As of April 19, 2010 certain mortgage products are required to qualify at the Bank of Canada’s Qualifying Rate. This video explains how the Qualifying Rate works and what mortgage products are affected by it.

Are you preparing to purchase a home?  Many people make 3 common mistakes right before applying for a mortgage.  In this video, we define these mistakes and give you tips on how to avoid them.  By avoiding these mistakes, you will make your home buying process smoother and your mortgage application stronger!

This episode of the Mortgage Minute begins to decode the language used when applying for your mortgage.  Knowing “mortgage” language gives you a leg up when trying to understand your mortgage and how to personalize your mortgage to your situation.  This video explains the difference between amortization and term as it applies to your mortgage!

• Renovate if…you love the neighborhood, your house can be renovated to meet your needs, you can’t afford to buy the house you want or need,
• Move if… the neighborhood no longer satisfies your needs, your home cannot be renovated to suit your needs, you are not willing to live through a renovation or you do not have access to people who can renovate it

Most decisions in life have in some form or another financial ties.  In this situation the question becomes, how do I finance my decision?  If you choose to renovate, there are many home construction and renovation loans that are available to help you do this.  Another option is a home line of credit that affords you the flexibility of a line of credit that can be paid off very quickly or in an extended length of time.

If you choose to buy, you would most likely be needing a new mortgage for your new home, if you cannot port your existing mortgage to your new home.  In this instance you will be presented with many options that may suit your needs ranging from fixed rate products to variable rate products with a range of terms and amortization periods.

The bottom line is: look at your finances to see what you can afford, perhaps consult your mortgage advisor to help you figure out what your options look like on paper.  The next step, depending on your financial situation, is to evaluate your answers to the questions above to determine whether you would like to renovate or move.  Once you have completed these two steps, you are on your way to upgrading your home, either by renovating or moving!

With real estate prices throughout Vancouver and the Fraser Valley down in the neighbourhood of 10-15% in the past year, this can be a great benefit to those wishing to upgrade to a bigger and better home. How does this help? Perhaps an example will illustrate this best.

Let’s say for simplicity that the market for all homes was down 10% from the peak of a year ago. If the current home that you live in was valued at $400,000 1 year ago, this would mean that with a 10% drop in value, it would be worth $360,000 today – a drop of $40,000. If the bigger, better home that you are now wanting to buy was worth $800,000 last year, with our simplified example of a 10% drop, it would be worth $720,000 today – a drop of $80,000. As you can see, your house dropped $40k but the house you want to buy is now $80K cheaper.

And now the even better part. One thing that our simplified 10% example doesn’t take into account is the fact that in general, higher priced/luxury properties have taken the biggest hit and in a real life example would probably be down more than 10% – probably more like 15-20% depending on the area.

I won’t even get into the details of the further benefit realized by the historically low mortgage rates that are available right now. I’ll leave that up to Zach to explain!

Now IS a GREAT time to buy!