Stockpiling on Christmas Items
It’s the new year and the last thing you want to think about now is Christmas, but January happens to be the best time of the entire year to stock up on your supplies for Christmas. Everything “Christmas” goes on sale by retailers big and small. You can easily spend less than half what you…
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Are Light Bulbs Burning Unnecessary Energy…And Your Hard Earned Cash?
How many light bulbs do you use in your home in one month? How much do these cost? What about your energy bill; what does that look like? When you think about it, your light bulbs may be burning up unnecessary energy and a lot of your hard earned cash! Replacing your old, incandescent light…
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Avoiding Identity Theft While On the Road
If you’re planning a vacation and have heard horror stories about the risks – and consequences – of identity theft, you may be a little feeling a little anxious. Although you’re right to be concerned about identity theft, once you know about some preventative steps you can take before, during, and after your travel, you’ll see that you can have…
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Measure Your Borrowing Ability: Debt Service Ratios
The amount of mortgage you may qualify for depends on two things: income and the amount of debt you are carrying. Financial institutions use two different ratios to measure your borrowing ability. The first is your Gross Debt Service Ratio (GDSR). The second is your Total Debt Service Ratio (TDSR). Gross Debt Service Ratio Gross…
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Understanding Equity
Traditionally, the minimum amount of down payment required to purchase a home has been 5% of the purchase price. Recent innovations in Mortgage Loan Insurance have allowed lenders to give home buyers the opportunity to cover the requisite down payment by borrowing the funds from an alternate credit source such as personal line of credit…
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The Lowdown on Down Payments
A down payment is the amount you can immediately contribute towards the cost of your home purchase. Since most people do not have enough savings to purchase a home outright, the gap between your down payment and the purchase price of your home is made up with a mortgage loan. Down Payment + Mortgage Loan…
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What’s Classified as Income for Mortgage Qualifying Purposes?
What is classified as income for qualifying purposes? Some forms of income that represent revenue to your household may not count as income for qualification purposes. Here are some of the many sources of income and some of the guidelines for using them to qualify for a mortgage. The important thing when it comes to…
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Fraser Valley Real Estate Market Update October 2016
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board recently published the statistics for the Fraser Valley real estate market for October 2016. Sales were up slightly and inventory hit a 10 year low. Sales activity was healthy in October, especially in the townhome and apartment categories. With prices beginning to level-off, it appears that buyers are becoming…
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Prime Rate Isn’t Apples to Apples Anymore
In response to recent mortgage qualification changes by the government, the TD Bank announced that it was going to increase the interest rate it charges customers with variable rate mortgages. The changes won’t affect customers with fixed-rate mortgages – nor will they affect other products, such as lines of credit. But customers with variable rate…
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Confused by the New Mortgage Qualification Rules?
New housing policies are coming into effect on November 30,2016. Many Canadians are uncertain about how these new policies are going to impact their finances. Will these changes affect you – and, if so, how? In order to help clear cut through some of the confusion, I’ve prepared a simple, three-page fact sheet. You can…
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Should You Rent or Buy?
Often people say Dont pay your landlords mortgage for him or Build equity for yourself instead of throwing your money out the window.” Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you will make, so its important to make a decision that is right for you, whether that is to rent or to buy!
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What Can You Afford?
The best way to avoid paying more than you can afford is to be prepared. Before you begin to look at homes, meet with your mortgage broker. They can calculate your debt service ratio which will determine how much you can actually afford based on your income and the amount of debt you have.
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