Blogs

In an interview with Natalie North via Victoria News, Kam discusses the recently announced Mortgage Insurance product changes. Here's the scoop:

Prospective home buyers in Victoria may have a difficult time sealing the deal at month’s end when the country’s national housing agency does away with two insurance products – a move that could spark repercussions across the buyers’ and rental markets alike.

Recently CMHC announced that they will be eliminating Mortgage Insurance programs for Second Homes and Business for Self applicants without third party provable income. These are hefty changes that could affect many of you who meet this criteria when looking to secure a mortgage in the future.

Can the mortgage process be difficult?

Absolutely.

But it can also be exciting when you aren't faced with surprises at every turn.  Let's remove some of the potential surprises and make your life a little easier.

You’ve nailed down why you want to own a house and figured out a monthly budget that gives you a payment amount you’re comfortable with. Great! Now it’s time for something you might have never thought about before: your credit.

We’ve all felt the urge to price shop.  Maybe for you it’s clothes, maybe it’s patio furniture, or maybe it’s trying to find the cheapest plumber in town … regardless of when you bargain shop, almost everyone does it when it comes to mortgage rates.

How do I know?  Well turn on the TV, listen to the radio, read a newspaper, surf the net, talk to your neighbor (I’m not kidding, go ahead don’t text him or her, actually talk to them).  Any one of these sources will know something about what’s happening with mortgage rates.  And I’m guessing so do you!   So why are we so obsessed with them? It’s a good thing right?

-Mark Weisleder, via TheStar.com

The decision to buy a house is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. According to a Toronto Lawyer, Mark Weisleder, these are 5 key things to keep in mind:

1. What is the seller telling you about the house?

Sellers used to provide disclosure statements, telling buyers about the condition of the home and disclosing problems. These days, lawyers advise against this, because of the potential for lawsuits. Some sellers are doing home inspections before they list the property for sale and giving a copy of the report to any buyer.

This helps sellers because they can correct problems noted by the inspector and so they do not have to negotiate with the buyer later. Some sellers are also providing history reports, which can be obtained from homeverified.com or Iverify.com which indicate whether the home has been the subject of an insurance claim for water, fire, flood or sewage backup, and if the home was ever listed as a grow house or meth lab.

The more information a buyer has in advance, the more informed the purchase decision. Still, even with this information, you should do your own home inspection before committing to any purchase.