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Historical low mortgage rates mean RECORD HIGH penalties for BIG SIX BANK clients!

greedy bankerMortgage penalty calculations continue to mystify Canadian consumers.  For years, I’ve posted numerous articles on penalties…  how they affect us… how they are calculated…..why you need to understand them.. and most importantly, HOW TO AVOID THEM!!

Today, I’ll give you explicit details on the great mortgage penalty mystery…

I’ve shared dozens of horror stories about average Canadians being hit with mortgage penalties of $12,000, $15,000, $20,000, $30,000 and more.   These examples aren’t from some obscure small financial institution. It’s your BIG SIX BANK.   Yet, the attitude from Consumers is that it won’t or doesn’t affect them….until it’s too late.

I’ve also shared the solution on how to avoid this… and I’m going to share that with you once again..  If you want to know how to avoid monster penalties, then take a few minutes and read this.. It could save you untold $$thousands…. Continue reading “Historical low mortgage rates mean RECORD HIGH penalties for BIG SIX BANK clients!”

Posted Case study

Rate shopping sites…tested again.. and failed again.

which mortgageA few years ago, I published a study on Rate shopping sites.   These sites were gaining popularity with consumers as a  place to go if you wanted to get the best rates.  And they attracted a lot of attention.

You know the sites… they have catchy ads like ‘shopping for the Best Mortgage rates in Canada’ or ‘comparing Canada’s mortgage brokers for the best rates’.  
Hey, who doesn’t want the best rate?  These ads work. Canadians were clicking these links to get more info.

Sounds great, right? Yet, it’s not.  
Continue reading “Rate shopping sites…tested again.. and failed again.”

Posted 5 Comments on TD green or TD GREED?!. as they refuse to lower the Prime rate!! Consumer Debt

TD green or TD GREED?!. as they refuse to lower the Prime rate!!

greedy banker Yesterday’s rate cut announcement by the Bank of Canada (BOC) governor, Stephen Poloz, caught all Economists by surprise.  The BOC cut their overnight rate by 0.25%.   Historically, and traditionally, this meant that the Bank Prime rate would follow.  Bank Prime rate is 3.00% and we expect it to fall to 2.75%TD.

But HOLD ON!…Today, it’s the BOC governor, Poloz, that will be surprised as TD Bank says they WON’T  be cutting their Bank Prime rate!  The BOC cut the rate to help stimulate the economy.  Businesses borrow commercial funds priced against Bank Prime… and consumers borrow lines of credit and Variable rate mortgages against Bank Prime. Continue reading “TD green or TD GREED?!. as they refuse to lower the Prime rate!!”

Posted Debt

Looking ahead to 2015 rates and trends

happyholidays (1) Seasons Greetings!  Happy New Year!   Quick thank you for making 2014 a great year!  Hope yours was just as special.  And I’m wishing you much success and happiness in 2015.

I’ll make this quick as I’m sure you have some New Year’s Eve celebrations to attend to.

QUICK YEAR IN REVIEW.

  • Interest rates haven’t really changed this year.
  • 5 yr fixed rates are under 3.00%.
  • Variable rate pricing improved to around Prime less 0.60% (less in some cases and dropping).
  •   In fact, looking at the big picture, interest rates haven’t really changed much in the last 4 yrs.   Yet, you wouldn’t know it by reading the newspaper headlines….(sorry to my media friends…)

Let’s get to it.  MY THOUGHTS ON 2015. Continue reading “Looking ahead to 2015 rates and trends”

Posted 2 Comments on Housing bubble? Waiting for the crash before buying has cost you 602 in the last 6 years. Case study

Housing bubble? Waiting for the crash before buying has cost you 60% in the last 6 years.

Housing BubleBad news travels 10 times faster than good news!  It’s just human nature that we can’t seem to escape.  We seem more likely to gossip about someone’s misfortune than their accomplishments.

Here’s a negative headline….  YOU LOST APPROXIMATELY $355,000, SO FAR, IF YOU’VE BEEN WAITING TO A BUY HOUSE SINCE 2008.  Read on to see understand how and why.

Take Wednesday’s headline in the Financial Post, “Bank of Canada warns house prices are overvalued by up to 30%” .  WOW!  How’s that not gonna get your attention?   It certainly got mine.  I immediately had to read this article.  But the more I read, the clearer it became that this statement wasn’t exactly true.

The article pointed to a semi-annual report that is put out by the Bank of Canada entitled, Financial System Review December 2014.  That headline is an attention grabber.. And like most media headlines, it’s not the full story.  In fact, it’s not an accurate reflection of what the Bank of Canada report had to say.   If you look at Stephen Poloz’s (Bank of Canada Governor) comments, he says “there is some risk that the housing market is overvalued, and our estimates fall in the 10 to 30 per cent range”.

But he’s not done there.. Continue reading “Housing bubble? Waiting for the crash before buying has cost you 60% in the last 6 years.”