Why you need an Accredited Senior Agent?

Why should I have an ASA? Why should I get my accredited Senior Agent designation?

The Accredited Senior Agent program is a simplistic one. Its there for the public. Any good realtor can sell a house. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. But what happens is ... Only an Accredited Senior Agent can go in and deal with the contents; you've got houses with 30 or 40 years with the same family in there. We have to deal with the emotional, we may have a family dispute that we have to deal with and need to bring in professionals.

We recognise tax problems talking Income tax problems, We recognize estate work and probate, we're trained to look at a lot factors beyond the scope of typical realtors. Good Realtors can sell that house. An Accredited Senior Agent can handle all aspects of that sale.

Are you also able to provide guidance for things like CHIP Canadian Home Income Plan versus a Home Equity Line of Credit?

Well Absolutely - We're trained - because - There is a question unto itself, The CHIP program The reverse mortgage - Is it a PRO or is it a CON?

And the answer is Its Both - For some people its a very - Reverse mortgages are excellent For other people its doom. You have to understand a lot about it, and for Accredited Senior Agents are trained to talk about it, and give alternatives by the way there are alternatives for people besides reverse mortgages.

What are the cut off dates that are important for appraisals on properties?

Well we have for instance if you have owned property for many years, its been in the family,

you got to know Dec 31 st 1971 when they brought in V day - Evaluation Day. That's when Canada adapted a very simple thing - Capital Gains. So we have to recognise - Do you have a Capital Gain? Not on your principal residence, thats exempt, but investment property, cottages, there is a lot of complexities and only a certain type of realtor is trained and that's an ACCREDITED SENIOR AGENT.

You made a very interesting point about maintaining a secondary residence and although on paper it sounds fine that each spouse designates one home individually they actually have to prove that they occupy?

You cannot have two principal residences. If you are married, you can have one. Years ago there was an exemption with the cottage versus or the condo versus. You can only have one. The only way to get around it - I hate to be cruel - but you have to legally separate. AND really separate, not just on paper.

So there you have the one perfect reason to leave your spouse.

The perfect reason, to leave your spouse, for Real Estate. Yes.