Month: June 2018

25 Jun

THE 5 MORTGAGE ELEMENTS- DECISIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE BEFORE YOU SIGN!

Mortgage Tips

Posted by: Naushy Saeed

Before you buy a home there are a couple things you need to figure out first. One of the very first decisions you need to make is whether you want to work with a mortgage broker who is independent from the bank, or if you prefer, work with a financial representative from a specific bank. Next, you want to find a realtor that best understands your needs and wants.

From there, you and your realtor go through the laundry list of pros and cons as they relate to; type of neighborhood, type of building whether detached or attached, one, two, or three bedrooms, strata operated, resale potential, upgrades needed, local amenities, previous owners, the list goes on. Once you get an idea of the homes that tick the most boxes possible, writing an offer to purchase comes quick.

But what about your mortgage?

Unlike the list of requirements when it comes to someone’s potential home, a lot of people are only concerned about what the interest rate is when looking at their potential mortgage. If your price range was $500,000 for a 2 bedroom and you found one for $480,000, would you write an offer to buy without looking at those other requirements such as neighborhood, resale potential, upgrades needed, inspections, and previous owners?

There is a lot more that goes into a mortgage and understanding what differentiate one mortgage from another is very important for future borrowers to understand. The following are the 5 key elements borrowers need to be aware of before they sign and commit themselves to a lender and their mortgage product:

Privileges
Virtually every mortgage with every lender has some sort of privilege attached to it. A lot of the time it relates to pre-payment privileges. This can be extremely important because it allows you to increase your monthly payments, make lump sum payments, and change the frequency of your payments- all helping to pay down the principle portion of your mortgage and shave years off of unwanted interest. Why this is important to look at is because some lenders may only offer 10% pre-payment capabilities, while other’s 15%, and some 20%. With a $1,800 monthly payment that’s the difference between $180 against principle or $360. With an outstanding balance of $300,000 that’s the difference between a $30,000 lump sum payment against your principle or $60,000- a massive chunk that will take years and thousands of dollars more off your mortgage. Some lenders even offer the ability to skip a payment and double up on a payment.

Penalties
Nobody wants to pay a penalty for breaking their mortgage early (something 2/3 of people do in a 5-year fixed after the 2 year mark). That is why it is crucial for you to understand what your penalty will be IF you had to pay one. Some lenders use an IRD (Interest Rate Differential) penalty that takes into consideration term, outstanding balance, current rates, previous rates, and blends it all together into a formula. Other’s use three month’s interest and as you can probably guess, the IRD penalty is the more expensive one 99% of the time. IRD is usually applied to fixed term mortgages, variable rates more with three-month’s interest penalty. Big banks will almost always have a higher IRD penalty than monoline lenders because their formula accounts for posted rates, something usually much lower and offsetting with a monoline. A $12,000 IRD penalty with a big bank can be only $4,000 with a monoline for the same sized mortgage.

Interest Rate
The lower the rate, the lower than payment (assuming same amortization). What it really comes down to is picking the right term and choosing between fixed or variable, something a mortgage broker can be very helpful in explaining as it relates to your specific situation.

Portable Mortgage
This relates to a borrower’s ability to move their mortgage from one property, to another, even across provincial boarders. Some lenders like those big banks across Canada allow for this while it is harder when it comes to credit unions. If your job requires relocating and constant moving or travelling, this can be a very important factor.

Assumable Mortgage
Similar to portability, an assumable mortgage allows the person buying your home to take it over. This can result in avoiding pre-payment penalties or avoiding increased costs if downsizing. Not a feature commonly used but extremely beneficial when it is available, and you need it.

Connect with a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional today to see which of these 5 topics most affects you and what lender offers the best solutions!

Written by: RYAN OAKE
Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional
18 Jun

3 MORTGAGE TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Mortgage Tips

Posted by: Naushy Saeed

Prepayment, Portability and Assumability

Prepayments

One of the most common questions we get is about mortgage prepayments. The conditions vary from lender to lender but the nice thing about prepayments is that you can pay a little more every year if you want to pay off your mortage faster. A great way to do this is through prepayments.

They’re always something to ask your broker about because each lender is very different. You can always do an increase on your payments and that means that you pay a little bit more each week or each month when you make your mortgage payment. You can also make a lump sum payment. Perhaps you get a bonus every year or you get a lot of Christmas money. You can just throw that on your mortgage. It goes right on the principle so you’re not paying interest on those extra funds. Paying a big chunk at once also means that a higher percentage of future payments will also go towards the principle.

Portability

Portability means that if you sell your house and you want to take your current mortgage and move it to your new house you can. The one thing about portability that we always have to keep in mind is that we can’t decrease the mortgage amount but we can do a little bit of an increase often through a second mortgage or an increase we call a blend and extend. It just gives you the flexibility of moving the mortgage from one property to the next property. It also gives you the flexibility of being in control of where you mortgage is going and not having to break your mortgage every time you decide to move.

Moving a mortgage to a new property avoids things like discharge fees, the legal cost of registering a new mortgage and the possibly of a higher interest rate. It’s great to be able to keep that rate for the full term rather than having to break and pay those penalties half way through.

Assumability

Assuming a mortgage comes into play more often where there are family ties. Say your parents have a mortgage and you move into that house. Rather than you going out and getting a new mortgage and your parents having to pay those discharge fees, you have the ability to assume their existing mortgage at that current rate. All you have to do is apply and make sure you can actually afford the mortgage at what they’re paying. You have to be able to be approved on the remaining balance on the mortgage just like you would on any other mortgage. Just because your parents have an eight hundred thousand dollar mortgage doesn’t mean you’ll be able to take that over.

If you have any questions, contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage specialist for help.

Written by: TRACY VALKO
Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional
11 Jun

BUT THEY SAID IT WAS PORTABLE…

Mortgage Tips

Posted by: Naushy Saeed

The question most often asked: ‘Is my mortgage portable?’

The answer most often given: ‘Yes.’

This answer is increasingly wrong.

In reality you qualify to move ~80% of the balance… maybe.

If you are thinking of:

  • Moving (upsizing or downsizing)
  • Locking a variable-rate mortgage into a fixed-rate product

… you would be well served to keep reading.

The above question is incomplete. To be fair, you would have no way of knowing this. The person answering it should know better than to give you a one-word answer.

The proper question: ‘Do I need to re-qualify for my current mortgage to move to a new home?’

The proper answer: ‘Yes, your mortgage is portable, but only if you re-qualify under today’s new and more stringent guidelines.’

The person answering the portability question should only be your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage specialist. They alone can answer the question accurately, and only with a complete and updated application, along with all supporting documents to confirm the maximum mortgage amount under current guidelines.

Too many clients learn this lesson the hard way. They sell their existing property before speaking with their Mortgage Broker, and in some cases they also enter binding purchase agreements under the mistaken assumption they can just port their mortgage.

Key Point – Do not ask if your mortgage is portable (99% of them are). Ask if you currently qualify to move your mortgage to a new property.

Key Point – The federal government has created a dynamic in which there are two different qualifying rates for mortgage approvals. And the one used yesterday to get you into a five-year fixed rate mortgage is not always the same one that is used if you want to move that same mortgage to a new home down the street, even just one day later.

Key Point – One day into your five-year fixed mortgage, you are now subject to the stress test. In a nutshell, the stress test applies the higher qualifying rate and effectively reduces your maximum mortgage approval by ~20%.

Meaning that you may only be able to port 80% of the current balance to another property… just one day later.

So, what’s the fix?

The best fix – The government could add a simple sentence to their lending guidelines along the lines of ‘If a borrower qualified for their mortgage at the five-year contract rate at inception, then the borrower shall be allowed to re-qualify at that original rate when moving their mortgage to a new home.’

Currently this fix does not exist.

The current fix – Well it’s no big deal at all. You simply pay a penalty to break your current five-year fixed mortgage and then apply for a new five-year fixed mortgage. Said penalty amount? Typically, around 4.5% of the mortgage balance – i.e., a $14,000 penalty on a $300,000 mortgage balance.

Seems reasonable, right?

It’s entirely unreasonable. This is a horrible ‘fix’, because it is not a fix at all. If you bought with 5% down, and then a few months later were transferred to another province and had no choice but to move, this represents your entire down payment vanishing due to an oversight by the federal regulators.

If you have been personally caught in this ‘portability trap,’ it felt more like total devastation than it did ‘anecdotal’. And by all means you should make your voice heard.

Written by: DUSTAN WOODHOUSE
Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional
4 Jun

KEEPING YOUR CREDIT SCORE HEALTHY

Mortgage Tips

Posted by: Naushy Saeed

If you haven’t seen your credit score, you’re not alone.

Many of our clients don’t know about their credit score or even know what it is when we first meet with them. During our initial consultation, we go over your complete credit report with you. As an added bonus, we’ll even teach you how to read it.

So, how can you make sure you have a great credit score? Here are a few tips to get you started.

  1. You need to have credit. It may be surprising – but your credit score goes up as more credit is available to you. We recommend at least two facilities: a credit card and a line of credit (or 2 credit cards).
  2. You also have to pay your bills when they are due. That goes for your internet, cell phone and even parking tickets.
  3. It also helps to start as soon as possible. The longer you have a clean record of paying your credit card, loans or other credit facilities, the better your credit becomes.
  4. Finally, make sure to carry a low balance. One of the least known ways to hurt your credit is to have high utilization.

Don’t ever hesitate to contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional about your mortgage related needs when you’re buying a property anywhere in Canada.

Written by: EITAN PINSKY
Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional