This is where your finance takes place

On that day, my wife picked-up the mail but left the “blue envelope” on the counter. She usually don’t open these, they are addressed to the family banker…

When I got home, I opened the said envelope and look at the first page of the document. They want you to know that you are richer than you think first. They want to scare you in the first place. I looked briefly and I fold the paper as fast as I would have read “I know what you did last summer”.

I put the blue sheet on the counter and stared at my wife. She looked at be with a glance of panic in her eyes. That was it; she knew what it was about. She knew that it was ugly and that we had to pay the price of what we did. What we did last fall…

- 231 I whistled. I can’t believe it. 231!

- They didn’t even come to see us. Ask us questions, nothing! My wife replied, discouraged.

This is when I gather all my courage and pick up the blue envelope again. I will get to the bottom of this now, I told myself. I went rapidly to the second page of the document to actually acknowledge what could be one of our financial day ever… Huh? That’s it? I looked back at my wife and start laughing.

- The city increased our municipal evaluation by 25% but they didn’t care charging us a penny more! They simply dropped down the tax rate in order to bill the same thing as usual. That’s neat!

As you now realized, every year we receive our tax bill through a blue envelope. Since our house was built in 2002 and no new assessment was made since then, I was expecting a big raise this year. The raise of my property value was there, but fortunately, our city is making enough money that they can let their resident breath a little.

While the property tax assessment is showing a higher amount, it is still underestimating the value of our property. I think the city will never be able to keep up with such strong market. However, I will not complain as the tax bill remain the same!

If you liked this article, you might want to sign up for my FULL RSS FEED. Then, you would get my daily post in your email and can read it at any time. To subscribe, please click HERE.

I recently explained why your mortgage should be considered as a bad debt. However, as a coin as two sides, your mortgage can also turn into a good debt. Some modification has to be done so your property produces income, creates value and finally that your mortgage become tax deductible.

 

In order to produce income, small modification can be made to your property. With a few thousand dollars, you can turn your basement into a 4 or 5 ½ and rent it. You can also rent only a room to foreign students if you are living near by a college or a university. If you are self employed, you can open an office or even a daycare.

 

When you are renovating your property, always think about resale value. Some details might seem very appealing at the time of selling such as a new kitchen or a brand new Jacuzzi. It will add-up to your comfort and to the value of your property. In the end, your property will always gain in value overtime and it is still better than renting a creepy 3 ½.

 

Make your mortgage tax deductible. Then again, I come around with the Smith Manoeuvre strategy. This is just an awesome tool to make your whole mortgage tax deductible while turning the equity left in your property to profit.

 

With small modifications you can make money out of your property and turn it into an asset. Properties represent goldmines for several individuals. It might be the case for you.