Now that Cannabis is legal in Canada there has been a lot of talk out ranging from impaired driving to where can you smoke it? How many stores are open? What does it cost per gram from Province to Province? How many plants can you grow in your home legally? It is 4 plants per house by the way.

One thing that seems to have been passed over in all this "discussion" is the impact that growing Cannabis in your home might have when it comes to selling your house. There seems to be a little bit of confusion right now in the Banking industry. Even though it is legal to grow 4 plants per house hold it is unclear as to whether a prospective buyer's lender will approve a mortgage on what is still technically a "grow op" in the eyes of CMHC and other insurers. 

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There has been a significant change in the housing market. Anyone that has paid even the slightest attention to real estate in the past 18 months or so is well aware that we are in what is called a "buyers market". Simply put, this means that there are more sellers than buyers and the resulting imbalance has put pressure on the sellers to lower their prices. This has been a great time to be a home buyer, lots of homes for sale, prices have come down and the interest rates have remained low... for now.

Here is where it is going to get tricky. Interest rates are on the rise and by all indications this is a trend that is likely to continue. In fact I had a conversation with a very well connected and long time Mortgage Broker about that. She was telling me

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As farms have gotten bigger and the distance between farm yards has grown, a lot has been said about the loss of community. There is no doubt that more land is being farmed by fewer farmers but this does not mean that the "Old Saskatchewan Spirit" has been lost. This was on full display in Milestone Sk. this August when tragedy struck a local farm family. It only took a couple of phone calls by a family friend to rekindle that sense of community. 

This is ONE reason why we love this Province and are always proud to say where we are from when travelling.

Click on the link to read the whole story!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/volunteers-help-harvest-after-sask-death-1.4792123

Well the June numbers for Regina Real Estate are in and they are, well, um... lets just say they are a mixed up lot. Check out the details here:

 http://www.reginarealtors.com/WEB/Documents/ARR/RG%20MARKET%20RELEASE/Regina%20June%20Market%20Release.pdf

 

The Real Estate market in Regina this Spring has been an interesting one to say the least! Buyers are somewhat overwhelmed at the choice of houses for sale in Regina and are having a hard time deciding on whether they should write an offer on this house or that house or worse yet... wait for a "better" one! As I write this there are 1690 homes under contract on the MLS. Regina Real Estate agents have their work cut out for them that's for sure! It takes a lot of time and expertise to weed through all these homes and find the right one for their clients. If you are looking to purchase a property you need a full time agent working for you or you will be spending most of your time looking at houses that you don't like. Let the agent do the work. Tell them

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Its the end of March and we know that sooner than later the "big melt" will begin. We all look forward to it and can't wait to get out and start doing some things in the yard or at the cottage. There is nothing like busting up that last little snow bank and seeing it melt away. Then its on to the lawn, the patio and the garden, all the fun stuff about being a home owner. Now I don't want to be a Debbie Downer but there are a few less fun things that you should pay attention to as the snow starts to melt. Take a walk around the outside of the house. Lets be honest here, you haven't done that since November right before it got cold enough to put up the Christmas lights. Make sure that the grade around the house is allowing the water to run away from the

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The days are getting longer and the sun has a bit of heat in it. That can only mean that Spring is around the corner. I know we still might see some more snow and it still might hit minus "holy crap" but there is no denying that we are on the downhill side of Winter. 

 I don't mind saying, and I don't think I'm alone in this, Spring is my favorite time of year! Who doesn't like the weather warming up, the snow melting and having mud up the ying yang? Maybe its because as we get older we like Winter less and less each year so the expectations of Spring are pretty low, or maybe its because coming from the farm, Spring was a time to shift gears from prepping and planning to implementation. Whatever the reason is I love it!

 I hope you all came out of

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Come January 1st there are some changes to the Mortgage Rules that may have an impact on your buying power. As of January 1st everyone getting a new mortgage will be subject to a "stress test" even if you plan on putting 20% or more as a down payment. 

  Check out the whole story below...
https://globalnews.ca/news/3897942/new-mortgage-rules-2018-canada-guide

Stealing is always a serious crime but when it's about stealing Christmas that just takes it to another level all together! TyLon Pittman is only 5 years old but when he saw the Grinch trying to steal Christmas on TV he jumped into action! Check out the whole story.

There are some big changes about to take place in the Regina Distillery sector. The Minhas family (Minjit Minhas of Dragons Den fame) will be opening a multi-million dollar World Class Distillery in Regina early in 2018. Exiting times for the industry! Check out the story below.  http://leaderpost.com/business/local-business/minhas-family-to-open-new-world-class-distillery-in-regina