Tagfixed rate mortgage

Posted January 25, 20121 Comment Interest rates

BMO 2.99% No Frills mortgage needs another look.

It’s January 25, 2012… that’s the original deadline date issued by BMO for their NO FRILLs 2.99% 5 year fixed rate mortgage. Since announcing that 2.99% rate, BMO has reportedly been flooded with calls and applications. And rightfully so. That’s the lowest advertised 5 yr fixed rate in history. (we need to say thank you to BMO… they woke up the competition and the competition answered.. we have seen competitive offers from the non-bank lenders… no restrictions or limitations… This is great news for the consumer.)

This product has also drawn some criticism…There was an interesting articles asking if this product was too good to be true…. click here to see what The Toronto Star thinks.

Let’s look at the restrictions and limitations more closely… If you are 100% certain about the next 5 years in your life, your job, your health, your family’s health, then this may be a great product for you…. But if you look at the stats, we, as Canadians, on average refinance or change mortgages every 3 years… With that in mind, the product can be very costly for the unsuspecting borrower….read on and I’ll explain…

I’m not too concerned with the limited prepayment privileges. The biggest potential risk to borrowers is the inability to refinance outside BMO should they experience some financial problems in the next 5 years. If a borrower runs into financial problems and needs to take the mortgage elsewhere, because they won’t qualify for a BMO refinance, they can’t do it. The mortgage can only be paid out if the house is sold…

An an even bigger problem is the BIG SIX penalty calculation…. let’s say you can somehow refinance in 2 or 3 years with BMO, or you do sell the house and are not porting the mortgage… well, now you must deal with a penalty calculation that makes you pay for the original discount you received at the time of the original mortgage…. And LOOK OUT…This is where we have seen penalties of 6, 9, 12, 14 and even 16 months worth of interest being charged by the Banks to get out of a mortgage..(click here to see how banks calculate their penalties). (hey, Federal Government, didn’t you promise to standardize mortgage penalty calculation 2 years ago??… when is that going to happen?))

And if you need more money added to your mortgage, what assurance will you have that BMO or any other BIG SIX bank, will give you a good rate or a discount on those new monies? None… they certainly won’t have to, given your penalty to exit would be higher than other non-bank lenders… This subject is not talked about very much by the media or by the banks… We will be commenting on this further in future posts…. (hey, how about CIBC and that class action lawsuit over mortgage penalty charges??… I’ll be making some comments on this soon).

Here’s some advice… seek out Lenders that have better penalty calculations... they are out there… they just aren’t as obvious as the Big Six Banks… talk to a mortgage broker and get some comparisons… you might be surprised to know that competitive rates exist without having to give up your future options…

Posted December 23, 20112 Comments Interest rates

BMO announces lower rate IF you take a shorter amortization!

Have you heard the big news? BMO lowers rate their best discounted 5 year fixed rate to 3.49% to encourage Canadians to take an amortization 25 years or less. They claim they want to encourage Canadians to pay their debt off faster….. Sounds nice and in keeping with the Christmas spirit, doesn’t it?

Ok, before we get all warm-hearted and teary eyed, let’s take a closer look at what this really is. First, this IS NOT the best discounted fixed rate in the market. A good Mortgage Broker can get you 3.39% out there with no restrictions on amortization (even lower with some No Frills mortgage products). We all want to pay our mortgage off faster, but choosing a shorter amortization only limits your future options… My recommendation to almost all my clients is to take the longest amortization possible……

It’s not that I want you to have a mortgage forever, it’s about having options…. I always take a ‘what if’ approach…. Follow me for a minute…

Let’s say you had a $300,000 mortgage and you took this BMO 3.49% rate, your payments on a 25 year amortization with be $1496.23/mth. But if you took a truly discounted mortgage at 3.39% with a 35 year amortization, your minimum payment would be $1216.75/mth. You could always INCREASE your payment to accelerate your amortization to 25 years or shorter.

Now, let’s say you lost your job, had some unexpected expense come up, or a financial emergency or just needed to lower your payments. If you chose 25 year amort, then you are stuck with that payment.. if you chose 35 year, then you can always go back to that lower payment… That’s the flexibility that we want. It’s not about taking longer to pay, it’s about having the option to reduce your payment if needed.

LET’S NOT FORGET THE BANKS HISTORY WHEN IT COMES TO RATES

In keeping with the Christmas theme, Mr. Potter would be approve the Banks latest strategy. In case you didn’t know, the 5 year Canada Bond is in record low territory…. hovering at around 1.31%… the 5 year fixed rates are priced from the bonds… the spread is normally around 1.25% to 1.40%… and yet today, the spread is 2.18%…. WOW! and why? TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS. This is has nothing to do with wanting to helps Canadians. 5 year fixed rates should be under 3.00% but they aren’t, because the Banks want to maximize profits.

VARIABLE RATE PRICING IS AT 1990’s LEVEL

Variable rate pricing went from Prime less 0.90%, 3 years ago, to Prime plus 1.00% in during the October 2008 US mortgage crisis, to Prime less 0.75% just six months ago…. to Prime plus 0.20% today. That’s right, Prime PLUS 0.20%. Haven’t seen this pricing since the ’90s. There are no fundamental reasons for this… it’s simply profit taking by the banks.. they are forcing us to take a 5 year fixed rate. Sure, today’s 5 year fixed rates are at historical lows, so there is very little attention being given… but when rates go up, and they will in a few years, we will start to ask for more competitive products and better options other than a 5 year fixed rate…. (Can you see Mr. Potter’s grin getting larger?).

My advice… think about who your banker works for….and who your Mortgage Broker works for….

Posted October 5, 2011 Interest rates

BMO Economist forecast no rate hikes til 2013

More good news…. interest rates are not expected to increase til 2013, according to Bank of Montreal.

Really no surprise here. The global economy is not doing well. But here in Canada, the economy is performing relatively well. The only reason our stock market and Canadian $ are down is because of the uncertainty of the European debt crisis.

5 year fixed rates are hovering at 3.39%… and they are even lower for qualified borrowers…. Variable rates are at around 2.60%… We are in record low territory.

Did you know a $300,000 mortgage will carry for as little as $1199/month? Hey, if you’re paying $1400/mth for rent, then why not consider buying place of your own… And for those that want off the stock market roller coaster, a rental property may just be what you need… Best thing is to talk to a Mortgage Broker, crunch the numbers and see how it looks. It’s probably easier than you think.

Posted September 30, 2011 Mortgage News

BIG BANKS need your help for higher profits!!

The more I think about it, the more fired up I get! OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) has come out and said Bank profit margins are shrinking and the BIG Banks may start to loosen their credit lending policies in order to write more business and therefore earn more profit.

This statement just doesn’t make any sense…. let’s think about this for a minute… Take a look at Financial Post’s Biggest Companies ranked by profit in 2010.…let’s see where the Banks rank:

– #2 is RBC $5.2 billion

-#3 is TD Bank $4.6 billion

– #4 Bank of Nova Scotia $4.2 billion

– #9 Bank of Montreal $2.9 billion

– #12 CIBC $2.4 billion

Five of the top twelve most profitable companies are Banks!!! This doesn’t look like the Banks are hurting that badly, does it? We should also not forget that the govt has made several changes to mortgage lending rules…It’s already harder to qualify for a mortgage and line of credit… So what gives, OSFI??

Look, OSFI has spoken and we must not ignore this….I don’t like what they are saying and the logic they are trying to give us doesn’t make sense….But we can’t bury our head in the sand either… The Banks have too much power… We should prepare ourselves for changes… Make plans and adjust accordingly… Don’t wait for the Banks to act.

It’s clear to me that we could see some changes in lending policies…My guess is this will translate to some increased rates on your secured lines of credit, a possible review of your account, even a reduction in your limit… That’ right, the banks can even call your line of credit and ask you to repay it in full…!! They might ask you to lock into a fixed rate mortgage or get into an amortized repayment schedule instead of just paying interest only.

But it doesn’t end there… commercial accounts will also be under the magnifying glass, in my opinion. Commercial loans and mortgages get reviewed annually by the Banks…This is why it’s very important to choose your commercial lender carefully… Not all Banks are alike… there are some institutions that offer commercial loans that are not callable…

Bottom line is to be aware, stay informed and act accordingly…. If you are not sure where you fit in with these possible changes, give me a call.. I’m happy to help.

Posted September 27, 2011 Consumer Debt

Setting us up for fewer rate drops and higher bank profit margins..

It’s becoming clear that the Banks and govt want us to boost Bank profit margins…. Yes, it’s true! They want you and I to pay a higher interest rate so that the Banks can earn a higher profit…

Let’s look at some facts…

-The Banks recently got together and increased their Variable rate pricing from Prime less 0.75% to Prime less 0% (the Bank websites are showing their variable rates at Prime less 0% but there are still places you can get Prime less 0.40%). So why is that? They tell us ‘profitability concerns’ is the reason…

-The best 5 year fixed rate on the web from any of the Big Six Banks is 3.99%… Yet, the 5 year govt of Canada bond yields are at 1.43% today…that’s a spread of 2.56%... historically, that spread is between 1.10% to 1.50%… (by the way, you can still get a 5 year fixed rate at 3.39% from reputable lending institutions). The Banks are making a fortune these days on Fixed Rate mortgages.

– OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) has now come out and said that they are concerned consumers will borrower more than they should because interest rates are so low… and because of this, they are urging Banks not to loosen their lending criteria, especially on Home Equity Lines of Credit…

Read the warning signs

If you read between the lines, we are being warned that tighter lending rules could be just around the corner for Secured lines of credit… I don’t think the govt needs to make any further changes to mortgage lending…both secured lines of credit and mortgages… We have seen several rules changes over the past few years…. But the message we are being fed is that Banks need to charge a higher rate of interest because consumers cannot be trusted to borrow wisely…

The reality is that interest rates should actually be lower than where they are today. Cost of funds are down… so why can’t we just let consumers pay fair market interest rates? It’s one thing to be told that interest rates are going up because of market conditions and cost of funds… but when I start hearing that Bank Profit concerns and consumer spending habits are issues, then I have to start questioning the motives. This just sounds like another excuse to raise rates and charge the average consumer more…..Consumers beware…!

Some good news

There was some good news… and that is that US interest rates are forecast to remain low into 2013…. Canada usually follow the US very closely….Hey, let’s enjoy the low interest rates…. a $300,000 mortgage will carry from between $1200/mth and $1325/mth…what’s wrong with that? Enjoy Canada… Enjoy.