Vancouver BC Real Estate Professional
My Posts/Listings
Buyer Protection Plan – Benefits To Both Buyers & Sellers
A new program was recently launched that I believe will benefit both sellers & buyers in today’s marketplace. It is called the Buyer Protection Plan. One of the greatest obstacles for sellers currently is the reluctance of buyers to make that purchase as they believe that prices will come down. Who can blame them? Depending on the day or news source, there are wide ranging forecasts –... [Read more]
ALERT: Non-Conforming Strata Properties Continue To Be A Problem For Some
In a post dated May 7, 2010, I alerted readers that Canadian mortgage insurers were not insuring “non-conforming strata” properties. For the full post read here. I subsequently wrote an update post on May 19, 2010 advising that the decisions by the mortgage insurers had been reversed and all was okay again. Read more here. During that time frame, most lenders I spoke to had no issues... [Read more]
Rates lowered by CIBC and RBC
CIBC and RBC led the way today by announcing lower rates. All rates from 2 year terms and up were lowered by 10 bps across the board. With this latest decrease the posted 5 year fixed rate at both lenders is now at 5.49%. No announcements by the other lenders at this time but they will surely follow. Read More →
Rates Lowered Unannounced
RBC, without a press release, lowered their posted rates today by 0.10% across the board. This is the second time in under 2 weeks that mortgage rates have been lowered. Based on current bond yields, we can anticipate futher rate decreases in the near future. No other lenders have followed RBC’s lead thus far but we can expect them to match in the coming days. Wayne Mah, AMP / Senior Mortgage... [Read more]
Beware Of The B.C. Property Tax Deferral Program
This week all B.C. homeowners started receiving their annual property tax bills and inside there is information about the new option to defer the payment of them if you meet certain criteria. I previously wrote about this under 2010 BC Budget Homeowner Changes. So if you qualify, why not take advantage of this? Most certainly if you had to, this is a good new option in what are still hard economic... [Read more]
How To Finance A Former Grow-Op Property
Living here in beautiful British Columbia has some definite perks. The mild climate, gorgeous scenary, and for those that like to partake…B.C. bud. Now I am not getting into the debate over pot use but wanted to detail the steps required to purchase a property that was a former grow-op. In B.C. there seems to be a huge number of homes that are used for the illegal cultivation of marijuana. Once... [Read more]
So It Begins…Bank of Canada Raises Bank Rate Today
The Bank of Canada raised the Bank Rate by 0.25% today. It is now at 0.50%. This is the first increase by the central bank since July 2007. With this rise I expect all major lending institutions to rate their Prime Rates by an equivalent amount – from 2.25% to 2.50%. This means that if you are in a variable rate mortgage or have a line of credit, you will be paying more. This is most likely a... [Read more]
UPDATE: Strata Duplexes Now Okay
CMHC has just announced that they will now be insuring mortgages on “non-conforming stratas” again. This reverses an earlier decision (see previous post). A requirement is that title insurance must be taken out. This is super news for both buyers and sellers. Now buyers can go as low as 5% down again! No updates from the other two insurers as of yet. FURTHER UPDATE: Other insurers are... [Read more]
Warning: Possible Financing Problems On Strata Duplexes
Our office recently encountered financing problems for a strata duplex. We discovered that currently no mortgage insurer will approve such a property. Not CMHC, not Genworth and not Canada Guaranty . This is a very recent change!!! I found this very strange and having been in the industry for many years I decided to find out why. In the past these were not an issue. Some background on these types of... [Read more]
Financing for Americans Purchasing A Property in Canada
The following information is specifically for our United States’ neighbours who are interested in financing a property purchase in Canada. If you are interested in information about financing but are from elsewhere around the world please refer to Financing A Property Purchase In Canada From Overseas. As Canada and the United States share the largest border in the world, citizens from both sides... [Read more]
