Hi Everyone, I have recently been coming across a large number of clients in this situation so I thought I’d dedicate a blog entry to it. Wanting to buy a house and willing to move, but tied to their current job. Like many of my generation (and others), the large gains to be made from Lower Mainland property inflation has passed us by and is…
You might have seen the recent Benchmark Rate Decrease announcement in the news. What does this mean for Buyers and Refinancers? Will this revive the slumping Vancouver Housing Market? Let's Revisit the Stress Test In 2018 the Stress Test took affect and change how ALL Canadian Mortgages are now qualified. Before the Stress Test you would be qualifying a conventional 5 year fixed at the…
I thought I’d dedicate a blog post to this topic as I have many inquiries from clients looking into doing this as well as there being great difference between lender policy. Why Not Rent Out Your Apartment For Long Term Gain? I am contacted regularly by second time (move up) buyers who want me to find a way for them to keep their first property…
[big_title]Do you LOVE to cook?[/big_title] While I’m not a great cook, I enjoy it much more when cooking with the best equipment. That is why I am giving away Cutco Knives. These high quality - lifetime guarantee knives will surely be a welcome addition to your kitchen. I have owned many other brands of knives and they eventually break, bend or deteriorate and I still…
The Bank of Canada decided to increase the overnight lending rate to 1.75% on October 24th 2018. This is the interest rate that the Bank of Canada charges the Chartered Banks to borrow money, which they need to do frequently in order to balance their books at the end of each day. The costs of this rate increase are inevitably passed on to consumers as…
Hi everyone, I usually wouldn’t Blog about rates increases, but there's an acceleration of the frequency of increases this Fall. Two weeks ago, there were across the board increase across several major lenders and I managed to get several existing clients into rate holds to hold the rate for about 4 months. Well, it looks like the Banks are at it again. Fixed Mortgage Rates…
There are many great arguments for and against entering into a Variable Rate versus a Fixed Rate, but I won’t be chiming in on that debate today. Today’s post is for those who are in Variable Rates and are happy to remain. One of the greatest benefits of a Variable Rate Mortgage is the Low and Predictable penalty to break it, which is typically 3…
If you’re currently in the market for a home, June 1, 2015 is a day you’ll want to circle on your calendar. On this dubious date, CMHC is set to increase mortgage insurance premiums; not surprisingly, first-time homebuyers are expected to be hit the hardest. How much more will you pay in mortgage insurance? Let’s take a closer look. What Mortgage Insurance and Why Do…
Good news for first time home buyers in British Colombia. The BC provincial budget increased the maximum eligible purchase for the property transfer tax exemption from 425k to 475k. Property transfer tax (PTT) is a one time cost paid on any purchase of real estate in BC. It's an often overlooked cost of purchasing real estate in Vancouver. Here's how to calculate property transfer tax:…
Owning a home just became a bit less affordable – home insurance rates are expected to rise sharply this year across Canada. After the year that was 2013, this shouldn’t come as any surprise. Insurance companies paid out a record $3.2 billion in claims to policy holders last year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. This is well above the typical claim amount of…
