Finally, it appears that the banks are getting my message!

I’ve been telling my clients to plan ahead for the impending rate increases. Now it looks like the increases are about to happen.

The BIG problem with the banks is … they count on people thinking they are too busy, and yes, even being lazy. They will happily lock you into a fixed rate mortgage and have you believe that you are getting their best rate.

In fact most people won’t even ask, “Is this your best rate?”   They will assume that because they are loyal, long time customers that the bank will automatically give them the best rate.  If you were to assume that … you’d be wrong.

It only takes a few minutes to call us.  We will figure out if it makes sense for you to change and if it does, we will find you the best rate from amongst the dozens of financial institutions we do business with.  We are not locked into one bank’s offerings, and we DO have your best interests in mind.

The rates are going up, but it is not too late to take action.  Do it NOW before it is too late.

604-736-1855

We first ran this article in the June 2009 Edition of our newsletter. We are running it again because… at this point in time there is ANOTHER Perfect Storm!

A Refinancing Strategy for today’s volatile market

With the historic-low interest rates now available, many people are interested in refinancing to save money. The problem is (with most mortgages) the penalties are too high to make this a financially viable move.

In order for refinancing to make sense, you should end up with money in your pocket. The overall savings generated by a lower cost mortgage should be more than the refinancing penalties incurred.

As long as mortgage rates stay the same or get lower, it is highly unlikely that you will see any benefit to refinancing because of the high penalties … although there is a further benefit of having a fresh 5 year term as we cannot know what the rates will be when your current term comes up. One thing we are sure of is that rates will be HIGHER.

As mortgage rates go UP, the refinancing penalties go down.

IF you take action now you could benefit greatly when mortgage rates start to go up again. Currently, some lenders still have their 5 year fixed rates in the 3.79 – 3.89 range (see our rates page). These rates have never before been offered and may never again…in our lifetime.

What we do is get you the BEST rate we can and lock in the offer. Depending on the mortgage company we can lock in for 3 to 4 months and can often renew for another 3 to 4 months at a time. Then we wait. At some point the mortgage rates are going to go up again.

At the point where you are actually saving enough money to make the transaction worthwhile, we finalize your refinanced mortgage.

IN A NUTSHELL:

1. You lock in a rate-hold today via a pre-approval application while the interest is low.

2. You wait till the mortgage rates start to increase.

3. When the mortgage rates go UP, your penalty for refinancing goes DOWN.

4. When the transaction generates a positive cash savings for you … we refinance at the lower rate, with the lower penalty.



What do you need to do? Call us. We’ll let you know if this strategy makes sense for YOU!

Anytime you apply for a mortgage you will be asked for some pretty standard information.  This information is used to determine what level of mortgage you qualify for.

Personal Information:

• Your contact information:  current (and possibly past) addresses; your phone numbers; SIN; birth date; marital status
• Your current (and possibly past) employer along with contact information

Assets:

• bank accounts
• RRSP’s
• Stocks and Bonds
• Vehicles
• Real Estate Investments
• Personal effects (i.e. collections)

Liabilities:

• Credit Cards
• Personal loans
• Auto loans or leases
• Charge Accounts
• Mortgages
• Rent
• Leases

It may take some time to put the numbers together, but once you do,  you will have a snap shot of your financial standing.

One BIG benefit of working with a professional mortgage broker, is that you only have to provide your financial information ONCE.

When we get your information, we  obtain your credit report.   To a large extent, your ability to obtain a mortgage depends on the information contained in the credit report. If there is a problem with your credit report, we can advise you on how to proceed.

Your financial snap shot plus the credit report help us determine what kind of mortgage you can qualify for.

Our goal is to make this whole process as easy as we can.  Give us a call at 604-736-1855 to get started!

You can also check out  our online application form or save a copy of our application PDF

A mortgage loan pre-qualification is the process of being pre-approved for a home mortgage loan BEFORE you make an offer to purchase.

Here are three good reasons why you should pre-qualify BEFORE you start looking:

1.  Getting pre-qualified lets you know what your top price is.  You won’t waste your time looking outside of your range.

2. You won’t go through the terrible disappointment of being rejected on a mortgage application … or having your “dream home”  pulled out from under you.

3. If the property you are looking at is hot … you don’t have to put a mortgage qualification “subject-to” in your offer. This could make the difference between getting the property … or not!   Pre-qualification strengthens your bargaining position.

4.   Pre-qualification shows you are a serious shopper. Both your agent and the sellers will take you more seriously.  By knowing what your financial limitations are, your agent can spend more time looking for homes that “fit” instead of wasting time time showing you homes you will never qualify for.

5. You’ll save time running around after you have put in an offer.

The bottom line?  Pre-qualification makes the whole process of shopping for a new home easier!

Pre-qualifying is easy … just give us a call at 604-736-1855.  We know the mortgage business inside and out!  Our mission is to get you the BEST mortgage possible.

Messages from the Bank of Canada are often very vague … and the economic analysts pick through the statements and news releases trying to interpret what is really being said.

In an article today from the Canwest News Service  “Carney starts countdown to rate hikes“  the analysts were hard at it once again.

The consensus seems to be that the Bank of Canada will be making rate increases sooner than originally stated, or expected.