Montreal Real Estate Blog » financing

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

Deya Bautista — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:17 +0000

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/

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

Danuta Levitzki — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

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

The difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

Danuta Levitzki — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:30:19 +0000

Updated from our Mortgage and Financing Archives. Originally posted in March 2009

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?

Mortgage Rates Going Up: five-year fixed goes to 5.54 %

Deya Bautista — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:38:27 +0000

An article by the Canadian Press:

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

Interesting: Développements McGill Family Investment Program

Deya Bautista — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:00:08 +0000

I came across this great new program for young buyers in Old Montreal, specifically for students (and their parents) wanting to purchase a condo with low downpayment. Développements McGill created a new Family Investment Program that offers a fantastic purchase options. Here are the details:

“We have formed an partnership with the Royal Bank (RBC) to enable families with children aged over 18 studying or working in Montreal to enrich their family assets by buying a new condo in a booming neighbourhood with one of the highest value appreciation rates on the Island of Montreal,” said Stéphane Côté, President of DevMcGill.

The partnership lets DevMcGill offer first-time buyers very advantageous terms, including:

joint mortgage application by parents and children, if desired, making it easier to get a pre-approved loan;
the child’s name only on the property deed, qualifying the condo as a principal residence and exempting it from capital gains tax when it is resold;
very modest down payment (starting at 5% of the selling price);
guaranteed interest rate until construction is completed to shelter the buyer against any rate increases;
$1,000 rebate on notary’s fees when the transaction closes.

To read the full press release visit their website: English version. Version Français

For more information on the Family Investment Program and the M9-3 project, visit the sales gallery at 800 Wellington St. in Montreal or the DevMcGill.com site.

About Développements McGill: For 10 years, Développements McGill has been building intelligent living spaces for tomorrow. Its award-winning projects, including Le Couvent Outremont at the base of Mount Royal, Le Caverhill, Le 777 and Le Orléans in Old Montreal, and Square Benny in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, speak to the imagination.

Bank of Canada Boosts Prime Rate at 3%

Deya Bautista — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:00:22 +0000

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney raised the overnight lending rate a 0.25% point on Wednesday morning.

CTV News reports:
The decision marks the third straight month that the central bank has boosted the rate, which was set at a rock-bottom 0.25 per cent during the recession.

The overnight lending rate affects short-term borrowing, such as variable-rate mortgages and some lines of credit.

The steady rise over the last few months suggests the Bank of Canada sees Canada’s economy rebounding and no longer feels interest rates need to be at virtually zero in order to stimulate recovery.

Well, considering that back in January 2007 the prime rate was at 6%, we are not doing so bad right now.

New Rules for Canadian Mortgages

Deya Bautista — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:20:31 +0000

You’ve probably read about the new regulations regarding Canadian mortgages for buyers/ investors and home owners wanting to re-finance. In case you haven’t been following, here is the scoop.

Three changes will come in effect on April 19:

Qualification: All borrowers will need to meet standards for five-year fixed-rate mortgages regardless of whether they’re seeking a loan with a lower rate and shorter term.
Refinancing: The government is lowering the maximum amount Canadians can withdraw when refinancing a home to 90% of its value, from the current 95%.
Speculation: It will be required a 20% down payment for government-backed mortgage insurance on “speculative” investment properties. As opposed to 5% down-payment for investments not occupied by the owner.

I’ve posted a list of articles written by the media. You can also check out The Canadian Mortgage Trends for an interesting and detailed post.