CategoryMortgage Tips

Posted April 9, 2010 Mortgage News

National Home Ownership Week April 12-16

Genworth Financial is kicking off the traditional Spring housing market with a week of Online seminars… Each day has a different theme….The goal is to educate prospective homebuyers and borrowers so they can make informed decisions….

The website is Homeownershiphelp.ca and here’s the schedule of events…

MONDAY APRIL 12	TUESDAY APRIL 13	WEDNESDAY APRIL 14	THURSDAY APRIL 15	FRIDAY APRIL 16
Credit Day	Reality Check	Homebuying Basics	Test Your Knowledge	Tips on Purchasing and Owning a Home
Learn the importance of good credit and how your credit history is established	Find out how to reconcile what you want with what you can afford	Understand the steps of home purchasing in Canada	Take the Homebuyer 101 course	Find out the fast facts that will help make your dream home a reality

Posted March 30, 2010 Mortgage Rates

Have a Variable rate mortgage at Prime +? renegotiate now and save.

With new variable rate pricing of Prime MINUS 0.45% and 0.50% available, this is probably a great time to break that mortgage and save some money…

Variable rate mortgages have penalties capped at no greater than 3 months interest… if you have a mortgage of Prime 0.25% or above, then you can save $thousands…. Call your Mortgage Broker for an analysis…

Posted March 11, 20101 Comment Mortgage Tips

Is Affordability better or worse?

Here’s an interesting statistic… 5 years ago, a 5 year fixed rate mortgage was around 4.35%… and the maximum amortization was 25 years…. a $250,000 mortgage would cost you $1363/mth.

Today, a 5 year fixed rate mortgage can be found at 3.89% (and lower)… and the payment is $1300/mth….. let’s increase the mortgage to $300,000 and use the new maximum amortization of 35 years… new monthly payment is $1303/mth….

Affordability is better than ever… these historical low rates will not be here forever.. make sure you are taking full advantage…. talk with your Mortgage Broker for full details…

Posted March 8, 2010 Mortgage Tips

Don’t get trapped with dumb Bank ads…

Watching the Olympics the past few weeks meant I had to endure watching tons of RBC commercials… I normally reach for the clicker and change channels but gave up after they kept popping up every 10 mins.

One commercial in particular really bugged me… have you seen this one? The young couple are looking at a house with an old kitchen. And then their RBC Mobile Mortgage Specialist suggests they split their mortgage … “part variable and part fixed… to save money.”

Ok, can anyone tell me what that means? ‘…To save money'”. So splitting your mortgage will save you money? Really? How? Who says? Show me statistical data to support such a claim…

I remember that when these split mortgages became available at the TD Bank (I worked there in the 90’s), it was great idea to reduce how much business would leave the banks… Ask anyone that has been in a split mortgage what happened when it came time to renew the 2 split portions…you lose your leverage to negotiate the rate because you cannot transfer your mortgage out until both maturities match….

The result….you get whatever rate the Bank wants to offer at maturity…. BEWARE…. this is bank Kool-aid again… I don’t drink it…

Here’s another recent article about Bank commercials from Ellen Roseman of The Star. This ties in with the bank ads portraying many of us idiots…

Posted February 26, 20102 Comments Mortgage Tips

Tips to paying your mortgage off sooner

These tips from the UK’s MSN.com might sound familiar but there some subtle differences….. First, here are the 4 tips.

1. Overpay when possible (make prepayments)
2. Get the best possible mortgage deal.
3. Check out an offset mortgage (All in One mortgage in Canada)
4. Switch to a better deal when your Capital increases….(shop for a better deal as your pay down your mortgage)

Nothing earth shattering…. simple but good advice. Now here is my additional advice …. #2 suggests we get the best deal…and we all want to pay the least amount of money…but being in the right product is just as important as going for the lowest rate…a good example is today’s variable rate mortgage of 1.95%… it’s the lowest rate available.. but is it the right product for everyone? Probably not…

#3 was also interesting… the All in One mortgages are becoming more popular and there are a few different lenders offering these now….these products are also known as Australian Mortgages…

#4 is great advice… when your mortgage comes up for renewal…shop around… speak to a broker… most financial institutions won’t offer you their absolute very best rate at renewal… this is a fact… and we understand… after all, it is a business and Banks want to make a profit. But let’s not contribute too much to the lender’s bottom line.