Please, I beg you, don’t do it! Don’t make the same mistake that someone near and dear to me made this past week. Here’s what they did:
They renegotiated their mortgage from 5.69% to 5.39% AND they paid a $13,000 penalty for doing this AND the penalty was added on to the end of their mortgage!
This is someone close to me, and it makes me sick, because:
They didn’t call me for advice or help
The bank screwed the BIG TIME! Current rates are around 3.5%
The bank acted like they were doing them a favour
They think they done did good!
Please, people, don’t do this! No charge, no obligation, I will be pleased to negotiate your mortgage for you. Don’t let these scumbags rip you off like this, making you think they are doing you a favour. Please. I implore you!
Really. No Charge. No Obligation. Complete Confidentiality.
In the case above, the bank did a favour by screwing them out of $158 a month in pure interest, every month, for 5 years. That’s $9,480 in interest, plus the $13,000 in fees that is added on to the end of the mortgage. $22,000+ and they think the bank did them a favour!
Courtesy of Canada’s Housing Agency, CMHC, there are a number of very informative videos here, accessed by clicking on the dropdown arrow just below the video window.
In conversation with some people, and at a couple of my recent public seminars, people have expressed interest in having a presentation on the Residential Tenancies Act / Tenant Protection Act.
After looking through the offerings from private sources, I decided to go straight to the source and get someone from The Landlord & Tenant Board to come and give a presentation on the Act. The presentation will be from the viewpoint of prospective landlords, however, I am assured that this will be a balanced presentation of the facts, so that prospective landlords can have a better understanding of where they might stand should they have concerns over any aspect of tenant relationships.
I am just waiting for confirmation of the date of this presentation, and will update this post when it is confirmed.
If you’d like to be notified of the confirmation, send me an email
Congratulations Dianne!!! After you’ve watched the video, check out this awesome web site to find out more about volunteering in Halton: http://volunteerhalton.ca
I am somewhat fascinated by volunteering, for a number of reasons. I first began my volunteer work in earnest when I was a student at Milton District High School. I was a driver for the Canadian Cancer Society, and I used to pick someone up at their home in Mill Street, drive them to the hospital in Toronto, and then bring them home after their treatment. I had to leave that work after the patient succumbed to the cancer and I was not emotionally prepared to deal with it.
Since that time, I’ve been involved in a number of different organizations, including serving on numerous committees at the local real estate board, serving on the Communications and Marketing Committee at the Milton Chamber of Commerce, and assisting various groups over various busy spells as needed.
It is my most recent, and longest-term, volunteering that gives me the most satisfaction however; I am Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Halton Children’s Aid Society, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Governance Committee. I mention this only as a backdrop to the number of amazing people who are on the Board of the HCAS, all busy people from vaired career areas and family backgrounds, and all who give much of their spare time to numerous organizations that need help.
As a part of the CAS’s work, there is a Volunteer Recognition Evening, and it is always a fascinating event to attend. Recognition is given to the people who give freely of their time and efforts to help the organization, and it is heart warming to see so much love and compassion at play. I always get a chuckle out of the volunteer drivers; there is a real camaraderie amongst them, not to mention the fun they have trying to win the award for most hours driven in a year. I don’t remember the exact number, but the person who wins that award is volunteering for more hours a week than many people work at their careers!
Each year at Christmas, my family sets out to help a needy organization, any organization, and we have been pleasantly disappointed the last few years as we’ve been told that there are more than enough volunteers already. WOW! That is excellent, that so many people are giving back to their community.
If you have not partaken of the opportunities to volunteer that exist in our community, please give it a shot. You’ll be amazed at the great people you meet, the lives you’ll touch, and the growth you’ll experience as a result of it.
Recently, I was approached by someone who was in trouble with their mortgage and asked if there was anything I could do to help them. We talked for a while and I learned that their mortgage had finished 4 months earlier, and they could not get a renewal on their mortgage because of some issues with the tax man. They had tried every avenue they could think of, and no matter what they did, the doors were getting closed in their face.
I work with a number of investors, and thought that I may be able to find an investor to buy their home, and they could stay there as tenants, with an option to buy their home back in a few years, once they had gotten their problems with the tax man sorted out.
I went through my invesotr list, and was not able to find someone to get into the situation due to the emotional charge around things. Investors like to keep things very numbers-related, so this was understandable to me.
I was wondering how else I could help them out, and was talking with a colleague in my office when we came up with another investor who might possibly be interested in the opportunity.
Sure enough, we were able to negotiate a deal that allowed the family to stay in their home, and the investor to make a good investing decision. It wasn’t the easiest of transactions, for anyone involved, and the paycheque for me was extremely minimal, but we managed to ‘git her done’ and keep a family in their home, which was the important thing.
I tell you thisd because there are things that I can do to help you, or people you might know, who are in trouble, or about to be in trouble, with their mortgage. A great explanation of some of the options available are outlined in the 3 short videos below:
I have numerous stories of families we have helped stay in their home when they are in mortgage trouble, as well as people where we couldn’t keep them in their home, but we were able to negotiate an agreement with their lender and mortgage insurer so that their credit history was not totally destroyed and they could get back into the housing market in a couple of years.
The most important thing to remember when you have even a hint that you may be getting in trouble with your mortgage is to take action immediately. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU CANNOT PAY YOUR MORTGAGE; DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE LATE IN YOUR PAYMENTS; IF you are late, the chances that we can help you diminish greatly, because the programs available to you mostly require you to be current on your mortgage.
In the news these days, we are hearing lots of stories of factory closings and layoffs of thousands of workers. It is highly probable that a number of these people will find it increasingly more difficult to make their mortgage payments. NOW is the time for these people to speak with me. Even if there is no immediate danger of payments being missed, the wheels can be put in motion to have a certain number of payments skipped, or payments reduced. THEREARE MANY OPTIONS, BUT ONLY IF YOU TAKE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES.
I know that it is embarassing to talk to someone about the financial challenges you may be facing, but surely it is better than having to give up your family home that you have worked so hard to own and build your equity in.
You have nothing to lose by talking with me about this, and everything to gain. Our conversation will, of course, be kept completely confidential, and there is no charge for the information and assistance I provide you.
I am very passionate about helping people stay in their home; it doesn’t matter to me whether I helped them buy their home or not. I see it as a sort of moral duty to put my considerable expertise to good use, and I consider it a privilege to be in a position to non-judgementally help those who need it.
