With weaker outlooks for Europe and the U.S., the Bank of Canada announced earlier today that it is keeping its key policy rate steady, exactly where it's been since September 2010, which makes this the longest recorded rate pause.
In its statement the Bank noted that "the recession in Europe is now expected to be deeper and longer than the Bank had anticipated", and that the "U.S. recovery will proceed at a more modest pace going forward." The Bank noted that while the Canadian economy "had more momentum than anticipated in the second half of 2011, the pace of growth going forward is expected to be more modest than previously envisaged, largely due to the external environment."
The prime rate at most lenders will stay at 3.00%, which means those with variable-rate mortgages will not see their payments change and will continue to enjoy historically low rates. New variable rate mortgages are available to qualified borrowers at Prime minus 0.10%.
The Bank's next rate decision is scheduled for March 8.
And while not related to the prime rate, it is worth noting that fixed mortgage rates are near all-time lows, with 4 and 5 year mortgages available at rates that are close to variable-rate pricing.
If you would like to review your options, please let me know.
Rick Moran, AMP #M08001997
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Understanding your credit report and credit score – Part 1
What many prospective borrowers don't realize is that the pricing of mortgages and other loans is based in part on their credit-worthiness. Consumers need to be aware of how their credit is evaluated by lenders, and how they can work to avoid so-called "bruised credit" – people with a lower credit score can find themselves paying a higher interest rate, or even denied access to certain types of loans.
A credit report is a detailed history of how consistently you meet your financial obligations, and provides a picture of your financial health based on your past behaviour. A credit score is a three-digit number, usually between 300 and 900, representing your overall credit-worthiness, based on personal information from your credit report and other sources.
Both your credit report and score are important. When deciding whether or not to grant a mortgage loan, lenders refer to an applicant's credit report and score, along with a range of other factors such as income, employment history, and size of down payment.
The higher your score the more likely you are to be approved for a mortgage and receive favourable rates because the lender considers you to be a better credit risk. Several factors are used by the two main credit agencies in Canada (Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada) to calculate credit scores:
Debt payment history.
Amounts owed compared to your current credit limits with lenders.
How often you seek new credit.
Length of time you have had credit accounts.
Type of credit, such as car loans, lines of credit, credit cards.
Rick Moran, AMP #M08001997
A credit report is a detailed history of how consistently you meet your financial obligations, and provides a picture of your financial health based on your past behaviour. A credit score is a three-digit number, usually between 300 and 900, representing your overall credit-worthiness, based on personal information from your credit report and other sources.
Both your credit report and score are important. When deciding whether or not to grant a mortgage loan, lenders refer to an applicant's credit report and score, along with a range of other factors such as income, employment history, and size of down payment.
The higher your score the more likely you are to be approved for a mortgage and receive favourable rates because the lender considers you to be a better credit risk. Several factors are used by the two main credit agencies in Canada (Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada) to calculate credit scores:
Debt payment history.
Amounts owed compared to your current credit limits with lenders.
How often you seek new credit.
Length of time you have had credit accounts.
Type of credit, such as car loans, lines of credit, credit cards.
Rick Moran, AMP #M08001997
MORTGAGE PLANNING 2012
Consider a mortgage check up in the new year
As we begin 2012, consider getting a mortgage check up in the new year to make sure you have the best mortgage strategy for meeting your financial goals.
A personalized mortgage check up from an Invis mortgage professional is a simple way to ensure:
that your repayment approach suits you, for example with payments structured to maximize mortgage principal reduction,
any consumer debt you may have (such as credit card balances) is transferred to a lower interest rate,
you have access to the lowest-cost funds for renovations, education or other major expenditures.
Contact us to learn more about your current mortgage options and how to make your home equity work for you.
Rick Moran, AMP #M08001997
As we begin 2012, consider getting a mortgage check up in the new year to make sure you have the best mortgage strategy for meeting your financial goals.
A personalized mortgage check up from an Invis mortgage professional is a simple way to ensure:
that your repayment approach suits you, for example with payments structured to maximize mortgage principal reduction,
any consumer debt you may have (such as credit card balances) is transferred to a lower interest rate,
you have access to the lowest-cost funds for renovations, education or other major expenditures.
Contact us to learn more about your current mortgage options and how to make your home equity work for you.
Rick Moran, AMP #M08001997
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Experts are calling for a bit of a mixed bag in Canadian real estate for 2012
Housing market prognosticators say next year will be marked by bursts of growth in certain hot regional markets throughout the country combined with a cooling trend in other areas, namely that of robust markets such as Toronto.
Look for mixed market signals in Canadian real estate as a market theme in 2012 as cities like Halifax and Edmonton and Calgary will begin to feel a marked increase in demand for real estate purchases, with average price increases beginning late in the year, according to says Vancouver real estate consultant Don Campbell. Toronto’s hot market will start to ease off next year, although its condo real estate market will remain stable.
“Sophisticated homeowners and investors will have to dig a little deeper, especially in 2012 and 2013, to find out how their region is performing because Canada is really going to be a tale of regions over the next few years,” says Campbell, a real estate investor and author. “Where one region is booming, the next may be underperforming.”
Expect price moderation in Toronto in the neighbourhood of five to 10 per cent, says Todd Hirsch, a senior economist with ATB Financial in Calgary. “There could be a little more worry of a small bubble (bursting) in Toronto,” says Hirsch, “because the Ontario economy in 2012 will likely cool off a bit, not tremendously, though. You won’t see a recession.”If you’re thinking the same for Vancouver, think again, advises Hirsch. Given that Vancouver is the destination of choice for Asian investors, prices there will remain far higher than what they are in Calgary and Toronto. This will likely continue into 2012, predicts Hirsch, who expects the Chinese economy will moderate next year although not enough to prevent its citizens from wanting to invest in Canada’s west coast real estate market.
But the markets in Toronto and especially Vancouver, which comprise approximately 40 per cent of Canadian real estate, should be eyed carefully by home buyers or investors. According to Campbell, time lines should run short at 12 to 18 months or long at five years or more as statistics show signs of market turmoil in the medium term (19 months to four years) as interest rates begin to edge up, inventory outstrips population demand. That’s when speculators will try to dump properties and market confidence will be lower. In Calgary and Edmonton expect stable prices, says Hirsch.
Saskatchewan is where you’ll find the best real estate deals in the country with the average house price in Saskatoon running at $320,000. That province also has the lowest unemployment figures in Canada with unemployment pegged at three per cent in Regina.
Halifax and St. John’s are stand alone in Atlantic Canada as those two cities experience an unrivalled economic boom right now. House prices in those cities could actually gain a little in 2012.
As for the rest of Atlantic Canada, notes Hirsch, much of it is a depressed economy in which its rural areas are being hollowed out as residents leave the countryside for jobs in urban areas. Quebec City’s economy is faring not too badly these days as its house prices are undervalued at about one third below the national average.
Still, growth in Quebec will be a bit sluggish in 2012 with no real strong real estate gains. While its economy will be sluggish, keep in mind the province’s housing prices are not as overvalued as in Toronto so you won’t see as much deflationary pressure as in Toronto. While the province is not looking at a recession in 2012, the year will be economically softer.
Strong real estate markets will be in Canadian regions where job growth continues, low unemployment rates continue to drop and where there’s a migration of people with jobs (as opposed to retirees), says Campbell, who cites Halifax, Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, Hamilton, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, St. John, Dawson Creek and Surrey as having the most stable markets.“Many Canadians will be fooled into thinking that their home value is either increasing or decreasing because of reports that are released discussing the ‘Average Price in Canada,’ “ he says, “producing either a false sense of confidence or a false sense of doom, depending on the report of the month.”
According to CREA, the national housing market is edging closer to being a seller’s market.“The Canadian housing market is proving resilient in the face of ongoing global economic and financial uncertainty, to the benefit of Canadian economic growth,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s president. “That said, some housing markets are picking up, while others are holding steady or consolidating.”
A quarterly economic forecast by TD Economics economist Francis Fong indicates that the low interest rate environment coupled with slowing jobs and income growth, especially in the first six months of 2012, will hold back resurgence in housing activity. Expect a slight pullback in homes sales and prices to the tune of one to two per cent. “Looking ahead, 2012 will likely be a much more subdued year for the housing market,” wrote Fong in her report released this week.
What are your predictions for 2012? Do you think your market will stay the course, grow or drop off? What sense are you getting from clients? Tell us what you’re thinking.
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
Look for mixed market signals in Canadian real estate as a market theme in 2012 as cities like Halifax and Edmonton and Calgary will begin to feel a marked increase in demand for real estate purchases, with average price increases beginning late in the year, according to says Vancouver real estate consultant Don Campbell. Toronto’s hot market will start to ease off next year, although its condo real estate market will remain stable.
“Sophisticated homeowners and investors will have to dig a little deeper, especially in 2012 and 2013, to find out how their region is performing because Canada is really going to be a tale of regions over the next few years,” says Campbell, a real estate investor and author. “Where one region is booming, the next may be underperforming.”
Expect price moderation in Toronto in the neighbourhood of five to 10 per cent, says Todd Hirsch, a senior economist with ATB Financial in Calgary. “There could be a little more worry of a small bubble (bursting) in Toronto,” says Hirsch, “because the Ontario economy in 2012 will likely cool off a bit, not tremendously, though. You won’t see a recession.”If you’re thinking the same for Vancouver, think again, advises Hirsch. Given that Vancouver is the destination of choice for Asian investors, prices there will remain far higher than what they are in Calgary and Toronto. This will likely continue into 2012, predicts Hirsch, who expects the Chinese economy will moderate next year although not enough to prevent its citizens from wanting to invest in Canada’s west coast real estate market.
But the markets in Toronto and especially Vancouver, which comprise approximately 40 per cent of Canadian real estate, should be eyed carefully by home buyers or investors. According to Campbell, time lines should run short at 12 to 18 months or long at five years or more as statistics show signs of market turmoil in the medium term (19 months to four years) as interest rates begin to edge up, inventory outstrips population demand. That’s when speculators will try to dump properties and market confidence will be lower. In Calgary and Edmonton expect stable prices, says Hirsch.
Saskatchewan is where you’ll find the best real estate deals in the country with the average house price in Saskatoon running at $320,000. That province also has the lowest unemployment figures in Canada with unemployment pegged at three per cent in Regina.
Halifax and St. John’s are stand alone in Atlantic Canada as those two cities experience an unrivalled economic boom right now. House prices in those cities could actually gain a little in 2012.
As for the rest of Atlantic Canada, notes Hirsch, much of it is a depressed economy in which its rural areas are being hollowed out as residents leave the countryside for jobs in urban areas. Quebec City’s economy is faring not too badly these days as its house prices are undervalued at about one third below the national average.
Still, growth in Quebec will be a bit sluggish in 2012 with no real strong real estate gains. While its economy will be sluggish, keep in mind the province’s housing prices are not as overvalued as in Toronto so you won’t see as much deflationary pressure as in Toronto. While the province is not looking at a recession in 2012, the year will be economically softer.
Strong real estate markets will be in Canadian regions where job growth continues, low unemployment rates continue to drop and where there’s a migration of people with jobs (as opposed to retirees), says Campbell, who cites Halifax, Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, Hamilton, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, St. John, Dawson Creek and Surrey as having the most stable markets.“Many Canadians will be fooled into thinking that their home value is either increasing or decreasing because of reports that are released discussing the ‘Average Price in Canada,’ “ he says, “producing either a false sense of confidence or a false sense of doom, depending on the report of the month.”
According to CREA, the national housing market is edging closer to being a seller’s market.“The Canadian housing market is proving resilient in the face of ongoing global economic and financial uncertainty, to the benefit of Canadian economic growth,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s president. “That said, some housing markets are picking up, while others are holding steady or consolidating.”
A quarterly economic forecast by TD Economics economist Francis Fong indicates that the low interest rate environment coupled with slowing jobs and income growth, especially in the first six months of 2012, will hold back resurgence in housing activity. Expect a slight pullback in homes sales and prices to the tune of one to two per cent. “Looking ahead, 2012 will likely be a much more subdued year for the housing market,” wrote Fong in her report released this week.
What are your predictions for 2012? Do you think your market will stay the course, grow or drop off? What sense are you getting from clients? Tell us what you’re thinking.
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Best Interest Rates in the Market
New Interest Rates have been arranged with a new Lender that will only deal with selected Brokers.
5 year fixed rate @ 3.14% with a 45 day rate hold or, Variable Rate Mortgages at Prime less .30% (2.70%)
December 6, 2011
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
5 year fixed rate @ 3.14% with a 45 day rate hold or, Variable Rate Mortgages at Prime less .30% (2.70%)
December 6, 2011
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
Monday, November 28, 2011
First time buyers: Make the most of the Home Buyers Plan
If you're a first time homebuyer, you can use the federal Home Buyers Plan (HBP) to take out funds from your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) to use towards the purchase of a qualifying home.
The Plan allows first time buyers to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSP (or, up to a maximum of $50,000 per couple) tax free, and have 15 years over which to pay the funds back into their RRSP.
While 44 percent of first-time homebuyers are using the HBP to make a down payment, 46 percent of recent first-time buyers have no RRSP savings to use toward a down payment, according to mortgage insurer Genworth Financial Canada. If you do not have RRSPs, we can show you how to establish an RRSP with borrowed funds, and use the resulting tax refund for a down payment or a lump-sum mortgage payment.
If you or someone you know would like to learn more about the HBP or about saving for a down payment, talk to us. Also, www.Moneytools.ca from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has useful information on making a budget and sticking to it.
The Plan allows first time buyers to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSP (or, up to a maximum of $50,000 per couple) tax free, and have 15 years over which to pay the funds back into their RRSP.
While 44 percent of first-time homebuyers are using the HBP to make a down payment, 46 percent of recent first-time buyers have no RRSP savings to use toward a down payment, according to mortgage insurer Genworth Financial Canada. If you do not have RRSPs, we can show you how to establish an RRSP with borrowed funds, and use the resulting tax refund for a down payment or a lump-sum mortgage payment.
If you or someone you know would like to learn more about the HBP or about saving for a down payment, talk to us. Also, www.Moneytools.ca from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has useful information on making a budget and sticking to it.
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Five Reasons to Always Say Thank You
Never, ever, underestimate the value of saying thank- you. By the same token, don’t underestimate the potentially negative influences of keeping appreciation to yourself- especially in business.
Clients always have a choice. While your best bet to keeping clients happy and rewarding them for having chosen you is by delivering top-notch service and exceeding their expectations, acknowledging the fact that they chose you- and that you appreciate it is not only polite, it is crucial to generating business in the future.
It’s Not Just Business, it’s Personal
In the relationship-based business, there are a lot of cross-over elements from personal relationships; nuance and emotional connection are either the adhesive that binds a relationship together over the long term, or can be the source of cracks to threaten the foundation.
While your relationship is rooted in business, the emotional content resides in a very different place. It is that connection that resonates with clients; it is from this connection that trust grows, and context is given to those important intangibles like integrity and accountability that people need to move forward in client centric business.
Simply, if you don’t thank clients, you run the risk of hurting their feelings, or having them feel unappreciated. Clients who don’t feel appreciated are much less likely to refer friends or family, or to return to do repeat business- especially if they feel that their business would be more appreciated by someone else.
It Really is the Thought that Counts
Saying thank- you to a client doesn’t have to be a grand gesture.
If you are considering showing your appreciation with a gift, even something small, if presented with genuine appreciation goes a long way.
Often all that is needed is a small token, a coffee card, a book or something similar. Or, to really emphasize the relationship aspect of your business, get the client a gift card for their favourite store, or for one of their favourite activities, to show that you’ve been listening.
The key here is not to fuss over what to get; it is all about delivery and sincerity of the message.
The Writing is on the Wall
In this electronic age, we favour speed, access and immediacy when communicating.
When saying thank -you to a client, consider using the time-honoured, often –overlooked handwritten note on crisp, nice stationary or a card.
Sitting down and putting pen to paper accomplishes a number of things: It personalizes the message. It sets up a direct sense of contact between the sender and recipient. It also supports the sincerity of the appreciation, because it suggests that you took extra time and preparation to deliver this message.
A Gesture in Moment; an Eye to the Future
There are logical connectors, and there are emotional connectors. Logical connectors will entice clients in the moment; emotional connectors are what help a client make a decision to stay with you over the long term. It’s all about feeding those connectors.
Saying thank- you not only supports the relationship in the moment, it gives base and reason for referrals in the future.
Creating an atmosphere of good will through gratitude facilitates the ask for referrals as well. It almost seems a logical next step, when you’ve got them feeling all warm and fuzzy.
Timing is Everything
We’ve established that the how is important when delivering a thank you- but as important is the when.
You have a brief window in which to extend a thank-you. If you miss the opportunity, the impact of the message and of the sincerity of the gratitude diminishes.
Make sure you send your gift or note immediately following a transaction or other event. This keeps feelings of gratitude fresh in everyone’s mind.
No matter how you say thank-you, make sure it is out loud, and make sure it is often. As Gladys Stern said, “Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.”
Rick Moran, AMP, OMB # M08001997
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