It was awesome to meet so many new and old acquaintances at last week’s Fergus Home Show.  Check out Tracy Luciani Facebook page; please send us your ‘likes’.

The draw was held Monday morning and the winner’s are: Joyce Sweeney of Elora for a Free Mortgage Payment, Rick Yuill of Elora  for the Classic Harley Davidson painting, and Debbie Denhoed for the Enriched Academy.Com  – Smart Start System for Financial Genius. Debbie has 3 kids…perfect! Congratulations to all of you.

We would like to suggest to all parents out there, that if you have teenagers, the Enriched Academy program is a wonderful, invaluable resource that they must have in their hands as soon as they reach age 13.  It encompasses more than saving, investing, budgeting, managing credit/debt to include Goal Setting, Building Character, Choosing Careers etc. Any youth or young adult who follows this program will become financially independent/wealthy. One of our DLC colleagues developed it for young people since our educational system does not teach them this stuff. It is a very worthwhile program and represents one of the greatest ‘gifts’ that you can give your child. Better yet, don’t give it to them, ‘encourage’ them to buy it with their first job earnings, or if you purchase it for them, have them pay you back right? That’s teaching them responsibility.  The 5 DVD series/package retails for $149.95 however for those of you who do your next mortgage or refer a new mortgage client to us (or a Home One Canada.Ca service bundle) will receive one free from us.

Congrats to Tracy for being honoured as the #1 Producer (3 years in a row now) with our franchise that includes over 70 mortgage consultants. Way to go Trace, you’re the best.  The Price Team/DLC  also placed in the top 12 with Dominion Lending Centres, Canada wide in 2011.

Happy Victoria Day Weekend everyone, what a great forecast.

BOUGHT BUT NOT SOLD

Mary Anne a new ‘senior’ had been reading us but never thought she would need us.  After all she had always dealt with her bank.   She purchased a new ‘to be built’ home in Elora with a long six month closing.   She thought it would be no problem to sell her home in Puslinch within the time period.  But it took her 3 months to get her property ready for sale.  She had a several showings through her realtor and some open houses but no offers.  

In the very beginning her bank told her they saw no problem.  Until there was a problem.  She was later told that without a sale of her property she could not finalize the purchase of the new one. She went back to her builder to see if he would extend the closing of her purchase, but he said he could not wait for his money beyond the agreed contract date.  Panicking, the retired teacher came to see us.  Walking away from the purchase and forfeiting her $25,000 deposit was not positive option.  We suggested she either close her purchase with short  term private money until her house sold and closed, or that we refinance her property, pay off all her debts and get some money to provide toward to purchase.   With the closing date fast approaching, her realtor was pressuring her to reduce the price of her home.  Mary Anne was feeling like she needed to take any reasonable offer despite being assured before that her house was well priced to move.  Bridge financing was out of the question because her house was not sold.

We ended up refinancing her home, pulled out what we could for the purchase and got her enough private short term money to close on her new home.   A few weeks later, Mary Anne came into our office and announced she had sold her home for almost full price to close the end of July. She said, “Now I understand that mortgage brokers find solutions, when the Bank can’t.” You see, the banks only think ‘inside the box’. Now she will be sitting pretty with no debts with a small affordable mortgage on her new bungalow.  Now that’s what we call a good solution.  We pride ourselves in ‘out of the box thinking’ when it comes to mortgages solutions.  

The federal government just announced that CMHC will now be run by OSFI, the Office of the Superintendent for Financial Services. What this means is that getting a mortgage will become more difficult, ‘across the board’.  Also because the banks will no longer be allowed to ‘insure’ their low risk mortgages, this will put new pressure on lending costs and likely lead them to charge higher mortgage rates. The Bank of Canada will now not have to increase their ‘floor’ wholesale lending rate which would cause the loonie to soar and in turn would hurt the economy.

Experts suggest the effect of tougher mortgage lending and higher rates will definitely slow down the ‘overheated’ housing market, so if you are thinking of buying or selling, do it soon, very soon.

For those of you who are worried about possible job layoff/loss, and those who have high interest consumer debt, act now.  Be proactive, don’t wait until it is too late. Take yourself to safety.

If your mortgage is renewing this year, you may want to take advantage of today’s ultra low rates. How would you like to lock into our incredible (all time low) 10 year fixed mortgage rate of 3.99% (the equivalent bank rate is 6.75%). No one ever foresaw long term money this cheap. And hear this. There is no IRD or Interest Rate Differential beyond 5 year terms and so no IRD on a 10 year term mortgage, after 5 years. What an incredible bonus if you sell your house between 5 and 10 years.  You can also port (take it with you) or have it assumed when you sell (it will be a very attractive rate to buyers). Talk about a ‘Win/Win’ scenario.

Inevitably rates have nowhere to go but up. It’s only a matter of time. With the world in financial turmoil the future is uncertain. With these circumstances, ‘Going Long’ now makes more sense than before.

Call us for a mortgage checkup and to discuss the advantages of ‘Going Long’ today. You will be so glad you did!