What is the “Best Mortgage Rate” ? It’s not synonymous with the “lowest mortgage rate.” The best mortgage ratecorresponds to the mortgage and advice that saves (and in some cases makes) you the most amount of money long-term. Mortgage professionals routinely advise, “It’s not all about the rate.” To some, that sounds like evil sales-speak meant […]

How To Better Qualify For A Mortgage By Melanie September 25, 2013 0 Comments Recently my partner and I spoke with a local mortgage agent to see if we qualify for a mortgage. Since we’re both newly self-employed and carry some debt, we knew it was iffy, but we wanted to know where we stood. Most importantly, […]

Why there’s no reason to panic about rising rates   Republish Reprint Garry Marr | 13/08/26 | Last Updated: 13/08/26 5:42 PM ETMore from Garry Marr | @DustyWallet There is a simple answer to all this hysteria about mortgage rates going up. Don’t lock in your rate. I know it’s almost heresy to have a floating rate in a mortgage world dictated […]

Shocker! Couples buy homes before wedding   A new study from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC says that about one in four married couples between the ages of 18 to 34 purchased their first home together before their wedding date, compared to 14 per cent of those ages 45 and older. According to the U.S. […]

Soft landing still likely, conference told AdviceMay 15, 2013 Recently Genworth Canada hosted a half-day seminar for Realtors and mortgage industry professionals. The seminar was held in Mississauga and broadcast live across Canada via webcast. Craig Alexander, chief economist at TD Group, delivered the keynote speech about the current state of Canada’s economy and real […]

May 04, 2013 Not All New Rules Are Old Rules In the last four and a half years, federal regulators have instituted more than two dozen mortgage-related policies and regulations. It’s a well-intended attempt to engineer a market correction (the proverbial “soft landing”) and add stability to the housing market. There’s been much debate over […]

It’s difficult to scan the latest news without coming across one headline or another that talks about Canada’s housing market being on the verge of collapse or its bubble bursting.  But the true market experts beg to differ. That’s why it’s important to look at the facts.  According to BMO Capital Markets, an examination of […]

BoC Decision: Lower for Even Longer Canadian macro-economists are mostly in agreement that the overnight rate should go nowhere in the next 9-12+ months. And the Bank of Canada gave no indication today that such projections are off the mark. The Bank left Canada’s core lending rate unchanged at 1% for the 29th straight month, […]

Title Insurance Tidbits Title insurance is usually an afterthought for people getting a mortgage. But it’s becoming more of a decision point since so many lenders now require it. The purpose of title insurance is to protect you if there’s a problem with your title. Those problems can turn into expensive nightmares in the small […]

Why the housing market won’t crash in 2013   LARRY MACDONALD Special to The Globe and Mail Published Friday, Dec. 28 2012, 4:00 AM EST  The 12-month change in the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index has decelerated in recent months to 3.4 per cent, led by declines in Vancouver (-1.4 per cent) and Victoria (-1.7 […]