Vancouver Island Real Estate Blog

Most Common Mortgage Questions – And Answers

5 Mortgage Facts 1

If you're planning to buy a home, getting your financial footing is the first step in the process. After all, this is likely the biggest purchase you'll ever make. How much will a home cost? What can you afford to spend? And where will the money come from? While it's always a good idea to meet with a financial advisor to discuss the specifics of your situation, read on for starters.

5 Mortgage Facts 2

Question #1: 

I'm thinking about buying my first home. Where do I start?

Step 1 is to get pre-approved for a mortgage. A pre-approval lets you know how much you can spend,...

How to Buy a Home Without Stress

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We're well into 2018, and the mortgage stress test is in effect. Are you feeling the pinch? With the Bank of Canada's latest interest rate hike, and more increases rumoured for 2018, if you're looking to buy a home and sweating a bit about budget, you're not alone.

But let's take a step back and examine the stress test from a different perspective.

Why was the stress test introduced? Concerns are mounting about the amount of household debt Canadians have been taking on. With interest rates hitting a record low, many stretched their home-buying budget (and mortgage amount!) to the max – particularly in Canada's pricier housing markets, such as Greater Toronto and Vancouver.

Those who bought homes...

4 Factors That Will Affect Housing Activity in 2018

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Some prospective homebuyers are taking a wait-and-see approach to buying a home this year, perhaps anticipating further fallout from the new mortgage qualification rules or rising interest rates. Keep these four factors on your radar when deciding whether to purchase this year.

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1. New mortgage rules

A few months into the stress test, how has housing activity been affected thus far and was all that stress substantiated? It’s still early days to make a definitive call, as year-over-year comparisons of home sales and prices are skewed....