Posts Tagged ‘Brad Compton’
Six Uses For a Home Equity Line of Credit
A Home Equity Line of Credit Might be For You A home equity line of credit (HELOC) provides a level of flexibility that is not available from your traditional fixed or variable mortgage. A home equity line of credit allows you to customize your mortgage payments and pay as little as interest only making this an ideal product for anyone looking to keep their payments as low as possible. How Does a Home Equity Line of Credit work? Like a traditional mortgage, a HELOC is registered against your property. This provides the lender with greater security resulting in you receiving a lower interest rate. Interest rates for most HELOCs are around prime plus 1% (3.25%). Compare this to an unsecured line of credit around 7% or many credit cards which are around 18%. Your interest savings can be substantial. Your HELOC gives you access to the equity in your home (up to 80% of the value of the home) to use for emergencies, large purchases, renovations, vacations....etc. You can have your entire mortgage as a line of credit or you can add a line of credit to ...
Closing Costs – What You Need To Know
Mortgage Closing Costs Explained More often than not first time homebuyers neglect to set aside enough money for their closing costs. They assume they can use all of the money they have saved for their mortgage down payment and are usually not aware there will be closing costs that will need to be covered on closing day. Closing Cost Advice The rule of thumb is to set aside 1.5% of the purchase price of your home or condo for closing costs. In fact most lenders will require you to prove that you have this amount in liquid assets ready to go on closing day. Most first time homebuyers in Ontario will get a portion if not all of their land transfer tax back, but the lender still requires you to have this cushion in case any unforeseen expenses arise. You will have to provide three month's worth of bank or investment statements showing you have these funds available....cash from a shoebox will not be considered acceptable. What is included in closing costs? Closing costs are made up of several items and depending on the ...
Why Use A Mortgage Broker – Part 1
I was meeting with some First Time Homebuyer clients of mine over the weekend and it really reminded me of why people should use a Mortgage Broker when looking for their mortgage financing. There are several reasons....and I think I will do a few more posts high-lighting all of them, but the ones that seemed to be most obvious this weekend is flexibility and convenience. Unlike most banks, your mortgage broker is probably working 7 days a week when and where it is convenient for the client. I don't have set office hours and most of the time I am meeting with clients outside of my office at a location and time that is most convenient for them. There is no need to take time off work or use your lunch break to receive professional mortgage advice and low mortgage rates. The banks are catching on and now have mobile mortgage sales forces that work similar to a broker....but they can still only provide mortgage options provided by the bank they work for. So next time your mortgage comes up for renewal and you want a ...
Social Media In Real Estate
I had a great meeting yesterday with George O'Neill a local Toronto Realtor and expert in using social media to not only get new clients, but also effectively market his clients' properties. If you in the real estate business and live in Toronto you have probably seen George speak at any number of events around the city over the last year.He raised an interesting point that most people refer to social media as the future of the internet and advertising, but the future is now. More and more companies and individuals are using social media to reach their desired audience. It is great for small businesses since it takes very little money to effectively reach a large audience of prospective clients. Stats in the US show that over 80% of people start their real estate search online before they even contact a Realtor. Is your real estate agent using the internet effectively to market your property? You might want to ask him or her what they plan to do besides open houses to ensure your property sells quickly. Twitter, Facebook and Blogging are all great ways for ...
