Christine Buemann Mortgage Broker

As the dust is settling from the last set of rule changes in October, a more significant set of changes took effect yesterday. The overall impact that they will have is still being speculated by economists all over the country. Every lender has been scrambling to put together new processes and strategies for implementing their new guidelines. Lenders have been changing rates / policies daily so please bear in mind that their turnaround times will likely be a little slower with all banks for the short term. Here are some of the most significant changes we have seen over the last few days: Some lenders have discontinued 30/35 year amortizations, refinances and rental purchases altogether Most lenders have started charging a higher rate for refinances, 30 year amortizations and rental purchases Some lenders have started doing risk based pricing where they require minimum credit scores to have access to certain products Most lenders are cha...

There has been a lot of speculation recently about the change in Government and how it will affect the mortgage industry. It is well known that they are debating tightening up rules for mortgage lending yet again, but they have not yet confirmed what the changes will be.  Perhaps the most discussed option is the higher minimum down payment. The proposed change would be a gradual system with the new minimum down payment increasing to 7% for a purchase purchase of $500k and then to 10% for home purchases of $700k and higher. They are very clearly targeting the larger centres (Vancouver and Toronto) where many have felt the prices have been overinflated for quite some time. They have already changed the minim down payment to 20% for homes valued over $1M.  So how does this affect you? The main concern is First Time Buyers. In my area of Northern BC, the average home is around $275k so I don't feel like it will directly affect too many First Time Buyers. If the larger housi...

Why don't I qualify anymore? Mortgage lending has changed drastically over the past 5 years. We often hear of people who qualified for their mortgages a few years ago but no longer qualify for what they are looking for. Here is a recap of the most significant changes we have had over the past years: Shortened maximum amortizations. Once upon a time, you could stretch the amortization on a mortgage out to 40 years. That slowly crept back to 35, 30 and now 25. On a $250,000 at 2.69% for a 5 year fixed, that is roughly a $250 a month increase in payment. That also means you will need to earn roughly $8600 more a year in order to qualify for that same mortgage with a shortened amortization Debt ratio cutback: debt ratios have been set at 35% for GDS and 42% for TDS for quite some time. Borrowers with higher credit scores used to be able to go as high as 44% for both however several years ago, they capped the GDS at 39%. With an income of $50k and no other debts inclu...