It’s war. Mortgage war. And you could be the winner.
BMO threw down its mortgage gauntlet on Friday, with a rock-bottom five-year fixed-rate at 2.99% (down from 3.09%), effective immediately. The rate drop is reminiscent of the bank’s 2012 attempt to win...
View ArticleLet’s put real estate overvalution in perspective
More than a few media headlines are focusing on Canada’s overvalued real estate. According to Fitch, an American-based ratings agency, housing prices in Canada are 20% overvalued in real terms. The...
View ArticleDriving into debt
Rock bottom auto lending rates are nothing new but the terms are getting longer and it’s putting us at risk, says Matthew McClearn in a new piece for Canadian Business. House prices in Toronto...
View ArticleMore money, more problems
Household net worth increased by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, thanks partially to investment gains, Statistics Canada said Friday. But household debt levels also surpassed record levels reaching 165%...
View ArticleAsk MoneySense: RRSP or mortgage?
Q: I will retire in five years and wonder if it would be best to put money towards my RRSP or throw it at my mortgage instead. —Kevin Byrne A: Math and mindset are both big factors in the choice...
View ArticleHow to pay off your mortgage faster
For more, press play below to hear MoneySense‘s David Hodges share mortgage tips with 680 News’ Mike Eppel.
View ArticleMortgage-free dreams
Canadians with outstanding balances on their homes now believe they will be mortgage-free by age 57 on average, a poll for CIBC has found. That’s up from age 55 last year. Despite efforts to pay down...
View ArticleAct like an American and deduct your mortgage interest
If you’re jealous of your American cousins who get a tax deduction for their mortgage interest, use this trick to mimic the effect. For this example, Scott Plaskett, a financial planner at Toronto’s...
View ArticleMortgage matters
Some 67% of Canadians polled for Scotiabank agree that they could pay off their mortgage faster without impacting their lifestyle. In fact, 59% of mortgage holders said they believe adding $20 per...
View ArticleRock bottom mortgages
Banks are keeping the housing market bubbly with the cheapest mortgages in history. This is why, according to Canadian Business, mortgages will go even lower, whether the government likes it or not....
View ArticleSell in May?
Experts at BMO put the old adage “Sell in May, and go away” to the test and found that while there’s some truth to it, average investors are better off sticking with the stock market all year long...
View ArticleFixed or variable, what’ll it be?
With mortgage rates poised to go up—how much longer can this last?—the big question on people’s minds is this: Should I take the lower variable rate and the savings that come with it, or lock in now...
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Wireless for less
New CRTC rules let’s wireless customers cancel wireless contracts without penalty after 2 years. Also on Monday, Rogers Communications Inc. (parent company to MoneySense) introduced discounted...
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Get real about your real estate returns
The cash-on-cash return looks at annual operating cash flows net of mortgage costs and compares them to your cash investment (your down payment). The capitalization rate ignores the mortgage payments...
View ArticleRent or buy?
Canadian homes are not overvalued, especially when compared to rental costs, BMO said Friday citing Vancouver as the exception. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)...
View ArticleHow Nicholas and Kathy paid off the mortgage in 6 years
When Nicholas Hui and his wife Kathy Chan decided to pay off their mortgage in six years, they knew there would be some sacrifices. Any type of unnecessary spending would be out of bounds while they...
View ArticleHow Anne and Rene paid off the mortgage within 5 years
Good parenting explains, in part, how Anne and Rene Langevin, shown here with their children Ethan and Paige, were able to pay off their first home within less than five years. “Growing up, I was always...
View ArticleHow Sloan paid off his mortgage early
When chartered accountant Sloan Levett and his physician wife Debbie Elman bought their Toronto home for $460,000 back in 1998, they were a bit nervous. Despite putting aside a sizeable down payment,...
View ArticleCrush your mortgage
It was a sun-drenched autumn afternoon in 2005 when Heidi Croot and her husband Phil Carey found themselves barreling down Highway 401 toward the picturesque lakeshore community of Port Hope, Ont....
View ArticleMICs: Make money on debt
Mortgage investment corporations (also pronounced MIC, as in Mick Jagger) are alternative fixed income investments. They’re are becoming more popular because of their sustained double-digit returns....
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