Agricultural land as an investment is treated tax wise in Canada the same as investment in equities would be. That is, the increase in value on sale is regarded as a capital gain and you are taxed at marginal income tax rates on 50% of the gain.
There are different and complicated rules on the taxation if you are operating the farm as your primary source of income (which I am not). In that case there are favourable rules on passing the farm on to the next generation in the family with a tax deferral.
I think we plan ours built around April, as soon as the weather is cooperating. We have a handyman friend who is going to custom-build one.
However, ours is somewhat of a âhalf-pergolaâ. We have an existing back deck that gets scorching hot in the sun. Itâs going to continue the deck sides with probably 4 posts up to the roof, with zippable mesh siding, then angle down from the roof.
I think weâre positioning it so it doesnât start sloping down directly from the roof. Rather it will start partially on the roof and slope out more shallowly, to not block as much of the views of woods/sunset/etc. in the back.
This sounds a lot more fancy than what Iâm planning for my backyard. Currently, I have a ~17âx~17ft concrete slab that Iâm wanting to cover/enclose with a pergola. The plan is to fabricate and assemble this all myself, with the help of my handyman dad. I havenât actually asked him if heâs willing to help but heâs nearing retirement and needs projects like this to keep him busy⌠right?
My university/academic advisor presented this information to me when I switched my major to Actuarial Science. At the time, I assumed that was how it was done at all universities/colleges. Now I know that is not the case. Seems like with the amount of student debt and all the activity surrounding it lately, there should be a rule/law/whatever that requires this information to explicitly be given to students when declaring a major? Maybe make it a required âclassâ to graduate?
Add to Savings (401k, Ketchup, Brokerage acct). I have dollar amounts in mind, but I am not gonna post them here.
Do the will & trust things that were on the list last year that I didnât do.
Buy a jet ski. This is a euphemism to spend discretionary money on myself, but I have no real good ideas on what I would want. Maybe a CNC router.
Purchase an SUV. I have the funds allocated. I just have to wait for a buying opp and pull the trigger. This will also mean listing and selling old vehicle when I inevitably believe a new car dealer is ripping me off the value of my trade in.
I donât have any home improvement projects needed at all. If anything, I may consider hiring for household services such as cleaning and/or yard work.
For reference I combined my closet and bathroom into a massive bathroom.
I hired some Chinese contractor/handyman to do it all. Labor cost was $3k
Materials cost about $5k
Each vanity was $1k. Sliding glass door for the shower was also $1k. Rest was spent on medicine cabinets, floor tiles, shower tiles, satin paint, lighting, toilet, and super quiet fan
It took a while (almost a month) for him to finish everything but it was mostly my fault for taking forever to pick what color I wanted things to be
Fortunately we had a hall bath upstairs we used while everything was being renovated
The Chinese dude did a decent job, nothing leaks. But some of the caulking is not perfectly and neatly beaded.
My sister got her bathroom redone and it cost her $40k. Sink leaked and had to call her contractor back to fix it. It leaked again!!!
Most impressive thing was watching the handyman carry the vanity up the stairs on his back. The shipping slip said one weighed 150 pounds and the second was 200 pounds, both arrived fully assembled
Adding to my list of projects to spruce up my house a bitâŚ
Thereâs this awkward window in the front room of my house that looks into what is now another room of the house. It used to look outside back when the garage was detached, but the house since had an addition and so the window now looks into another room in the house.
Any guesses around what that kind of thing costs to just turn into normal wall?
Similarly, our garage isnât detached, although it once was. Iâm keen to put in a proper garage door opener, but that seems less useful if I get out of my car in the garage and have to walk outside to get in the house. SO, thinking of putting a door between the garage and the room it borders (coincidentally this is the room the window looks into). Is this realistic?
No idea of cost, but the prior owner of my old house had a similar situation. The house had a side porch that they enclosed to make into a den/bonus room. Originally the master bedroom had a window that opened onto the porch, but they didnât want the master with a window to the den. They had someone build a built in bookcase in the former window frame in the den side, which made for a nice little small office area. On the bedroom side it was finished to be a wall.
Thatâs a cool idea. In the front room I could see it becoming something like that, itâs tucked into the corner next to where we have a couch and side table so it would make sense. On the other side is just wood paneling which hopefully wouldnât be too rough to put over the space.
Speaking of which, how do you people go about finding people to do this kind of work? My first thought is to just wander around Home Depot and hire someone through them? Or my neighbor I think is a contractor, although that seems a little riskier.
I found the guy I use through a message board at my company. This was back in 2011 when the market was slower, so he was looking for jobs to get on the schedule. Now he is booked up more than 6 months out and itâs all word of mouth type stuff. Those guys are hard to find and consider yourself lucky if you come across one. Probably not the average guy you will find at Home Depot.
Tubs, tile, and fixtures vary so much in quality and price that itâs impossible to say. You could probably bring this in similarly to BBBâs $8k remodel or his sisterâs $40k remodel depending on how fancy you are. (You donât have to be that fancy to get to 40k. Wanting natural stone will get you close.)
If you have friends or neighbors who have done any remodeling, start by asking them who they used.
Ask your neighbor. If he is booked up - ask for recs
Neighbor is good if you two have similar houses because he knows the layout/innerworkings
My contractor was my wifeâs dadâs friend. We donât live anywhere near nyc or Iâd shoot some business his way
As for the interior window, you can probably just drywall over it because it doesnât have to be waterproof or windproof. Pull off the trim and cut the sill
I still talk to my realtor, she interacts with homeowners and contractors a lot and has been helpful. And my little city has an active sub-Reddit thatâs been helpful.
A carpenter could install a door in⌠half a day to a day depending on what youâre working with. Cut a hole, frame in the jambs and header, nail in the door, add casings. Loweâs/Home Depot/Menards all sell doors, I havenât been wowed by them. Baird Brothers makes some really nice doors, in many styles, made to order in any size, but they are about $500 + shipping. I put their doors in my basement when I finished it and they are super solid.
Matching wood paneling may be tough, and if itâs the stuff that comes in 4â x 8â sheets youâd either be left with seams or youâd have to replace the whole sheet. You may have to âput a bird on itâ and make it look different but complimentary. Or put up a painting there, lol.
The drywall side is easier but you may have to find a handyman, a drywall crew either wonât touch such a small job or theyâll want $800 because anything less and itâs not worth their time. Depending on how itâs textured and how picky you are, good time to buy some knives and learn how to mud and tape, lol.