The early spring housing market is heating up with the lowest rates in history, right now!

Let’s take a quick look historically at where rates have come from. 5 year fixed was 22% in 1982, 14% in 1991, 9.9% in 1994, 7.5% in 1995. By 2010 it was down to 5%. Today it hit an all-time low of 2.89%. But don’t be fooled. To get 2.89% you have to close within 30 days AND you have no prepayment privileges meaning that if you need to sell within the term, it could cost you a fortune (or worse, you cannot sell at all). A 3.04% rate on the other hand will give you much more flexibility, all for the sake of a few bucks a month.

Folks, ‘fixation’ on rate only, ignoring other equally important (cost) factors is not only dangerous, it’s foolish. When you deal with us, we take the time to help you understand all the important components of a mortgage, we dig deep to discuss your future needs and ensure that the mortgage ‘product’ we put you in, is absolutely best for you.

We also discuss ‘Strategy’. Should you consider a 7 or 10 year terms currently at 3.59% & 3.69% respectively? The 5 year rate was at this level just a short time ago, and since rates will rise in due course, and could be a lot higher in 5 years’ time, deciding to go long term could well be the most prudent financial decision you ever make. Getting a mortgage today is more complex and confusing than ever before, and choosing the right term and mortgage product has never been more important.

Understand that ‘Strategy’ is more than just choosing the best mortgage rate/terms for you, it’s also about putting a formal plan (with goals) in place to pay down/off your mortgage much faster, saving you tens of thousands of dollars.

Our new SMARTEQUITY cash management/debt elimination is your answer. Call us today to learn how you can pay off debt much faster without even changing your mortgage. If you need a new mortgage, even better. Become completely debt free too, in a fraction of the time. No bank nor any other mortgage source in this region can offer you this amazing solution. You can also retire sooner than you think, or plan to have an investment/retirement income that is otherwise not possible. Call today to make an appointment to change your life forever.

Our info session for private lending is being held on Thursday April 4^th at 7 pm at our office. Please call and register to attend.

With the tightening of mortgage rules by the federal government over the past few years, qualifying for a prime institutional mortgage has become more difficult. This has increased the demand for alternative money sources.

Refinances are now restricted to a maximum 80 per cent loan to value and as a result high ratio lending in this category has been completely eliminated.

People continue to have needs including paying off high interest debt to reduce the ‘interest’ burden. Private first and second mortgage money is still available at ‘attractive’ rates, and represents a short term solution for borrowers.

The return to private lenders is considerably higher than returns from bank debt instruments and the stock market, and hence we have seen a surge of private money available last year, but the need continues to exceed demand. First mortgage rates (return) ranges from 7% to 10% and seconds from 12% to 15%, significantly higher than bank deposit rates hovering around 2%. RRSP’s can also be used to fund second mortgages.

Private lending in real estate is typically more secure and stable than most other non-real estate related (stock market) investments, and provides an excellent return over the longer term. We conduct a thorough due diligence, and structure the deals to mitigate risk for our lenders.

If you own a house, have a mortgage and/or carry consumer debt please call The Price Team today to make an appointment to learn how you can pay off your debts in a fraction of the time, without refinancing, yes that’s right, and become debt free faster than you ever imagined before through our amazing  SMARTEQUITY program. To see is to believe.

Ryan Lockhart doesn’t need a get-away car or face mask to feel comfortable robbing his bank. Ryan is a student of Scott Peckford who wrote the book of the same title. The book is a ‘game plan’ to help people turn the tables on their bank to keep more of their hard earned money.

“After taxes, the largest percentage  of most Canadians’ income goes into their bank’s coffers” he writes, “When you add up your car loan, mortgage, insurance and credit card payments, it amounts to a lot of money – your money”.  And this is just the interest. When you factor in ‘Fees’ , penalties, advise not in your best interest, and lest we forget, the new ‘Collateral Mortgage’ product the banks are now using, well there is no wonder the banks continue to make record profits ‘on our backs’.

Folks when you get a mortgage through us, you get the best rate and terms, but the lowest penalties if you move within the term. The banks want to make money from you, whereas we save you money so the end result from getting a mortgage through The Price Team is vastly superior.

Now hear is something your bank really doesn’t want to hear. With our new CASH MANAGEMENT & DEBT REDUCTION SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS you can beat the banks at their own game because now you can pay off your mortgage in less than half the time without any extra, accelerated principal payments and WITHIN YOUR CURRENT BUDGET.

With this amazing new program, WE GUARANTEE YOU A LOWER (MUCH LOWER) EFFECTIVE RATE THAN ANY BANK CAN OFFER YOU. In fact if we save most of our new mortgage clients $100,000 in interest or more, that will MAKE THE BANKS A LOT ‘LESS’ RICHER’ won’t it? Like the man from ING used to say “KEEP YOUR MONEY” but wait a minute, he was a banker too, so he was speaking out  of both sides of his mouth. 

For straight forward, truthful, helpful advice and maximum results, please do yourself a favour and call us first.

Even if your mortgage is mid-term, and you simply want to pay it down or off much sooner, then register for a seat at one of our up and coming FREE NO OBLIGATION SEMINARS to learn more.

WITHOUT CHANGING YOUR MORTGAGE SAVE $100,000+

Attend our seminar next Thursday Feb 27^th and we will show you how to pay off a 25 year mortgage in less than 10 years and save over $100,000+ WITHOUT CHANGING YOUR CURRENT MORTGAGE, WITHOUT REFINANCING, WITHOUT ACCELERATED PRE-PAYMENTS all within your current budget.

It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well it’s not folks. But it does take some work, some dedication and consistency in paying all your financial obligations. That’s it, that’s all it takes. Seeing is believing, and once you see, you will be amazed.

Learn how you can POWER DOWN the effective interest rates on your loans, credit cards, lines of credit and mortgage with our new DEBT REDUCTION & ELIMINATION SOFTWARE.

It starts with attending one of our NO OBLIGATION seminars next Thursday. You will leave with a new conviction and realization that you can be DEBT FREE MUCH SOONER.

If you are in your fifties, and you have a 25 year mortgage, and little or no savings, you are likely worried about retirement. We will show you how in less than 15 years you can have A CAREFREE LIFESTYLE WITHOUT DEBT AND A RETIREMENT FUND.

REVERSE THE TREND of having to work longer in life out of necessity. Our program works for young and old alike.

If you are a young family that cannot get ahead, you can benefit most. And for those of you who are under extreme financial stress, we can help you too. Tremendously!

The seminar is designed to inform you, and to provide you with all the information you need including a FREE ANALYSIS and a CUSTOMIZED CONFIDENTIAL REPORT showing your personal projected savings.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So register to attend now. Space is limited. If you are ‘coupled’ please make sure you bring your spouse. See you soon!

This is the first article of several planned to expose bank practices, quoting from the words of authors/sources in the financial milieu. After you read the poinient words and examples all factual, we hope you will decide to entrust your next mortgage to an independent professional mortgage broker that looks out for your best interests, always.

According to Charles A Bell, author and founder of MoneySmart©,  the banks pay minimal taxes despite astronomical profits in the billions of dollars each and every quarter of every year.  How can that be? He asserts that “bank competition is virtually non-existent”, and that they make most of their profits through “outright deception, withholding information and even planned intimidation”.  

Big, bold statements for sure but hear this. Bell says that some of the tactics that are ‘systematically’ used are: 

1. Making you wait at least 15 minutes or more to see a loans officer.

2. Designing forms so long and difficult (impossible) to read, if not impossible to understand.

3. Securing more collateral than necessary as security for a loan.  

4. Misleading advertising – refraining from full, accurate disclosure and stating half-truths.

5. Automatically adding credit life and disability insurance to a loan without asking you, and telling you that it is optional, or worse, telling you that you must take it.

Nasty stuff isn’t it? And we haven’t even got to the subject of mortgages yet. Next week we will go into how the banks ‘Hold’ your deposit cheques unnecessarily for days on end, for their profit, and why you should NEVER allow your bank to pay your real estate taxes through your mortgage payment. 

CREDIT CARDS & LINES OF CREDIT (HELOC’s) are the two worst kinds of credit because of high interest and fees, annual fees, late fees etc. They give a false sense of buying power. Believe it or not, some people actually think of this type of credit as ‘income’. Buy now pay later schemes lure people deeper. When ‘later’ arrives the balance is not paid off and the cycle of interest charges and minimum payments begins. It starts innocently enough, believing you will pay them off every month, and you can’t or don’t for whatever reasons. It may simply be a lack of discipline; other unexpected bills get in the way, but the main reason people fall behind and enter the ‘cycle’ is because they do not have a budget. Before you know it, you are saying “Where did that $40,000 balance come from.

Many people tell us that their mortgage is only ‘X’ believing that is the only debt on their house when in fact they also have a HELOC which they thought was unsecured when it is/was. Unfortunately we all need credit cards to establish and maintain a good credit rating, but beyond credit cards the HELOC just makes it too easy, especially because the interest rate is prime plus 3% as opposed to 19-29+%. Very few people are able to pay more than the minimum balance, and worse, it is interest only. Ouch. You never pay off the debt. And the Big Banks are smiling! Dollar advances, is another ‘trick’ that allows the banks to charge full interest from day one at the highest rate. All payment are applied to ‘purchase balances’ first.  

Now that you are making minimum payments only, you have entered the ‘slippery slope’. Next comes borrowing on your overdraft, and visits to the cash money stores (who charge usurous rates). Canadians  had the luxury of being able to refinance their mortgage to pay off/down high interest debt in the past, but this technique has been sharply curtailed by the feds to a maximum 80% of value AND since real estate appreciation has flattened out, many are faced with having to obtain a private mortgage to stay afloat. More and more will be forced to sell or lose their homes likely ending up in bankruptcy.

Two more examples how the banks take your money are HOLDING CHECKS & PAYING YOUR REALTY TAXES FOR YOU. Did you know most cheques ‘clear’ within 48 hours but are ‘held’ up to 10 days. That means the bank makes more profit off you because they have the use of your money ‘free’ for 8 days. PAYING YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES is another big one, and while you may opt ‘for convenience’ to have the bank pay them for you, it costs you dearly. You pay monthy, the bank pays twice a year.  The banks also charges you more to build up a tax ‘credit’ account . Don’t do it. It costs you hundreds and hundreds of dollars more every year.

Folks it’s really our own fault if we allow the banks to take advantage of us, pure and simple. And the best way to prevent this from happening is to be informed and GET ON A BUDGET. More on this next week.