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[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

How much equity do you have in your home? I've never been a big fan of HELOCs & much prefer just lumping it in the mortgage, but that's just me.

The outstanding mortgage amount is 209k, and the house is assessed at 265 (100k less than the price I purchased the home for), however, the city doesn't know about the suite (which is exceptionally nice), and other improvements I've made.

The issue that I have in my situation, is that my brother and I share the mortgage payments (he live in the basement with his wife), but the HELOC would solely be for myself. Plus, putting it into the mortgage means that the debt is still there until 20 years from now, when the mortgage is up.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

The outstanding mortgage amount is 209k, and the house is assessed at 265 (100k less than the price I purchased the home for), however, the city doesn't know about the suite (which is exceptionally nice), and other improvements I've made.

The issue that I have in my situation, is that my brother and I share the mortgage payments (he live in the basement with his wife), but the HELOC would solely be for myself. Plus, putting it into the mortgage means that the debt is still there until 20 years from now, when the mortgage is up.

Then you don't even have enough equity for a HELOC. 209/265=78.87%.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think you can get a HELOC under just your name if the title is under both you and your brother's name.

I've never underwritten a HELOC application before so maybe someone else can help you with that

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Then you don't even have enough equity for a HELOC. 209/265=78.87%.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think you can get a HELOC under just your name if the title is under both you and your brother's name.

I've never underwritten a HELOC application before so maybe someone else can help you with that

The house is certainly worth more than $265 though. Like I said, the assessment value is off on my house.

The title is solely in my name.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

The house is certainly worth more than $265 though. Like I said, the assessment value is off on my house.

The title is solely in my name.

Okay. Then you can get an appraisal done and a HELOC is an option as long as you have sufficient equity in it.

[bizaro86]

ATB currently has a HELOC at prime - 0.5 (or 2.5% at current rates) for the first year. Might be worth looking into, especially if you're planning on paying it off relatively quickly.

http://www.atb.com/personal-banking/...of-credit.aspx

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

I've seen five year rates at 3.29%. Not sure if there are better rates out there or not. You just missed the boat on BMO's 2.99% promo.

How much equity do you have in your home? I've never been a big fan of HELOCs & much prefer just lumping it in the mortgage, but that's just me.

All I'll say is that at least one FI is still offering a 2.99% until the end of the month with none of the restrictions that BMO had. I won't hijack or hawk my services in this thread as that would be offside but if you want to know the FI just PM me.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

All I'll say is that at least one FI is still offering a 2.99% until the end of the month with none of the restrictions that BMO had. I won't hijack or hawk my services in this thread as that would be offside but if you want to know the FI just PM me.

For a 4 year term though, right?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fotze

and blunty the party?

Well there are two parties to a contract....so I was using it in that sense of the word? Not sure what you're getting at here though?

Originally Posted by bizaro86

...find the cheapest term life insurance they can

Sure, find the cheapest term you can get, if that's appropriate. Its not for every single situation though, and those options can and should be reviewed with a licensed advisor as opposed to someone who just sells this as an aside.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well there are two parties to a contract....so I was using it in that sense of the word? Not sure what you're getting at here though?

The word you were trying to use is "bluntly"

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

For a 4 year term though, right?

No. 5 year term, up to 30 year amort.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

The word you were trying to use is "bluntly"

[8sPOT]

The legalities around tied selling are stupid. If I tell someone they cannot get a mortgage without taking insurance, that is tied selling. If I tell someone they cannot get a certain rate on that mortgage without taking insurance thats fine.

If you aren't being denied a product it isn't tied selling.

The moral of the story is, buy shares in banks.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

The legalities around tied selling are stupid. If I tell someone they cannot get a mortgage without taking insurance, that is tied selling. If I tell someone they cannot get a certain rate on that mortgage without taking insurance thats fine.

If you aren't being denied a product it isn't tied selling.

The moral of the story is, buy shares in banks.

Interesting. What if I already have insurance? Is that still OK to make my buying insurance a condition of getting the best rate?

[8sPOT]

Originally Posted by Slava

Interesting. What if I already have insurance? Is that still OK to make my buying insurance a condition of getting the best rate?

There's so many grey areas, I don't there is a definitive answer to that. In my experience it came down to the banker. If they felt that you had long term potential, or even just liked dealing with you there are steps they can take to get whatever rate to be competitive. They just need to have an argument as to why that individual is entitled to that rate.

For example, if a customer that has no dealings with my bank comes in looking to switch their mortgage, and is asking for a rate that ATB is currently offering I would look at their networth, income, credit rating, long term goals and determine if they're worth fighting for.

I always started with the special rates and determined quickly how prepared the client was, if they knew the markets and whatnot.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

There's so many grey areas, I don't there is a definitive answer to that. In my experience it came down to the banker. If they felt that you had long term potential, or even just liked dealing with you there are steps they can take to get whatever rate to be competitive. They just need to have an argument as to why that individual is entitled to that rate.

For example, if a customer that has no dealings with my bank comes in looking to switch their mortgage, and is asking for a rate that ATB is currently offering I would look at their networth, income, credit rating, long term goals and determine if they're worth fighting for.

I always started with the special rates and determined quickly how prepared the client was, if they knew the markets and whatnot.

Right, some of which is fine and some of which leads to tied selling. The banks can decide on what basis they want to provide what rates, except that they can't force you to buy other products. That seems rational to me.

[Wormius]

Up for renewal with FN, they're offering a 1 year fixed for 2.94% Not sure if its worth bothering to try to get anything better with only $16k left.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Up for renewal with FN, they're offering a 1 year fixed for 2.94% Not sure if its worth bothering to try to get anything better with only $16k left.

What's your remaining ammortization? Probably a year or two?
Saving 1% on $16k works out to $160/year or $13.33/month.
2.94% is a good rate. I'd probably just take it. Their two year is 3.15%. Both really low rates.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

What's your remaining ammortization? Probably a year or two?
Saving 1% on $16k works out to $160/year or $13.33/month.
2.94% is a good rate. I'd probably just take it. Their two year is 3.15%. Both really low rates.

Thanks. We will have about 8 months left after the renewal. It's probably not worth the hassle to change lenders for such a small amount anyway.

[Kristi Hyson]

Originally Posted by Slava

I'll partially agree here. Having protection for yourself in terms of life insurance, critical illness and disability is important. I wouldn't (for a number of very important reasons) suggest that buying insurance from the bank/mortgage issuer is anywhere near that efficacy though. It doesn't offer the same security and bluntly the party that receives the protection in those cases is the financial institution.

People should have coverage, but they should speak with a fully licensed advisor to get it.

Hi,

I agree mortgage holders require insurance, however, I disagree with the information posted "It doesn't offer the same security and bluntly the party that receives the protection in those cases is the financial institution."

Clarification, life insurance offered by financial institutions is not in the financial institutions best interest, the insurance is in the mortgage holder’s best interest. The only insurance requirement the financial institution is concerned about is fire insurance. The property in which the mortgage is registered is the security, if the home is not insured against loss of life, health crisis & disability the property can be foreclosed on in the event of a death or an accident.

Mortgage insurance offered by financial institutions cover the entire mortgage including the penalty. If you take a policy with a third party insurance company for the mortgage amount and do not include provisions for the penalty (in the event of an early payout) the policy will not cover the mortgage in full and will leave an outstanding balance. With the financial institutions policies the mortgage is paid in full inclusive of the penalty.

It is best to review all options and choose the insurance product that best fits and meets the needs of the borrower.

[Kristi Hyson]

Hi,

I have read through all the posts regarding your mortgage. Scotiabank offers a Scotia Total Equity Plan that will assist with what you are looking to accomplish. If your current mortgage is $209K and your house value is $265K, then your loan to value is 78% allowing you to turn your mortgage into a conventional mortgage and start acruing equity to use towards paying off debt at a lower rate.

Scotiabank's current 5 year rate is 3.29%, below is a link to the Scotiabank Total Equity Plan.

http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,28,00.html

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.