MORTGAGE PRE-APPROVAL & MORTGAGE CALCULATOR

Click Here For The Latest Mortgage Rates % NB: The rates in the above charts are what we call the "Posted Rates"; most of the Canadian banks will offer their customers with approved credit a rate equal to best discount rate found on this chart!  Talk-to-Us to find the latest rates. IS A MORTGAGE PRE-APPROVAL IMPORTANT?  Yes.  It's important to know how much you can afford to spend on your home or condo purchase.  One of the most crucial preliminary steps that every buyer should take, is to sit down with a qualified mortgage specialist who can pre-approve a mortgage amount and lock in a preferred interest rate for you.  Most importantly, they can fully explain all that you need to know.  There are numerous advantages to having a pre-approval, and, so many disadvantages in not having this pre-approval in place.  Read on for more information. KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN REALLY AFFORD!  This is one of the obvious reasons to sit down with a mortgage specialist and get pre-approved.  You will know exactly how much you can afford to spend on a home or condo purchase.  You will also find out what the outcome would be should the property taxes be higher or lower than expected.  Knowing this allows you to shop in the right price range. YOUR INTEREST RATES WILL BE LOCKED IN!  When you become pre-approved for a mortgage you will be given a discounted rate (dependant on your qualifications and credit score) and this rate will be locked in for a period of 90-120 days.  We often see during the winter months pre-approvals with rates gaurenteed until July 1st-15th!  Should the rates go up prior to you notarizing your purchase, you will be offered the gaurenteed rate that was offered a the time of your pre-approval!  Should the rates decrease prior to notarizing your purchase, you will get the new lower rate.  It is a "win-win" scenario! BARGAINING POWER: MAKE THE SELLER CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO SECURE FINANCING! So often agents hear the words, "don't worry, I can get a mortgage".  In most cases, this may in fact be true.  However, one of the greatest concerns a seller will have in accepting a buyer's offer is whether or not they have the ability to arrange financing in a timely manner.  The seller does not know you; they want to be assured that all will go smoothly.  If you do not have a letter from a lender proving that you can arrange a mortgage in a timely manner, the seller may decide to bypass your offer and to accept one from another buyer.  This is especially true if more than 1 buyer makes an offer at the same time ("multiple offers").  FACT: You will always have more bargaining power if the seller is not worried about your financing!  YOU ARE TAKEN  MORE SERIOUSLY BY ALL!  The truth is that since proving your financial capability is such an important step in the home and condo buying process, you will be taken that much more seriously by all parties involved in a real estate transaction if you are pre-approved for a mortgage. Why raise any unecessary red flags!   THERE IS NO COST OR OBLIGATION TO YOU!  The truth is that there is no cost whatsover in getting pre-approved for a mortgage and you still will have no obligation to even go ahead and make a purchase!  You have nothing to lose! So if you arfe seriously considering a purchase, get yourself pre-approved. YOU CAN STILL CHANGE YOUR MIND ON WHICH LENDER YOU WILL USE!   Where as in most cases you will find that there is absolutely no reason to change lenders before notarizing, it is important to know that you still have the right to make a change up to 2 weeks prior to notarizing your purchase, just in case the need arises! SO MANY ADVANTAGES....NO DISADVANTAGES!  As you can see, there are so many reasons why you should get a mortgage pre-approval and there are absolutely NO disadvantages what so ever in having the pre-approval in place! The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) is a program that allows you to withdraw up to $25,000 from your registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability.   Conditions for Participating in the HBP Only the individual who is entitled to receive payments from the RRSP (the annuitant) can withdraw funds from an RRSP. You can make withdrawals from more than one RRSP as long as you are the annuitant (plan owner) of each RRSP. Your RRSP issuer will not withhold tax on these amounts. Generally, you will not be allowed to withdraw funds from a locked-in RRSP. To participate in the HBP, ONE of the following conditions must apply: ·      You are withdrawing funds to buy or build a home for yourself as a first-time home buyer; or ·      You are withdrawing funds to buy or build a home for a related person with a disability.    In addition, ALL of the following conditions must apply:   ·      You must enter into a written agreement (Offer of purchase) to buy or build a qualifying home. The agreement may be with a builder or contractor, or with a realtor or private seller. Obtaining a pre-approved mortgage does not satisfy this condition. ·      You intend to occupy the qualifying home as your principal place of residence. ·      Your repayable HBP balance on January 1 of the year of the withdrawal is zero. ·      Neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner owns the qualifying home more than 30 days before the withdrawal. ·      You are a resident of Canada. ·      You buy or build the qualifying home before October 1 of the year after the year of withdrawal.   Paying Yourself Back    Your first repayment is due the second year following the year in which you made your withdrawals. Each year, the Canada Revenue Agency will send you a statement of account with your notice of assessment or notice of reassessment. The statement will include: ·      the amount you have repaid (including any additional payments); ·      your balance for the HBP; and ·      the amount of the next repayment you should make.    You have up to 15 years to repay the amount that you withdrew under the HBP. Generally, for each year of your repayment period, you have to repay 1/15 of the total amount you withdrew until the full amount is repaid to your RRSPs.   For example, if you withdraw funds from your RRSP in July 2009, you must pay at least 1/15th of the withdrawal in 2011 (or the first 60 days of 2012).  For full information visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/hbp-rap/menu-eng.html   CAPITALISM AT IT'S BEST: LET THE BANKS FIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS! At Royal LePage, we are proud to be associated with many of the top mortgage reps & brokers in the industry! You can choose from one of the experts from Desjardins, Scotia, TD-Canada Trust, RBC, BMO, as well as from Mulit-Prets & HLC Mortgage Brokers!  Feel free to contact any of the representatives lited below - we work closely with all of them and can attest for their quailty of work!  We only refer our clients to people that we know will do a good job for you! The following mortgage specialists work very closely with us and can provide you with a speedy mortgage pre-approval or approval, as well as assisting with re-financing and other financial needs:

TD-Canada Trust:         Eric Cyrenne                                    (514) 704-8549

Scotiabank:                   Susan Franks                                   (514) 951-3900

TD-Canada Trust:         Martin Adaszkiewicz                      (514) 803-5656

RBC:                                Jean-Pierre ("JP") Duhamel         (514) 212-8776

National:                        Paul Rochefort                                 (514) 831-5665

Multi-Prets:                   Elie Melki                                          (514) 260-7777       
 

To get a basic idea of what you can afford, our calculator will help you determine loan amounts, mortgage qualification, affordability or whether you should be renting or buying.

Complete the fields below and click Calculate Now. To view the results of each calculation, click on the various tabs.  To email yourself a copy of the results, click the Receive this Detailed Analysis link.