What are the first things you should ask yourself before buying rental property?
First of all, will you live there or not? From a fiscal point of view, if you are renting out the entire property, you could deduct all of the day-to-day expenses related to the building from your income. But if you’re an owner-occupant, only expenses related to the rental units will be deductible. On the other hand, when you go to sell, the portion of the building occupied by the owner is exempt from capital gains tax. If it is completely rented out, all of your capital gains will be taxable.

In addition, when you have a specific property in mind, you need to consult the assessment roll to ensure that the number of units on the realtor’s listing is correct. If a livable basement is considered to be a dwelling by the city, this counts as one more unit. If this is the case, you might have to make a bigger downpayment.

Speaking of which, how much of a downpayment do you need for this type of purchase?
If you’re renting out all of the units, you need to make a minimum downpayment of 20% of the building’s purchase price.

If you’re going to be an owner-occupant, you could lower the downpayment to 5% of a duplex’s purchase price with mortgage loan insurance. For a triplex or quadruplex, you’ll need to put down a minimum of 10%.

The rules are the same for all Canadian financial institutions.[……]

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A master of illusion, reflection and transparency, generator of freshness and pureness, light sensor, ground breaker, glass is a fascinating material. Decoration professionals use it in abundance.

A good way to measure the power of glass is to install a glass door or a large window in a room. Everything lights up. The space is bigger, light floods the room, the atmosphere becomes joyful.

Glass is a material that likes to take over a space. Surpassing the wall openings, it spreads throughout the house: glass floor (brick or paved), glass staircase, glass furniture, glass partitions and interior doors. Entire houses have converted to glass. They are transparent from one exterior wall to the other, covering 80% of the area.

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Glass makes reflection dance, which adds to the cheerfulness of a room. Reflections bring the smallest objects to life, from trinkets to the mirror. And the dance becomes frenzied if metal, polished stone, lacquer or other reflective material join the party.[……]

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Patio is a Spanish word that means inner courtyard. Anyone who travels in the Caribbean, Spain or South America has already encountered these outdoor spaces, often covered, which run the length of house or direct people to the centre of the property.

In Quebec, patio means most outdoor structures: large gallery, big balcony, deck. In general, a patio is on the ground while a deck is raised above the ground.

To get a taste of the great outdoors, the patio is a great choice if you have a small budget or if the space is too narrow. Sometimes it’s just a simple set of steps or a staircase leading to the yard. You can place plants, flowers and decorative pots there.

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The great thing about patios is that you can set them up any way you want, thus the importance of determining its use before you start the work. Do you extend it to the bedroom so you can have your morning coffee or a candlelit breakfast? Do you extend it to the living room for the pleasure of a cocktail in the fresh air? Do you extend it to the kitchen to benefit from outdoor meals or to organize receptions?  [……]

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Buying your first home as a couple? Check out these six tips.

Become a savvy home-buying duo.

Are you and your partner gearing up to be first-time homebuyers? You aren’t alone.

With real estate prices on the rise, taking on a mortgage payment as a couple may be more realistic than attempting to buy independently.

You may also find the process intimidating ― but fear not. Take note of these six tips that will help you and your partner be properly equipped to make the biggest purchase of your life:[……]

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Earth Day, celebrated each year in the month of April, reminds us that the fight against climate change, and as fallout of that the survival of humankind, is far from won. There is still hope, however. A growing number of companies are converting to environmental responsibility.

In terms of building, the focus is on eco-friendly housing. It’s far from being a burden, as not only is eco-friendly housing healthy, it also provides a strong dose of peace. It’s somewhat like a peace home.  

Eco-friendly housing is a lifestyle, as it covers all aspects of life in your home: construction, decoration, renovation, indoor and outdoor life. You get up green, you go to bed green, you live green.

The positive effects of eco-friendly housing on health are well-known. Scientific studies tend to prove that using healthy materials, i.e. transformed as little as possible, improves the health of residents. There are less allergies, prolonged irritations and respiratory problems. [……]

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Blue is the colour of peace. Its enthusiasts defend it strongly. There’s no comparison in their eyes. Yellow? Too pale, lacks punch. White? Blank, oblivious and completely flat. Green. Makes you feel sick or depressed. And as they say, what is purer and beautiful than a May sky?

For them blue is the colour of love, but a peaceful love. Red? Too intense, too aggressive, too invasive. Blue is long peaceful happiness. It is also the most widely used colour in Quebec households, a title that is likely rivalled by white on occasion.

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Blue is hitting hard again this year. We see its aqua vintage hue everywhere: large surfaces, furniture, rugs, bedding, curtains, dishes, place mats, cushions, storage boxes, shelves. It’s a bluish-grey that reflects gentleness. We saw a place where it covered the floors and walls, doors, and window frames. Everything was shaded in blue from one end to another.[……]

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Pergola, tunnel, deck, gazebo, patio, all these structures are practical, but they also have a decorative aspect, especially when the deck turns into a living area, outdoor kitchen or reception area. Now we talk more about design, with everything this word implies in terms of audaciousness and imagination.

Today, you have to design your outdoor decoration with the same care as you do indoors, because the deck and patio are nothing more and nothing less than an extension of the living area.

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At first, there are the big classics: flower beds, plant pots, small and large vases, grass, bushes, but outdoor decoration goes far beyond the landscaping.

If the deck is medium or large sized, you have something to play with. You can divide the space with benches, vases, decorative lattices, flower beds, screens, geometrical shapes on the ground or projectors at ground level, at night.[……]

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