Blog Post

House Hacks: How to Make Small Spaces, Big

Katherine Martin • June 14, 2016

In 2016, the tiny house/small living space movement is in full swing. Individuals are choosing to live with less: less stuff, less square footage, less of a footprint. However, as these small living spaces become more of the “norm”, the people who inhabit them are asking, “How do I maximize the space that I do have?” Not because they want more, but rather, because they understand that it’s about using every square foot to it’s fullest. Waste not, want not. This is life from a different angle.

The following are five ways to make a small living space seem more spacious:

Organize Separate Spaces with Different Functions

Organize your living space into different “sections”. You may not have the amount of actual “walled off” rooms that a larger living space would boast, but designating different tasks and unique functions for these areas will give your home an air of spaciousness. Create a study space, a book nook, a living area, and a formal dining area. Design each of these areas to look unique, and stick to the plan!

Multi-Purpose Pieces

A bed which doubles as a couch is the classic example of a piece of furniture that can (and does) fulfill various functions, but there are many more than this. Get creative with how you use your space and how it can be used differently during the day, and then at night (ex: a living room that doubles as a guest sleeping space).

Ditch the Clutter

If you don’t need it, or worded differently, if it doesn’t perform a useful function, it probably doesn’t need to be there.

Now, if you’re reading this, there’s a chance that you’ve already embraced this way of living. However, it could be that you’ve been pushed into a smaller living space and you’re still figuring out how to make it work. Either way, learn to live with less.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to get rid of everything right away (storage units are great for this stuff, until you have the proper amount of time to sift through, and purge); but it does mean that you need to be more intentional about how your living space is utilized. Look at it from every angle. What will work, and what won’t work?

This applies to furniture choices as well. The good people at Housebeautiful.com suggest that you choose bigger pieces, but fewer of them; again, with the idea that clutter is the real space killer.

Know Your Space & Plan Appropriately

You know your layout better than anyone, so when it comes to filling it with furniture and various other things, do so wisely. Don’t’ buy a couch that’s twice as large as the wall for which it’s meant. This may seem obvious, but when we’re shopping, we can be overtaken, visually, by a piece, not realizing that it just won’t work, size wise.

Customization is key here, also. Now, obviously if you rent, this won’t be so much of an option for you, but if you own your own space, you have the opportunity to build to your specific needs. If you’re thinking more along these lines, Hongkiat has some wonderful design ideas that will serve to get you totally inspired. I’d mention them all here if we had room, but we don’t, so here is the link ( did anyone say living cube or suspended bedroom? ):

Open Space

As much as possible, keep your space open and “airy”. Nothing makes a house or an apartment seem cramped and small like a build-up of walls and closed off areas. Side note: paint colours matter; dark colours create a cave-like atmosphere. Avoid this pitfall by choosing bright, light, neutral colours. Lighter is brighter is better.

Small spaces don’t need to be unappealing! Consider the previous suggestions and get creative!

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Mail

Katherine Martin

Origin Mortgages

Phone: 1-604-454-0843
Email: kmartin@planmymortgage.ca
Fax: 1-604-454-0842

Improving Your Credit Score

By Katherine Martin • February 19, 2025

Your credit score and how you manage credit are huge factors in qualifying for a mortgage. If you want the best interest rates and mortgage products available on the market, you want a high credit score. Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit score. Make all your payments on time. Making your payments on time is so important; in fact, it might just be the most important factor in managing your credit. Here's how credit works. When you borrow money from a lender, you agree to make payments with interest on a set schedule until the debt is repaid in full. Good credit is established and maintained by making your payments on time. However, If you break the terms of that schedule by not making your payments, the lender will report the missed payments to the credit reporting agencies, and your credit score suffers. It’s that simple. The more payments you miss, the lower your score will be. If you fail to make payments for over 120 days, the lender will most likely send your debt to be recovered by a collection agency. Collections stay on your report for a long time. So the moment you realize you have missed a payment or as soon as you have the money for it, make the payment. If something prevents you from making a payment, consider contacting the lender directly to let them know what happened and work out an arrangement to make the payment as soon as possible. It's good to note that lenders only report late payments after a payment is 30 days late. If you miss a payment on a Friday and catch it the following Monday, you won't have anything to worry about - except maybe an NSF fee. Now, just because payments don't report until being 30 days late, don’t get comfortable with making late payments; the best advice is to pay your debts on time, as agreed. Stop acquiring new credit. If you already have at least two different trade lines, you shouldn’t acquire new trade lines just for the sake of it. Of course, if you need to borrow money, like to purchase a vehicle to commute to work, go ahead and apply. Just remember: having more credit available to you doesn’t really help your credit score. In fact, each time a potential lender looks at your credit report, it may lower your credit score a little bit. With that said, if you already have two different trade lines and your lender offers you an increase on your limit, take it. A credit card with a $10k limit is better for you than a credit card with a $2k limit because how much you spend compared to your credit card's limit impacts your credit score. This leads us directly into the next point. Keep a reasonable balance. The more credit you use compared to the limit you have, the less creditworthy you appear. It’s better to carry a reasonable balance (15-25% of the card’s limit) and pay it off each month than to max out your credit cards and just make the minimum payments. If you have to spend more than 25% of your card limit, try to remain under 60%. That shows good utilization. Paying down your credit cards every month and carrying a zero balance will undoubtedly improve your credit score. Check your credit report regularly. Did you know that roughly 20% of credit reports have misinformation on them? Mistakes happen all the time. Lenders misreport information, or people with the same names get merged reports. Any number of things could be inaccurate without you knowing about it. You might even have become a victim of fraud or identity theft. By checking your credit regularly, you can stay on top of everything and correct any errors promptly. Both of Canada's credit reporting agencies, Equifax and Transunion, have programs that, for a small fee, will monitor and update you on any changes made to your credit report. Handle collections immediately. When checking your credit report for accuracy, if you happen to find a collection has been registered against you, deal with it immediately. It could be a closed-out cell phone account with a small balance owing, a final utility bill that got missed, unpaid parking tickets, wage garnishments, or spousal support payments. Regardless of what it is, it will harm your credit score if it's registered on your credit report. The best plan of action is to handle any collections or delinquent accounts as soon as possible. Use your credit card. If you have acquired credit cards to build your credit score, but you rarely use them, there is a chance the lender might not report your usage, and that won’t help your credit score. You'll want to make sure that you use your credit at least once every three months. Many people find success using their credit cards for gas and groceries and paying off the outstanding balance each month. There you have it. Regardless of what your credit looks like now, you will continue to increase your credit score if you follow the points outlined above. If you're looking to buy a property and you’d like to work through your credit report in detail, let’s put together a plan to get you qualified for a mortgage. Get in touch anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you!

How To Establish New Credit

By Katherine Martin • February 12, 2025

If you’re new to managing personal finance and you want to learn about credit, you’ve come to the right place. Establishing new credit is a bit of a catch-22. To build a credit history, you need credit. But it’s hard to get credit without having a credit history. So, where do you start? Well, the first thing you should know is that building credit takes time. It’s not something that happens overnight. If you’re looking to secure mortgage financing, you will want to have a minimum of two trade lines (credit cards, loans, or lines of credit) with a minimum limit of $2500, reporting for at least two years. If you don’t have any credit yet, the best time to get started is right now. However, that may be difficult because, as we've already identified, without a credit history, most lenders won’t feel confident about taking a chance on you. What’s the solution? Consider a secured credit card. With a secured credit card, you make a deposit upfront that matches the amount you want to borrow. A reasonable amount would be $1000 deposited on a single secured credit card. You then use your secured credit card to make household purchases and regular utility payments, paying off the total balance each month. If you default on the money borrowed for whatever reason, the lender will retain the money you put up as collateral. When looking for a secured credit card, be sure to ask whether they report to the two nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If the credit card company doesn't report, the credit card account will be useless for your purposes; move on until you find a company that reports to both credit bureaus. Once your secured credit card begins reporting to the credit bureaus, you begin to have a credit score; usually, this takes about three months. Now you can start to seek out a second trade line in the form of an unsecured credit card. Don’t forget to ensure that this card reports to both of the credit reporting agencies. Another option at this point could be a car loan. From here, you simply want to make all your payments on time! But what happens if you’re looking to secure mortgage financing before you have a fully established credit report? Well, if you have someone who would consider co-signing, you can certainly go that route. The mortgage application will depend on their income and credit report, but your name will be on the mortgage. Hopefully, when the mortgage is up for renewal, you’ll have the established credit required to remove them from the mortgage and qualify on your own. Although establishing credit takes a minimum of two years, it really begins with putting together a plan. If you’d like to discuss anything credit or mortgage-related, please get in touch!