28 Apr

SUBJECT TO FINANCING-A MUST!

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

With most people who are new to real estate and looking for their first home (or possibly second), one of the most significant times is when your offer to buy is accepted by a seller. Unfortunately, that moment is quickly followed by stress, as not many people know what comes next- securing financing. 99% of the time a realtor will ask you if you have been qualified by a bank or a mortgage broker before they write an offer on your behalf. What should be told to you, the client, by the realtor and your mortgage broker is that you need to have a subject to financing condition in your offer.

In order for someone to receive a mortgage from a lender, they need to meet the lender’s (and some times the insurer’s) conditions. Usually, these all revolve around a borrower’s down payment money, their income as well as employment, and the property they are making an offer on. If you make an offer on a home and it is accepted, but for example the lender doesn’t like the property because the strata board doesn’t have enough money in their contingency fund to fix the leaking roof in the next 12 months, they could turn down your application and not lend you money.

If you don’t have the money, you don’t get the home. That is why you have a subject to financing condition, so if for any reason, you can’t meet the lender’s requirements with your income, down payment, or if the property is unacceptable to them or the insurer, you can cancel your offer without any hassle or loss of deposit.

What happens if you make a subject free offer? If you make an offer on a home and it doesn’t have a subject to financing condition in it, that house is now yours once the offer is accepted. Your deposit is no longer yours, and you have to come up with the remaining money. If you cannot and are unable to complete the purchase, the seller may file a lawsuit against you for damages as they have now taken their home off the market potentially losing out on the ability to sell their home to someone else while they waited for you to get financing.

Always, always, always have a condition in your offer that states subject to financing and allow yourself 3 to 5 business days. If you go in without that fail safe and it turns out you really need it, you will potentially be on the hook and if the seller wishes, he or she can sue you for any potential losses. Subject to financing is a must! If you have any questions, contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional.

Written by Ryan Oake

27 Apr

8 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO GET THE BEST RENEWAL

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

With 47 per cent of homeowners scheduled to renew their mortgages this year, 2018 is a year of change for lots of Canadians.
Here are the top 8 things you can do to get the best renewal:

1. Pull out your mortgage renewal now, and start early. When you are proactive instead of reactive you can see if there is anything on your credit score or lifestyle that we can modify to ensure you are positioned for the best renewal. You are only in a position to do this when you start early- in the last year of your mortgage you will have the most amount of options available. For example, there can be an inaccuracy in your credit report or you may be considering an income/job change that would impact your options. We can look at timing accordingly for you.

2. Do not just sign the renewal offered. Lenders can change the terms of your mortgage, and the renewal you are signing can cost you up to four per cent of your equity if you are with the wrong lender for your current life stage.

3. Most people think the best rate is the best renewal – WRONG. The terms are most important and with all terms moving or selling is the only reason most people think they would ever break a mortgage- THIS is simply not the case, a change in the interest rate market, divorce, health, job change, investment opportunity and many other reasons would contribute to a future modification being beneficial for a consumer.

4. Take into consideration lender history. The lender can have a higher prime then anyone because they know the cost to leave outweighs staying the course. The lenders are very smart with their calculated risks- and this is not something they have an obligation to disclose.

5. Remember your lender has a bias – their job is to handcuff you so they can make as much profit off you as possible- don’t be a victim.

6. Do not shop each lender on your own, it takes points off of your credit score. All lenders have different rates based on your score and you want to position yourself to get the best. By using a mortgage professional, they can shop multiple lenders protecting your credit using only one application, while the rate variation can be on average a half a percent!

7. Don’t get sucked into the online rate shopping- any monkey can post a rate online and you can drive yourself crazy looking at something that does not exist. In today’s complex mortgage market there are significantly different rates based on – insured mortgage vs uninsured mortgage, switch vs refinance, purchase or renewal, principal residence vs rental, salary or self-employed, 600 credit score or 700 credit score, amortization of 20 years to 30 years, type of property condo vs house, and leased land or freehold. The variations can mean a difference in thousands of dollars. Like diagnosing a medical condition, you can’t go online, you do have to put in the appropriate application and supporting documents to verify which options are available to you that will result in the lowest cost in borrowing.

8. Remember your mortgage is the largest debt and investment most of us have, when you contact an independent mortgage professional, we are going to invest all the work and expertise and advise you in your best interest regardless if we get your business. We may, after our review, advise you to stick with your existing lender, or make another recommendation for you. We are only here to enhance your finances and save you money, and there is no cost for our service.

Written by Angela Calla

20 Apr

IMAGINE YOUR FUTURE HOME

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

This article appears in the April issue of Our House Magazine 

Looking back at predictions from 50 years ago of what a home would look like and be able to do today, it’s almost laughable. Back then, the home of the future would include rooftop pools that act as air conditioners and a garage for our airplane automobile that has folding wings. Fast forward 50 years from now and depending on where you live in the future, a garage for your car may not even be needed.
Dave Pedigo is the VP of Emerging Technologies with CEDIA, a North American association representing the home technology industry. In 50 years from now, he believes homes will be filled with artificial intelligence, doing things we could only dream of today. The home will know what you like and don’t, where you spend more time and adjust accordingly. Don’t like doing laundry? You might not be alive to see it, but your offspring probably won’t have to worry too much about the annoying chore. There will be one machine that washes, dries and folds all your laundry and a robot to put it away.
Pedigo also predicts the future home will know your health better than you, calculating when you’re on the path to a catastrophic event like a heart attack days before, all while calling emergency services when needed.
“It’s going to be an incredibly, incredibly intelligent home,” he told Our House Magazine. “It will make our lives a lot easier.” While some of that technology is a lifetime away, some of it is closer than you think.
Pedigo explained a couple years back, CEDIA had an opportunity to design and display a home of the future for an exhibition. The home included a concrete wall that will appear invisible. With a touch of a button, the wall will come alive giving you the opportunity to display anything, even the previous day’s weather if you wanted. That feature may only be 10 years away.
“I think in general the goal is to make the home more comfortable, more enjoyable and healthier,” Pedigo said. “By the time we get to 50 years from now, it’s going to be amazing.” Pedigo also noted new technology tends to start off being for the wealthy, but quickly expands to the masses at a much cheaper cost.
We know technology will be a big part of homes, but they still have to be constructed. And the bones of a home will also look very different in the future.
Larry Stadnick has been building custom homes in the Calgary area for decades under his company Corey Homes. He believes homes in the future will be sleek, smaller and very efficient. The builder also sees homes getting boxier, flatter and similar to the mid-century modern style.
The trend Stadnick noted is to build the shell of the home using the insulated concrete form (ISF) which makes the home more energy efficient, quieter and stronger in a natural disaster. The
ICF is basically a cinder block, surrounded by Styrofoam with concrete in the middle. About 30 per cent of new homes in Calgary use the ICF today with that number expected to grow to 40 per cent in the next five years, according to Stadnick.
“With ICF you can control everything, you have total control of the environment [in the home],” he said.
If you talk to anyone with a heritage home built about 100 years ago, they’ll swear the quality of the home is far superior to anything new. But Stadnick sees it very differently, arguing the traditional wood frame home “sucked”, adding their construction was dependent on the forest industry, and how they would react in the weather.
While the latest technology may improve the home in a number of ways, it’s not particularly cheap. And cost is partly why Stadnick also suggests homes in the future, especially single-family homes, will be much more expensive.
“I’d be buying one now if I was a young kid,” he said, adding the cost of material and available land will also continue to rise.
The insides of homes in the future will also be healthier.
The Calgary home builder noted the construction industry is already staying away from certain plastics and materials that can be toxic.
Meanwhile, the organization tasked with representing the residential construction industry in Canada is also looking toward the future.
David Foster, a spokesperson for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, said his organization is working on new national building codes that will come into place in the 2030s.
He too sees a home that will be extremely energy efficient and safer to live.
The CHBA already has a program in place called Net Zero Housing, where the home generates as much energy as it consumes.
As for safety, Foster pointed out the number of residential fires has plummeted in recent decades and the trend will continue.
“We’re building homes that are more comfortable, healthier to live in, and that will just continue,” Foster said.
The single-family home could also be an endangered species 50 years from, especially in urban areas. With millions of people expected to flood the larger population centres, the CHBA, believes the majority of homes will be multi-unit developments near transit.
But back in Calgary, Stadnick jokes he won’t be around in 50 years to see the home of the future, although he’s confident they’ll be better than today and people will enjoy them just as much. “I’ve lived in more than 30 new homes and every one of them was exciting, and new and fresh and fun.”

Written by Jeremy Deutsch

19 Apr

CLOSING COSTS

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

Closing costs are a necessity when it comes to purchasing a home. They are not included in down payments, they are not included in monthly mortgage payments, nor are they included in the purchase price of a home, but you are still responsible for paying them, in full. Knowing they exist is half the battle, and correctly budgeting yourself to pay them when the time comes can be a huge weight off your shoulders, especially when the alternative is finding out a week before you close on the purchase of a home that you still owe thousands of dollars.

Lenders will require you to have 1.5% of a property’s purchase price available in cash to be able to cover closing costs. This amount is on top of the 5% minimum required for a down payment. Closing costs that you may be expected to pay, depending what province you live in, when purchasing a home in are as follows:

  1. Appraisal- determining the value of a home.
  2. Interest Adjustment- amount of interest due between your mortgage start date and the date the first mortgage payment is calculated from.
  3. Property Transfer Tax- a tax paid to the provincial government when a property changes hands.
  4. Legal Fees- costs associated with finalizing the sale or purchase of a property.
  5. Prepaid Property Tax & Utility Adjustments- amount you will owe if the person selling you the home has prepaid any property taxes or utility bills.
  6. Property Survey- legal description of the property you are purchasing including it’s location and dimension.
  7. Sales Taxes- some properties are sales tax exempt (GST and/or PST), and some are not. Always ask before signing an offer.

As you can see, many factors go into determining the size of these costs. That is why it is also important to speak with a mortgage broker prior to making an offer on a home. Also, some costs may be exempt, such as the property transfer tax for first-time home buyers. Contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional to find out if you would qualify to have these costs covered.

Written by Ryan Oake

14 Apr

VACANT POSSESSION

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

DISCLAIMER: This post is written for buyers, in other words people who do not currently own a tenanted property.
This post is not suggesting in any way that the rights of an existing tenant be infringed upon

Purchasing a residential property?

Two words that matter this Spring; Vacant Possession

Your contract had best contain a ‘Vacant Possession’ clause.

Why?

Mortgage lenders will not concern themselves with your best intentions; it is not about what will be – it is purely about what is.

And if the property is tenanted at the time of possession, then you are effectively applying for a rental mortgage. This means a minimum 20% down payment, higher interest rates, and far more stringent qualifying criteria.

‘But wait, we only have 5% down and we plan to give notice and move in 60 days after we take possession’

There is virtually no lender that will approve this under any circumstances, and this has to do with the recent changes made by our federal government. The lenders want to trust you, the lender wants to help you, the lender wants to approve you, but the new government guidelines eliminate lenders’ ability to be flexible. Lenders must answer to Big Brother, and Big Brother is very rigid.

Vacant Possession – demand it.

‘But wait, we’re buying the property as a rental anyway, so it’s a good thing that it already has a tenant… right?’

No, an existing tenant is rarely a good thing.

How is their lease written?
Does it protect you?
Are rents reflective of current market rents?
Is there a provision for annual rent increases?
Your costs will be increasing every year, cover yourself.
What is your duty for notice to evict the tenant?
Why is the seller refusing to give simple notice?

Don’t risk inheriting the seller’s errors and/or headaches.

Whether your new purchase is meant to be owner occupied, or an investment property, demand vacant possession or walk away.

If you have any questions, contact your local Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional.

Written by Dustan Woodhouse

 

9 Apr

UNIQUE HOMES HAVE SPECIAL PROBLEMS

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

Recently one of the former members of the boy band New Kids on the Block expressed an interest in buying this lighthouse off the coast of Virginia in the U.S. Unique homes can be a lot of fun to own and to live in. However, there are some things you should be aware of before you make an offer on a unique property. He probably paid cash for this property because unique properties can be difficult to find financing for.

While we don’t have lighthouses in Western Canada, another type of property does come onto the market from time to time; church conversions.
I had a client last year who owned a church conversion in a small town in Saskatchewan. The building was great. It had lots of room, and it was on a large lot.

The problem was trying to find a lender who would lend on a church conversion. I found out that the big banks would lend but only in larger cities and towns. They would lend on homes in small towns in Saskatchewan and Alberta but not both. The only solution was to go to a local credit union that knew the property and the town.

Why won’t big banks do unique homes like this in smaller centres? Marketability – if the borrower doesn’t keep up their payments it would take months to find a buyer who wanted something like this and it would cost the bank a lot to keep the property until a buyer could be found.
Another lesson to be learned – before you make an offer on a unique property always check with your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professoinal to see if you can get financing on your special home.

Written by David Cooke

5 Apr

4 SMART FEATURES THAT WILL BOOST THE VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

People have a lot of different ideas on how they want their home to look. Some want a modern look while others like traditional cottages. But one thing that more and more people want is smart technology in their homes. This adds value and desirability to your home making it easier to sell for the asking price.

In a recent survey, 35% of first time home buyers put smart technology as a priority in their home purchase.
What is a smart home? A smart home is a residence that uses internet-connected devices to enable the remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems, such as lighting and heating.

Smart thermostat – Is a thermostat that can be controlled remotely by your smart phone and will eventually learn your heating and cooling patterns. You can turn up the A/C in the summer from your office and the house will be cool by the time you get home. These features are convenient but they also help you save money on home heating and cooling costs.

Connected Lights – allow you to turn on or dim lights at different times of the day. Combined with a Smart thermostat they can help you to save half your average energy costs.

Smart Locks – these are really cool ! You can program your front door to unlock when guests arrive using Bluetooth or WiFi or some smart phones.

Wireless Security – We have all seen photos of burglars stealing packages from the front door of a home , or perhaps you have seen the TV ad of the lady at the spa who can see 2 unsavory looking guys at her front door and speaking to them and scaring them off. You may have seen the YouTube video of a house that caught fire in Ft. MacMurray and the firefighters extinguishing the blaze. The home owners were able to watch this from a hotel room in Edmonton. Check with your insurance company, you may qualify for a large discount in your rates by having this home security.

Finally, not only is your home more desirable and comfortable, but this is achievable in both new and existing homes. Speak to your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker about having these additions to your home added to your mortgage either with a Purchase/Refinance Plus Improvements or a HELOC. They can advise you on the best options for your particular needs.

Written by David Cooke

4 Apr

3 MORTGAGE TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW

General

Posted by: Patti MacLennan

Prepayment, Portability and Assumability

Prepayments

One of the most common questions we get is about mortgage prepayments. The conditions vary from lender to lender but the nice thing about prepayments is that you can pay a little more every year if you want to pay off your mortage faster. A great way to do this is through prepayments.

They’re always something to ask your broker about because each lender is very different. You can always do an increase on your payments and that means that you pay a little bit more each week or each month when you make your mortgage payment. You can also make a lump sum payment. Perhaps you get a bonus every year or you get a lot of Christmas money. You can just throw that on your mortgage. It goes right on the principle so you’re not paying interest on those extra funds. Paying a big chunk at once also means that a higher percentage of future payments will also go towards the principle.

Portability

Portability means that if you sell your house and you want to take your current mortgage and move it to your new house you can. The one thing about portability that we always have to keep in mind is that we can’t decrease the mortgage amount but we can do a little bit of an increase often through a second mortgage or an increase we call a blend and extend. It just gives you the flexibility of moving the mortgage from one property to the next property. It also gives you the flexibility of being in control of where you mortgage is going and not having to break your mortgage every time you decide to move.

Moving a mortgage to a new property avoids things like discharge fees, the legal cost of registering a new mortgage and the possibly of a higher interest rate. It’s great to be able to keep that rate for the full term rather than having to break and pay those penalties half way through.

Assumability

Assuming a mortgage comes into play more often where there are family ties. Say your parents have a mortgage and you move into that house. Rather than you going out and getting a new mortgage and your parents having to pay those discharge fees, you have the ability to assume their existing mortgage at that current rate. All you have to do is apply and make sure you can actually afford the mortgage at what they’re paying. You have to be able to be approved on the remaining balance on the mortgage just like you would on any other mortgage. Just because your parents have an eight hundred thousand dollar mortgage doesn’t mean you’ll be able to take that over.

If you have any questions, contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage specialist for help.

Written by Tracy Valko