With baby boomers scouring the country looking to buy cottages and recreation properties, you may be tempted to sell that slice of summer paradise that has been in the family for 40 years.

Anyway you look at it, the Canadian mortgage industry is starting to look a bit more like its U.S. counterpart. Are we going to make the same mistakes that have led to the meltdown across the border? I hope not.

The residential real estate market in Canada is smoking. Multiple offers are as commonplace as sales that close at prices well over list. Prices are soaring.

It has become a ritual of spring in many markets across Canada: as soon as the snow melts and the first fat robins appear, the Open House and For Sale signs begin to pop up on lawns.

With the busy spring housing market now finally upon us, everyone is looking for a way to help entice potential buyers.

Carol Wydra, 56, is a tried and true value investor. Buying undervalued assets and selling overvalued ones is her passion.

House shoppers on a tight budget may be faced with the realization that the only properties that they can afford are, to put it gently, something only the Munsters could love - dirty, broken and dismally out-of-date.

"Given the choice, most Canadian homeowners would opt for hammers, nails and paint brushes rather than packing tape and cardboard boxes." So concludes the latest annual homeowner survey from RBC Financial, which found that 80% of respondents would rather renovate than relocate.

It sounds like a sweet deal: not only does the bank lend you 95% of the cost of your new home — it actually gives you the other 5%, the minimum down payment required to obtain the necessary mortgage insurance.

Canadians spent over $30 billion on home renovations last year, sparked in part by renovation shows on TV that persuade people to turn their humble home into something not quite so modest.