1954: Introduction of the Mortgage Loan Insurance- by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

1971: Principal residences were exempted from Capital Gains in The Income Tax Act

1992: There were two programs created by the federal government.
The first was the Home Buyers’ Plan (HPB) allowing buyers to withdraw up to $20,000, tax-free, from their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and use it as a down payment to buy or build a home.

The second, was a test program called the First Home Loan Insurance Program (FHLIP) which decreased the down payment needed to buy a first home from 10% to 5%

1994 The federal government announces the HPB as a permanent program.

1998 The FHLIP was replaced by a permanent program. And instead of 10%, all buyers were now allowed a 5% downpayment.

2006  The CMHC launched CMHC Flex 100- (Remember the zero-downpayment mortgage?) a mortgage loan insurance product for owner-occupiers that allows them, under certain conditions, to buy a property by taking out a loan up to the total value of the property (no down payment required).

The amortization period for owner-occupiers were also extended to up to 40 years, under certain conditions.

2008 The maximum amortization period for new mortgages was reduced to 35 years and the minimum down payment increased from 0 to 5 per cent.

2009 The maximum amount that can be withdrawn as part of the HBP increased to $25,000

2011 The maximum amortization period for new mortgages was reduced to 30 years

Adapted from and Article from the Market Analysis Department of the QFREB
Sources: Government of Canada, CMHC, Industry Canada and the Department of Finance Canada. 

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Updated from our First Time Buyer’s Archive. Originally posted on Jun13, 2007

Imagine falling in love with a home, making and offer only to find out later that you are not eligible for such amount?

Or another scenario: Competing with other buyers over your dream home, to find out the vendor accepted the other buyer’s offer JUST because they were already pre-approved.

It does happen. Often.

Understandingly, any vendor will favor a buyer who is prepared with a letter from the bank

Continue reading: Pre-approval: How it can benefit you as a home buyer

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Get the ultimate answer to the perennial question:

How affordable are properties today compared to previous decades?

Here are some snippets from the article, along with graphics to illustrate the market changes over the past 3 decades. I highly encourage you to read the original article, to save it and/or print it. It will make a great Market Reality Check. Knowledge rules.

“Many people believe that the dramatic increase in property prices in Québec in recent years has made residential real estate unaffordable for first-time buyers (the average price of single-family homes increased from $110,849 in 2000 to $247,054 in 2011, a 123 per cent increase).

However, household incomes have also increased over the years and historically-low borrowing costs have helped to significantly reduce the financial outlay required to purchase a property. Ultimately, how affordable are properties today compared to previous decades?

Calculating the mortgage carrying cost, meaning the proportion of income that must be allocated to the monthly mortgage payment in order to buy a property, will help us accurately answer this question.”

Source: FCIQ.ca

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Posted By: A Guest Contributor. Please see their details in the post above. If you would like to guest post for the Montreal Real Estate Blog, check out our contributors page for details on how you can share your tips with our community. http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

It’s true, negative credit items can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years (up to 10 years for public records, such as a bankruptcy, tax lien or judgment). But this doesn’t mean that you have to wait 7 to 10 years to begin re-establishing a good credit rating.

4 Dos and Don’ts when it comes to rebuilding your credit:

1. Three months prior to securing your mortgage, DON’T apply for, close, or pay off any collections, charge-offs, loans, or other kinds of credit without speaking to your mortgage professional first. Any one of these actions, as innocent as they might seem, could seriously affect your credit score, adding significant costs to your mortgage should your score suddenly drop.

2. If you have any credit card accounts with excellent credit histories, DO use them – but use them strategically.

Continue reading: 4 Important Do’s and Don’ts When Rebuilding your Credit

Posted By: Danuta Levitzki. Executive Manager of Mortgage Agency at HYPOTHECA Ac Accredited. With over 10 year experience, Danuta specializes in residential and multi-unit mortgage financing. Offering the lowest interest rates and finest mortgage service in Montreal, Qc. For home purchase pre-qualification, mortgage refinance, renewal or debt consolidation please visit RateDirect.ca http://www.ratedirect.ca

Pre-qualification is the starting point in your search for mortgage financing. A quick snapshot is taken which includes income, existing debt, savings, length of employment, etc. All of these factors will then be analyzed to determine your loan eligibility.

Pre-approval is written documentation that shows you have the support of a lender who is willing to finance you. It means an underwriter has reviewed your loan application. Based on your income, debt ratio and savings, the underwriter provides the dollar amount you are eligible to borrow. Now you can shop around for houses that fit into that loan amount category.

Here is the nice thing about the pre-approval: It gives you the leverage to shop as a cash buyer!

• With a pre-approval in hand, you now have the power to negotiate.
• The seller will take your offer much more seriously knowing you are already approved by a lender.
• Pre-approval can also shorten the time it takes to close, making even a lower bid attractive to sellers who are seeking to move quickly.

What will my monthly payments be?

Continue reading: The difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

Posted By: Danuta Levitzki. Executive Manager of Mortgage Agency at HYPOTHECA Ac Accredited. With over 10 year experience, Danuta specializes in residential and multi-unit mortgage financing. Offering the lowest interest rates and finest mortgage service in Montreal, Qc. For home purchase pre-qualification, mortgage refinance, renewal or debt consolidation please visit RateDirect.ca http://www.ratedirect.ca

Several of Canada’s big banks announced increases in their residential mortgage rates effective Tuesday.

Royal Bank (TSX:RY), TD Bank (TSX:TD) and Laurentian Bank (TSX:LB) all raised the posted rate for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage by 0.15 percentage points to 5.54 per cent.

Royal Bank raised its special offer rate for a five-year mortgage by 0.15 percentage points to 4.39 per cent, while TD and Laurentian raised their special offer rates for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage by 0.15 percentage points to 4.29 per cent.

Most other special and fixed rates at the banks were also going up between 0.10 and 0.15 percentage points.

Fixed rate mortgage rates are affected by the cost of borrowing in the bond market, where banks finance their home loan lending.

But, there is no reason to panic. If you’re looking for good rates, there are many options available for you. Here is a snapshot of today’s rates by RateDirect.ca – contact Danuta for more info

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/