Everyone with mortgages renewing this year out of five year fixed rate mortgages will be getting a pleasant surprise.  Their new mortgage rate will be cut in half.  The problem for most of these homeowners has been they couldn’t’ get out (pay out) these mortgages earlier because of stiff penalties.  Some of the major banks are charging the difference between the posted and discounted rates meaning the penalties didn’t make sense to pay out even though we were in a unprecedented time in our history when rates have been declining every year. 

The time is now to contact us about  getting a locked rate for the next 120 days to protect yourself in case rates rise in the spring.  It’s surprising how many people don’t take a few minutes to get a mortgage check up prior to renewal. We like to start about six months prior.  If there is something negative reported on the credit bureau we help you get things cleaned before your mortgage renews.  

This is exactly what we are doing for our client Dulcey.  We called her to see how things we going because her  5.79% five year mortgage (the best rate at the time) renews in May.  Unfortunately, she had a setback  when her hours were cut to a four day work share during the recession and as a single wage earner, she fell behind on some of her credit cards.  The credit card companies didn’t have much sympathy for her position and they put her into collection on her cards.  Dulcey is back to full time hours but she can’t get ahead enough to pay her debts off.  So we arranged a private second mortgage (no bank will touch you when you are in this position)  to clean up her $20,000 in credit cards.  She can easily afford the monthly payment of $233. per month and over the next six months her credit will steadily improve.  Now when her mortgage matures we will be able to refinance her 1^st mortgage and her 2^nd mortgage together and with the new five year fixed and variable rates hovering around 3 %, Dulcey’s new mortgage payment will be be less than she is paying now and with zero credit card debt.

The word is out. Home One Canada’s new bundled services are a ‘Game Changer’.  Selling and Buying real estate is now made simple as A, B, C. Our all-inclusive Home Buyer Bundle is only $995.00 Save Big! Mortgage Financing, Realtor, Home Inspection & Legal Services are all included.

Our new Home Seller Bundled service is equally as powerful. For only $895.00 we give you your ‘optimum’ financial plan/strategy, a top results producing Realtor, professional Home Staging Consultant, Home (Pre-Certification) Inspection, Legal services AND Bridge Financing saving you a ton of time and money. Your property will have maximum marketability, and the stress of moving will be minimized because you will have two days to move, not one day. Call us today for more details.

Our mission is to make your next ‘Move’ a cost effective, accountable, convenient, coordinated, satisfying, and stress free experience. Call us today and see the difference. Purchasing or Selling a home should be a memorable, happy one. With Home One Canada, it is.

Folks, whether you plan to buy, refinance or renew soon, there probably will be no better time than now to take/switch to a long term fixed rate mortgage. Even if you will be renewing later this year (or next) you owe it to yourself to check out what options are available now. We could be talking about saving tens of thousands of dollars.

With 4 year fixed at 2.99%(4.79), 5 year 3.15% (5.29) the spread with variable is virtually non existent. Take a 7 year at 3.99% (6.35) or 10 year at 3.89% (6.75) and you will be smiling. Now you have a much greater ability to pay down your mortgage more quickly and keep your payments ultra low for up to 10 years. Wow! Rates in brackets are posted bank rates. Call us today to see what we can do for you.

The NFL playoffs are underway and the winners will come from the best overall team effort. The same is now true when you use HOME ONE CANADA’s new services to buy or sell your next home. For Buyers our GAME PLAN guarantees you will make the most points and win the game. We put your winning Home Buying Team together; coordinate all the plays, unheard of before in the realm of real estate. ONE SOURCE, ONE CALL, ONE PRICE it can’t get any simpler than this, for all your needs. MORTGAGE FINANCING,  REALTOR, HOME INPSECTION & LEGAL SERVICES for only $995.00 . SAVE BIG!

If you are planning to sell, our Home Seller service bundle is unprecedented. It includes Pre-Certifying your home in good health, Bridge Financing to eliminate the stress of moving out and moving in all on the same day, and House Clean service leaving your house spotless for the new owners. All this included in our bundled price package. Again we coordinate everything for you. If you SELL AND BUY through HOME ONE CANADA the benefits are unparalleled. Call 226-383-6476 for details.

With mortgage rates now at ‘Ultra Low’ unheard of levels, if you have a legitimate reason to move up or down or to buy your first home then don’t delay. This statement is based on the assumption that you have secure job/income(s) so that you can do so with confidence. Simply put, you can either buy more house for the money, or you can get the lowest payment possible, one that you can easily afford. Although prime is expected to remain low, with fixed rates the lowest in history, now is the time to secure your mortgage payments for the long term. Our 10 year fixed rate is at 3.89%. INCREDIBLE!

Please call us today to review your options. We will likely give you several. And remember getting a bank mortgage anymore means you will have a Collateral Mortgage. We recommend you avoid them and if you want to know why, please call us first.

20  12 is upon us with many resolutions, predictions and expectations. We had a fun new year’s celebration and hope you did as well and now it’s back to work. We would like to thank you for making 2011 another excellent year for us and we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead.

The “experts” are predicting as much if not more volatility than last year as global financial turmoil tops the list.

The government tightened up on refinance parameters and Business for Self lending with further tightening expected this year. So if you are thinking of refinancing or you have your own business, now is the time to take advantage of ‘all time’ low rates.

If you are thinking of purchasing, our sister company HOME ONE CANADA is rolling out a first of its kind ONE STOP SHOP home buying solution. Now you can get all the services you need from ONE SOURCE. The major breakthrough is that you can also get them at ONE GUARANTEED PRICE taking the guesswork out of the cost of each service.

In fact we put your home buying team together and we arrange and coordinate everything for you for only $995.00 saving you time and money. MORTGAGE FINANCING, REALTOR, HOME INSPECTOR, LAWYER including closing costs are yours. SAVE BIG! We also help you with INSURANCE. Buying a home has never been easier.

It does not matter if you are a first timer or not, HOME ONE CANADA dramatically simplifies the entire process from start to finish. You will have a dedicated VIP CLIENT SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE who is your ‘GO TO’ person responsible for coordinating and communicating the status of each service.

If you have bought before you will know from experience that the stress factor is up there with death and taxes. Reason being is that nothing is coordinated between services. HOME ONE CANADA pulls this altogether for you making your home buying experience a much more seamless and satisfying one. We also give you clear expectations of what to expect and the timing of the various services along the way.

Just call our same central number and ask for HOME ONE CANADA. We will be happy to  sit down with you to explain the new service in detail.

Call us first for your mortgage or your home buying needs. We’ve got you covered.

Most of the big banks have switched to a new ‘Collateral’ mortgage product in the last year. The question is why? Is it better for the bank or for you the borrower? On the surface, the bank will tell you that this new ‘Readvanceable’ mortgage which is registered at 100 per cent of your home’s value, gives you ‘Savings & Simplicity’ with the ability to borrow in future as your mortgage balance decreases, without incurring legal costs. Wow, what a deal. Sounds good right? Well hold on.

You cannot go to any other lender (if you are offered a better rate) because it looks like you have ‘Zero’ equity because your first mortgage is at 100% of value.  Let’s say your mortgage is 50% of value, so you have 50% equity, and during the term a need arises that requires you to borrow more money. You are forced remain at the mercy of your bank, and what they offer you because it is difficult and at best, very expensive to break your mortgage. This also applies to selling your house, which on average Canadians do every 3.5 years. You have to stay with the same bank. Do you think they will give you a very attractive rate? Not likely. They will however, gladly give you a new ‘Blended’ rate which covers the cost of any penalty, but you will not know what the true cost (interest rate) you are paying on the new money.

If you lose your job is the bank going to help you make your mortgage payments? Or lend you more money? Not likely, because now you are considered ‘High Risk’. And get this, if you have credit cards with the same bank and you miss payments, the bank has the right to put you in default and realize on the security of your home property. Theoretically they can put your mortgage in default even if you have not missed a mortgage payment.  AND they also have the right (read the fine print) to increase your mortgage or loan rates to prime plus ten per cent which today means, up to 13 per cent. You see folks, your credit cards are effectively no longer ‘Unsecured’ either. The bank has you coming and going.

So is it worth it to have your new first mortgage registered at the same value of your house? Obviously not. Bottom line, this new type of mortgage gives the banks complete control over you, and it appears that it puts them in a position to be able to charge you higher rates down the road, costing you dearly, especially when you have little choice but to stay with them. Look out for the renewal rate they will offer you as well. If you find yourself in a collateral mortgage, then please make sure all your credit cards are with other institutions.

We suggest that you avoid getting into a collateral mortgage altogether. Call us instead. We will not put anyone into this ‘scary’ product, and we will ensure that you will have maximum flexibility and maximum options to choose from for whatever needs you may have in future.

Bill is retiring in 4 years and has 23 years left on his mortgage.

Bill like many Canadians had refinanced his house in the past to pay off high interest debt. Time and time again he tried not to purchase on credit but it was just too easy.  He told us he couldn’t’ deny himself some expensive toys that kept ‘presenting’ themselves to him time and time again, and he jokingly called himself a ‘debt junkie’.

Only this time with retirement approaching, he has had enough and he decided to change his ways once and for all. Bill had a $249K mortgage, $27K at 6.0% on line of credit and $17K on a credit card at 19.9%. Bill had two years left in his current mortgage term and the penalty will be $4,650. Is it worthwhile for Bill to pay the penalty and refinance? In a word, YES, but only if he takes a borrowing holiday and stops buying on credit we told him.

We got him a new 4 year mortgage at 3.08% to pay everything off, but here’s the thing, since he could already afford his previous payments, we recommended that he not accept the lower mortgage payment, but rather make mortgage payments at the same level he had been paying before including LOC and credit card payment. The result is a balance at maturity of $214,552 versus $254,995 with 8 years 10 months remaining instead of 18 years.

Bill loved our recommendation and we agreed to redo his mortgage again (this is very important) BEFORE he retires when his income is higher, with the objective of restructuring it then and paying it off in less than 5 years into retirement, something he would never have been able to do the way he was going.

Essentially we have taken him from over $290,000 debt today to $214,000 in 4 short years, with a new ability to pay it off much faster saving him tens of thousands of dollars in interest AND and helping him achieve financial security much sooner.

If you are like Bill, call us today so we can help you get where you need to be much faster. And remember, we look out for your best interests, always.

Think about renewing right now. Folks fixed mortgage rates are better than ever. Have you ever in your lifetime had a 5 year fixed rate of 3.39%? We know we haven’t. What an incredible rate. With once again increasing global financial turmoil, borrowing costs could spike up as governments introduce new austerity measures to grapple with spiraling deficits.

It’s an ideal time to batten down the hatches and put your financial footing in a ‘safety’ mode. Plan for the worst and hope for the best as the saying goes. If you have any consumer debt, get rid of it now. Plan for Xmas expenses (pay cash instead of charging), create a nest egg (for an unexpected rainy day event like job loss etc), and do whatever you have to do to weather the storm.

Let’s say your present mortgage is 4.75% and carries a balance of $200,000 with 25 years remaining. Your payment is $1,135 and balance after 5 years will be $176,312. Get 3.39% from us and your payment drops by $148 per month times 60 months equals a savings of $8,880.plus you’re your balance at maturity will be $172,211 putting an additional $4,101 in your pocket for a total of $12,981.

Borrow extra to pay off $7,500 on your credit cards at 19.9% with payments of $225/mth and convert to 3.39% ($37.01/mth), and an extra $25,000 for your new ‘no touch’em’ account (cost is $123.37/mth). Your new mortgage is $232,500 with a payment of $1,147 or only $12.00 a month more than you are paying now. You have gone to safety and you are now financially secure with the lowest interest rate ever for the next 5 years. You have no credit card debt AND you have $25,000 in the bank for an emergency.

Whatever you do, please do not allow yourself to be put into a Collateral Mortgage at a bank, and by all means do not simply sign back your renewal offer without speaking to us first. If you receive a renewal notice, call and tell us what you have been offered and see if we can beat it. Chances are we will and save you thousands of dollars. If your mortgage doesn’t mature soon, but will next year, be proactive and ask your (bank) lender what renewal rate they will give you now, if any. Then call us to compare.

Rate is always important, but what people rarely think to ask about is how any penalty is calculated if they need to break the mortgage. Did you know most Canadians move/sell every 3.5 years. If you have a bank mortgage, your penalty will be high because it is calculated using ‘Posted’ rate, not the discounted rate our lenders penalties are based on. Just last week, we saw a (bank) penalty of $30,000. Wow. If your bank says ‘Posted’ run for the hills. Remember we look out for your best interests, always.

With fixed mortgage rates having fallen to all time lows we thought we would write to those of you who are not too far from retirement.

We have big proponents of the variable but the time may well have arrived to have a serious look at ‘GOING SAFE’ for the next five years, and most importantly determine the smartest strategy to follow until retirement arrives.

Those getting the golden handshake soon should be getting the lowest rate mortgage possible with the longest amortization giving you the lowest payment for the longest period of time.   5 year fixed rate money is as low as 3.39% (30 day close), 7 year at 4.49% ,  and 10 year at 4.79% (up to 1 and half per cent below the bank’s posted rates). We have never seen rates this low in our entire career. The spread between variable and (our) fixed rates is so narrow, that now may be THE TIME to go to safety, long term.

Folks, we see too many people who plan too late or don’t plan at all.  During their working lives they sacrifice to pay off their mortgage but don’t make it. Life gets in the way. Having a small mortgage  is good but not at the expense of being cash poor. And so they struggle into retirement.  Once they retire they have fewer options available because their income has dropped. They become equity rich (you can’t eat equity) and house poor, continuing to struggle when they should have ample funds to live the ‘Golden Years’ the way they are supposed to. 

Call us today, to arrange a convenient time to come into our office to discuss you current and future needs and have us help you find the best financial strategy going forward in retirement.

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