PERSONAL EXEMPTION

Here are 3 ways to use your personal exemption:

1.       Use it yourself – both for Federal and Provincial

2.       Let your spouse use it – If your income is less than the personal exemption, then your spouse can use the amount you can’t claim.

3.       Claim an Eligible Dependent – If you’re a single parent, you can claim your child as an “equivalent to spouse” and claim your personal exemptions as well as your eligible dependent’s personal exemptions.

Please note that personal exemptions are referred to as “Basic Personal Amounts” on the T1 Income Tax Return.

292 Harvest Gold Circle NE ~ Calgary Alberta – SOLD

292 Harvest Gold Circle NE

Welcome to this beautiful home that you are sure to fall in love with. There is ceramic tiles and hardwood flooring throughout the main living areas and upper bedrooms of this home. There are two bedrooms up with a third bedroom on the 3rd level of the home. The master bedroom is a very generous size with a walk-in closet. The kitchen is well laid out with a breakfast bar and an island. The living room has 19 ft vaulted ceilings with a gas fireplace that is enhanced by the hardwood flooring. There is also a new hot water tank. This home is on a corner lot with a 2 tiered deck, an oversized garage and the yard is fully landscaped with an abundance of trees. The home is across from a park and green space. This home is perfect for a small family!

View 292 Harvest Gold Circle NE in a larger map

Income Splitting

The main reason we split income is to pay lower overall household tax.  We do this by keeping the tax brackets for each spouse as low as possible.

Here are the types of income that can be split:

1.       Business Income – requires planning

2.        Investment Income – must be planned prior to

3.        RRSP Income – must be planned before contribution

4.        Pension Income

5.        RIFF Income

6.        CPP Income

Remember, it takes early planning to split the income as it usually cannot be done after the year is over.  Seek the help of a professional to ensure that you get the maximum benefits of income splitting!

404 1424 22 Ave SW – SOLD

Here is a great renovated condo in Bankview. This condo is a one bedroom and one bathroom with insuite laundry and to top it all of is on the 4th floor… It’s a great opportunity, and the owner is willing to look at a rent to own.

View 404 1424 22 Ave SW in a larger map

Calgary Market Update – July 2008

Calgary residential sales in July increased over last year by 21%. Following a strong June market, July results were seasonally lower by 14% as people focused on summer-time activities.

1585 single-family properties sold in the month of July at an average price of $436,782, down by 2% compared to June’s average price. July’s median sale price was $390,000, a 5% decrease from the median price recorded last July. An equal number of properties sold above and below this median price. Listings of single-family properties declined by 7% compared to June’s new listings and were down a full 18% compared to last July.

In the condo market, 702 units found new owners this July, an increase over last year’s sales by 31%. 36 fewer units sold in July compared to June condo sales. The average sale price of a condominium ($285,032) was on par with June’s average price and declined 4% below the average sale price last year at this same time.

“We are continuing to see market improvement in Calgary home sales,” said the President of the Calgary Real Estate Board. “These are healthy sales numbers in a month when we typically expect a summer slowdown. Confidence has definitely returned to the housing market. Buyers’ moods have been buoyed by news that an economic recovery, albeit gradual, seems to be underway.”

Worlds Largest Waterslide – WATCH THIS…!!!

Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club Faces Closure!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 6, 2009
Save Beat Niq Jazz Club by Sept 15th

To all Jazz fans, Musicians and Patrons,

CALGARY, AB – Bistro Piq Niq & Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club have been proud to support live music in Calgary weekly since 1995. As Artistic Director since 2000 and performing artist since the first year, I have been honoured to support the incredible efforts to present live jazz music in Calgary with business owners Rob and Connie Young. Initially we presented duos and trios in the upstairs restaurant once per week focusing on jazz and swing music. In March of 1997 the business expanded to include the basement and the Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club was born. As Calgary’s premier jazz venue for 12 years, Beat Niq has paid out over $1,200,000 in artists fees over approximately 2500 musical presentations. Revenue for the artists has come primarily from the door cover which has remained affordable at $5 – 15 for most events. Since we have not had the benefit of arts grants or donations, the business has always operated tight margins to give the maximum amount of door revenue to the performing artists.

We regret to inform you that Piq Niq/Beat Niq is on the brink of closure as a result of the global economic crisis. There has been a significant slowdown in business in both the club and restaurant over the past 9 months and like many businesses in Calgary we noticed a sharp decrease in revenue starting in November of 2008. Given that our artist contracts are booked 4 – 6 months in advance we did not want to change any agreements but worked hard to increase our promotion with a monthly newsletter and more regular media listings. Our resources for marketing have always been limited but we have been lucky to have loyal and regular patrons that help spread the word and in combination with our restaurant business, the Beat Niq has been able to sustain itself. We also attempted to improve our situation with a membership drive at the beginning of June with hopes of raising some capital to offset the accumulating operating deficit. The membership program was completely restructured and we worked hard to create a program that would give jazz supporters a great value for their membership. Although it was not an easy time to start a membership drive, Beat Niq is pleased to have almost 100 new members at a promotional rate of $60/year but this was far short of our goal.

Now the Piq Niq/Beat Niq business is nearly at an end. Overall the Piq Niq has subsidized the Beat Niq artist fees at least $10,000/year which has accumulated to over $120,000. This does not include any losses associated with rent, utilities, stage and staffing costs which vary depending on each event but come primarily from the food and beverage sales. If not for a $50,000 personal contribution to the business by the owners in late July, the business would be closed already. Although this allowed some important bills to get paid, unless there is a quick turnaround in business, there is no reserve to continue to operate at a loss.

Over the past week in consultation with several business partners, staff and key supporters we have been formulating a last ditch effort to save the club. This message is a call for help to our many great friends and fans that have supported our venue for the last 14 years. We have set September 15 as a deadline to raise enough funds to keep the doors open. It is our hope that through memberships, donations and ticket sales for a major Jazz Gala scheduled for Sept. 10/11/12, we will achieve this target. Initially we need to raise at least $60,000 but along with the membership drive and Gala event, we will announce a corporate and personal donation campaign which will allow a reserve fund to be established and allow improved promotion, technical and management support.

The full details of the gala will be announced shortly. The plan is to sell tickets at $100 which will include a one year membership. Current members will be able to buy tickets for $50. Please spread the word and help us keep a unique and vital Calgary music venue alive during these difficult financial times.

Best regards,
Gerry Hébert, Artistic Director

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AUDITS or REASSESMENTS

According to the Income Tax Act, if CRA has not contacted you within 3 years to begin an audit or reassessment process, they cannot do so after 3 years unless you are guilty of filing a false income tax return.

If you do receive any assessment or reassessment, you have 90 days to file a Notice of Objection.

Also, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, CRA cannot try and collect a debt in the case where they contact you after 6 years of incurring of the debt.  This is typical of the majority of debts. 

 

Six Reason No One Wants To Buy Your F@/!%$** Real Estate Investment…

This is a great post from a fellow blogger friend of mine Chris Davies… Gotta Love it! Here’s the original post…

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I get to talk with a lot of people who are new to investing. As a rule, they’re amazing and frequently very successful, particularly among the REIN crew.

Most of us know that one person who just won’t shut up. Since I’ve been one, and I’ve been exposed to quite a few lately, I’m going to have a little rant about the six attributes that piss me off the most I find most annoying.

1. You’re just about the money

If your profile picture on any social networking site includes you and your dream car/boat/trip or something else related to money, you’re doing it wrong. People might invest for just monetary reasons, but the best investors you can cultivate will care about you more than the money. They’re highly unlikely to look like the rich bitch you seem to be interested in becoming. Real estate investing is a long term game, so build relationships. Don’t waste your time trying to attract the wrong sort of people.

2. Cash-flow? Amortization? ROI? What the hell are you talking about?

Real estate investors have their own language. We’re almost as bad as stock brokers, lawyers and teh computer game g33kzors. Remember, every time you write something that other people are going to see, try this exercise. Keep a copy of a real estate glossary beside you, and try not to use any of the words in it. Or you can just wait till you’re done and just go through and delete them. Take a minute and flip through some of the ‘investor wannabe’ posts on myREINspace. Try to speak their language.

3. You don’t seem to think about other stuff

Please, stop spamming your Facebook/Twitter/email/LinkedIn with endless links to your own articles. Stop talking real estate at least once a month. I do that with my Song of the Week. For sites like Facebook, topics such as real estate or economics should make up no more than 1 update in 5, especially if you’re on there often. LinkedIn is a more professionally focused site, so you can be a little more frequent. Either way, never forget that people invest in you, so your online presence should reflect that.

The People that I (Jared) come across on these sites that are pushy and really sales-ie (That should be a word), really turn me off…  All I hear from them is RUN AWAY FROM ME…….

4. You don’t add value or give back

I don’t care if you’re just starting out, you have an ability or knowledge which will support the group (whatever your group happens to be). Asking for tips, help and analysis is fine; doing it without giving back isn’t. Find one thing you can share/do/learn/work on, and give it back for free.

5. You don’t thank the people who help you

Here’s one idea: send everyone who helps you personally a handwritten card. Give it back to your investors, friends, team members and the other investors you know. Here’s another idea. Say thank you. Get used to doing it often.

6. You get distracted

If you’ve got a history of running from one money making scheme to another, or worse, from one Real Estate Investment group to another, you’re screwed. I hereby diagnose you with Bright Shiny Object Syndrome (B-SOS). Personally, a someone who had B-SOS, I knew I was on to something when my wife said, “You’ve been really focused on the REIN real estate stuff, and it looks like it’s really starting to work.” If you can’t be relied upon to stay the course, you can’t be trusted with $150,000 worth of investment capital.

Now if this list struck a chord with you, good. You might think I’m wrong, and have $50k in profits to show for it. My point is without playing it my way, for the long term, you’re not likely to make $500k. If you do manage it, it’s going to be lonely at the top.

If you’re doing ok, keep this one handy. We can all improve.

Focus on relationships. Focus on being consistent. Focus on building a stable business. All else will come.

Top 5 Real Estate Investment Mistakes

1. You pay too much for the property. This one sounds obvious but 9 times out of 10 this is the one that catches most people. You get excited about the property and forget that this is a numbers game and not a paint colour game. Your agent is focused on making a deal happen so he forgets this is about dollars and not the carpet stain. All of your friends are making big cash (or so you think) and you want in! Who cares about the rent or who is going to pay it! Values go up and that is all you need to know……..right?!?

I am not one to negotiate hard for a rock bottom price as there are definitely other considerations in every transaction but unless your rent covers ALL of you costs and makes you money each month you have paid too much. Personally my cut off is $500. If I can’t make that much each month on the investment I don’t invest.

2. Inspections are for rookies! You have done a few renos and owned a couple of houses. You don’t need to pay someone $500 to tell you that this house is in great shape! I have looked at a lot of homes and many of them I thought were in good shape until the inspector came through. My last inspection saved me and my investor roughly $65,000! Was it worth the $500? Unless you have very large pockets (that you are willing to part with) or have extensive knowledge you need an inspection.

3. What is your exit strategy….How do you get out of the investment? Unless you have two very good exit strategies don’t put a dime into Real Estate. Getting out isn’t as easy or cheap as you think! What are all of my costs on exit? Real Estate fees, legal, renos, lost rent, mortgage pay out penalties and the big one (hopefully) taxes! When can I exit? Do I need to wait five years or can I sell this contract to another investor tomorrow? Is refinancing an option? You need to have clear answers to all of these questions or your investment may not be everything you hoped!

4. Who is going to rent my property? Most investments forecast a future value but the problem is that you need to get to the future to get that value. This is where the true asset comes in…..that is right….your tenant!

“A tenant is…a partner in business who will open up the shop each morning and lock it up at night. They will look after security and inform you of potential problems in the business. They will cut the grass, rake the leaves, shovel the snow, pay all the utilities. They will even pay all your mortgage payments and taxes. Then, in the end, they will relinquish all monetary interest in the business and walk away, leaving you with the profits.” ~Tim Johnson

So at the end of the day who is it that is willing to pay the rent you need to get to the future!

5. After I buy the property I don’t need to do anything right? Well, as great as that sounds the fun part is now over and reality is about to set in. For those that think that you just collect a cheque at the end of each month, I have some news for you. Not a day goes by that I am not dealing with one of our investments. Most of the things are positive but not all of them. Even if you have just one investment property you had better have some expertise in the following: Property Management, Repairs and Maintenance, Accounting, and Legal. These are things that will come up regularly and they don’t care if you have a job or are sleeping or are on vacation.

Bonus. You bought a property in the United States of America! Again, your friends are making money, even their cats are making money on the foreclosure market. One day, when the time is right I too will be putting money into the US but that won’t happen until the numbers make sense. When the CND/US Dollar exchange rate has a predictable positive effect on my investment. When values start to rise or at least stabilize. When the job market picks up and people can pay a mortgage or rent again. When I have a solid team in place to manage my assets. This is when I will be placing my investment dollars into the US. If you are placing money in the US right now you had better have a very detailed plan and a great team behind you.

Original Post by Wade Graham of Higher Ground Investments

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