Bank of Canada reveals latest interest rate decision

October 31, 2018 by Andrew

Interest Rates - Bank of Canada London Community Mortgage Movement

The Bank of Canada has raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point. This is the fifth time since last summer that the Bank of Canada has pushed up the cost of borrowing for Canadians.

The central bank’s target for the overnight rate is now set at 1.75 per cent.

The cost of loans linked to the big bank prime rates are headed higher in the wake of the Bank of Canada’s decision to raise its key interest rate target by a quarter of a percentage point. The Canadian banks each raised their prime lending rates to 3.95 per cent from 3.70 per cent, effective Thursday, October 25, 2018.

The increase followed governor Stephen Poloz’s first policy meeting since Canada agreed with the United States and Mexico earlier this month on an updated North American free trade deal. It was the bank’s first rate decision since Canada agreed with the United States and Mexico earlier this month on an updated North American free trade deal.

So far, the Bank of Canada has stated that Canadians have been making spending adjustments in response to earlier rate hikes and stricter mortgage policies — and credit growth continues to moderate. Household vulnerabilities — while still elevated — have edged down as a result.

Consumer spending is expected to continue expanding at a “healthy pace,” thanks in large part to the steady rise of incomes and the strength of consumer confidence. It projects exports to keep growing at a moderate clip, even though they will face limitations from several factors — including transportation capacity constraints, global trade uncertainty and stiff competition, particularly from the U.S.

Known as the target for the overnight rate, the benchmark is what Canada’s big banks charge each other for short-term loans. It filters down to consumers, because it affects the rates the banks offer their customers for things like variable rate mortgages and savings accounts.

The bank says households have already made spending adjustments in response to earlier rate hikes and stricter mortgage policies _ and credit growth continues to moderate.

Unknown Benefits of Opting for a Home Refinance

October 21, 2018 by Andrew

If you own a home, there’s a good chance you’ll do a mortgage refinance at some point. Few borrowers stay with their original home loan for a full 30 years; most either refinance or sell the property long before the full term runs its course.

When the borrower on a home loan has reached a stage where the terms of the first home loan are unsatisfactory, or costlier than they need to be, given the current economy and monetary condition, the borrower at times goes for a home refinance loan. When this happens the first loan is paid off and the same loan is supplanted with a refinance loan, though the terms can either be similar or different.

Smaller Repayments

When it comes to a refinance home loan, you may have the capacity to structure the loan in such a way that you may only have to pay a smaller amount of money at regular intervals. This could be extremely useful if your situation is a little tight due to monetary constraints.

Longer Time to Repay

Another advantage of home refinancing is that you can spread out a loan over more years by customizing the time to reimburse the loan. Spreading out a similar size loan over more years implies that the interest paid will be more, yet the repayment made will be more reasonable in size for the loan holder.

Fixed Amount of Payment

One of the other advantages when it comes to refinancing your home with a fixed rate is that the repayment sum will continue to be the same. Once the loan amount is set, the installment sum continues to be the same throughout the course of the mortgage.

Pay Off Old Debts

When you get cash as part of the home refinance deal, you can use some of that money to pay off old debt (especially those with high interest rates). A refinance can also help you pay off future costs as well. An example of this might be taking care of the cost of education for yourself or relatives. This money can also help with doing repairs towards the house.

Why The Best Mortgage Rate May Not Always Be The Lowest

September 22, 2018September 16, 2018 by Andrew

Just like when looking for a car, it isn’t always the best option to choose the cheapest one you find, it is the one that is best suited for you and your lifestyle. So just like when looking at mortgages, choosing the one with the lowest interest rates might not be the best option for you, as it could end up costing you more.

How can it cost me more?

One of the reasons why some of the interest rates are low, is that they come with restrictions and sometimes aren’t that flexible. While lenders can entice you with low fixed rates, they might be able to get that money back further down the road with penalties and fines if you were to adjust or change your mortgage. This is not an uncommon practice, similarly insurance companies do this by offering us less for insurance but charge us a higher deductible if something were to happen with our car.

Just like interest rates with additional features and flexibility, these can cost a bit more than a fixed, low interest rate. By paying a little bit extra in interest rates, you can have a little bit of breathing room when it comes to an unexpected change in events and you may need to change your mortgage.

Some Considerations

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when you consider locking in your next mortgage:

What if I need to refinance due to an unexpected job loss, break-up, unexpected home repairs, etc.?
Can I put extra money down to pay off the mortgage? If so, how much and when?
Are my closing dates flexible? What happens if they aren’t?
What if I move and sell my house before the mortgage is up?

So, what is the best rate?

Life is unpredictable! We may not be able to foresee our future, especially when signing our first mortgage. A no-frills, low-interest mortgage that can end up penalizing you for adjusting or breaking your mortgage can be devastating! The last thing you want is to be penalized a substantial amount on fees and penalties in unexpected charges.

We’ll sit down with you and go over your present situation, as well as discuss your future needs. We can go over all the options available and choose the best options that will suit your needs.

What’s The Deal? Needing an Appraisal with 20% Down Payment

April 1, 2021July 28, 2018 by Andrew

I’m Andrew Young of Mortgage Wise Financial and Community Mortgage Movement.

What’s the deal with Needing An Appraisal When You Have 20% Down?

To begin with, an appraisal is an unbiased estimate of the value of a home you want to buy or already own by a third party appraiser. It is basically an analysis of recently sold properties, active properties, terminated properties, and expired properties around your area to determine the value of your home right now. Most lenders will consider recent within the last 30 days. A lot of people ask me “Why do the lenders need an appraisal when I have 20% down or more?” This a real easy question to answer. When you have less than 20% down for a down payment, a lender has to go to CMHC, Canada Guarantee, or Genworth to get third party insurance. This then means that the onus is on the insurance company if you were to default on your mortgage. When you have 20% down or more, this means that the onus is on the lender itself. Therefore the lender wants to make sure that the value for the home, if the worst-case scenario were to happen (you were to default on your insurance). They have to go in, take the home and then sell it again on the market. This is why you need an appraisal, even if you are paying 20% or more for your down payment I’m Andrew Young and that’s the deal.

What’s The Deal? – Bloopers

June 2, 2023June 13, 2018 by Andrew

I’m Andrew Young of Mortgage Wise Financial and Community Mortgage Movement.

And what’s the deal with my inability to get my lines right?

Here is the deal, I can’t always get my lines right or joke around in between takes. Here are some of the bloopers while filming. While working on these videos I have compiled some footage of me forgetting some of my lines, playing around with “what’s the deal” and trying to figure out which one would work best.

Looking for help with refinancing or renewing your mortgage? Feel free to reach out and I’ll make sure I find an option that is suitable for you and your needs!

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a leader in the mortgage industry and in the London, Ontario community. Not only do I help with finding a suitable solution to my clients needs I also help with supporting the London, Ontario Community. I am involved in several London, Ontario not for profits and on multiple boards and committees in the London, Ontario and surrounding areas.

Myself and Community Mortgage Movement is a group of caring and compassionate advocates who are creating a cooperative approach to funding community initiatives. Not only do I want to help grow the London, Ontario community, I want to help develop sustainable funding to support local businesses and community partners.

For your viewing pleasure, I’m Andrew Young and that’s the deal!

What’s The Deal? Low-rate Mortgage Offers

June 2, 2023June 11, 2018 by Andrew

I’m Andrew Young of Mortgage Wise Financial and Community Mortgage Movement.

What’s the deal with super low-rate mortgage offers?

I just want to go over a few different things before you lock yourself into something you don’t really want or something you don’t really need. What I want you to understand is what are you sacrificing to get a very low interest rate? Here are a couple things you should watch out for on low-rate mortgage offers.

Low-rate Basic Mortgages

These are low-rate mortgages that sometimes may include a reinvestment fee. A low rate basic mortgage will offer you an unbelievably low interest rate. So, what are you sacrificing with this type of mortgage? One of the main things you are giving up is your flexibility. Let’s say you were to break your mortgage after the first five years, there is generally a percentage of a penalty you will pay. So, if you break your mortgage early, you will generally have to pay a penalty (this is normally around 3%). These mortgages need to make their money somewhere! So, let’s say you have a mortgage of $400,000 that is a $12,000 penalty fee!

Reinvestment Fee

Some lenders are adding reinvestment fees into their mortgages. Some of the mortgages that we have seen here have these reinvestment fees added into their mortgage, they have a gradual decline over the five-year period, some dropping by .25% each year. If you are 99% percent sure that you are going to stay at this property for five years it might be worth it to just wait it out, if not you should start considering other options.

What I like to do is a suitability analysis. We try not to sell rates as much as possible, I would prefer to find out what you need first before I come up with a solution.

I’m Andrew Young and that’s the deal!

What’s The Deal? The Posted Rate Hike

June 11, 2018 by Andrew

I’m Andrew Young of Mortgage Wise Financial and Community Mortgage Movement.

What’s the deal with the recent posted rake hike?

So, what is a posted rate? Well posted rates have been around since before I was born. The posted rate is an intricate sales tactic to lure you into a bank. Back in the day you would walk into a bank and you would see a posted rate on one of their walls. Following that you would then move into an office and talk with the banks’ mortgage specialist. They would then offer you a discounted rate (because you are such a good customer). Let’s say the posted rate is 6% and because you are such a “great” client, they give you a rate of 4.5%.

One of the reasons why a posted rate exists still is to help calculate a penalty. Higher posted rates equal higher penalties. So, what the banks are trying to do is eliminate those people who are trying to secure lower interest rates in going elsewhere. This is a problem with a lot of the banks nowadays, as there are some better variable rate mortgages available elsewhere. So, in short, a lot of people are now leaving banks to go chase a better rate. Therefore, the major banks are increasing their posted rate.

A lot of the lenders (non-banks) that we work with don’t use the traditional bank way of coming up with penalties. Instead they use their regular rates also known as straight rates or discounted rates. It could be advantageous for you to deal with a monoline lender, rather than a major bank. Another interesting fact is that banks do deal with brokers, but these are deals through different channels.

Now is the best time to have a look at your mortgage and make sure it is the best mortgage for you. I’m always here to help.

I’m Andrew Young and that’s the deal!

Mortgage Rates and Why They Rise and Fall

April 15, 2018 by Andrew

There are many factors that influence the overall health of the Canadian economy; unemployment, inflation, consumer confidence and the housing market, just to name a small few.

Factors affecting the Fixed Mortgage Rates

One of the main factors that affects fixed mortgage rates is the Government of Canada Bond Yields. Fixed mortgage rates normally move in alignment with the Government of Canada Bond Yields.

Bond Prices and Bond Yields

There is a negative relationship between bond yields and the price of bonds. Meaning that when bond prices increase, the bond yields decrease and when bond prices decreases, the bond yield increases. Bonds are historically safer than stocks, especially Government issued bonds and due to this bond prices for Government bonds decrease when the market is booming and increase when the market is dipping

Bond Yields and fixed rates generally have a positive relationship. Meaning that when bond yields increase, fixed rate also increases.

Stock Market

When the Stock Market is booming, investors are more likely to make a higher return on investment equities than investing in bonds. This means that the demand for bonds decreases and as such the bond price decreases and the bond yield increases and this will lead to an increase in the fixed rate. On the other hand, when the stock market is dipping, and stocks do not look as enticing, investors are more likely to invest in safer investments, such as bonds. As such the fixed rate will likely decrease due to the price of bonds increasing, the demand for bonds increasing and the yield of bonds decreases.

Factors affecting the Variable Mortgage Rates

The bank of Canada is responsible for changes to variable mortgage rates because they determine the target overnight lending rate.

Variable Rates and Overnight Rate

The overnight rate changes the cost of lending/borrowing short term funds and therefore influences the prime rate. Meaning when the prime rate goes up, so will your variable rate and monthly payments, as prime rates are linked to variable mortgage rates.

Prime -/+

Variable mortgage rates are normally advertised as Prime plus or minus (insert rate here), which means the interest you pay is directly related to the Prime Rate and will fluctuate whenever these change. Let’s say the current overnight rate is 0.5% and the major banks prime rate is 2%, and at that time the variable mortgage rate is – 0.50% (thus 1.5%). If the Bank of Canada increases the overnight rate from 0.5% to 0.75% (an increase of 0.25%), the banks will likely follow suit and increase their prime rate by the same 0.25% to 2.25%. Your variable mortgage rate will thus also change due to this increase in the prime rate, making your new variable mortgage rate 2.75% – 0.50% = 1.75%.

How Your Credit Score Can Affect Your Mortgage Rates

October 18, 2017 by Andrew

A strong credit score and a reasonable debt ratio are equally important when it comes to getting the best mortgage rate and terms.

Your credit score is a number between 300 and 900. A credit score above 700 means you manage your credit well, meaning a lender should feel comfortable letting you borrow money. A strong credit profile and reasonable debt to equity ratio are both important factors if you want the best mortgage rate and terms.

People tend to focus on their credit score, as it is an important factor, however lenders do not stop there. lenders look at many factors when they consider an application for approval. They review your credit scores, the property that you are looking to purchase and your source of down payment just to name a few. It is not necessarily whether one is more important than the other, as it is dependent on all factors considered.

The lender wants to know that you make enough money each month to cover your bills and expenses. Of course, the above ratios and limits are only guidelines. Still, to keep your credit score in a healthy place, consider the following four factors:

Pay your bills on time
Keep your credit utilization under 60%
Have a mix of loans and credit cards if possible
Limit the amount of credit inquires you have. If you don’t need it, don’t apply for it!

A great credit score will be beneficial when it comes to mortgage rates. So great credit utilization is a key Let’s use an example. Say you have a credit card with a limit of $10,000 on it. You want to keep what you borrow to less than 60% of that limit or no more than $6,000 at any one time.

The key here is to use two to three credit vehicles (credit cards or loans). These help build your credit history, which is something most lenders want to see. When using these credit vehicles, make sure to not extend your credit utilization over 60% on each line of credit or loan.

Some helpful tips to help improve your credit score:

Establish a long credit history. Try not to cancel your oldest credit card, even if you rarely use it. The longer the credit history you have, the better
Always pay your bills on time and always pay at least the minimum payment as requested.
Note that checking your own credit score will not affect your credit