Sunday 22 January 2012

Low mortgage rates!!

I’ve been shocked by the low fixed interest rates on 4 or 5 year mortgages currently in Canada.  My understanding is that this is historical and didn’t think they could drop so low, especially slightly under prime!  I’ve been letting people know about this so they can see for themselves if it works for them to switch banks or negotiate with their current one.  In some cases, it could be worth paying the penalty and save a large amount of money.   In my case, my fixed rate is still on the low end since it is 3.79%.  I've started to look into seeing if it makes sense to switch to a different bank that is offering the 2.99% rate.  I know in my case it may not be worth it but there is no harm in finding out, right?  If you are thinking of switching or renewing to the 2.99% current offers, you would have to consider if there are conditions that the bank puts on the mortgage and if so, will be okay for your personal situation?  For example,  what if the bank includes the condition that you are unable to break your mortgage until the term is done, even if you sell your house.  In my case, I would not be able to lock into a 4 or 5 year mortgage that is too restrictive since I know that my life is still in 'change mode'.  More on what I mean by that in the posts to come.

Have you figured out if getting one of these low rates works out for you?

1 comment:

  1. Here in Norway my bank has the following fixed rates:
    3,85 % (1 year)
    3,84 % (3 years)
    3,80 % (5 years)
    4,37 % (10 years)
    I am not too sure about going for a fixed rate or not. As for now I have a fluctuating rate and it is at 3.80%...

    ReplyDelete