17 Jan

Bank Broker vs. Mortgage Brokers | Here’s the Scoop

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG Bank Broker vs. Mortgage Brokers | Here’s the Scoop Ask any mortgage broker and they can tell you that there are a handful of misconceptions that the public has about working with a mortgage broker. From questioning their credentials (we all are regulated and licensed with in our own province, and are constantly […]

Read More
5 Jan

Robust Canadian Jobs Report for December Tops Off a Blockbuster Year

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

Robust Canadian Jobs Report for December Tops Off a Blockbuster Year The highly anticipated December Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Stats Canada, surpassed forecasts breaking multi-year records. Canada’s jobless rate fell to 5.7% in December, its lowest level in more than 40 years, raising the prospects for a Bank of Canada rate hike […]

Read More
22 Dec

Top 5 costly financial mistakes homeowners make with their mortgage

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG Top 5 costly financial mistakes homeowners make with their mortgage 1. Not consolidating high interest debt into low interest mortgage. 2. Paying “fees” to get the lower rate 3. Not looking at their long term forecast 4. Taking a 5 year rate when 3-4 years can be cheaper 5. Having their mortgage with […]

Read More
19 Dec

Much Ado About Almost Nothing–Non-Resident Ownership of Housing

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

Much Ado About Almost Nothing–Non-Resident Ownership of Housing Statistics Canada in conjunction with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released their first report this morning from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP), providing data regarding the non-resident ownership of Canadian housing. This program was mandated by the last federal budget, filling in a significant data […]

Read More
15 Dec

New Mortgage Rules Coming Jan 1 Boost November Home Sales

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

New Mortgage Rules Coming Jan 1 Boost November Home Sales So here we are in the lead-up to the January 1 implementation of the new OSFI B-20 regulations requiring that uninsured borrowers be stress-tested at a mortgage rate 200 basis points above the contract rate at federally regulated financial institutions. It is no surprise that […]

Read More
15 Dec

What is a cash back mortgage?

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG What is a cash back mortgage? Every once in a while, a bank will advertise a cash back mortgage. It sounds great but there are a few things to consider. When you purchase a home, you may find that you need some extra cash. You may want to renovate, purchase some furniture, or […]

Read More
13 Dec

Is it time to lock in a variable rate mortgage?

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG Is it time to lock in a variable rate mortgage? Approximately 32 per cent of Canadians are in a variable rate mortgage, which with rates effectively declining steadily for the better part of the last ten years has worked well. Recent increases triggers questions and concerns, and these questions and concerns are best […]

Read More
10 Dec

Returning To The ‘A-Side’

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG Returning To The ‘A-Side’ Every year Canadian families are caught in unexpected bad circumstances only to find out that in most cases the banks and the credit unions are there (to lend you money) only in the good times, not so much during the bad times.               […]

Read More
7 Dec

No Surprises from the Bank of Canada

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

No Surprises from the Bank of Canada Holds Steady–Will Raise Rates Only Cautiously The Bank of Canada held overnight interest rates at 1.0% once again, following the two consecutive rate hikes at the July and September meetings. It was widely expected that the Bank would retake a breather this round despite the much stronger than […]

Read More
6 Dec

OSFI mortgage changes are coming

General

Posted by: Livian Smith

DLC BLOG OSFI mortgage changes are coming As many of you may remember, this past October the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) issued a revision to Guideline B-20 . The changes will go into effect on January 1, 2018 but lenders are expecting to roll this rules out to their consumers between December 7th – 15th, […]

Read More