The Ultimate Guide to Reverse Mortgages in Canada
Research completed by HomEquity Bank and compiled in “The Home Stretch” states that a review of debt and home ownership among Canadian seniors indicated that 91 percent of Canadians over 65 prefer staying in their home throughout retirement. At the same time however, 78 percent have savings and investments, and only 40 percent of those have less than $100,000 set aside.
In this study by HomEquity Bank using Equifax data, it shows that among Canadian seniors, 15% still carry a mortgage, 30% carry unsecured lines of credit (LOC) and 10% have a home equity line of credit (HELOC).
Is there another option?
Read More
Stressed About the New Mortgage Stress Test?
In Michael Campbell’s November Economic Update, he talks about the good old days when only insured mortgages (those with less than 20% down) were “stress tested.” But all of that changes January 1, 2018, when all mortgages will be “stress tested.”
Read More
OSFI’s Mortgage Stress Test: What You Need to Know
Canada’s banking watchdog, OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada) announced that there will be a new minimum qualifying rate, or “stress test” for borrowers with a down payment of 20% or more effective January 1, 2018. Buyers will need to prove that they can afford payments based on the greater of the…
Read More
Moving on After Divorce – Breaking up the Mortgage
Till Death Do You Part? Not So Fast! Nobody gets married thinking one day they will end up divorced. You exchanged vows that said “till death do us part” and that meant forever, right? Nope, not always. Sometimes you know it’s coming when you seem to be growing apart or going in different directions, but…
Read More
Why the Lowest Mortgage Rate may not be the Best Mortgage Rate
According to the 2016 Mortgage Consumer Survey, 59% of mortgage consumers cited “best rate” as one of the key reasons they chose to obtain their mortgage through a broker (52% said excellent service was another key reason). What do they mean by “best rate?” Well if they’re not unlike many of the clients I first…
Read More
Equifax Update on Impact of Cyber Security Attack on Canadian Consumers
As you probably know, credit monitoring firm Equifax suffered a massive cyber security attack earlier this year (between May and July) which they went public about on September 7, 2017. They originally reported that the breach had compromised the personal information of 143 million Americans and 100,000 Canadians. Here’s some of the kind of information…
Read More