Mortgage is up for renewal

elkymutt

elkymutt

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So I have decided to start shopping around. I'm currently with one of the big banks. I know they are nowhere near the rates that mortgage brokers can find...

How many applications can I make before it starts to negatively impact my credit score?
If I fill out an application with a broker, am I committed? Do I owe them anything if I don't go with their services?

My current bank has stated they will need a "official" letter from the lender with the cheaper rate. Brokers don't seem to want to do this...

On a side note, is it true that If you pay your property taxes through your mortgage payment, you will pay interest on the property taxes at the rate of the mortgage? Ive been paying my taxes separately from pre-authorized withdrawals and those payments hurt the wallet sometimes...

Cheers
 
Go variable rate, and shop around without signing anything ..

Talk to a few different big banks, and than talk to a mortgage broker. Youll see a huge difference ..

Paying property tax seperately may hurt the wallet, but was told it is better to do overall.
 
I missed the variable rate boat a couple months ago when I could get a 5 year prime -.95 (2.05)
Now its more like 2.45

3 year is 2.69 fixed
4 year is 2.89 fixed

Ya I know about the huge difference. I want to know how to get that differene with my current "big bank" without hurting my credit score or owing money to a broker if I don't go with them.

(prime is 3.00)

I guess I'm gonna have to call my bank about the property tax thing
 
elkymutt said:
I missed the variable rate boat a couple months ago when I could get a 5 year prime -.95 (2.05)
Now its more like 2.45

3 year is 2.69 fixed
4 year is 2.89 fixed

Ya I know about the huge difference. I want to know how to get that differene with my current "big bank" without hurting my credit score or owing money to a broker if I don't go with them.

(prime is 3.00)

I guess I'm gonna have to call my bank about the property tax thing
Click to expand...

I got lucky, I got my mortgate about 3 months ago.....Prime - 0.85%....not quite the -0.95% you're describing but close! 2.15% variable FTW!
 
I got the 3 year prime - .95%

Good rate. When I put in my application it was literally the last day it was available.
 
I've heard that brokers do better than banks, but that wasn't my experience.

I got prime -0.9 on a variable from cibc back in May, and they threw in 25000 aeroplan miles and a few other things plus good add-ons like doubling your payments and pre-paying up to 20% per year.

I only contacted 3 or 4 brokers, but wasn't impressed. Their rates came close to CIBC, but not necessarily with the added extras. The brokers I talked to also lacked professionalism -- didn't return calls or emails very fast, had crappy little multi-purpose offices, etc...

If you happen to go down to Mississauga, talk to Faraz at the CIBC at Rockwood Mall, Dixie and Burhamthorpe. Even my real estate agent now uses Faraz rather than brokers because he is good at what he does.
 
Check out Monster Mortgage.

We have a work plan that is too lucrative to mess with, but many acquaintances found their best deal w/ MM.

They buy in bulk pooling a number of mortgages and thus getting a preferential rate from one of the major banks, something you and I can't I've access to due to volume pricing.
 
I went with ING (through a broker) as I like have had better luck with them in the past (in regards to customer service and policies) even though CIBC offered 0.05% better. It's only a few dollars a month more and I have had no problems so far. The only surprise was the online view of the mortgage does not show a history of payments, you have to wait for the paper statement.

I pay my property taxes with the mortgage (seemed easier at the time). ING tracks the money for taxes separately and normally it is a positive balance (ie. I am prepaying the tax). They can't be charging interest on a positive balance. Sure I could invest the money and make a little interest off it, but the ease of constant monthly payments (and not having to remember to pay) outweighs the few dollars lost in interest for me.
 
gqelements said:
Check out Monster Mortgage.

We have a work plan that is too lucrative to mess with, but many acquaintances found their best deal w/ MM.

They buy in bulk pooling a number of mortgages and thus getting a preferential rate from one of the major banks, something you and I can't I've access to due to volume pricing.
Click to expand...

Are you getting Prime -1.00? or something? Otherwise if you talk to a banking officer personally I think you can easily get the best rates that they will offer. I got Prime -0.85 about 4 years ago, that was my first mortgage and the banking guy had to talk me into it since I didn't know any better. lol.
 
elkymutt said:
So I have decided to start shopping around. I'm currently with one of the big banks. I know they are nowhere near the rates that mortgage brokers can find...

How many applications can I make before it starts to negatively impact my credit score?
If I fill out an application with a broker, am I committed? Do I owe them anything if I don't go with their services?

My current bank has stated they will need a "official" letter from the lender with the cheaper rate. Brokers don't seem to want to do this...

On a side note, is it true that If you pay your property taxes through your mortgage payment, you will pay interest on the property taxes at the rate of the mortgage? Ive been paying my taxes separately from pre-authorized withdrawals and those payments hurt the wallet sometimes...

Cheers
Click to expand...

To address your primary question, when are shopping for a mortgage or car etc. It is codded differently on your bureau. All inquiries done within a 2 week period counts as 1 hit on your bureau.
 
I just renewed my mortgage.

This is what I got from RBC.

Variable 2.55 - can lock the mortgage anytime to fixed 5 yr
Cash back 2% - $$ in my pocket yay; but I'm going to put that back into to the loan towards the principal
 
Yamaha_Gurl said:
How much could you credit score go down with each inquiry?
Click to expand...

Doesn't work that way. The score is very complex and is all about ratios. So it compares you with other people your age who have and have similar files and the same amount of trades. I've seen some peoples score not budge because their bureau is so strong and some peoples score drop 200 points because they had 1 inquiry in 2 years after declaring bankruptcy. Its all about complex permutations
 
In my experience, its not always advantageous to go with a mortgage broker if you have a good existing relationship with your bank. When my mortgage came up for renewal in the summer, I decided I would try a mortgage broker. They offered me a variable rate mortgage at prime - 85 bps through National Bank, which sounded fine so I said lets do it. They made me jump through all sorts of hoops in terms of getting a home inspection done, income verification etc. Even after providing all of this info, they kept coming back with even more information requests, which started to get tiresome to deal with.

Eventually, I just called my home branch and told them I had contemplated switching and wanted to know what was the best they could do for me. CIBC said they could renew my mortgage at prime - 0.95, plus gave me 15000 airmiles bonus on my CIBC visa to retain the business with absolutely no hassles.
 
strictlye said:
To address your primary question, when are shopping for a mortgage or car etc. It is codded differently on your bureau. All inquiries done within a 2 week period counts as 1 hit on your bureau.
Click to expand...

This is good to know if in fact it is true, you seem to know what you are typing about when it comes to banks and financial information...

GreyGhost said:
I pay my property taxes with the mortgage (seemed easier at the time). ING tracks the money for taxes separately and normally it is a positive balance (ie. I am prepaying the tax). They can't be charging interest on a positive balance. Sure I could invest the money and make a little interest off it, but the ease of constant monthly payments (and not having to remember to pay) outweighs the few dollars lost in interest for me.
Click to expand...

Please explain more about this... When I renew, will the mortgage company ask for a lump sum of money for the property taxes that will be due for that current year?

Heylerds said:
I just renewed my mortgage.

This is what I got from RBC.

Variable 2.55 - can lock the mortgage anytime to fixed 5 yr
Cash back 2% - $$ in my pocket yay; but I'm going to put that back into to the loan towards the principal
Click to expand...

Did you find out that IF you want to lock in, will they lock you in to their "posted" rates (without any discount) or the discounted rates?



This is all very good info. and I don't want to turn this into a mortgage measuring contest - I just want to know the best way to go about saving the most on the biggest bill I'll ever have in my life!!!

So far I gather that a mortgage broker is a good "tool" to help determine what is out there beyond the big banks/credit unions. This can help me negotiate or barter for the best possible rate out there. I get the feeling that I'm in the driver's seat and they ALL want any business they can muster up.

Cheers
 
elkymutt said:
So far I gather that a mortgage broker is a good "tool" to help determine what is out there beyond the big banks/credit unions. This can help me negotiate or barter for the best possible rate out there. I get the feeling that I'm in the driver's seat and they ALL want any business they can muster up.Cheers
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with this assessment. I don't pay my property taxes within my mortgage payments, but my girlfriend does and her payments are not all lumped into one payment, but spread out over the 12 months of biweekly payments. I hadn't thought of whether or not there is any interest tacked on top of her property tax. If the property tax payment was always made as a pre-payment and thus she was always ahead of schedule, then I would hope that interest should not be added.

I went through a broker because he had a great rate at the time with no hassles, but when my renewal comes up next year, I will check around keeping in mind that I am in the drivers seat and they want my interest - literally. I want to be able to make lump sum payments towards my principle on my anniversary dates (or when I am able to) without penalty and I also want to be able to keep my biweekly payments fixed so even when rates go down, I continue to pay the same amount thus paying off my principle earlier.

It would be wise of you to think of the terms that you would wish to have changed on your current agreement so that when renewal comes up, you have a list of items you are looking to have addressed (ex: anniversary payments or lump sums payments with little/no penalty, portability of mortgage if you move, locking in at discounted fixed rates if going with variable for now and so on...).
 
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elkymutt said:
Please explain more about this... When I renew, will the mortgage company ask for a lump sum of money for the property taxes that will be due for that current year?
Click to expand...

I pay with every mortgage payment (yearly taxes/26). It happened that I bought my house right after a tax payment was made so I paid in for a while before ING paid the town. If they had to make a payment right after I bought the house, my tax account with them would be primarily in the red.

ING allows the standard 20%/yr principal payment as well as doubling up your scheduled payment and missing a payment a year if you want. The additional funds can be added during any scheduled mortgage payment, not just on the anniversary.
 
shanekingsley said:
It would be wise of you to think of the terms that you would wish to have changed on your current agreement so that when renewal comes up, you have a list of items you are looking to have addressed (ex: anniversary payments or lump sums payments with little/no penalty, portability of mortgage if you move, locking in at discounted fixed rates if going with variable for now and so on...).
Click to expand...

The handful of brokers I have spoken to say the "options" for pre-payment, overpayment and missing payments are all pretty much the same between lenders. The only real differences are in the amounts you can pre-pay (pay 10% of your mortgage ONCE a year, or 20% TWICE a year), doubling up payments etc...
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