Rent Guidelines The rent increase guideline is the amount by which landlords can increase the rent of units without applying to the Residential Tenancies Board. The Manitoba Government will increase the rent guideline by 1.7% starting January 1, 2025. This means that rent cannot be raised more than 1.7% in the year of 2025 with…

The issue of GST as it applies to the purchase of a home is a complex issue which should be discussed with your lawyer prior to signing an Offer to Purchase in order to determine whether it must be paid on the purchase of a home, and whether you have the necessary funds to pay…

In addition to the First Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, first time home buyers are also eligible for the Home Buyers’ Plan (“HBP”). This is a program that allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 from your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself or for a related…

In the event that you are purchasing a home where a tenant is living in the property and you do not intend to terminate the lease or to have the seller terminate the lease prior to the date of possession, we would advise that a buyer proceed with extreme caution. There are many rules and…

If you have hired a real estate agent to help you with the sale of your home, you will be required as a term of your agreement with the agent, to pay real estate commission for their services. The real estate commission is usually payable as a percentage of the purchase price obtained for the…

It will be a requirement of most Offers to Purchase that the seller transfers to the buyer title to the land, clear of all registered encumbrances, mortgages, liens, etc., with a few exceptions. As a result, your lawyer will conduct a search of the title upon opening their file to determine which registrations will remain…

Fees Lawyers fees with respect to the sale of a typical home are usually less than half a percent of the sale price, and sometimes less than a quarter of a percent of the sale price. At Smith Neufeld Jodoin LLP, our lawyers typically adhere to general policies regarding fees which are based upon the…

Cottages are similar to family farms. Their succession plans should be similar too. Cottage succession planners should take a lesson from farm experts. Cottages, like farms, make succession planning challenging. Succession planning for the family cottage has many similarities to transferring the family farm. The primary goals of most cottage owners are: A prime concern…

The First Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (HBTC) was implemented in the 2009 Federal budget. As of 2022, HBTC allows for first time home buyers to save up to $1,500 in federal tax relief. That amount comes from a non-refundable tax credit based on an amount of $10,000. The credit for a taxation year will…

If you own land, you presumably received a document that says “Status of Title” for that land. Many titles include a line that says: “Excluding all mines and minerals” or “Subject to the reservations and provisos contained in the grant from the Crown”. This means that you have the exclusive surface rights to that property,…