Here is a great article on the new Marijuana legalization in Canada:

17 OCT 2018

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA AND THE CANADIAN HOUSING MARKET
October 17th will be an important day in Canada’s social history. It’s the day when we are going to have legalized marijuana across the country. We will be the second major country in the world to do this. How does this affect mortgage brokers like myself? When someone comes to me to obtain financing for a home purchase and the sellers have disclosed that they smoked pot in the house or grew a few plants , how will this affect their home purchase?

A few years ago, someone disclosed that their home had been a grow-op six years previously and their home insurance company cancelled their policy citing safety issues. I could see this happening with both lenders and mortgage default insurers like CMHC, Genworth and Canada Guaranty. A recent article by a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association suggested that both lenders and insurers might ask for a complete home inspection. It was suggested that sellers who have grown a few plants might want to get a head of a problem and have an inspection before they list the property. If there are any issues of mold or electrical systems that are not up to code, they can remedy this and have a quick sale.

I contacted both CMHC and Genworth Canada to find out if any policy changes are in the works. CMHC told me that there’s nothing planned beyond what is already on the books. If there’s been a grow operation it needs to be inspected and remediation done before they will insure. Genworth says that nothing has been announced as of yet. Any changes will result in an official announcement to all brokers.
Mortgage brokers may want to call their realtor referral partners and discuss this with them to see if local real estate authorities have any changes planned. If nothing else it will be good to touch base with your realtors to find out how the market is in your area.

If you are thinking about smoking pot in your home or want to grow a few plants , contact your local Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional first to find out if this could affect your house value or sale in the future.

DAVID COOKE
Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional

Here is a great article from a DLC colleague:

4 KEY THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A SECOND MORTGAGE

Many homeowners are vaguely aware of the fact that you can take out a second loan on your home. You hear your friends mention it or perhaps a family member close to you has gone through the process—but do you truly know what it means to take out a second mortgage? We have taken all the questions we get asked about second mortgages and compiled it into four key points.

A SECOND MORTGAGE IS BASED ON THE EQUITY IN YOUR HOME
The total loan amount that the second mortgage lender will offer you will depend on the equity that has been built up in your home. Second mortgages allow you to access up to 95% of the equity you have in your property. For instance:

House Value $850,000
95% LTV (maximum mortgage amount) $807,500.00
First Mortgage $550,000.00
Amount Available Through Second $257,500.00

INTEREST RATES WILL VARY AND BE HIGHER THAN YOUR FIRST MORTGAGE
This is because when a lender agrees to a second mortgage, they are taking a higher risk as he gets second priority in case of default. With that being said, we have options and solutions such as working with private lenders that can help you obtain a reduced rate and the right product for your mortgage situation. Typically, you can expect an interest rate of 6.95%-19.95% with lender and broker fees included.

YOUR PAYMENT CAN BE AS LOW AS INTEREST ONLY PAYMENTS
One of the advantages of selecting to use a second mortgage is the fact that the payments are attractive. You can pay interest only payments or you can also select to pay the interest plus the principle loan amount. You can work with your mortgage broker to discuss options and what would work best with your situation.

THERE ARE ADDITIONAL FEES TO CONSIDER
Since we want to have you understand ALL the fees associated, it is important to know that setting up a second mortgage will require you to pay: *note dollar amounts are approximations

An appraisal fee to assess the value of your home: $300
Legal fees to set it up: $2,000
Lenders & Broker fees: 1-5%

Second mortgages are a great option for many and may be a better solution than a refinance or a Home Equity Loan (HELOC). If you are interested in learning more or want to find out if a second mortgage is right for you, talk to your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker. We can guarantee they can guide you the process from start to finish!

GEOFF LEE

Credit is so important … not only for mortgages but many other products in our lives like credit cards and home insurance …. so on that note check out the below blog from my DLC Colleague

Keeping Your Credit Score Healthy

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about credit bureaus, credit reports and credit scores – not only that, but a large amount of the clients I work with have never even seen their credit report or score before!

I’d like to shed a bit of light, as they say, on the importance of your credit score and what does (and does not) affect this ever-changing number.

Keeping Your Credit Score Healthy
There are a few ways that you can actively ensure that your credit score is kept at a nice high number:

• Pay your credit cards and other debts on time – this includes bills like your cell phone!
• Pay your parking tickets on time – many people don’t realize that unpaid tickets will affect your credit score.
• When meeting with your mortgage broker, go over your credit report line by line (a service I offer to every one of my clients). They will be able to help you catch any unsubstantiated credit checks, fraudulent activity, and any mistakes by your lenders – and have them removed from your report.
• Have a couple of credit cards or a line of credit on your report…but! Ensure they have reasonable credit limits for each card, and that are not using your limits to their max. *The unofficial rule is only use about 30% of your available credit.
• Don’t apply for credit too often.

My Score Falls Every Time It’s Checked
Not necessarily true. You can personally check your credit report as many times as you like, and your score will not change. What DOES affect your score is a lender or creditor looking into your credit report. The more times lenders check (especially in a short period of time), the greater chance your score is going to decrease. Research has shown that people who are actively seeking credit tend to be people who are at a greater risk of possibly not repaying their credit, or seeking credit beyond their repayment capabilities. Lenders who see a lot of credit report checks also view this as a potential risk of fraudulent behaviour, and will move (by not extending credit) to protect themselves against it.

Decreasing your credit score also functions as a protective mechanism for YOU if someone is trying to fraudulently use your identity to gain credit (for themselves) on your behalf.

The gist here is that you can apply to have your credit checked a few times a year by lenders, and expect to have little to no affect on your score.

Buying a Home? Use a Broker!
Of course, when you are in the process of applying for a mortgage, some people go to more than one bank; all of which will look into your credit report, all within a short amount of time.

One of the great benefits of using a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker is that your mortgage broker will only check your credit once. One check will negate many lenders checking your bureau because your broker knows which lenders will be the best for your personal situation and we can discuss your different mortgage options without needing to have multiple lenders look into your credit!

Eitan Pinsky

Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional

Great article from our own Economist…..important read, please check it out

Four-Month Home Sales Gain Ends in September

Canadian home sales declined for the first time in five months led downward by weakening activity in Vancouver and Toronto. Statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales fell by 0.4% from August to September. While housing activity has picked up since the first half of this year, it remains well below the boom levels of 2014 to early-2017.

The September slowdown was reported in just over half of all local markets, led by Vancouver Island and Edmonton, along with several markets in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) Region. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported a 17.3% decrease in sales in Metro Vancouver from August to September, while y/y sales dropped a whopping 43.5%. Last month’s sales in Metro Vancouver were 36.1% below the 10-year September sales average. Newly listed homes have been rising providing more choice for potential buyers. But with tepid demand, home prices in Metro Vancouver are under downward pressure.

Monthly sales gains were most evident in the Fraser Valley and Montreal. The Montreal housing market has been strong for well over a year.

On a year-over-year basis, national sales declined 8.9% last month. About 70% of local markets were down on a y/y basis, let primarily by declines in major urban centres in British Columbia, along with Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

As interest rates are rising, the new mortgage stress tests are becoming more restrictive.

New Listings

The number of newly listed homes rose 3% between August and September, led by the Lower Mainland and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). More than half of all local markets posted a monthly increase in new listings, which was offset by declines of more than 3% in more than half of the remaining local markets.

With sales down slightly and new listings up, the national sales-to-new listings ratio eased to 54.4% in September compared to 56.2% in July and August. The long-term average for this measure of market balance is 53.4%.

Based on a comparison of the sales-to-new listings ratio with the long-term average, about three-quarters of all local markets were in balanced market territory in September 2018.

There were 5.3 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of August 2018. While this is in line with the measure’s long-term average nationally, the number of months of inventory is well above its long-term average in all Prairie provinces and in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Home Prices

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) was up 2.3% y/y in September 2018. The increase was in line with those posted in each of the two previous months. Benchmark home prices fell by 0.26% from August to September (see Table below). Downward price pressure in much of B.C. continues.

Following a well-established pattern, condo apartment units posted the most substantial y/y price gains in September (+8.4%), followed by townhouse/row units (+4.5%). Meanwhile, one-storey and two-storey single-family home prices were little changed on a y/y basis in September (-0.3% and -0.3% respectively).

Trends continue to vary widely among the 17 housing markets tracked by the MLS® HPI. In British Columbia, home price gains are diminishing on a y/y basis in the Lower Mainland (Greater Vancouver (GVA): +2.2%; Fraser Valley: +8.5%). Meanwhile, prices in Victoria were up 8.7% y/y in September. Elsewhere on Vancouver Island, they climbed 13.2%.

Among the housing markets in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region that are tracked by the index, home prices were up from year-ago levels in Guelph (+8%), Hamilton-Burlington (+6.1%), the Niagara Region (+5.9%), the GTA (+2%), and Oakville-Milton (+1.4%). By contrast, home prices slipped lower in Barrie and District (-3.6%).

Across the Prairies, benchmark home prices remained below year-ago levels in Calgary (-2.6%), Edmonton (-2.6%), Regina (-4.7%) and Saskatoon (-1.9%).

Home prices rose by 6.9% y/y in Ottawa (led by a 7.9% increase in two-storey single-family home prices), by 6.1% in Greater Montreal (driven by a 7% increase in townhouse/row unit prices) and by 3.4% in Greater Moncton (led by a 10.3% increase in apartment unit prices).

Bottom Line

Housing markets continue to adjust to regulatory and government tightening as well as to higher mortgage rates. The speculative frenzy has cooled, and multiple bidding situations are no longer commonplace in Toronto and surrounding areas. The housing markets in the GGH appear to have bottomed, and supply constraints may well stem the decline in home prices in coming months. The slowdown in housing markets in the Lower Mainland of B.C. accelerated last month as the sector continues to reverberate from provincial actions to dampen activity, as well as the broader regulatory changes and higher interest rates.

The cost of owning a home in Canada is at its highest level in 28 years and likely to get only more expensive as interest rates continue to rise (see chart below). Homeownership costs, including a mortgage, property taxes and utilities, took up 54% of a typical household’s pre-tax income in the second quarter, according to the Royal Bank, compared to 43% three years ago.

While rising prices was the culprit behind the loss of affordability between 2015 and 2017, mortgage-rate increases accounted for the entire rise in carrying costs over the past year. The country’s central bank has hiked interest rates four times since July 2017 which has filtered through to higher borrowing costs for homeowners.

I expect the Bank of Canada to proceed with further rate hikes taking the overnight rate up from 1.5% to 2.25% in the first half of 2019. This will keep upward pressure on mortgage rates and increase the cost of homeownership even more across Canada.

Higher housing costs cannot be blamed on speculators. Recent analysis by Bloomberg using Teranet Inc.’s land and housing registry shows that condo flipping was never pervasive in the Vancouver and Toronto housing booms and that condo-flipping has diminished since late 2016. This suggests that stricter measures to curb speculators will not make those cities more affordable.

Rents Rising in GTA

Recent data have also shown that Toronto’s rental market continues to tighten as demand for housing in the city soars from millennials, down-sizing baby boomers and an influx of new tech and financial-services workers. High home prices, rising mortgage rates and new government regulations have priced out many buyers, pushing them into the rental market.

Rents in the GTA have risen sharply over the past two years as vacancy rates decline. More upward momentum in purpose-built rental construction is required to meet overall demand.
The total inventory of purpose-built rentals coming under construction rose to 11,172 units, according to Urbanation, a real estate consulting firm that specializes in the condo market. That’s the highest level in more than 30 years and 56% more than last year. Just 60 such buildings have been completed since 2005.

At the same time, construction starts of rental buildings slowed to 826 units in the third quarter, dropping from a recent high of 2,635 starts in the second quarter. The Ontario government’s broadening of rent controls to all newly constructed units is a deterrent to the volume of new supply necessary to meet the city’s rental housing demand.

Dr. Sherry Cooper

Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
Sherry is an award-winning authority on finance and economics with over 30 years of bringing economic insights and clarity to Canadians.

7 things every self-employed individual should know — Before you apply for a mortgage

Self-employed individuals are quickly becoming one of the most common clients that we handle. Daily we have successful business owners come into our offices who enjoy the perks of being an entrepreneur. One of these includes fantastic write-offs that allow them to bring their income down to a low tax bracket.

However, this benefit can also mean that the same business owner may have a hard time qualifying for a mortgage all because their income is significantly reduced on paper… how frustrating ‘eh? But these savvy business owners know that there is advanced planning that is involved in being able to qualify for conventional financing. Back in 2015, Statistics Canada reported that there were about 2.7 million people self-employed in Canada… which is an astounding 14% of the total population of Canada! What does that stat mean? Two things:

1. That being self-employed is a more than viable way of earning income in today’s world.
2. That 14% may not fit into the conventional lending “box”

The Conventional Lending Box
To fit into this box, self-employed individuals must meet certain qualifications. For example, they must be able to provide:
>Two most recent years of personal tax returns
>Two most current years Notice of Assessments
>Two most current years financial statements
>Statement of Bank Account Activity
>Investment Income Statement
>Photo ID

Now, the one area that raises a red flag in the above is the tax returns. As we previously mentioned, their income claimed on the return itself might be significantly different than their actual income. Tax deductions related to business often reflect meals, rental spaces, credit card interest etc. The result is that the income the self-employed business owner shows on their tax return is a significantly lower figure than what their actual take home pay is. However, the conventional lending box requires income to justify the mortgage. So how do we pull this off?

The Unconventional Lending Box
Now please keep in mind that “unconventional” in this box just means that as a self-employed individua,l you are going to work with a Mortgage Broker to find an alternative to allow you to show that you can justify the mortgage. There are several well-known and consistently used pieces of advice that we would like to pass along to you:

1. If you are organized and planning (think 2 years out) you can plan to write off fewer expenses in the two years leading up to the property purchase. Yes, you will pay more personal taxes. However, your income will be higher, and it will be easier to qualify you for the mortgage amount you are seeking.
2. Set up your finances through a certified accountant. Many lenders want to see self-employed income submitted through a professional rather than doing it yourself. The truth is that the time you spend doing your own taxes will not be nearly as efficient both financially and time-wise as a professional. Make sure that you discuss with them what your goals are so that they can set up your taxes properly for you!
3. Choose your timing carefully. If you are leaving for an extended holiday within the two years before purchasing, your two-year average income may fluctuate. Plan your vacations and extended trips away with income in mind.
4. Consider using Stated Income. You have the option to state your income. This is based on you being in the same profession for 2+ years before being self-employed. The lender looks at the industry and researches the mean income of someone in that profession and with your experience. You will be required to provide additional documents such as bank statements, showing consistent deposits and other documentation may be asked of you to show your income.
5. Avoid Bankruptcy at all cost…. or if you do declare bankruptcy have all your discharge papers on hand to present to the lender and ensure you have two years of re-established your credit.
6. Mortgage Brokers can state income with lenders at the best discounted rates. But if you do not qualify with A lenders using stated income, then a broker will work with you to utilize a B Lender who are more lenient but may come with higher interest rates and applicable lending and broker fees.
7. Last but not least, if A or B lenders don’t fit, private financing can be looked at as an alternative option in order to get you into the market and offer a short-term solution to improve credit or top up your reporting income. Then you and your broker can refinance into an A or B lender at that time. Just keep in mind that private lending will have a higher rate associated with it , with lender and broker fees added on as well, if you choose to go with this option.

So, to all of our self-employed, hard-working, determined individuals, take heart! You can qualify for the mortgage you want, it just takes a little more planning to get everything in order. Keep in mind to that every lender has different guidelines as to how they view self-employment. Working with a Dominion Lending Centres broker leading up to your property purchase can help you ensure you get the mortgage you want.

Geoff Lee

Dominion Lending Centres – Accredited Mortgage Professional