Home Buyer’s Plan, mortgages, new home savings plan Every first-time home buyer is faced with the challenge of financing their purchase. This comes with two elements: the down payment; and the mortgage. How can you scrape together a down payment? Saving like...
Options for relieving the personal debt burden Since 2020, when the pandemic and associated financial damage created by government lock-downs and mandates really began to hit hard, debt problems were pushed to the back burner. Many creditors temporarily held off...
Navigating stress tests and high-ratio mortgage insurance As if the real estate market weren’t already challenging enough, the government has decided to make it even tougher by tightening the qualification thresholds for certain mortgages. If you’re applying for a...
The Home Buyers’ Plan and the stress test Shopping for a new home? Welcome to the crowd. The residential real estate market is hot in all of Canada’s major urban centres and surrounding areas, mostly because of the current environment of ultra-low interest rates....
Are retirees playing with fire? They could be if they decide to use money borrowed through a mortgage to supplement their other sources of retirement income. The most common ways those at or close to retirement do this is to hold a mortgage through their Locked-in Retirement Account (LIRA) or to borrow money against their home through a so-called “reverse mortgage.” But retirees should think long and hard before entering into either of these arrangements.
Know the rules before you sign on the dotted line If you’ve been shopping for a mortgage for your new home, you probably have run across something called a “stress test.” It raises the bar on your financial health a lot higher before you can qualify for a mortgage...
Beware the fees and penalties! Sometimes it makes sense to refinance a mortgage – and it’s tempting if your rate is higher than prevailing rates – but mostly it doesn’t. It would make sense only if you have a longer-term mortgage at an interest rate considerably...
Learn the basics of financing before plunging in – no math degree required Young couples shopping for their first home are faced with the bewildering new language of the real estate market – mortgages alone often seem to require a degree in higher mathematics. It’s...
A mortgage rate hike could put you in a cash crunch If you currently have a fairly large variable-rate mortgage on your home, it’s probably set at a very low rate, which makes your monthly payments affordable. But with interest rates apparently ready to rise, is...
Take on life’s biggest debt…and win! Even though much of Canada is still covered with a thick layer of snow and ice, the so-called spring real estate market is gathering momentum. And banks, finance companies, and lawyers are all gearing up to take their cut,...