Manulife One Sales. Wow.
Apparently all their new ("what's your number") advertisements are paying off. Manulife sold over $1 billion in Manulife One mortgages last quarter, a new quarterly record.
This translated into a 33% gain in overall loan volumes at Manulife. Impressive stuff!
Manulife does have competition in the "all-in-one" HELOC space. The thing is, their competitors barely advertise. They include:
- National Bank (All in One)
- Canadian Tire (One and Only)
- Envision (Redfrog)
- Investors Group (All in One)
All in one mortgages are a type of readvanceable mortgage where the positive balances in your bank accounts can offset the interest you owe on your mortgage--theoretically saving you money. In practice, however, (depending on the case) there may be better ways to achieve the same goal. Talk to a mortgage planner that knows these products for details.
Here's a comparison of all readvanceable mortgages.
I will give the M1 mortgage credit that it is extremely convenient and that it is marketed very effectively. However, their rates are still too high relative to a regular discounted variable rate mortgage. M1 users end up paying thousands more in interest.
Posted by: MillionDollarJourney | August 14, 2008 at 05:36 AM
In the article above, the term mortgage planner should not be used, I believe the only useabe terms are mortgage broker or mortgage agent.
And in the post above, many people do not want a variable rate, i.e. they want to sleep at night without worrying about where rates are heading so they choose a fixed rate, your comments hold true though for anyone who may potentially choose a fixed or a variable rate mortgage.
Posted by: John | August 14, 2008 at 06:49 AM
John,
Thank you for the note. Please remember, CMT is a national publication not focused just on Ontario. Each province has different terminology for mortgage professionals. We must therefore use more general terms. In B.C. for example, the title is not mortgage agent, it is sub-mortgage broker. In Alberta it is mortgage associate.
Posted by: Canadian Mortgage | August 14, 2008 at 06:56 AM
The story above wasn't specific to Manulife's variable or fixed version of the "One," but here are some general comments...
As of today:
* Manulife's fixed rate is 5.50%
* Their variable rate is at prime.
As MDJ suggests, there are other products with discounts off prime that can potentially save one more money. This assumes you want a variable rate and will be making regular pre-payments that are enough to offset the benefits of an all-in-one type product. Again, talk to Manulife or a mortgage planner for complete details...
There are also lots of helpful stories about all-in-one products here on CMT and on Million Dollar Journey.
Posted by: Canadian Mortgage | August 14, 2008 at 09:56 AM