withabix

Keeping the thread slightly off-topic...

Offer was accepted with our preferred dates, home inspection booked and mortgage application is under way.

I was expecting mortgage broker to come up with some obscure lender as having the lowest 5 year fixed rate, but the computer said Scotiabank. I'm sure there will have been slightly lower ones, The sceptic in me says that will be more to do with who pays the biggest commission, but its a good rate and its who I bank with anyway.

Fingers crossed!

dishwashing

Good luck!

On a COMPLETELY SEPARATE NOTE - Canadians are really loaded up it seems -

Canadians take on even more debt, says new report calling for vigilance - The Globe and Mail

withabix

Unsecured and secured debt are too easy to get and over too long periods here, that's for sure.

Even my mortgage is being taken over 30 years (I would be 76...back in the UK I was going to be mortgage-free by about 55), but in my case that was just to keep the payments down so that I can enjoy Canada, keep some capital free as a hedge to invest (once I've sold an inherited UK property) to hopefully get a return that beats my mortgage rate and also as a reserve in case things do go wrong in the economy.

That's the plan anyway!

I see a house as primarily a home and if it goes up in value then that's an added benefit.

scilly

Even though it is for 30 years, surely it comes up for renegotiation at least every 5 years?

Hopefully, you have clause that allows you to put in an extra amount once every year?



Every time we renegotiated except once in the 1980s, we opted for an open mortgage, which allowed us to pay extra every month ..... so we paid the monthly stated amount plus at least $50


it cut our original 25 year mortgage down by about 5 years ............... even though we had re-mortgaged after 4 years in order to do a major renovation.


I'm assuming here, of course, that Open Mortgages are still available, and that you might be willing to have the interest rate change during the time of the mortgage

JonboyE

Most fixed mortgages have some early repayment options.

scilly

having been mortgage less for more than 20 years ...... I wasn't sure about the regulations now.


Mortgage taken out 1972

Renegotiated 1976

Paid off 1992






I know I was dismayed when my daughter said their mortgage was up for renewal next month after 5 years, and they still have almost no equity in the house ..........

........ I guess the fact that she got unexpectedly (although very welcome) pregnant 2 months after taking out the mortgage, had 9 months maternity leave, and there was a downturn in work between 2009 and 2012 accounted for the fact that they hadn't been able to put any extra in.

She leaves it up to her husband to do all the research on mortgages. Just hoping he does better this year.

dishwashing

Stock levels are going up anyway, some house prices are changing downwards on the watchlist I have

scrubbedexpat091

The real estate agents where my other half works, are pretty busy at the moment, the housing market is a tad on fire right now, not much being built yet, so supply is short although some new smaller developments seem to be starting soon for town houses, but not affordable starting at 400,000.

The agents are seeing people who really shouldn't be buying as they can barely afford it and will sink if anything goes wrong in the future with interest rates and such, but they can't find rental housing, so don't have much choice to risk it and buy something they can barely afford.

Rental market is really bad right now, vacancy rate is near 0% and rent's have pushed up to idiotically high levels in the past 16 months, 1 bedroom's renting for 800 18 months ago are 1,600-1,800 a month now.

Even where we live, last March the size unit we live in were 700 a month, now they are 850-900 a month when a vacancy comes up.

MrFloyd

I hope they don't take all the housing talk with them when they go. There's nothing more exciting than that

scrubbedexpat091

People would be even less able to own a home if mortgages were only 20 years, already near impossible to own in several Canadian city's without an income well above average, looking at you Metro Vancouver.

Same with cars, people wouldn't be able to buy them without 5 or 6 year loans.