Monte,
A very insightful post. Thank you for sharing your insight.
QUOTE (C2Ventures @ May 3 2008, 06:11 PM) Hi Donna,
The key to financing is to think long term and plan your next moves in advance. Utilizing CMHC`s 0 down program can be effective if you are purchasing 1-2 properties, but there are high fees involved and it can effect financing on future deals due to cashflow issues and debt service ratios. Nice thing about LOC`s is that they are very flexible as well and you typically only need to pay interest only, or pay down more if you like.
We have opted to put at least 20% down on all of our deals to date in order stay within the "conventional, non-insured sandbox". This has helped retain a positive cashflow portfolio and appropriate debt service ratios. There are also many more lenders available in this sandbox vs high ratio insured where you have to qualify with either CMHC or Genworth...no other choices.
Talk to a good mortgage broker and figure out what your longer term plans are to make sure that a mortgage you take today, won`t negatively affect your ability to qualify for deals down the road.