Tips for getting a new mortgage + MORE Jan 7th

Q: My partner and I want to move closer to family and this would require moving to another province. We’re fairly certain that we can find full-time employment in our new city but we’re a little worried that mortgage lenders won’t look favorably at us as borrowers. We have equity in the home we want to sell. Is there anything we can do to better our chances of getting a mortgage after recently changing employers?    — Jumping ship, Regina, Sask.

Answer 1: It depends on what you are willing to pay for your new mortgage. Traditionally lenders and banks want to see someone employed—whether it is full-time, part-time, self-employment or even generating pension/retirement income. You don’t mention quite how much equity you have in your current house, so it’s difficult for me to assess your situation further.
I can tell you that the track record you have in one province would not hold much weight in another, not these days. And even if you do find employment, you’ll be on probation, and many lenders will absolutely not review a mortgage application when you’re still on employment probation…

Company: CanWise Financial Position: Salaried Mortgage Agents Location: Toronto, ON Salaried Mortgage Agents Years of Experience Required: 2+ years Licences or registrations required: Mortgage Agent’s licence (easy to get if you don’t have it) Interested candidates may contact: james.laird@canwise.com   Canada’s fastest growing brokerage is hiring salaried mortgage agents! (Inside Sales Role) Owned and operated by Ratehub.ca, CanWise Financial is in a unique position to continue its rapid growth in Canada.  In 2015 we opened 3 offices, and tripled in size and we aren’t stopping there. CanWise is looking for 2–3 experienced mortgage professionals to work in a mortgage agent/sales READ MORE

Some not-so-great news for new-year home buyers: Royal Bank of Canada has announced it will be hiking both fixed and variable rates for residential mortgages, to go into effect on January 8, 2016. The changes will impact their special offer discounts for the following terms:

Five-year Variable closed
Prime – 0.10% (2.60)
(increased by 0.15 per cent)

Two-year fixed closed
Three-year fixed closed
Four-year fixed closed
Five-year fixed closed
2.39 per cent
2.74 per cent
2.84 per cent
3.04 per cent
(increased by 0.10 per cent)
(increased by 0.10 per cent)
(increased by 0.10 per cent)
(increased by 0.10 per cent)

How Much More Will You pay?
If you currently have a 5-year closed variable mortgage rate with RBC, your rate is increasing to 2.60% from 2.45%. Assuming your mortgage is new and your home costs the Canadian average of $456,186*, you can expect to pay $34 more per month.
That totals $408 more per year, and $10,200 more on your total 25-year mortgage.
For those signing up for RBC’s fixed mortgage rates, here’s how much more you’d pay monthly with a new 25-year amortized mortgage, compared to the old rates:
2-year fixed: $23
3-year fixed: $22
4-year fixed: $24
5-year fixed: $23
*Canadian Real Estate Association, November 2015
Want to know how your mortgage rate could change? Check out our Mortgage Payment Calculator>
Why This Rate Rise Is Strange
What’s interesting about RBC’s move is that, considering current economic factors, they should actually be cutting rates – that they’re doing the opposite is a sign lenders may be switching profit tactics this year (while RBC is the only bank to hike prices, the others could certainly follow suit)…

TORONTO – One of Canada’s biggest lenders will be raising rates on several of its mortgages starting Friday.
Royal Bank of Canada says its special offer five-year fixed mortgage goes up one-tenth of a point to 3.04 per cent.
Mortgage rates are rising »
It noted that the changes don’t apply to its posted mortgage rates, which are typically higher than special offer rates.
Several other special offer mortgage rates from RBC will also rise by 0.10 percentage points on Friday but the amount of annual interest charged will depend on whether the term is for two, three or four years.
RBC (TSX:RY) is also raising the rate for a variable five-year mortgage by 0.15 percentage points as of Friday.
The post RBC to hike some mortgage rates starting Friday appeared first on MoneySense.

There has been an awful lot of noise in the media recently about the increasingly high levels of debt the average Canadian is carrying around on his or her back. And rightfully so: According to a recent report from Statistics Canada, our total national debt load, including mortgages, sits at around $1.8 trillion. (Why does that number always make me think of Mike Myers?). That’s more than $50,000 for every Canuck. But amid all the commotion are some surprisingly difficult-to-answer questions: Is all this debt bad? Is any of it good? And how can we determine what debt is good, what debt is bad or should we just try to avoid all debt like the plague? The answers aren’t always clear-cut. Clearly, further insight is required.
Economic types traditionally describe debt as being either good or bad, depending on what it’s used for. The good stuff is generally defined as money borrowed to buy something that will appreciate in value, like a house. Conversely, bad debt is described as money borrowed to buy something that will depreciate in value, like Buddy using his credit card to borrow $2,000 for a new set of golf clubs (they’re on sale!), because everyone knows you’ll play like Tiger Woods once you have a $2,000 set of his Nike golf clubs…