50Plus Magazine awarded Summerside, PEI a place in its top Canadaian cities list in 2006. The criteria that 50Plus Magazine uses for determining the eligiblity of a city for inclusion in this list includes leisure and cultural activities and the availablility of these, the cost of renting and the price of housing, the quality and availablility of health care services, weather, and the employment market and if good jobs are readily available in the community.

While retirees are not necessarily motivated by available employment, although part time jobs may still be in the works for this demographic if for no other reason to keep them fit and interested, other lifestyle factors to be found on the criteria list are certainly import and to those looking for a place to retire. One of the most important reasons to choose the Summerside area is the availablility of lower cost housing. You really get a big bang for your buck in the PEI real estate and housing market. When we look at the real estate market in Summerside we see new homes as well as many deals on older homes, some that represent excellent value as they are heritage buildings with a large amount of square footage and wonderful architectural features all for a price that couldnt be touched in a larger metropolitan area. Some homes in the Summerside area, that may cost in the 2 to 3 hundred thousand range would be over a million if located in Toronto. The primary reason to move here is the strength that your existing real estate will provide to your income and the ability to get the type of property that you are looking for at a price that will allow some to live mortagage free and others to have extra income every month to supplement their living.

Most people retiring to a community want to be sure that the city that they will spend the “golden” years of their lives meets their expectations in regards to available activities and will provide a quality lifestyle. An active lifestyle is very important in keeping you feeling young and activity helps to ensure that the body keeps up. Summerside offers a wealth of cultural activities as well as fitness and lifestyle, and is the home of the new Credit Union Place featuring a swimming pool and aquatic centre, bowling, walking track, fitness gym, and 2 ice arenas. Whether you use the walking track, go ice skating or just watch the local hockey team there is something for everyone.

The Prince County Hospital offers a modern health care facility and this is of great importance as we get a little older. There are more walk-in clinic than ever before and the province and city are rising to the challenge of ensuring that medical services are easily available. Some tests and procedures that are not available in Summerside are however available at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown only 45 minutes away.

Weather in Summerside and indeed throughout PEI is similar to the rest of the Marititmes. Mean winter temperatures are around -10 degrees C. There are a few winter storms every year and weather does vary from year to year but for a northern climate, PEI is reasonably mild. The summers are are not humid as they are in other parts of Canada and there is almost always a gentle breeze to moderate the temperature and keep the climate pleasant.

The final aspect of Summerside life and indeed life anywhere on PEI is the relative safety that we enjoy from crime and other urban woes. This is a small town where neighbour knows neighbour and there is not the breeding ground for criminal activity and certainly not violent crime.

So while no place is perfect Summerside and the PEI real estate market offer a lot of features that would make it suitable and desirable as a place to retire. If you are looking to get into the PEI real estate market, although it was never as depressed throughout the recession as some places, it is definately the time and place to get a foot on the property ladder here.

Who Should retire to Summerside? Anyone who wants a great deal and the chance to live in a safe, friendly, secure town with all the necessary facilities!

By: Robert Parker

Related Posts:

• A 100% Financed Bad Credit Mortgage Loan – Myth Or Reality?
• Buying a Property in the Uk: a Few Signs That the Housing Market is Hitting Bottom Rock
• Real Estate Questions and Answers
• Bad Credit Mortgages
• Home Mortgage Facts For Home Buyers Or Exisiting Home Owners

Do you see the dust blowing through the deserted town called Sub-prime mortgageville? If you did not already notice this tibdit of information that I will be giving you then you are in for a surprise. Over the next several months a stated income or no-documentation connecticut home loan will have more hoops to jump through to qualify. The industry as already changed so many of the guidelines regarding these loans that your head could burst trying to keep up with the new guidelines. The new changes even impacted the connecticut home equity loan rates as well. Some of the examples of the changes include; eliminating stated or no doc programs for first time home buyers and requiring substantially higher credit scores for borrowers.

As recently as last year in 2006 connecticut homeowners or potential home owners could qualify for a Connecticut home loan for up to four or five hundred thousand dollars from mortgage banks without verifying their income and with a credit score below 600. From our perspective it appeared that qualifying for a connecticut home mortgage required a pulse and the ability to sign your name. I can never understand how someone who cannot prove their income could qualify for connecticut home mortgage with no money down through 100% financing for their first home purchase with lackluster credit scores in the five hundred range. No one had to tell me that it sounded like a bad idea.

From where I sit it seemed like the mortgage industry as a whole was setting the connecticut homeowners up to lose their homes and continue the poor spending habits that most times contribute to the low credit scores in the first place.

Now in fairness to the mortgage industry, stated income loans have been around for over twenty years and were initially created to provide an option for self-employed individuals who often have challenges gathering income information from several different sources. However, even in the good old days the borrower had to have great credit scores as well as put down a minimum of twenty percent to qualify for a connecticut home mortgage loan using this program. The historical data shows that these programs had a high success rate and minimal defaults on the mortgage payments.

Well, let’s fast forward to 2007 and you can see a very different story. We have record foreclosures in connecticut and many lenders that served a vital role in employment for many areas are now shuttered and boarded up. If you want to hear my earth-shattering advice then here it is: buy a home you can afford with your current income. If proving your income is a challenge for any number of valid reasons then you must have excellent credit and be able to verify your income and then you are the ideal candidate for the stated or no doc program. On the other hand, if you plan to get a stated income or no doc loan because your income is not enough to qualify for the program, then you are driving straight towards the dead end sign that leads to financial demise. You must live a life that is balanced between achieving the American dream as well as preparing for your future.

By: Christoper Rivers

Related Posts:

• Bad Credit Home Loans: Subtracting the Bad Credit Tags
• Bad Credit Mortgage Lenders – Are They the Right Lenders For You?
• Bad Credit Mortgages
• Home Loans for People with Bad Credit
• Before Buying a Home-Repair Your Credit