CMHC offers green house incentive
By ebizniz on June 27, 2007 - 4:09pm
A web-log posting by Vancouver Home Mortgage...
As reported in Calgary’s Herald on June 23, 2007 CMHC green house incentive to home buyers. This is a good gesture by CMHC encouraging first time home buyers to buy homes meeting energy efficiency standard under the “go green program”. The savings are in the form of 10% discount on the high ratio insurance premiums and waiver of surcharge for extending the 25-year amortization period to 40 years.
In another article on the same day, "Condo living a lifestyle choice for home buyers in Calgary" the newspaper reported that condo living in the city is a preferred lifestyle choice for many new comers to Calgary.
It’s true that for many home owners, condo living is a more suitable choice beside being more affordable. There are also many other advantages of condo living especially in the city centers. In the major city centers like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, young single and married couples are happy living in condos.
Buying a condo enables many first time home buyers the opportunity to become home owners. Besides being consider a wise investment, home ownership is also a symbol of success and making it in life.
For many first time home buyers, affordability is still the single most compelling reason for them to buy and live in condos. Condo living in the city has many advantages and appeals to those who have not started to have a family. Once a married couple started to have children of their own, they are inclined to move on to buy a home more conducive for bring up their young kid(s). Condo living is less appealing for a growing family.
I'm in a 20-floor former "adult-oriented" building where these
condos are now occupied by younger families with small kids.
This development was never designed for anyone other than adults,
and there are no facilities for children here at all. They have
no "kid-oriented" play areas, or anything, and these apartments
have relatively small balconies. The common areas grounds outside
are mostly taken up with award-winning plantings, or sidewalks
and blacktopped driveways. Children aren't allowed to ride bikes
or play outside, because it might damage the greenery or someone's
car, perhaps. For kids, this place is Hell. The "spin-doctors" can
turn wonderful phrases describing the joys of living in places
like this, but the bare-assed truth is that most of us don't have
any choice, and that's the reason we're here instead of in a
proper single-family dwelling.