The first quarter of 2020 was a roller coaster for mortgage rates. In February, they were falling faster than anyone could keep up. This made it difficult for industry professionals and mortgage rate shoppers alike.  How do you know you’re getting the lowest rate when your quotes are out of date potentially within hours?  In [...]

There are many choices involved with setting up your mortgage, which can make selecting the right mortgage an overwhelming process. Do you go to a bank or a broker? Who is the best lender with the lowest mortgage rate? Should you go with a 25 year or 30 year amortization? Do you choose a fixed [...]

There are two ways in which a mortgage lender can register your mortgage. As a standard charge, or as a collateral charge. A charge is just another way of saying ‘registration’. For example, a mortgage is a charge against your property. Let’s take a look at each one in detail to give you a better [...]

If you are like most, the first question that you’ll ask a mortgage professional is “what is your best mortgage rate.” While rate is a highly important component, there several other important factors that need to be considered when shopping for a mortgage. Contrary to popular belief, rate is not the most important one. There [...]

There used to be a time when each lender had a single rate for a 5 year fixed mortgage. If someone inquired on the lowest rate, we would simply quote them the lowest rate. In today’s mortgage world, mortgage rate quoting has become more complex. An individual lender could have as many as seven different [...]

Pretty much all variable rate mortgages can be converted into a fixed rate at any time during the term, and at no cost. In a typical market, variable rate mortgages are generally priced a fair bit lower than fixed rate options. There is also room for prime rate to move in either direction. This is [...]

This morning marked the eighth interest rate announcement of the year by the Bank of Canada. Usually we don’t see the eighth announcement until December, but given that the BOC had two unscheduled rate announcements back in March, we’ve hit the eighth announcement early this year. Yay. In most years, there are eight interest rate [...]

Many people request a 25 year amortization because it’s considered standard, without much other thought. They may associate a 30 year amortization with paying more interest, and that it will take an additional 5 years to have their mortgage paid off in full. This is not necessarily the case, as I’ll discuss later in this [...]

It’s not a secret that a credit check will impact your score, but is this something that you should be worrying about when applying for a mortgage? Let’s look into this a bit further to give you a better idea of how much of an impact a check will have on your credit score.   [...]

Anyone looking to get pre-approved for a mortgage will soon be qualifying for a higher amount. The Bank of Canada is expected to lower their 5 year mortgage rate to 4.79%, down from the current 4.94%. The Bank of Canada rate is often referred to as the benchmark rate, which is the rate used for [...]