Getting the best mortgage rate

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

I shopped for about 10 days before hand and couldn't get rates near the 3.29 (5yr fixed) that I got. They could have placed me with ICICI at 3.19% but I preferred to stay with Scotia. They're my primary bank and I was also able to leverage some additional goodies.

Surreal - that was my exact situation. Same brokerage firm, stayed with Scotia as well since they were my primary bank, and I wasn't terribly interested in ICICI when I realized they were a foreign bank.

[calgarywinning]

Just going to mention MillerTime GFG. He was great to deal with and has considerable knowledge on mortgage brokering and his very helpful.

[albertGQ]

Wilsonfourtwo and sclitheroe, who was your broker at True North Mortgage?

Friend might go there and maybe I'll recommend that person

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Wilsonfourtwo and sclitheroe, who was your broker at True North Mortgage?

Friend might go there and maybe I'll recommend that person

Chad Riddell, at the Intact Place location downtown. Great guy to deal with; it was by far the simplest part of the whole moving process for me. Contact details are listed on their website, under the details for that location.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Wilsonfourtwo and sclitheroe, who was your broker at True North Mortgage?

Friend might go there and maybe I'll recommend that person

Go with sclitheroe's recommendation. Matt Leggett helped me tremendously but is now out of the office for a couple of weeks.

Either way your friend will get great service and rates, I have no doubt.

[albertGQ]

Ok thanks guys.
Also, my mortgage isn't up for another 3 years but I'm also considering TNM when my term ends

[ranchlandsselling]

Remember there's also a couple of brokers on CP, like Mike Oxlong (spelling) and a few others who always answer mortgage questions for posters when they come up.

[krazycanuck]

Originally Posted by Sheva #7

Hi guys,

Looking to buy my first condo in a few months and was wondering if anyone can advise/recommend the best way to get the lowest rate for a mortgage? is it the broker or the bank (I'm with TD), if so which ones have you had the best experiences with?

I'm looking at doing 5-year fixed and the best rate i got so far was 3.29-3.39%.

Thanks!!

my advice is to avoid TD mortgages like the plague. They deal exclusively in Collateral morgages, same as ING. If you're not familiar, do a quick google on them and why they don't benefit the consumer.

Not only does TD offer terrible mortgages, they are hard to qualify for. I've heard many stories of people getting pre-approval, finding a house and then TD flat out denying to issue a final approval.

[red sky]

Got 2.79 5 year fixed from RBC in the beginning of June. Was helping out a friend who had a bit different of a situation and got a variable rate at prime - 0.5%.

Advice: check True North rates. Get a quote and take it to one of the bigger banks to beat it.

http://www.truenorthmortgage.ca/iphone.html

[sclitheroe]

Something to keep in mind, that I learned through this process, for those looking at these wicked low rates and wondering how much house they can afford - if you will require a high ratio mortgage (ie. requiring CMHC insurance because your downpayment is less than 20%), you have to be able to qualify at the benchmark rate of 5.14% before you'll be allowed to be approved for a variable rate mortgage or one with a term of less than 5 years.

I didn't find a lot of information on this when I was in the early research stages working through affordability and payment calculators, so it caught me by surprise when I learned about it at the broker's (actually it didn't catch my be surprise, it surprised me that I didn't find information on it going in). Fortunately, I was basing a lot of my estimates and planning around a 3.3% interest rate (and not planning on buying more house than I could afford), so it all worked out. But it would have sucked to go in expecting to pre-approve for hundreds of thousands more than you are actually offered.

[GP_Matt]

Does anyone know what rates are like now?
How much of a discount can you get from prime for a variable and what sort of rate for a 5 year fixed through a normal lender.

[Travis Munroe]

Im going to post a thread in my section.... I have a bank that will do 3.19 for 5 years vs the 3.39 most are offering. It can be held for 90 days in case you are on the fence!

[GP_Matt]

Have you heard what the break on prime is now for variable? I have seen prime -0.6 advertised online. Are any banks able to give that?

[Erick Estrada]

Why go fixed when viariable rates are better right now and you can always lock in for three yeas when they start trending up?

[GP_Matt]

Closed Variable usually has a much lower penalty than Closed Fixed loans.
With a CV it is usually 3 months interest while CF it is a complicated formula that doesn't make sense to anyone.

[FLAMESRULE]

I just got a Prime -0.7% (2.3%) for 5 years on our house. Good for 20% inc to monthly and per year...break penalty is 3% of balance. Also redid our HELOC at Prime.

We paid the 3 month penalty to get out of our existing mortgage because of how good this deal is. PM me and I can pass on contact info.

[Sinny Darino]

I just got a Prime minus 0.4 (2.6%) for 5 years. Go with a mortgage broker, forget the big banks!!!

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

I just got a Prime -0.7% (2.3%) for 5 years on our house. Good for 20% inc to monthly and per year...break penalty is 3% of balance. Also redid our HELOC at Prime.

We paid the 3 month penalty to get out of our existing mortgage because of how good this deal is. PM me and I can pass on contact info.

What lender did you get this from? That's a fantastic rate!

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

I just got a Prime -0.7% (2.3%) for 5 years on our house.

Dammit. I just re-upped in October for Prime -0.5% for 5 years.

[guzzy]

I got 2.6% locked in for 5 years back in June through ING. ING has been great to deal with over the last 6 years.
The previous five years i was with ING at prime - 0.8. I miss that interest rate. at one point it was as low as 1.8%.
I got ING through true north mortgage. upon renewal i dealt straight with ING