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How to Qualify for a Variable Rate Mortgage

On April 19th 2010 new mortgage rules came into effect which have made it a little bit more challenging to qualify for a variable rate mortgage. Traditionally lenders qualified your maximum mortgage amount based on their current 3 year fixed rate. However, today it is a little bit more complicated and this post will ...

New Merix Fixed 5 Year with 90 Day Ratehold

The problems over seas in Europe are already hitting close to home as bond yields have dipped for the last couple of days indicating that investor confidence is shaken. This bodes well for borrowers looking to get into fixed rate mortgages as there may be a reversal to the sharp steady increases to fixed ...

Monday Mortgage Minute May 3rd 2010

Mortgage interest rates continue to climb for the 4th week in a row. There is a lot of discussion between observers and economists who think that the banks are prematurely driving rates up as highlighted in Rob Carrick’s Globe & Mail article, “Are Big Banks Jumping the Gun?”. With each passing week the variable ...

Toronto Monday Mortgage Minute April 26th 2010

After a very quick increase to fixed rate mortgages over the past 2 weeks mortgage lenders have started to compete for the new fixed 5 year. The standard rate is 4.59% however some lenders have introduced their quickclose rate at 4.39%. The dilemma of deciding to go fixed over variable is on every borrower’s ...

Monday Mortgage Minute & Interest Rates for April 19th

A combination of positive economic data, the high Canadian dollar and probably the most important factor, the end of RRSP season in mid March when lenders artificially kept rates low to attract business, has caused two increases to fixed rate mortgages over the past 10 days. The difference between current fixed rates (4.59%) and ...

Watch the S.o.b Hangloose- Sailing in Toronto Inner Harbour

We all need to release somehow. When I find I have too many interest rates, bond yields, Bank of Canada economic reports, lender policy and guidelines on my mind there is nothing better than a sail. This year the sailing season couldn’t start soon enough as I spent the Easter weekend zipping around Toronto ...