You’ve had it with your roommates and you’ve had it with paying rent. You’re ready to move out and you’re seriously considering taking the leap into homeownership. But just because you want to buy a home, doesn’t mean you should. Before you start planning your housewarming party, take a minute to sit down and consider everything that comes along with homeownership. From mortgage rate trends to better budgeting, there’s more to buying a house than simply signing an offer. Continue reading
Category Archives: Residential Mortgages
Is a Home Equity Line of Credit the Right Option for Me?
We’ve all been faced with a major expense at some point in our life. Perhaps the furnace has failed in the middle of December, or your car has unexpectedly quit in the middle of a busy work week. You need a large sum of money fast, but your options are slim. Maybe your income stream varies from month to month, or your bank account just isn’t big enough. In a situation like this, you need to act fast, but you don’t want to make a decision that could hurt your credit score for years to come. So, what’s a frantic homeowner to do? How about tapping into your unused home equity to quickly and easily cover your costs? Continue reading
Should You Use Your RRSP To Buy Your First Home?
Purchasing your first home can be tough, especially when it comes to scrounging up a sizable down payment. In Canada, you must be able to cough up a 20% down payment in order to avoid purchasing costly mortgage insurance. If you’re struggling to find enough cash to meet this requirement, don’t throw in the towel quite yet. Under the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP), first time home buyers in Canada can borrow up to $25,000 tax free from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) in order to help with their down payment and lower their monthly mortgage requirements. Continue reading
Short or Long: Which Mortgage Term Works For You?
The term of your mortgage is an important factor to consider when choosing your financing program. A few quick strokes on a mortgage calculator will show that long term mortgages do, in fact, reduce your monthly payments, but do these short term savings really add up over time? The professional mortgage brokers at FamilyLending.ca take a look at various mortgage terms to help you decide which financing option is right for you. Continue reading
Consumers paying more for home insurance but mortgage interest costs decreased in Aug
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% in the 12 months to August, mainly as a result of higher prices for gasoline and food purchased from stores. This follows increases of 2.7% in July and 3.1% in June. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in August.
The 0.4 percentage point difference between the year-over-year increases posted in August and July was mainly the result of price increases for the purchase of passenger vehicles, electricity, homeowners’ home and mortgage insurance, telephone services and jewellery. Continue reading