The Green House. Look to your mortgage for energy savings.

If you buy an energy-efficient home or make energy-saving renovations you may be able to get a savings boost from your mortgage!  Canadian mortgage insurers have a program that helps homeowners save when they buy energy-efficient homes or retrofit their existing homes.

Homeowners purchasing a qualifying energy-efficient home are eligible for a 10 per cent mortgage insurance premium refund. If you purchase a qualifying $400,000 home with 5 per cent down, you are eligible for a 10 percent refund of your $11,970 in mortgage insurance premiums. That’s $1,197, a substantial savings!

Existing homeowners who make retrofits to improve energy efficiency can also apply for this refund. You’ll be required to complete an NRCan energy assessment evaluation pre and post retrofit, and you’ll need to improve your home’s energy efficiency by the required amount. Of course, your home’s energy improvements will also reduce your costs for years to come! 

Does your financial house need a good spring clean?

Wouldn’t spring cleaning be so much more gratifying if – somewhere under dusty barbecue parts and outgrown hockey skates – you found an envelope with, say, $5,000 in cash? Wouldn’t that make spring cleaning worthwhile? While you may not uncover a financial windfall when you’re cleaning the garage this spring, a little time and attention to the task of spring cleaning your financial house can be very rewarding.

Are you continuously carrying a large monthly balance on your credit cards; financial clutter that can be very costly? You may have a golden opportunity to roll this debt into a low-rate mortgage, giving you big interest cost savings, and greatly improving your monthly cash flow.

Worried about penalties? Don’t think it can make much difference? Think again. It can be as good – or better – than finding the $5,000 envelope of cash in your garage.  If you have enough equity in your home (you can’t refinance a mortgage above an 80 per cent loan to value), it’s worth taking the time to have your situation reviewed to see if you can benefit. Call today!

A changing and complex mortgage world!

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) recently announced that as of May 30th, it will stop insuring both second homes and self-employed borrowers who don’t have standard documents to prove their income. Canada’s private mortgage insurers did not follow suit, although putting limitations on their second-home programs.  Other new rules currently under review could mean the complete elimination of cash-back down payments. There have been many changes to the mortgage landscape in the last few years, making it more important than ever to get expert and timely mortgagee advice and access to as many options as possible.  If you’re concerned about how changing rules might impact your homeownership goals, let’s talk!