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Posted June 2, 2015 Bank News

RBC Q2 earnings hit new record $2.5billion… and they raised their bank fees.. Enough already!

You gotta love the BANKS. Putting out forecasts of troubled economic times, too much personal debt, housing bubbles, etc. They seem to think it’s all bad news…. well, not for them. They keep posting record profits year after year after year…

Yet, somehow they justify increasing our bank fees.... Well, that was going too far! Talk about flaunting and rubbing it in our face! This was probably one of those rare times in history when the normally reserved, conservative, polite Canadians had just about enough! A major public and political backlash has forced the RBC to retract those fees.

But why did it take so much to for RBC to do the obvious? I mean, come on. You jack up fees after you report RECORD EARNINGS? Hello!? This is like that commercial for Hotels.com. Captain Obvious!

RBC HIRES TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS

Remember when RBC hired Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) to replace existing Canadian jobs? Check this out… they had their Canadian employees train the TFW and then they fired the Canadian employees! This was just 2 years ago!

NEWS FLASH! The BANKS are concerned about shareholder profits. End of story! Their loyalty is to the shareholder, not you or I. And once you understand this, your expectations and outlook will be much different. You will begin to question things more….. that’s a good thing. Questions are good… there are only bad answers.. or here’s another saying… The only bad question is the one you didn’t ask!

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca

Posted May 27, 2015 Real Estate news

Trump’s George Ross says Canada’s Housing market is undervalued….

George Ross is Donald Trump’s Executive VP. He’s Trump’s senior advisor and has worked with Trump for 30 years. You’ve probably seen him on TV on ‘The Apprentice’. This week, he was quoted as saying Canada’s real estate market is undervalued, not overvalued. That’s quite the opposite of what the so-called experts have been saying for 8 or 9 years. (by the way, where are those experts now?)

If you listen to his interview, he makes some good points. Office properties have more upward potential than residential properties. But the residential market follows the Office or commercial market. He also says that buying a house for a quick flip isn’t a good strategy. It may sound good on the TV shows, but it’s a risky game to play. Mr. Ross says more fortunes have been lost in real estate than have been made. Continue reading “Trump’s George Ross says Canada’s Housing market is undervalued….”

Posted May 14, 20151 Comment Interest rates

Bond Yields are up… will Fixed Mortgage rates follow?

Fixed mortgage rates are tied closely to the Govt of Cda bond yields. And bond yields are up… Since mid April, the 5 yr Gov of Cda bond yield has gone from 0.75% to 1.07%. That’s a 0.32% jump. Normally, we would see fixed mortgage rates go up.

So far, no increase. But that’s probably more to do with a competitive Spring housing market. This is when most house sales and mortgage transactions take place. The Banks need to maintain certain market share levels in order to keep shareholders happy. They are willing to sacrifice a little profit margin (and I do mean little… they seem to make up for this with higher service fees as was recently reported, but let’s not get into that now…).

If the bond yields continue to increase, we will see fixed mortgage rates rise. That’s an automatic. The real question is how long will the bond yields continue their climb? It will be interesting to watch the next few months. We can expect to see some rate increases as the Spring market ends and Banks look to increase their profit…. A pattern that repeats itself year after year.. but here’s what you can do to protect yourself… Continue reading “Bond Yields are up… will Fixed Mortgage rates follow?”

Posted April 29, 2015 Case study

Online shopping for Stocks, Vacations and Mortgages. An In-depth comparison…

IS CHOOSING A MORTGAGE IS AS EASY AS BOOKING A TRIP OR TRADING A STOCK?…LET’S FIND OUT!

Sure, you can book a flight online or a buy a stock through the web. But, can you really choose the right mortgage product on your own? Can you really find the absolutely lowest cost mortgage financing option? I’ll bet some consumers can. I’ll also bet the vast majority cannot…. and there’s a steady stream of horror stories, on this news site and others, that show just how costly and financially dangerous it is to be in the wrong mortgage product, with the wrong lender.

I’ve shared dozens of those experiences on this site. Consumers who were directed into the wrong mortgage by their Banker or by some web site claiming to offer ‘the lowest rate’. I empathize with these consumers as I believe they were just trying to save some money but instead ended up paying far more than they had to. Continue reading “Online shopping for Stocks, Vacations and Mortgages. An In-depth comparison…”

Posted April 21, 20151 Comment Bank News

CMHC increased insurance premiums… again.. but still cheaper than 10 yrs ago.

Last May, CMHC increased all their insurance premiums. The move wasn’t really a surprise to industry insiders. CMHC’s product line has been reduced. No more rental property mortgages. No more refinancing mortgages. No more secured lines of credit mortgages.

That’s a big chunk of business gone. And when revenues go down for this crown corporation, what do they do? They do what every reputable govt corp does. They raise fees and make the consumer pay more! (check out my charts below) Continue reading “CMHC increased insurance premiums… again.. but still cheaper than 10 yrs ago.”