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mortgage up for renewal

D

drew

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Hello all,

The mortgage on our personal residence is coming up for renewal on October 31 and I have an offer from my current provider First Line for a 5 yr variable prime-.3% and prime for the heloc where the available amount increases with the mtg paydown. The fixed 5 yr rate they are offering is 5.69% along with the heloc at prime as well. There are no fees to pay for this renewal and all I have to do is sign the renewal form. The heloc is currently being partly used for real estate investment and this scenario would all stay the same.
My question is if I should go through the process of shopping around for better rates or just make it easy and sign and continue on? The rep at First Line said these are the lowest rates he can offer although if I found better he would talk to his manager about a bettet deal. I was using a mortgage broker at first when I originally recieved the mortgage but because I was not happy with the service I switched to dealing with First Line directly and actually preferred this way. I have since been in contact with another broker who understands investment real estate and may use him in the future.
Also there was a thread a while back which talked about a new product which would pay down a mortgage much quicker. I searched for this and could not find it although I am interested in this product as well.
Any thoughts or advice on this is greatly appreciated.

I would also like to say thanks to Rein and everyone involved as well and particularily those experienced investors like Thomas Beyer who provide much advice. Although I am not a member yet, I attended the Quick Start in Toronto in April and have since purchased the Joint Venture package and am working through this now. So far it`s great and I believe I will be successful if I follow the system. A special thanks to Don, Barry, Peter, and of course Russell who is a great teacher. I probably missed many people and you know who you are and thank you as well.

Sincerely,

Andrew
 
hi Andrew,


I find it interesting that you are getting prime minus .3 directly from first national, because my broker said he could get prime -.6 on a residential mortgage from first national and is offering 5.24% for a 5 yr fixed (not sure which bank that is) and prime minus .65 (again not sure which bank).

It doesn`t hurt to shop around, here`s his contact info:

[email protected]


T.
 
QUOTE (drew @ Aug 15 2008, 07:55 AM) My question is if I should go through the process of shopping around for better rates or just make it easy and sign and continue on?
Hi Andrew,


It is unfortunate that you did not receive the service you deserve from your Mortgage Broker. The disadvantage of working directly with Firstline is that you only get the best that they have available (just like working with one bank). When you work with a good independent Mortgage Broker, you get the best the market has to offer.


There may be better solutions than the one currently offered, it`s not possible to recommend products or quote rates without understanding your full financial picture. Let me know if I can help.
 
QUOTE (kboughen @ Aug 15 2008, 07:22 AM) Hi Andrew,


It is unfortunate that you did not receive the service you deserve from your Mortgage Broker. The disadvantage of working directly with Firstline is that you only get the best that they have available (just like working with one bank). When you work with a good independent Mortgage Broker, you get the best the market has to offer.


There may be better solutions than the one currently offered, it`s not possible to recommend products or quote rates without understanding your full financial picture. Let me know if I can help.

Hello. Before the recent `tightening` of lending criteria, my mortgage broker was able to secure me, through First National, 95% LTV, 40 year ammortization at 4.15% open.

This was a much better deal than had I applied directly through First National. Like everyone says, having a good mortgage broker is KEY.

Cheers.


Glenn
 
QUOTE (terri @ Aug 15 2008, 08:32 AM) hi Andrew,


I find it interesting that you are getting prime minus .3 directly from first national, because my broker said he could get prime -.6 on a residential mortgage from first national and is offering 5.24% for a 5 yr fixed (not sure which bank that is) and prime minus .65 (again not sure which bank).

It doesn`t hurt to shop around, here`s his contact info:

[email protected]


T.

Hi Terri,

I thank you for your input. I was told by the rep at firstline that their rates recently went from .6 to .45 to.3 below prime because of the tightening credit issues. Not sure if this is for all the lenders or not and I will have to keep investigating.

Sincerely,
Andrew
 
Hi Andrew,

I noticed that some of the rate quotes posted in the replies are for 2 different companies, FirstLine Mortgages and FirstNational Financal LLP. Your current mortgage is with FirstLine on a product called the "Matrix Mortgage" a powerfull tool for Real Estate Investors, as you no doubt know. FirstLine has reduced their discount on a their Fixed Rate Variable Rate Mortgages.

FirstNational Financial LLP does not have a Secure Line of Credit, and they are offering a larger discount off of Prime Rate for thier Fixed Rate Variable product.

Within your original post, two themes struck me..... 1) You want to retain your Secured Line of Credit 2) You wish to pay down the "Mortgage Portion" faster - while having the best interest rate available.

Rate is not nessessarily is the issue, unless rate IS the issue. Pre-payment options to attack the principal amount can be just as important, and all are dependant on your Personal Financial Goals.

It is very unfortunate that your dealings with a broker were not positive; however, dealing with FirstLine may not be in your best interest. A Mortgage Proffessional will be your biggest ally as we can matches a mortgage to your personal finacial goals while acting in your best interest.

I would be more than happy to discuss this further with you, if you are interested.

Trevor Leys Schirok, AMP
Mortgage Planner/ Agent
Conexia Mortgage
403-519-3920
[email protected]
 
A note from on the street. A couple of veteran investors have mentioned that some banks are now not sending out blind `renewal letters.` The letter they are sending out states that they would like to send a renewal letter but only after they receive a number of new confirmation documents. For instance one asked for incorporation documents and complete portfolio listings. Another asked for NEW letters of employment and T1 generals.

So don`t be surprised that even if you have a long term relationship with a bank, you are asked these questions. Have that sophisticated investor binder ready EVEN for renewals (just in case they ask!)
 
Hi All,
As you know, lots of changes happening in the industry these days. Yes, Firstline has reduced the discount they offer on their variable rate mortgage. Brokers that deal with Firstline fall into different categories depending on the volume of business they do there. The discounts a particular broker can offer depends on the category they fall into. Furthermore, it`s possible to get teaser rates for the first few months or year if that is of interest to you. Keep in mind that the discount for the remaining term is then considerably smaller although in the end it`s all a wash.
Depending on the size of your portfolio, (less than four properties) there are options out there that may make better sense to you than fretting over rates. For example, one lender has a variable rate mortgage that only charges two months interest penalty if the mortgage is discharged in the first three years. In year four or five the mortgage can be discharged without any penalty. Obviously this has the potential to save you considerably more money than what you would save on a small interest rate difference. For the record, this particular lender currently offers prime minus .60 on that product.
Have a great day.
Jason
 
Hi again,

Thanks to everyone for their input and advice. I truly appreciate the offers to help. Some of the responses from brokers were from quite outside my area and therefore it may be difficult to have a good relationship. I will look more in my area and am open to suggestions for referrals to mortgage brokers.
I suppose I was just looking to save some time as this is an ok offer and could have guessed the advice would be that I should go find a good mortgage broker. I am also trying to be proactive and have something lined up well before the end of October. I now realize I need to go the extra 10%, get my sophisticated investor binder ready, and work on building relationships.
By the way, does anybody know how to find the discussion or have any input on the new "quicker mortgage paydown" product?
Hopefully everyone reading this thread will benefit in some way as I`m sure most of us have an interest in this.

Sincerely,
Andrew
 
QUOTE (drew @ Aug 15 2008, 04:55 AM) Hello all,

The mortgage on our personal residence is coming up for renewal on October 31 and I have an offer from my current provider First Line for a 5 yr variable prime-.3% and prime for the heloc where the available amount increases with the mtg paydown. The fixed 5 yr rate they are offering is 5.69% along with the heloc at prime as well. There are no fees to pay for this renewal and all I have to do is sign the renewal form. The heloc is currently being partly used for real estate investment and this scenario would all stay the same.
My question is if I should go through the process of shopping around for better rates or just make it easy and sign and continue on? The rep at First Line said these are the lowest rates he can offer although if I found better he would talk to his manager about a bettet deal. I was using a mortgage broker at first when I originally recieved the mortgage but because I was not happy with the service I switched to dealing with First Line directly and actually preferred this way. I have since been in contact with another broker who understands investment real estate and may use him in the future.
Also there was a thread a while back which talked about a new product which would pay down a mortgage much quicker. I searched for this and could not find it although I am interested in this product as well.
Any thoughts or advice on this is greatly appreciated.

I would also like to say thanks to Rein and everyone involved as well and particularily those experienced investors like Thomas Beyer who provide much advice. Although I am not a member yet, I attended the Quick Start in Toronto in April and have since purchased the Joint Venture package and am working through this now. So far it`s great and I believe I will be successful if I follow the system. A special thanks to Don, Barry, Peter, and of course Russell who is a great teacher. I probably missed many people and you know who you are and thank you as well.

Sincerely,

Andrew

There are definately better rates out there for both the fixed and the variable - and it never hurts to shop. From your post, it sounds like you may already be in a matrix mortgage with firstline which makes it tougher to do a straight switch (unfortunately, you can`t).

Because any readvanceable product is registered as a collateral charge, a lawyer will have to pay out and discharge the existing mortgage and register the new one so you will likely be looking at legals. Make sure you run the numbers (or have a qualifed banker or broker do it for you) on all of your alternatives to ensure that with these additional costs, you`ll still be better off.

If you are not in a readvaceable product and you get a better rate - take it!! Why pay more? A straight switch won`t cost you anything as the new lender will pick up all the fees.

Hope that helps,
 
QUOTE (CanadianMortgageTeam @ Aug 15 2008, 05:59 PM) There are definately better rates out there for both the fixed and the variable - and it never hurts to shop. From your post, it sounds like you may already be in a matrix mortgage with firstline which makes it tougher to do a straight switch (unfortunately, you can`t).

Because any readvanceable product is registered as a collateral charge, a lawyer will have to pay out and discharge the existing mortgage and register the new one so you will likely be looking at legals. Make sure you run the numbers (or have a qualifed banker or broker do it for you) on all of your alternatives to ensure that with these additional costs, you`ll still be better off.

If you are not in a readvaceable product and you get a better rate - take it!! Why pay more? A straight switch won`t cost you anything as the new lender will pick up all the fees.

Hope that helps,

Peter:

Thank you for the helpful information and yes I have a Matrix mortgage with Firstline. I did not know that I can`t make a straight switch (too bad) and I will have someone run the numbers for me to see if a switch is worth it.

Sincerely,
Andrew
 
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