Marla Janzen is an award-winning SASKATOON REAL Estate expert she takes action to sell her client's homes and find them the perfect new place to live while negotiating the best terms and price possible. She loves what she does and takes great pride in providing excellence in customer service to all of her clients.

Marla Janzen is a TRUSTED SASKATOON REAL ESTATE EXPERT listed on the SASKATOON DIRECTORY and she loves to provide Trusted Saskatoon real estate Tips that help the public!

The First Time Home Buyer Incentive

As an award winning Century 21 Fusion Saskatoon Real Estate Agent, Marla knows Saskatoon, Warman and the area extremely well. She takes action in order to sell her client's homes. She strives to find them the perfect new place to live while negotiating the best terms and price possible. She truly loves what she does and she takes great pride in providing excellence in customer service to all her clients. She feels blessed to live in Saskatchewan and she is a TRUSTED SASKATOON REAL ESTATE Agent.

By now you have likely heard about the buzz regarding The First Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI), which will come into effect on September 2nd, for homes that close no earlier than November 1st. The Government of Canada is offering interest-free loans in the form of a shared equity mortgage to help home buyers obtain a smaller mortgage and keep their monthly payments lower. The program will offer 5% for a first-time buyer's purchase of a resale home and 5% of 10% for a first-time buyer's purchase of a newly constructed home.

The incentive can be repaid at any time without penalty, but it must be repaid after 25 years or if the property is sold, whichever comes first. Repayment is based on the property's fair market value. When the loan is repaid, the government will also get a share of any gains from appreciation of the property. Vice versa, if the property value goes down, the government will shoulder some of the loss.

In order to participate in the FTHBI, buyers must meet two main requirements:

# 1 - Be a first-time home buyer

# 2 - Have an annual income of less than $120,000

Buyers will still need to save their down payment of at least 5 percent and the maximum home price is limited to 4 times the buyers qualifying income. Let's look at an example:

Anita wants to buy a new home for $400,000:

Under the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, Anita can apply to receive the $40,000 in a shared equity mortgage (10% of the cost of a new home) through the program. This is on top of the minimum required down payment of $20,000 (5% of the purchase price) from her savings. This lowers the amount she needs to borrow, and reduces her monthly expenses. As a result, Anita's mortgage is $228 less a month or $2,736 a year.

Years later, Anita has sold her first hoe for $420,000. At this time, she would have to repay the original incentive she received as a percentage of her home's current value. This would result in Anita repaying 10%, or $42,000 at the time of selling her house. -- www.placetocallhome.ca/fthbi

The program will certainly help some first-time home buyers. But it's important to remember although this is an interest-free loan, it is still a loan that will need to be paid back.

Contact Marla Janzen, she is one of the 3 Trusted Saskatoon Realtors! Marla is looking forward to helping you sell or buy your home! She loves what she does, and she takes great pride in providing excellence in customer service to all of her clients. She strives to find them the perfect new place to live while negotiating the best terms and price possible.

Find Marla Janzen Online at www.marlajanzen.com she is a Century 21 Fusion Realtor and Marla Janzen is TRUSTED SASKATOON REAL ESTATE EXPERT!

Is Replacing A Furnace Difficult?

I get this question quite often and the answer is no not for industry professionals like J.O.B Heating and Air Conditioning. We specialize in replacing furnaces, air conditioners and water heaters. In fact, many times we replace the furnace, air conditioner and water heater all in the same day. Our process is simple, you ask us to come in and offer you a quote for replacement. I will come over to your home at no charge (within a 30KM radius of Saskatoon), I will view your old furnace and equipment. Look over the venting options and make sure that there are no unforeseen hiccups. Sometimes these hiccups do happen but when we see them ahead of the install date and plan for them then it becomes a seamless replacement.

You want to be wary of the company that will offer you an estimate over the phone or the contractors that don't spend any time looking at your equipment or the install. They will say that they are "bonded" and you have nothing to fear. This may not always be the case. To be bonded simply means that in order to get as gas licence we need to put up a $5000 bond. Yes, that’s all that's required $5000. This is why it is important to choose a contractor that would not only be licensed and bonded but would be part of professional groups such as the Sask Energy Network or Trusted Saskatoon.com. J.O.B Heating and Air Conditioning is very proud to be a part of both of these professional organizations.

Being part of Trusted Saskatoon.com means that Trusted has looked behind the curtain and found that we are a company with high moral values. We also agree to uphold the 5 Trusted guarantees. Being a Sask Energy Network member also requires a high level of professionalism and Trust. J.O.B Heating and Air Conditioning carry a $5 million dollar liability policy when most companies carry $2million. We proudly share our WCB letter of good standing and a copy of our insurance certificate with every quote we do.

J.O.B Heating and Air Conditioning will make the replacement of your HVAC equipment an easy process. With the new Sask Energy furnace replacement plan and our financing options, there has never been a better time to replace your furnace, air conditioner and water heater. Don't be worried about an old or untrustworthy furnace, call J.O.B Heating today for peace of mind.

"Your comfort is our concern"

At J.O.B Heating and Air they strive to hold up the values of Trusted Saskatoon! Find them online at www.jobheating.com or check out their listing here in the Saskatoon AIR CONDITIONING & FURNACE Directory of excellence!