Property Investment and Mortgage Financing
Homeownership can be very exciting and a crucial step in your personal finance. Before
purchasing a home in Canada, there are many concerns, and risks buyers need to
understand and assess. This assignment aims for students to exercise their knowledge
and make financial decisions according to buyers’ circumstances. In this report, students
must identify purchasing criteria to assess potential choices such as property type,
neighborhood, safety, school, amenity, and travel distance to work. It isn’t always easy
to find a property to suit all needs. Before deciding to finalize a property, buyers must
also consider the costs and affordability carefully. More importantly, buyers need to
understand the fair value of the property. During the negotiation, buyers need to consider
psychological factors, such as who the seller is, how many comparable listings are in the
same neighborhood, and how long it has been listed. More importantly, buyers need to
understand the fair market value range. Coming up with a reasonable offer is crucial to
the buyers. Students cannot rely on BC assessment value but on a comparable market
valuation approach to determine the fair market value.
Requirement and Rubric
• Introduction (5%): client’s situation and objectives.
• Qualitative research (20%): identify criteria and assessment.
• Quantitative analysis (20%): mortgage and affordability.
• Recommendation (30%): provide three listings, property valuation, and price
offer.
• Conclusion (5%): highlight solutions and disclose concerns
• Writing skills (10%) and Critical thinking skills (10%)
Format:
• Single space and ten pages maximum as the body of content.
• Citation Style, APA or MLA
• Supplemental information can be included in the Appendix with unlimited
pages.
Case Background
You are a professional planner in BC, Canada, and you emphasize a holistic approach to
helping your clients to reach their financial goals. In addition to your financial planning
and investment service, you provide consulting services on real estate and mortgage
financing. Your compensation is based on the service you provide to your client, and you
do not receive any compensation from referrals to other professionals. You obtained a
master’s degree in finance from the University of British Columbia, where you met Eric
West.
Eric graduated from the university and has worked as a senior consultant for the last five
years. He met his wife, Kim Lee, three years ago. They married last month and currently
rent a bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver.
They both work downtown and do not own a vehicle. Both are in their late 20s and enjoy
the urban lifestyle. After getting married, they have discussed and considered purchasing
a home on their own.
Currently, Eric works as a senior consultant in a downtown marketing firm and just got a
promotion as an associate director. He loves his work and the company, and his annual
compensation is $85,000 before income tax. Eric grew up in a middle-class neighborhood
in Vancouver west, and he received $250,000 as a heritage from his grandparents. He
is always smart with his money, and he only uses the funds to cover his education and
wedding expenses. He has kept the rest in mutual funds. His portfolio has grown to
$350,000 in his investment account, and he is willing to use his savings toward their home
purchase. Eric does not spend much, but he is a big-time golfer. He holds an annual
membership of the golf country club in Vancouver west with his father. He believes it is
important for him to be close to his father and spend time with him even though it costs
$$6,000 per year.
Kim majored in public health and currently works as a social worker for a nonprofit
organization called “Mosaic Society,” which is dedicated to social issues and helping
disadvantaged families. Kim has held the position for the past five years. The
compensation is moderate at $55,000 annually, but the job fulfills her value. When Kim
got married, her parents gave her $100,000 as a wedding gift, and she is planning to use
this money to pay off her student loan of $50,000 first. Then, she will save the rest as her
emergence funds. Kim is not a shopper but likes workouts and travel. She prefers
personal health and life experience over clothes. Kim has an annual budget of $5,000
for gym membership and vacation.
Before they tied the knot, they moved together and shared rent of $2,500 and living
expenses of $1,000 besides their individual personal expenses. After the first meeting
with the couple, you were informed that they were not planning to have a kid anytime in
the next five years.
They would not mind owning a car to travel between home and work if necessary, but
they prefer to live close to downtown on the west side or across the bridge in North
Vancouver, traveling by public transit.