement up or down in average sales prices with ottawa
down 1% and manotick up 2% on last June.

The median sale price. which is the midpoint of all sales, in ottawa for the first six months of this year is $418,000 down
just 2% from the same period last year and in manotick at $325,000 is down only 1%. With the number of new listings also down, year to date and June statistics showing signs of pent up demand resulting in higher sales we could be moving back to a sellers market. Many of the economical problems facing home buyers today have been offset by lower mortgage rates and a stable market place.

There are signs that we may be recovering from the first recession since 1992. Buyers, Sellers and REALTORS® will certainly find this scenario much less stressful.Taking the stress out of buying and selling is our day to dayactivity.