The Greater Vancouver real estate market is getting hit from all angles at the moment. There is the foreign buyers tax, the empty home property tax and the most recent draconian mortgage lending rule changes. The foreign buyers tax has been scaled back somewhat to make it more reasonable for those with work permits, but it is still a major deterrent to property speculators looking to park their money. (more…)
About the BC Home Partnership Program
The newest program initiative offered by the BC government has been officially launched as of Jan. 16th. The program is called the BC Home Partnership Program, and under the terms of the program, eligible first-time homebuyers will be able to receive 5% of the value of your home purchase up to a maximum of $37,500 on a maximum property value of $750,000. The program matches, dollar for dollar, the down-payment of the home buyer. The program provides the funds secured by a second mortgage behind your regular mortgage. (more…)
Happy New Year! A year in review for real estate and mortgages
First of all, I want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year. 2016 was an interesting year, with many twists and turns for the real estate market in the Greater Vancouver Area. Mortgage brokers like myself are still trying to get our bearings after being spun in so many circles. (more…)
First-Time Home Buyer Programs BC government announcement
(Update: this program has been discontinued. To learn more about other home buyer programs in BC, check out the article home buyer incentive programs summarized.)
The government today announced a home buyers program in BC to help first time home buyers get into the market and purchase a home. The program matches the down payment of the borrower dollar for dollar in the form of a second mortgage to a limit of $37,500. The mortgage provided will be a 25 year amortized mortgage with a 0% interest rate, and payments would not need to be made on the mortgage for the first 5 years of the term. To be eligible for this program, borrowers have to meet the following criteria: (more…)
8 Scams to Watch Out For This Holiday Season
The holidays are a happy time for celebrating with family, friends, and co-workers. Unfortunately, this time of year can also be turned sour by a wide variety of clever frauds, unauthorized debit and credit card transactions, and bogus person-to-person scams. By the end of 2015, individuals, retailers, charitable donors, and companies were victimized to the tune of $1.5 billion… and that number is expected to have gone up in 2016. (more…)
Mortgage rule announcements and how it affects you
What changes were announced today?
Insured mortgages will be qualified at 5-year benchmark rate of 4.64%
You will now need to be qualified for a 5 year fixed mortgage as if you were getting a rate of 4.64%. Talk about pulling out a jackhammer where a chisel was needed! If you are currently buying a home with less than 20% down, decrease the approval amount by 15-20%. Unless there are additional fine details that decrease the impact of this announcement, the Canadian government has just hammered the major centres across Canada. Particularly in Vancouver and Toronto. (more…)
15% property transfer tax on foreign buyers – what next?
Some trends to look for in real estate in the coming months
Wow! I honestly did not see this day coming…it must have been the last 6 years of writing about it consistently…they are listening to me! Or not. I simultaneously had both the reactions “They finally did something about this” and “This seems heavy handed.” as I heard more about these changes. (more…)
Why is the real estate market in the Greater Vancouver Area going crazy?
Here is another reason, and its one that is largely overlooked
On my website, since mortgages are so BORING for people to read about, and subjectively painful to enter into, most of what I write about centres around two things:
- 1) Government regulation of the mortgage lending rules making it difficult for the average resident to obtain a mortgage to get into the housing market.
- 2) The obscenely expensive housing market in the Greater Vancouver Area and the causes of it.
This article is about point number 2. But its a new slant on it! (more…)
Reflections on a hot housing market
Looking forward at housing by looking back at housing
If you think back ten years ago, did you find housing overpriced? Looking back, if you did not buy a home then or since, do you wish you had? If you did buy, aren’t you glad you did?
If you look at the market today, do you find housing overpriced? If you put yourself in your shoes 10 years in the future, do you think you would wish you had bought a home today? What do you think is going to change the trend of housing becoming more expensive?
Stop waiting for tomorrow. Get in today. If it’s a home that is less than ideal, it’s still a start towards your dream home. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be.
If you own a home that is less than ideal, maybe you want to look at making a change. Expensive homes increase in price faster than less expensive homes do, so moving up is advantageous for you.
In order to buy a home, you will probably need a mortgage approval. We often make mortgage approvals happen where others have failed. If you don’t think you can qualify, a 5 minute phone
interview is all it takes for us to have an idea of whether it is possible for you to buy a home. Call us today.
Cash in on your property values with a refinance!
If you have followed my blog for a while, I think you would understand me saying that I find it difficult
to come up with interesting original material to provide. I mean…I am selling getting into the biggest DEBT that most people will ever likely incur, and I talk about a local housing market that appears out of control but actually is NOT.
The product I offer is intangible, and is the “nasty” part of a transaction that people otherwise enjoy. No one goes out shopping to purchase that hot sexy mortgage, there is no Gucci or Prada branded mortgages I can put in the window that anyone will be interested in buying. There’s an idea to justify a higher interest rate! “Yeah, I paid double what everyone else is paying, but it’s so worth it, the paper that I signed was so soft and smooth, and the quality of the printer was amazing!”
Anyways, rather than just write my grievances with the current situation, I tried to think differently. (more…)