Angus at BlueTree Mortgages

07/17/2012

New Changes to the CMHC rules for homeowners
On July 9th CMHC changed a few of the rules for home owners and home buyers. The two big ones were maximum amortizations and refinance guidelines.
The maximum amortization for a mortgage now is 25 years, down from the previous 30year maximum. This reduction lowers a consumer's borrowing power by about 10% on average.
For home owners looking to refinance, that can only mortgage up to 80% (down from 85%) of the current value of their home.

For more details on how this may impact you feel free to contact me anytime.

03/06/2012

The Banks Have to be a Little More Open With Their Math

The Federal Department of Finance has moved to implement some new regulations that require all regulated lenders to provide more transparent details on how prepayment penalties are determined and calculated.

Follow this link to review the details.

http://www.fin.gc.ca/n12/data/12-025_3-eng.asp

Code of Conduct for Federally Regulated Financial Institutions

02/24/2012

Fixed Vs Variable rate choices
Today more than ever the choice to go with a fixed rate or a variable rate is a difficult one. There is no right answer and only time will tell if the choice you make is the right one. With 5yr fixed rates as low as 3.19% and Variable rates in the range of 3.00% there is very little spread between the two. It only takes a .25% increase to the Prime Rate and your Variable Rate mortgage will be more expensive than fixed rates.
There are lots of things to consider when making this choice...
call me to discuss them.

02/24/2012

HST & First Time Buyers
The recent budget introduced by the BC government provides incentive up to $10,000 for First Times Buyers to offset the current costs of the HST
Contact me for more details