Lethbridge Real Estate and Mortgage Info

13 People that Real Estate Agents need in their Support Network

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:29:06 -0700

Great advice about having the right connections and partners to achieve maximum results. I appreciat all those who help me and reciprocate when I can to those professionals.

Via Fred Griffin, Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Broker (Fred Griffin Real Estate, LLC):

You are an Independent Contractor! You are a Sole Proprietor, maybe a one-man or one-woman Office. But can you do this alone? No! You need a Network!

     Whether you are a Newbie or a Veteran, you need a Support Network to succeed in the Real Estate Business.

These 13 People should be in your Network!

     1.   Mentors. Successful Agents who have "been there done that" can point you in the right direction; they will help you avoid beginner's mistakes.

     2. Lenders. You need Bankers, Mortgage Brokers, and Lenders who can get your prospects pre-approved. You need go-to people who can answer your client's Loan Questions.

     3. Title Company/Title Attorney personnel.

     4.   Insurance Agents. They can answer your questions! What do policies cost? What about the age of the roof? What is "The Box"? What about sinkholes?

     5.   Home Inspectors

   6.   Surveyors

     7.   Appraisers

      8. The Staff Members of your Local Board of Realtors.



     9. Real Estate Attorney. Ask a Top Producer, your Broker, or your Board of Realtors which Attorneys they use.

      10. Certified Public Accountant. You want to comply with Tax Laws; you also want to keep as much of your hard-earned money as possible!


      11. Technology People who can help you with Websites, MLS, Smart Phones, IDX, and Hardware.   If your Board or Association has a Technical Staff or Technical Manager, meet them!

     12.  Local Government: Visit the Property Appraiser's Office and the Tax Collector's Office. Visit the Zoning or Building Department, and any other relevant Local Government offices. Meet the gatekeepers who sit at the front desk. Sure, you can get most information from the Internet, but there will be times when you need to "Get Human".



     13. ActiveRain Members and Staff! Establish a good Subscription Base. Learn to search by Channel and by Topic. Meet Nikki, Kerrie, Bob Stewart et al. There is a wealth of information and support available to you on ActiveRain!

Disclaimer:   The author of this blog article is not an attorney; the author of this blog article is not a certified public accountant. Nothing in this blog article is to be construed as legal advice, tax advice, or financial advice. For legal advice see an attorney.   For tax advice or financial advice see a tax attorney, certified public accountant, or other qualified professional.

Frederick Griffin, Licensed Real Estate Broker       Tallahassee, Florida       850-339-4861



www.FredGriff.in

Frederick Griffin, Licensed Real Estate Broker       Tallahassee, Florida       850-339-4861

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Robert May is a Realtor, as well as the broker and owner of Rainbow Realty of Lethbridge Alberta . He is also a licensed Lethbridge mortgage broker and financing expert with Canada First Mortgage of Calgary Alberta. He has been in the Lethbridge real estate industry since 1993 and offers full Lethbridge real estate services to Lethbridge and surrounding area, as well as Lethbridge mortgage financing, mortgage refinancing , preapprovals, and Lethbridge loans financing to Lethbridge and Southern Alberta. He can be found online at this link: mortgage broker Lethbridge

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

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What's wrong with MLS?

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:19:43 -0800

I am the broker and owner of an independant real estate brokerage in Lethbridge Alberta. I have been a member of the Lethbridge Real Estate Board, the Alberta Real Estate Association, and the Canadian Real Estate Association, for approximately 15 years now. I have watched the organized real estate industry make several changes and evolve for all these years. Some of the changes have been progressive while others have seemed to be misdirected.

I have experienced the change from corporate owned offices to franchises, the rise of independant contractor status, the introduction of the 100% commission split, the introduction of new technologies, the alteration of the terminology, at least half a dozen revisions of the standard purchase contract from a simple 1 page form to a 2 page form to a 3 page form, into an even longer 'plain english' form, then back to a 3 page form, into whatever it is today. I have watched commissions fluctuate, but almost always downward. I remember back in the day when we used to fill in the commission rate we were charging (7%, which we commonly split 50/50) before we even left the office with the contract. Today as I browse my local MLS listings I see less then a half dozen listings offering anything other then 2% of the selling price as commission. Perhaps the trained and skilled agents working our streets back then were worth 3 times more then all the recent licensees, or perhaps someone forgot to train new licensees to negotiate their brokerage fee, or perhaps we have given away so much of our expertise, data, and value that we are getting paid exactly what we are worth? At any rate, that is not my biggest beef with the current situation.

What has really bothered me in recent years has been the direction that organized real estate has gone concerning client data and information. It is obvious that in this day and age of identity theft, organized crime through electronic means, and spam marketing, that consumers are more concerned then ever about their personal information. Even legislators at the municipal, provincial, and federal level have enacted laws in an attempt to control and protect consumers identities and information. Despite this, the amount of information required to submit a listing to MLS is at an all time high. You currently have to provide more information then ever before to submit a listing to MLS. What happens to that information afterwards seems to be a bit of an unknown, and definitely varies in different juristictions.

Some of the information is unquestionably made public, some is shared with various levels of Government, and some is stored in dirty old filing cabinets and hard drives some place apparently forever. The fact that every new listing seems to receive various marketing materials mysteriously in the mail points to the fact that the information reaches the hands of various other commercial interests as well. Who owns this information and what level of privacy and disclosure is the consumer entitled to? Obviously if you were to ask a consumer if they wished their data to be shared or held forever to be potentially shared at a later date, most would opt out of that idea. Many of my own friends and clients specifically choose to avoid MLS listing their property to avoid the potential of their information falling into the hands of others or being shared publicly.

I belive in the spirit of the MLS system, but not with its practices. As the information age progresses, it will be interesting to see if this data collection by the MLS system will be its saviour or its downfall. Until then, I will leave my personal data withheld.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Common Financial Problems - Avoid these financial mistakes
Get Your Credit Score UP - Invaluable insight into your credit score
Mortgage Guidelines Get Tighter - Harder and harder to borrow money
Is Your Mortgage Company Out of Business in 2009? - What to do when your bank goes broke
What is wrong with MLS - Is your info being abused?
Survivor - Real Estate Edition - Let's vote a few more off the island

Robert May is a Realtor, as well as the broker and owner of Rainbow Realty of Lethbridge Alberta. He is also a licensed mortgage associate and financing expert with Canada First Mortgage of Calgary Alberta. He has been in the real estate industry since 1993 and offers full MLS real estate services to Lethbridge and surrounding area, as well as mortgage financing, refinancing/renewals, preapprovals, and home equity financing to Lethbridge and Southern Alberta. He can be found online at www.LethbridgeLoans.com

Let me share my 15 years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

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Lethbridge mortgage real estate financing alberta mortgages blog

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

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Do You Have an Exceed, GE MONEY, Home Trust, or Accredited Mortgage?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:26:35 -0700

If you currently have an Exceed, GE Money, Accredited, or Home Trust mortgage in place you should call me or another professional Mortgage associate ASAP and discuss your future plans for this mortgage product. Recent fluctuations and changes to the mortgage and credit granting market in Canada has left many mortgage holders at risk, and only those who are proactive and prepare for this situation will not be inconvenienced by this.

In the past few months, several of the 'high risk' mortgage lenders have withdrawn from the lending market or have altered their lending practices to no longer offer mortgages which fall into the 'high risk' category. Among the first products to disappear was mortgages for non-owneroccupied properties (rentals, second homes, vacation properties, etc), followed by conventional low document and no document products which were designed for self employed individuals. Several insured products of this type are still available however.

The problem arises when a client who holds one of these high risk loans (similar to a US subprime mortgage) comes up for renewal. Your current lender is under no obligation ro renew your mortgage when the term expires. In the case of these high risk lenders, there will be many mortgages not renewed in the next few years, as the lender has left the industry or changed their lending practices. Simply put, when your mortgage term expires, you will receive a letter asking for the full payment of the entire value of the outstanding mortgage or else face the foreclosure process. This will happen to you regardless of how strong your credit is, regardless of your repayment history, and regardless of how prepared you are for it.

If you have one of these mortgage, even if it does not come up for renewal for a couple years, you should prepare for that scenario NOW! If the mortgage associate who sold you that product has not yet contacted you, you should contact our office ASAP so that we can help you prepare. It is your responsibility to be proactive on this. Let us help you before a problem arises. Do not wait until the last minute or it will cost you thousands of dollars.

Let me share my 15 years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Enjoyed this article? Please leave a comment, subscribe, add me, OR click the little red flag and feature it!

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

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Do you have an EXCEED, GE Money, Accredited, or Home Trust mortgage???

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:17:09 -0800

Let me share my 15 years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Enjoyed this article? Please leave a comment, subscribe, add me, OR click the little red flag and feature it!

Lethbridge mortgage real estate financing alberta mortgages blog

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

Lethbridge Real Estate LinkdIn Lethbridge Real Estate Tumblr

Lethbridge Foreclosures

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:40:14 -0700

Lethbridge real estate - foreclosures and bank owned homes

While much of the current marketplace in the US is driven by bank owned and foreclosure properties, it is far less common in Canada. In my marketplace in Lethbridge Alberta, there are rarely more then a couple bank owned or foreclosures ever on the market. Of course, there are more currently then there has ever been in the past 30 years, but still there are never more than a half dozen of these properties at any one time.

Recently, I have been asked to help monitor and watch over some of these Lethbridge foreclosure properties on behalf of one of the major lenders. This allows me early access to their list of Lethbridge foreclosures. It also allows me to try to assist the property owner in avoiding foreclosure or selling the property before it is taken back by the bank.

My clients already have the inside track to many of the best deals in the city due to my connections with the lenders, as I am both a Realtor and a Mortgage Broker. It is not uncommon for me to find and sell a property that will never be listed on the MLS system, and these properties are often deals that would make your friends envious.

If you are interested in Lethbridge foreclosure real estate, or wondering how you can get a deal as good as the rest of my clients, you need to be on my list of preferred buyers. Feel free to give me a call if you are tired of missing out.

If you are facing foreclosure, call me with the details of your property and your mortgage. I may be able to speak to the lender on your behalf, negotiate better terms, or assist you in preventing loss of your equity. Let me help you prevent your home from being foreclosed.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

Lethbridge Real Estate LinkdIn Lethbridge Real Estate Tumblr

Lethbridge Real Estate - Foreclosures and Bank Owned

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:36:37 -0800

Lethbridge real estate - foreclosures and bank owned homes

Recently, I have been asked to help monitor and watch over some of these Lethbridge foreclosure properties on behalf of one of the major lenders.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

Lethbridge Real Estate LinkdIn Lethbridge Real Estate Tumblr

Paperless Office, almost.

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:17:46 -0700

About a year ago I did an interview with REM magazine about taking an office wireless and paperless. I have been experimenting and working towards that goal for over a decade. My little real estate brokerage, Rainbow Realty in Lethbridge, Alberta was the first real estate brokerage in Canada to attempt to go wireless and paperless nearly a decade ago.

At that time, it was an uphill battle to make these changes. This was before the invention of conveniences such as cloud storage, smart phones, and modern devices. This was before there was any history or experience making use of these technologies within the context of a real estate office.

Here is a link to the article that was written about me and a few other offices.

http://www.remonline.com/home/?p=12824&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Letters%3A+DDF+at+cross+purposes+with+...&utm_source=YMLP&utm_term=Read+more...

Hopefully, that link will work.

Robert

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

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Condo bubble?

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:11:28 -0700

“No Condo Bubble Here.

Really? Everything I’ve been reading indicates that the condo market in Toronto and Vancouver was going to play a key role in the Canadian housing bust.”

Ever look a painting and say to yourself “it looks like something my six year old painted in art class”. That’s the thing about art – it’s all in the eye of the beholder. One person’s interpretation can be radically different than someone else’s. That’s perfectly acceptable when it comes to art. Art is about taste. We all know that data can be manipulated to make a point but it’s fascinating how simple raw data can paint completely different pictures. And is there any room for taste when analyzing data? I was stuck by a story in the Financial Post this morning, the headline read; ”Toronto not in condo bubble: RBC”

Really? Everything I’ve been reading indicates that the condo market in Toronto and Vancouver was going to play a key role in the Canadian housing bust. Surely this article is based off the same data that Robert Hogue, RBC’s senior economist, used for his most recent report. According to Mr. Hogue, “Toronto’s condo building frenzy over the last few years is mainly a response to the steep drop in new single-family homes being built. Efforts by the Ontario government to stem urban sprawl in the GTA is one of the reasons why developers are being forced to build laterally, said Mr. Hogue. To accommodate the 38,000 or so net new households it sees every year, the GTA must increasingly expand its housing stock ‘vertically’”.

Hang on a second, Mr. Hogue is the only economist to factor in that 38,000 new households are required to meet Toronto’s needs, and that the Ontario government is making it difficult for builders of single family homes outside of the GTA? Kudos to Mr. Hogue and RBC for discovering that super-secret bit of information. Let’s see what other nuggets Mr. Hogue came up with, like investors buying up condo’s with the sole purpose of flipping the property. “Their involvement has not inflated overall housing demand beyond household formation and may contribute only to a modest overshoot in the coming years if demographics weaken”. Well, what are we supposed to think now? I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

For transparency purposes, Mr. Hogue did sound an alarm bell, “if investors overwhelmingly buy single-bedroom units, for instance, it could skew demand and result in a bubble.” Let’s also not forget that if aliens land and suck the brains out of every builder and then program them to build one bedroom units only, that too could contribute to a bubble. I think we have it all covered now. The fact is that facts are interpreted differently. One analysts’ “slight overshoot” is another’s “Armageddon”. For debating purposes that’s okay, for making public policy, not so much.

To read the full story in the National Post, please click here.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

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Google Penguin Update Killed Your Real Estate Website? FIX IT

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:41:42 -0700

Google Penguin Update Killed Your Real Estate Website? FIX IT

So by now many of you have discovered that when you search in Google for "Your town + real estate" some of the top search engine results have drastically changed. Many of the most popular and top ranking real estate websites have now dropped a long way down the list of results. If your real estate website was hit, you are probably at your wits end wondering How? and Why? and more importantly, what can you do to fix it.

How? Let me Explain....

This spring Google has been making an amazing number of updates and changes to the rankings. The month of March was the busiest in history. For people who make a living online this has presented huge challenges as just when they think they have things figured out, they change again. The prior update to Google, which was called the Panda Update, was devestating to many. The most recent update, called Penguin, was even worse.

The one thing that these updates focused upon was detecting and devaluating spammy or low quality backlinks to your website. If you have a website that got to the top of the rankings because of lots of really really badly written articles or spammed links in blog comments, you probably got smacked hard. The truth is that those links are really really crappy. We all know it, but it had become almost standard practice to seek them out. In fact, many 'seo gurus' only real strategy for helping your website rank was building thousands of those low quality links. If your site dropped like a rock and you paid someone for SEO work, chances are good that all they did for you was build you tons of those worthless links.

Why? Think about this...

Penguin update searched out those bad links. If you have a large number of links to your website and they all come in using the same anchor text, you will have discovered that Google automatically devalued those links. So if you had 10,000 links that all used the words "Lethbridge real estate" and pointed at your site, you will find that you no longer rank well for those words. You might still rank well for other searches, such as "houses for sale in Lethbridge" or "find a Lethbridge REALTOR", but the ones that dominated your link building efforts will be the ones that got hit.

And, chances are if you engaged in spammy link building, the diversity of your anchor text in your backlinks is probably low. That is what Google assumes, and it is true in the majority of cases.

What Now? Can I Fix Penguin Update damage?

The short answer is YES!

Fixing websites that were hit hard by Google Penquin is not the quickest and easiest thing to do, but it is definitely much easier than starting from scratch! Unforunately, it is not something that most individuals will be able to do on their own, and not something that most "SEO experts" even have a clue how to do. If your website lost ranking because of Penguin, then obviously you need some real help.

http://www.Silverleafmarketing.com has a program and will fix your site for you, or you can scour the internet for resources that teach you to do it yourself. Whatever you do, do not hire the same guy or company that was responsible for your site getting penalized in the first place!

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

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Bank of Canada Qualifying Interest Rate Change - AGAIN

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:19:35 -0700

The Bank of Canada has reduced the qualifying interest rate, AGAIN.

This qualifying rate applies to anyone who is seeking mortgage financing and is taking a term of less than 5 years.

The qualifying rate as of today has changed to 5.24% for terms less than 5 years. This still seems somewhat high, as the short term mortgage rates can readily be found for under 3%, however the intention of the Bank of Canada to encourage longer terms and avoid purchasing beyond your means is good.

For consumers, this means that more than ever they will be encouraged or forced to take 5 year term mortgages.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

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Lethbridge Real Estate - Parade of Homes shows of new home construction

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:27:53 -0700

Lethbridge Real Estate - Parade of Homes shows of new home construction

From September 25 until October 10th, in various subdivisions in the City the new home builders will be showing off their latest and greatest workmanship and designs. This is something that many potential buyers wait for so that they can get a chance to view many different builders at the same time and compare the products a little more directly. The home builders here in town look forward to this time of year as well.

For the new home builders and construction companies, this is their time to put their best foot forward. During this brief 2 week period of Parade of Homes in Lethbridge, they will have large number of current and future prospective customers coming through their doors, and so they go all out to impress them with innovative designs, creative decorating, and unique features to try to stand out from the crowd of other new house builders.

This year there are 19 different home builders who are having open houses during the parade of homes. From those 19 new home contractors there are a total of 31 showhomes that will be on display to the public. What many people do not realize though is that there are potentially many more homes and designs from these builders, plus almost an equal number of other custom home builders and small independant contractors who build a smaller volume of homes, who have homes that are also available or that they are willing to build for you.

The Parade of Homes is conducted by the CHBA, Canadian Home Builders Association - Lethbridge Region and only features builders and houses constructed by members of this organization. This is very important for potential home buyers to know before they go out shopping and looking at these homes. Basically, the builders who are on display during the Parade of Homes are the big box, mass construction, retail priced cookie cutter builders. Not to say that some of them do not build a decent home, but it is pretty uncommon to come across your 'dream home' or even anything that is slightly unique during this event.

If you like to pay retail prices for a your real estate, or you really are looking for a builder beige box with grey stucco with a double front garage, no backyard, and crammed on a 34 foot lot, then you might just be excited to go see the homes this year. If you really do not feel like buying the same house as each of your neighbors, maybe it is time you talk to a real estate professional. Give me a call, lets talk about options.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

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USA vs CANADA - 2 Diverging Markets

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:54:00 -0700

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

United States

• Details of the huge shadow inventory of vacant foreclosed real estate is starting to shake prices. There is speculation that as these homes now come to the market in higher numbers that they will push down prices further and increase the supply of property well above the market demand.

• While retail gas prices have grown 20% over the last three months, we count ten separate occasions over the last decade where prices have jumped by an equal or greater amount. The problem is that prices are rising off levels that are already high to begin with. The negative economic effects could be mitigated if incomes were growing at a brisker pace. Unfortunately, income growth has stalled in recent months.

• Still, there are at least a few reasons to be hopeful that rising energy prices won’t hurt the economy as much as is feared. Real fuel consumption is down 7% from last year, aided in part by a surge in new car sales that is facilitating the conversion of America’s aging auto stock to a more fuel-efficient fleet.

Canada

• The Canadian labour market created a stunning 82,000 new jobs in March, bouncing out of its recent lull. The unemployment rate edged down to 7.2%, from 7.4% in the prior month.

• The composition of Canadian job gains was also favourable, with the bulk of employment growth concentrated in full-time positions.

• The CFIB’s small business barometer showed that business confidence improved for a seventh straight month in March. Hiring intentions improved sharply, indicating a continued healthy, but more moderate pace of job creation going forward.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

Lethbridge Real Estate LinkdIn Lethbridge Real Estate Tumblr

Bank of Canada Qualifying Interest Rate Change

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:46:32 -0700

Effective today, the Bank of Canada has raised the "qualifying interest rate" from 5.24% to 5.44%

What does this mean for Canadians who are looking to buy real estate or finance a home?

In an attempt to steer people into longer term mortgage commitments, the Bank of Canada has set an arbitrary interest rate that you must qualify to be able to afford. So, even if you are getting a 3 year mortgage at 2.99%, they want you to ensure that you could still afford that payment should the interest rate be as high as 5.44% just in case something were to happen and the rate was to go up by the end of your 3 year term.

Anyone taking a mortgage term of less than 5 years, will have to qualify as if their rate was 5.44%, even though their actual interest rate will in virtually every case be much much lower than that.

For those who take a 5 year term or longer, you only need to qualify at your actual interest rate. So if you are taking a 5 year term at 3.39% you would only need to qualify to make the payment at this amount, an NOT the 5.44%.

The result is that many mortgage applicants are steered into the 5 year product, which should provide them with 5 years of financial reliability and security, regardless of the interest rate market.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

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Message to My Mortgage Broker Friends

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:38:48 -0800

<rant>

When I see things such as: "AGF Trust is offering two 5 Year Fixed Quick Close options at reduced commission rates"
show up in my inbox I cannot help but to cringe. I realize that the lenders in their limited wisdom are attempting to provide us with a tool to avoid losing business to others such as Bank of Montreal, but they are killing the industry and us by doing so.

I don't need their help to give my money away.

I don't need them to give me permission to do so.

I don't need them to try to sell me on the idea like it is some favour they are doing me.

A more proper way for them to phrase it would be: "We make millions of dollars, but in order for us to offer competitive rates, we want to pay you less"

In order for the lender to continue to make millions, either the customer has to pay more or you have to earn less.

This creates a real problem and an ethical dilemma for us as mortgage associates.

Every time you sell a mortgage you must decide, "is it more important I save this client $30/month or is it more important that I buy groceries this week?"

Who comes first, your client or your kids?

Now maybe that is a bit of an extreme way to look at things, but it is a reality for many in this industry where we have seen compensation slowly eroding, bonuses disappearing, lenders trying to steal and retain your clients, etc. Some of our peers are literally starving for business and income. The broker model is under immense pressure and it is all due to these lenders preying upon the compensation and client lists of mortgage brokers.

So what is the solution? It is all about your attitude and choices.

You're experienced, educated, and a valuable financial resource to your clients.
You can personally answer their questions, advocate on their behalf, and alleviate their stress regarding their financing.
You can share with them true stories about people who made good and bad choices, people who saved and lost money, people who took good advice and people who did not.
You meet with them on their time schedule and at their convenience, often outside business hours or even at their home.
You find them good rates, flexible mortgage products, and steer them towards sensible financial decisions.
You deserve fair and reasonable compensation for your services, so either the customer or lender needs to pay you for that. You need to know that, understand that, and act accordingly.
I would like to see all mortgage brokers stop selling the products of lenders who offer cut rate compensation. Stop believing that the mortgages that offer the lowest rate at the expense of all else are the best choice for your client, for you, and for the industry. They aren't.

FYI: The difference in monthly payment for an average mortgage between the lowest no-frills rate of 2.99% and the lowest rate from a lender who offers decent compensation and industry support at 3.14% works out to be about $30/month. The difference in the payout penalty between those two products is literally thousands. The value of the mortgage broker who shares that information with you and helps you avoid the wrong mortgage products is PRICELESS.

ps.
Do you know why the Bank of Montreal has that mortgage product on sale for 2.99%? It is because that mortgage product is SHIT and if they didn't offer it for such a cheap price then nobody would want that BMO mortgage. And you can take that advice to the bank!

</rant>

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

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Real Estate Statistics and News

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:40:32 -0800

Canadian home sales pull back in January OTTAWA –

February 15, 2012 –

According to statistics[1] released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity retreated in January 2012 from the strong finish reported for December 2011. Highlights: Home sales were down 4.5% from December to January. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 4.0% above levels in January 2011, and stood even with the 5 and 10 year averages for January sales. The number of newly listed homes edged down 1.4% from December to January. With sales down by more than new listings, the national market shifted further into balanced territory.

The national average home price was up less than 2% year-over-year in January, ranking it among the smallest increases of the past year. Sales activity recorded through the MLS® Systems of real estate Boards and Associations in Canada fell 4.5 per cent from December 2011 to January 2012. This marks the first monthly decline in national activity since August 2011 and the biggest monthly decline since July 2010. The monthly decline reversed a string of monthly increases over the closing months of last year, and returned national activity to where it stood at the end of the third quarter of 2011. “The national housing market is stabilizing and remains well balanced,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s President. “That said, forecasts for economic and job growth going forward vary widely for different parts of the country, suggesting a possible continuation of a softening trend in some markets, as well as the potential that demand will pick up based on strong fundamentals in others. All real estate is local, so talk to your local REALTOR® to understand how price trends in your neighbourhood are shaping up.”

Activity was down in over half of all local markets in January from the previous month. Led by declines in Greater Toronto and Montréal, demand also softened in a number of other major urban centres including the Fraser Valley, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Greater Vancouver. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) national sales activity was up four per cent from year-ago levels in January, the smallest year-over-year increase since last May. As was the case in a number of months last year, actual sales in January 2012 stood close to the five and ten year average for the month. The number of newly listed homes edged down 1.4 per cent on a month-over-month basis in January following a 2.9 per cent increase in December.

The monthly decline in new supply reflects a drop in new listings in a number of Canada’s largest urban centres, which offset a jump in new listings in Vancouver. Sales fell in January shifting the national market back towards the mid-point of balanced territory and reversing the recent trend which had seen the market becoming tighter over the final four months of 2011. The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 53.8 per cent in January, down from 55.5 per cent in December and 55.4 per cent in November. Based on a sales-to-new listings ratio of between 40 to 60 per cent, 60 per cent of local markets were balanced in January. Compared to December, there were fewer buyers’ and sellers’ markets, and a greater number of balanced markets. The number of months of inventory stood at six months at the end of January on a national basis, up from 5.7 months in December 2011 and returning it to where it stood in October 2011.

The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in January 2012 was $348,178, representing an increase of 1.2 per cent from its year-ago level. This ranks among the smallest increases since late 2010. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the national average home price rose 1.6 per cent on a month-over-month basis, marking a rebound from a decline of similar magnitude in December. This pattern mirrors the one playing out in the newly-launched MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), published on February 6. “Year-over-year comparisons in the national average price are expected to become volatile and may turn negative, reflecting average price developments in the first half of 2011 in Vancouver,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “At that time, high-end home sales in Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods surged to all-time record levels, which skewed the national average price upward considerably. A replay of this phenomenon is not expected this year. As a result, comparisons for national average price to year-ago levels over the coming months will reflect an upwardly skewed base effect. For this reason, year-over-year comparisons should be kept in perspective. Developments in the MLS® HPI will provide important guidance on price trends, since it is not affected by the problem of compositional shifts in the mix of sales activity.”

The MLS® HPI also takes into account the contributions toward the price of a home made by a broad range of quantitative and qualitative housing features, allowing it to track Canadian home price trends better than any other measure.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Lethbridge Real Estate on Twitter Lethbridge Real Estate Youtube

Lethbridge Real Estate Facebook Lethbridge Real Estate Blogger

Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo Lethbridge Real Estate Squidoo

Lethbridge Real Estate WP blog Lethbridge Real Estate Posterous

Lethbridge Real Estate LinkdIn Lethbridge Real Estate Tumblr