Christine Buemann Mortgage Broker

This is a friendly reminder that the new mortgage rules will come into effect next week. Many lenders have already stopped taking in applications under the old rules.  We still have 2 lenders who will honour pre-approvals for 120 days (most won't) so if you are looking to purchase with 20% or more down, or refinance in the New Year, you should be getting your application and full documents in ASAP! I have a quick and easy   ONLINE APPLICATION if anyone is interested as well. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. www.christinebuemann.ca 

Congrats on your accepted offer! Here is a typical financing timeline so you know what to expect: Offer Accepted Your Realtor will send over the full MLS, Contract of Purchase and Sale with PDS and all addendums, once signed. If it is a strata, there will be additional documents. If there is no Realtor involved, I suggest having a Lawyer or Notary draw up the contract when possible.   Once we have received all of these documents, we will update the application with the property details and discuss the best lender, rate and product options.   Approval We will submit to the lender for approval. This typically takes 24-48 hours . The lender must also get approval from the default insurer (if applicable) at this point. Some lenders require income and property documents up front. Supporting Documents Once we receive

Are you ready to write an offer on a new property? Here are a few tips that will help make your financing of that property a little smoother: Be Prepared Many lenders now require all documents up front. If you do not have all of the required documents on hand, make sure to gather them ASAP. This is the most common cause for delay. They will likely be calling your employer to verify your employment details. Ensure this person will be available and can confirm the details. Timing is everything Try to leave yourself enough time for subject removal as well as closing. It is much easier to move up the dates, than it is to extend them. Some lenders offer “Quick Close” rates for deals closing within 30-60 days. Most rates are held for up to 120 days. If an appraisal is required, this can add an extra day or two to the financing condition. If you are able to put your closing and su

Check out my short video on the new mortgage rules coming in January!

The Bank of Canada has increased their Qualifying Rate to 4.99%. If you are purchasing a home soon, or planning to refinance make sure to check with your Mortgage Broker to see how this change will impact you. www.christinebuemann.ca

What is the Qualifying Rate? The Bank of Canada's Qualifying Rate (also called the Benchmark Rate) is a weighted average of the Big 6 bank's 5 year posted rate. This rate is used to essentially "stress test" in mortgage qualification to ensure borrowers can afford higher payments should their actual interest rate increase. If you are getting an insured mortgage in Canada, meaning putting less than 20% down, you will have to qualify based on this rate. It is important to note that this is not the actual interest rate that you will be paying. This rate is also used to qualify terms shorter than 5 years as well as variable rate mortgages, for those putting more than 20% down. After January 2018, borrowers with more than 20% will be qualified using the greater of this rate, or their actual rate +2%. www.christinebuemann.ca  

The Government has just released the final version of Guideline B-20 . The most significant change that they have added is the "stress test' to uninsured mortgages. What is an uninsured mortgage? One where there is no default insurance secured to the mortgage. If you are putting less than 20% down, your mortgage currently has to be insured through CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty. What most consumers don't realize is that even when putting more than 20% down, many lenders have still been obtaining this default insurance, they just cover the cost it. This is called portfolio insurance and it essentially allows lenders to finance mortgages with lower interest rates to the consumer . As of last year's set of rule changes, the following types of mortgages can no longer be insured: Refinances Rental properties Properties valued over $1M Mortgages with longer than 25 year amortizations Mortgages with 20% down where the contract rate is required to qualify

If you are buying a house with a purchase price over $500k, there are a few things to remember: Y our minimum down payment will increase . You will be required to pay 5% on the first $500k and then 10% on any amount over the $500k. Here is a link to CMHC which explains the down payment as well as a few other general requirements I f you are purchasing in Northern BC, in that price range you will likely be looking at newly built homes. There is a transfer tax exemption for new construction (up to $750k, with potential partial exemptions up to $800k) which is worth exploring when considering several different home purchases. Property transfer tax is typically 1% on the first $200k and 2% on the remainder.    If you are a first time buyer, the transfer tax exemption is only applicable up to $500k (with partial exemptions up to $550k) so you will want to confirm whether you can qualify for this exemption  For more information on these programs or for any mortgage quest

Who:  The Bank of Canada  What:  Qualifying Rate - This rate is a weighted average of the big 5 bank's 5 year posted rates.  It is used to qualify all insured mortgages as well as variable rate mortgages or those with terms shorter than 5 years.  It is not the actual interest rate that the client will receive, simply a rate used for qualifying. Why:  It is essentially a "stress test" to ensure borrowers can afford an increase in payments, should rates go up. When:  Effective immediately. It is important to note that some lenders may honor the old qualifying rate for pre-approvals however  most will require borrowers to qualify at the new, higher rate. If you are pre-approved and currently shopping for a new home, it is important that you consult with your Mortgage Broker to ensure their maximum mortgage amount has not changed. For any questions, please feel free to contact me. Have a great day! www.christinebuemann.ca 

As you may have already heard, Equifax US was recently hacked. Although they don't anticipate that many Canadians will be affected, it is still a good idea to check. Equifax has set up a site where you can check to see if your information could have been accessed, and if so they will enroll you in a free identity theft program. Check out the details here www.christinebuemann.ca  

The Bank of Canada raised their  Target Overnight Rate   yet again today, by .25%. This rate directly affects the bank's prime lending rate. In turn, Prime Rate for most banks   has increased to 3.2%.  This rate will be applied to all variable rate mortgages as well as secured lines of credit.   Here   is their press release. Most lenders have also started to post modest increases to their fixed rates.   Furthermore, some banks have started to increase their 5 year posted rates to 4.89%. If the remaining ones follow suit, we will likely see an increase to the Bank of Canada's Qualifying Rate over the coming weeks. I will keep you posted on this as it will impact any pre-approvals. As of now, I can still do insured pre-approvals for the 5 year fixed between 2.89-2.99% however these rates won't last. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. www.christinebuemann.ca

I am so excited to share with you, Kyla Snyder, the newest member of my team. Kyla has extensive experience in Customer Service as well as 3+ years at RE/MAX and also conveyance experience from Wilson King Law Office. As the Client Care Manager, Kyla's role is to ensure that every client is taken care of from the time they contact us, until after the mortgage funds and beyond.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Kyla or myself.

Getting pre-approved is a very important, first step in the home buying process. Regardless of whether you are experienced with the process or a first time buyer it is very important to know exactly where you stand financially before considering a new purchase. Mortgage lending guidelines are constantly changing, and due to the economic instability over the last few years, mortgage lending has changed drastically.   There are also issues that may arise on your credit of which you are unaware. Most errors can be rectified easily, but it will take time for the reporting to be updated. It is best to deal with any errors prior to having committed to a specific timeline. Although pre-approvals are extremely important, they should not be relied on 100% at the purchase time. It is important to have a full approval of both the applicant and the property before considering the financing to be secure. Once you are pre-approved it is important to be aware of the different factors that may

When you are putting less than 20% down in Canada, your mortgage has to be insured through CMHC , Genworth or Canada Guaranty . They provide lenders with default insurance in case borrowers default on their mortgage. Traditionally, if you were putting more than 20% down, you were able to avoid this cost as it was covered by the lender if required. The Government has implemented many rule changes which directly impact lender’s ability to rely on default insurance for conventional mortgages. Most lenders have now started classifying 2 categories: “insurable” and “uninsurable”. While they are still able to provide uninsurable products, most of those options now come with a higher rate attached. Here are a few examples of mortgage which can no longer be insured: Rental properties Refinances Amortizations longer than 25 years Applications that do not qualify using the Bank of Canada’s rate Properties over $1M Applicants with credit scores under 600 Here are CM

* PLEASE NOTE: Lenders will want proof that you have at least 1.5% of the purchase price for closing costs . This is not how much they will actually be, but rather a generic estimate. Every home will have different costs associated with purchasing it. Please contact me directly for estimates on the items below. Deposit -Paid to you Realtor usually upon acceptance or subject removal $ Down Payment -Paid on closing date with lawyer. Minimum 5%. $ Default Insurance $ Property Tax Adjustment –Calculated by your lawyer/notary at completion $ Property Tax Hold-back – If the lender is paying the property taxes on your behalf, they may require a lump sum at closing to start the property tax account   $ Utility Transfer fees – BC Gas, Hydro, Telephone, Cable $ Property Transfer Tax -Refer to your lawyer for details.  C