Karen Garrett DLC Sea to Sky Mortgages

03/12/2025

The Bank of Canada reduces rate by .25bps again this morning!

01/21/2025

Inflation figures are down to 1.8% from 1.9% in December measured on a rolling 12-month calculation. This means more rate cuts are likely and I predict .25bps off at the next BOC meeting Jan 29th.

01/21/2025

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-cpi-december-2024-1.7436956

Inflation figures are down again, which means more rate cuts in 2025. There is a very strong possibility that on Jan 29th another .25bps will be reduced off Prime.

Canada's inflation rate fell to 1.8 per cent in December, with the federal government's GST holiday contributing to a price decline across several categories, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

12/11/2024

Another .50 cut this morning! For any adjustable mortgage holders this saves $30 per $100k off the pmt per month!

10/23/2024

.50 bps cut!

09/16/2024

Effective for deals closing after Dec 15th we can now allow purchasers to put less than 20% down!! This was previously capped at $1 million. This has not been updated since 2012!

We are also going to be allowed to extend the amortization out to 30 years for insured mortgages, where we were previously held to 25 unless it was a brand-new build.

09/04/2024

Another rate cut! Bank of Canada drops another .25 off central bank rate. More rate drops to come in 2024!!

08/15/2024

US inflation is the lowest in 3 years! Expect another cut Sept 4th here in Canada.

07/16/2024

Inflation down! Yippee... another cut is likely next week!!

03/27/2024

When buying a property do the dates matter…Yes!

As we approach a long weekend, I thought it was timely to bring up the subject of dates on a contract by reminding any future buyer that dates do matter.
If you have a closing or a subject removal set for a Friday and anything goes wrong with your documents or details then there is no time for your lender, lawyer, or notary to work the file overnight and fix it for the next business day. Better to ask for a middle-of-the-week date so that you still have time in that week should you need it for any reason.
Suppose you choose a closing for the last day before a long weekend. In that case, it has been my experience that offices can shut down early on the day before a long weekend, often staff tend to take time off during these times which means offices are not always running at full capacity leading up to a long weekend and should anything go wrong with your file, the delay is now at least 3 days to fix it.
If you choose the beginning, the middle, or the end of the month ( 1st, 15th, or 31st) to close on a property it can be more difficult to line up movers, cleaners, and legal representatives as this is a busier time and can fill up quicker or can be more expensive.
Often these dates are quite random, so I suggest paying attention to dates when writing your contract to save time, money, and often unnecessary stress.

03/04/2024

Sometimes you have to put down the mortgage cap and have fun! Great evening helping Sally Bennett with her hot-air balloon setup. Amazing the size of it when it was floating. We managed to have it up for about 30 minutes then the wind and snow picked up. So we packed up and then went up the mtn for the gala event. Great night! Thank you Sally, I've never done that before.

02/26/2024

Effective April 1st, if your purchase is $835,000 or less and you qualify as a first-time home buyer, you are now eligible for an exemption of the first $500,000. Savings of $8,000

A partial exemption is calculated for contracts from $835,001 to $860,000.

If you have purchased a new build that is not closing until on or after April 1st you may now be exempt for a purchase price of $1,100,000 increased from $750,000 previously.

It is important to note that your contract does not have to be written on or after April 1st, as the exemption applies to the closing date, not the contract date.