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Posted February 1, 201313 Comments Case study

Canada vs the world…debt level comparison study.

Hey, here’s an interesting stat that should make us Canadians feel good…. Our Federal govt keeps telling us to slow our personal debt levels… maybe they should start balancing their own books… I remember when, in 1997, the Feds actually balanced the budget and even made a surplus. Remember that? In fact, from 1997 to 2008, the Feds reduced our national debt from $563billion to $458billion. We seemed to be heading in the right direction.

Then the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis hit and the Feds starting spending in an attempt to avoid a major recession. So far, it’s worked. Our economy has performed pretty well when compared with most other countries. But our National Debt level has now surpassed the $600billion mark for the first time ever. How concerned should we really be? Is our national debt level really that high? I decided to compare out debt with a handful of other countries to see how we stacked up….

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS

Continue reading “Canada vs the world…debt level comparison study.”

Posted January 30, 20134 Comments Case study

CBC Marketplace exposes TD’s collateral mortgage

FINALLY!!!!! A major TV news program calls out TD Canada Trust’s collateral mortgage. CBC Marketplace aired an episode called ‘Busting the Banks’ on January 25th. Hey, it’s only taken 2 years but who’s counting??… Lol! If you want to skip to the video link, just click here and scroll to the 8:00 min mark. (by the way, I should point out my contributions to this episode. I was contacted by the producers of CBC Marketplace for my opinions and advice during the filming of this episode….over the past 3 months, I assisted with some of the research. Hope you find the info useful).

During the program, CBC took a hidden camera into a TD branch….the reporter posed as a potential mortgage borrower…. Only when questioned for the 4th time did the TD banker disclose their mortgage was a collateral charge…. but they didn’t seem to explain the difference between a conventional mortgage and a collateral mortgage… The Banker only agreed that the collateral charge was a disadvantage. Continue reading “CBC Marketplace exposes TD’s collateral mortgage”

Posted January 24, 2013 Interest rates

Interest rates to stay low for longer than expected…

The, soon to be, ex-Bank of Canada Governor, Mark Carney, is leaving us with a present… During yesterday’s Rate Announcement, the first of eight regularly scheduled rate meetings this year, Carney said the economy is growing at a slower pace than expected…. we having a cooling housing market….. inflation remains low and is not an immediate concern…. Last but not least, he expects the economy will not reach it’s full capacity in late 2014 and that withdrawing any monetary policy stimulus is less imminent than previously anticipated.

End result, no rate hikes are expected til 2014… These comments come as a bit of a surprise given the Bank of Canada has wanted to raise rates for the past 2 years. Well, maybe it’s Carney’s way of giving us a departing present….Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. Continue reading “Interest rates to stay low for longer than expected…”

Posted January 16, 20131 Comment Mortgage News

Scotiabank closes ING Direct mortgage broker division… but who cares?

In an email sent to Mortgage Brokers today, ING announced they will close the Mortgage Broker division February 16, 2013. My first reaction was one of sadness. In the mid 2000’s, ING was a strong Lender and partner with Mortgage Brokers. They offered some great products, competitive pricing, a fair prepayment penalty calculation and had an excellent team of employees, including their senior management.

Yes, I was sad to hear they would close the Broker division… But then I asked myself how much would this affect me? my clients? How much business was I referring to ING these days? The answer soon made me realize that there isn’t any reason for sadness. I soon realized that since they made the switch to registering all their mortgages as a collateral mortgage charge, back in December 2011, I all but completely stopped recommending them to my clients. Continue reading “Scotiabank closes ING Direct mortgage broker division… but who cares?”

Posted January 3, 2013 Mortgage News

Genworth Financial $50billion increase is good for Consumers

The Federal govt controls hi-ratio mortgage lending…. (mortgages that are greater than 80% loan to value)… There is a $600 billion limit for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC… a federal corp). And a $250 billion limit for Genworth Financial Canada (a private corp).

Last year, the govt reported CMHC was fast approaching it’s $600 billion limit and that it had no intentions of increasing that limit. Then last month, the federal govt announced they would increase Genworth’s limit to $300 billon. This gives Canada’s mortgage lenders some breathing room as it now appears as though there is enough room to cover mortgages for a few years…

WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION Continue reading “Genworth Financial $50billion increase is good for Consumers”