14 of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the Bank of Canada will lower rates again on Jan. 22, 2008.- A friendly reminder: The mortgage industry slows down in the last week of December due to limited holiday staff. Finalize loose ends and have documents in by Monday if you want to close a mortgage by year’s end.
- “In the next 30 to 60 days I think more people will realize that variable-rate mortgages are a reasonably safe investment,” says Mortgage Intelligence’s John Schipper.
- Lender Tip: Merix is offering a 5-year fixed mortgage with 1.5% cash back to help cover Toronto’s new Land Transfer tax. The offer is only good on GTA properties.
- Bush wants to freeze mortgage resets for five years in the U.S. But is it a good plan? Could it spark more problems? Bush says, “”There is no perfect solution.”
- Canadian Capitalist and Million Dollar Journey have a good series going on the “Do-it-Yourself” Smith Manouevre (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3). Canadian Capitalist deserves extra credit for being one of the few sites that highlight the risks of this strategy.
- Thicken My Wallet lists the pros and cons of putting rental properties in a corporate name.
- Given the trend towards long amortizations, RE/MAX Condos Plus opines, “Generally, Canadians are a conservative bunch, but it is just a matter of time before we have the ‘never pay it off’ mortgage.'” In Europe, this is better known as the 100-year mortgage.
- Lender Tip: GE Money lets you re-draw up to 120% of your original mortgage amount after one year if you qualify.
- MortgageBrokers.com offers RE/MAX agents a pension savings plan for referring business to its agents.
- Cid Palacio, BMO’s vice-president of retail financing products, wants you to come on in and negotiate your best rate. Getting a mortgage at a bank is more and more like buying a car. Put on your haggling boots if you want the best deal. Fortunately, there are professionals to negotiate for you–except at BMO and Royal Bank where there is no broker channel.
- Toronto has 317 payday loan stores today versus 39 in 1995. Only 1 in 5 payday loan clients have a mortgage.
- Is it a good idea to refinance and pay off your credit cards? Not if you rack them up again.
