19 Jun

State of Emergency being lifted June 23rd

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

The state of emergency is being lifted end of day on June 23rd and I am curious how the market will react I’ve spoke with several clients who feel the need to put in an offer on a property before this date, and then other clients waiting until after this date because they feel there will […]

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9 Jun

CMHC Lending Changes, Will the Other Insurers Follow?

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

As I’m sure you’ve heard, CMHC is changing their lending guidelines on high-ratio mortgages as of July 1st. These changes will have a significant impact on homebuyers wishing to use CMHC’s high-ratio mortgage product. Thankfully the other insurers stated they have no intentions on aligning their high-ratio mortgage products with CMHC’s guidelines. Canada has 3 […]

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4 Jun

Foreign Buyers Tax Strategy & Exemption

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Did you know many non-residents are actually exempt from the foreign buyers’ tax? That’s right! Non-residents who’ve applied for their permanent residency through the BC Provincial Nominee Program and have received confirmation, are exempt from paying the foreign buyers tax. This is a one-time exemption, and the property must be used as a principal residence. The BC Provincial Nominee […]

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26 May

Reduced Stress Test & Mortgages During a Covid Job-Loss

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Reduced Stress-Test As you may have heard, CMHC has reduced the stress-test today from 5.04% to 4.94%. This reduction of 0.10% will help to increase your client’s purchasing power. For example, if a client is earning 100k (factoring in average condo fees, property taxes and heat costs) they will now qualify for a place roughly […]

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24 Apr

Mortgage Deferral Strategy

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Mortgage Deferral Strategy Deferring your mortgage is not an easy choice to make. The thought of pausing mortgage payments can feel like your finances are going in reverse. What does deferring your mortgage payments really mean? Does the interest stop accruing?  No.  Each lender has their own definition of what deferring a mortgage payment means. […]

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16 Mar

Mortgage Industry Update, March 16th

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Last week we saw several changes in the mortgage industry that will directly affect our Real Estate industry. Here are some need to knows: Stress-Test The stress-test changes slated for April 6th are suspended. The posted mortgage rate, published weekly by the Bank of Canada, will remain the qualifying mortgage rate. It is currently 5.19%, […]

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11 Mar

Variable Rate or Fixed Rate?

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Fixed Rate or Variable Rate? We are approaching interesting times. The world economy is slowing down due to heightened tensions with the coronavirus, oil prices, blockades etc etc, the list goes on. One positive spin on this whole fiasco is cheaper mortgage rates, Yay! When an economy is contracting like this the government steps in […]

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5 Mar

Mortgage Rates Keep Getting Cheaper!

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Canada cuts interest rate by ½ a point, bond rates keep falling and Mortgages keep getting cheaper!! It has been a rough couple of weeks in the stock market, but this is great news for the real estate industry. As bond rates keep dropping, we are seeing ridiculously cheap mortgage rates. Right now rates are […]

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2 Mar

Do You Want the Lowest Interest Rate or the Cheapest Mortgage?

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Do you want the Lowest Interest Rate? Or the Cheapest Mortgage? If you’re searching for the perfect mortgage, the questions you should be asking yourself are: “Do I want the lowest interest rate? Or do I want the cheapest mortgage?” You’re probably thinking, doesn’t the lowest interest rate mean I’m getting the cheapest mortgage? Not […]

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26 Feb

Mortgage Rates are dropping! Here’s why.

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Mortgage rates are dropping! In case you aren’t aware, there is an unprecedented amount of doom & gloom in the news, but amidst all this chaos is mortgage rates are getting cheaper. As you may know, the stock market has been declining since Monday. While this may not be good for our investments (ugh!), this […]

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