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More Choice – Banks are limited to around 5 products that they can offer you. They will try to fit you into one of their products even if the financial institution next door has a better one for you 🏡 Better Representation – Brokers are your champions, whereas bankers are employees. They put their employer’s interest(s) first 💰 More Benefits – If you are moving into a home that is more than one year old, you probably do not have a home warranty. Brokers have 3 lenders who offer home warranties, which can cover repairs to the plumbing, heating and electrical systems with a small deductible 🛠 Better Protection – It may not sound like much but we have the same coverage as the banks offer with one important difference – portability. While we take care to place you with a good lender, circumstances change and lenders may not offer …
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Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show that national home sales rose for the sixth consecutive month. Transactions are now running almost 17% above the six-year low reached in February 2019, but remain about 10% below highs reached in 2016 and 2017. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver all saw sales and prices rise. CREA updated its 2019 sales forecast, now predicting a 5% gain this year. Gains were led by a record-setting August in Winnipeg and a further improvement in the Fraser Valley. These confirm signs that the country’s housing market is returning to health. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity was up 5% from where it stood in August 2018. The number of homes that traded hands was up from year-ago levels in most of Canada’s largest urban markets, including the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Calgary, Winnipeg, the Greater Toronto (GTA), Ottawa and Montreal. New Listings The …
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  In order to find out how the current rate impacts you, we must first identify if you are an insured or uninsured borrower. Do you have less than 20% down? Securing an insured mortgage (otherwise known as a high-ratio mortgage) means you have less than 20% down, and your mortgage will be backed by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC), Genworth or Canada Guaranty. The insurance premium is a one-time amount added to your final mortgage balance. A mortgage with less than 20% down is required to have insurance. This insurance is also referred to as default insurance which protects the mortgage lender in case there is a loss in principal balance as a result of a mortgage foreclosure. Both the lender and the insurer need to approve your application. The maximum home price allowed on an insured mortgage is $999,999. The maximum amortization for an insured mortgage is …
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On the same day, a report was released urging the sale of government-owned surplus lands, Doug Ford’s government did just that. The auspicious announcement concerns 200 affordable units included in two towers near Yonge and Wellesley Sts. in downtown Toronto, to go along with 700 purpose-built rental units, retail, and a daycare centre. The land was flipped to developers for $36 million, and according to Joe Vaccaro, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association, it’s a sign that, unlike the Kathleen Wynne-led Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives aren’t wasting time solving the housing crisis. “This government is very focused on the outcomes right now,” said Vaccaro. “In the past, it’s been about ‘Process, process, process,’ but this government wants the outcome and is very consistent with cutting red tape and its ‘open for business’ approach. Today’s deal has been in the works for a while and I think it’s the beginning …
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The bond market is now sending a clear signal: Go with a variable-rate mortgage. Many people started out Wednesday morning expecting three or more rate hikes in the next 18 months. Now, they’re wondering if we’ll see more than one. That’s how much rate expectations have changed since the Bank of Canada’s latest rate statement. If you’re shopping for a mortgage and believe what the bond market is telling us, it implies your odds of success with a fixed rate may have just changed. WATCH THE BOC’S ACTIONS, NOT ITS LIPS The Bank of Canada still maintains that its key bank rate is headed toward its estimated “neutral range,” which means 75 to 175 basis points higher than today’s 1.75 per cent (75 basis points equals three-quarters of a percentage point). But the bond market, which bakes in virtually all available information, is losing faith in the bank’s words. The …
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