Financial Literacy

This article was originally published on the Dominion Lending Centres blog . For many people, a home will be the largest purchase of their life. It stands to reason then, that when you are shopping around for your mortgage you will want to take certain steps to ensure you are getting the sharpest rate and best product. We have a few pointers to make you a savvy shopper when you are out looking at different mortgages – get ready to take a few notes. 1. Do not always rely on the bank for the sharpest rates Mortgage Brokers can often beat the bank rates by using different lenders. They can also often get you a SHARPER rate at your own bank simply because of the high volume that they do with them. Brokers have access to a number of different lenders giving you more options for not only the best rate, but also the best product for you. 2. Know your credit score Your credit score is a large factor in your mortgage application. You need to know where you stand with your credit BEFORE...

This article was originally published on the Dominion Lending Centres blog . Some of you are going to ask what is an ARM and VRM? These two acronyms are mortgage speak for adjustable rate mortgage and variable rate mortgage. These two mortgage products are based both on the prime rate of interest, in most cases this is 2.70% at the bank. TD chose to be higher by .15% at 2.85% so it isn't controlled by the Bank of Canada. It is an individual financial institution policy. With the Bank of Canada hinting strongly at moving up the interest rate, most likely by .25%, we will see an increase in the prime rate most likely to 2.95%. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage then you will see your monthly payment increase to match this new rate. So an Adjustable Rate Mortgage moves up with prime and you continue to gain ground by making your payments. Variable rate mortgage is different. The VRM works likes this, your monthly payment will stay the same but you will not be paying less t...