Live a Blessed Life Through Reverse Mortgage Canada

Just like various other financial plans and programs, reverse mortgages are also catching up with people who are attaining or are already retired. In fact, these programs are quite popular in the United States and are offered under different categories based on the regional demarcations. In addition, one such plan on the offing is reverse mortgage Canada. This plan helps as it offers them a financial security.

Well, as everyone knows that reverse mortgages are a kind of loan, where the lender pays the monthly installments to the loan seeker, instead of letting the seeker pay the amount to him. Studies show that over two hundred thousand people have already used reverse mortgage Canada to elevate their life after retirement. It is a government sponsored and insured loan that requires no payments until the person is residing in his or her house. Moreover, this loan enables homeowners to access the money they have built up as equity in their houses. Hence, the name reverse mortgage is aptly adopted by various financial agencies as the payment stream is reversed. It enables senior citizens to convert their home equity into tax-free income. However, the reverse mortgage Canada is designed to strengthen seniors’ personal and financial independence by offering funds without a monthly payment during their lifetime in their homes.

The lender pays the amount of the home equity in a form of a lump sum, in a stream of payments, or as a supplement to social security or other retirement funds. However, not every senior citizen is eligible for reverse mortgage Canada. The applicant must be at least 62 years of age, owns, and occupies a home as their personal residence. The owner should have a single-family residence, town home, condominium, multiple unit building, or mobile homes with a permanent foundation. However, unlike a conventional home equity loan or second mortgage, no repayment is required for the reverse mortgage until the borrowers no longer use the home as their principal residence. The other basic difference between a reverse mortgage in Canada loan and a bank home equity loan is that with a traditional second mortgage or a home equity line of credit, the debtor should have sufficient income to qualify for the loan and he or she is required to make monthly mortgage payments.

The benefits involved in a reverse mortgage in Canada could be that ownership of home can be retained for life. The remaining equity will be passed on to heirs; proceeds from reverse mortgages Canada are tax-free. And can be used for many things like home care, repairs and improvements, paying off an existing mortgage, education of grandchildren, hospital and health care costs, paying off taxes and credit card debt, buying a second home, and vacation. Hence, let your home pay you back! In reverse mortgage, no loan repayment or payments as long as the person lives in their houses is required. In fact, there is no income, medical or credit requirements to be fulfilled. This is also available in federally insured, lender insured and uninsured reverse mortgages.

Antonio Redford is a legal expert. He gives advice to clients who are looking for expert counsel on reverse mortgage. For more queries about Reverse mortgages,reverse mortgage Canada,American reverse mortgage, reverse mortgage Canada

visit on www.reverse-mortgage-seniors.com

Mortgage Brokers in Canada: Their Role to Compare and Get You the Best Mortgage Rates

In a nutshell, a mortgage broker acts as the ‘go-between’ a mortgage borrower (you) and the lender (typically the big Canadian banks).  Mortgage brokers act on your behalf offering their expertise and contacts for free, and receive their commission from the lenders only once a mortgage is arranged.  There may be charges for their services if you have an exceptional situation, such as very poor credit, as they may need to spend more time on your application.

Mortgage broker’s are able to get the best rates for homebuyers and their rates are typically discounted when compared to the big bank’s posted rates because they arrange so much volume for the lenders (almost $50B last year).  As a result, many times the banks and other lenders compete amongst themselves to offer the broker the best rate in order to secure their business.  Many deal with over 65 lenders, and this is the reason why they can get the best rate for almost any person’s situation.

The residential mortgage market is extremely lucrative and competitive, as there were $191B worth of mortgages approved last year by 80+ lenders.  As a result, mortgage brokers are becoming more popular as more people are turning to them to find the lowest mortgages, representing an estimated 25-30% of mortgages being arranged according to Jim Murphy, president of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP).

Many people aren’t sure where brokers actually source the mortgages from.  A recent report by Canada’s leading mortgage systems supplier, showed that mortgage brokers secured home loans through the following channels through their network in April 2008:

·         Banks:                    50.68%

·         Mortgage Banks:      41.92%

·         Sub Prime:                4.25%

·         Credit Unions:   3.14%

The actual mortgage rate arranged by the broker, could be influenced by many factors, some of which are:

·         What type of mortgage (open or closed) are you looking for?

·          Is it a fixed rate mortgage or variable rate mortgage (adjustable rate mortgage ARM)

·         Is this a single home mortgage loan?

·         Or do second or third loans exist?

·         How long do you want the mortgage amortized over?

·         Is this is a refinanced mortgage?

As is the case with brokers in other industries such as insurance, mortgage brokers are generally former employees of the lenders such as banks. As a result, they know the ins and outs of the industry, who to contact and where to find the rates across Canada.  If you’re looking for help arranging your next mortgage, a mortgage broker, may just be a sound option.

Kelvin Mangaroo is the founder of RateSupermarket.ca, enabling you to compare mortgage rates and find mortgage brokers in Canada.

Second Mortgages in Canada: When & How?

A second mortgage is a loan you get in addition to the first mortgage that you have already registered for your home.

Second mortgage rates are generally higher because second mortgages are relatively riskier for the lenders. In order for you to understand why it is so, and decide whether or not a certain second mortgage rate is reasonable, let’s have an example of a second mortgage.  

Imagine the value of your home in Canada is $350,000 and you have already got a $200,000 mortgage for your home through a mortgage company In Canada. The remaining will be $150,000 ($350,000 minus $200,000). This is your home equity. In other words, this is the part of your home value that you have not received a mortgage for. Therefore, you don’t owe this much of your home value to a mortgage company.

Now imagine that you need $100,000 for a reason. Because your home equity is $150,000, you can then ask for a $100,000 loan, which is less than $150,000. This new amount that you get as a loan is called a 2nd mortgage. Sometimes second mortgage might be also called home equity line of credit or home equity loan, but they are second mortgages if they are taken in addition to your first mortgage.

In Canada, in order to get a better interest rate, your second mortgage must be insured and the mortgage default insurance premium will be then added on top of your basic loan amount. Although it may first seem that the amount of your second mortgage has been increased, you will usually have lower rates for you mortgage with lower monthly payments when you insure your second mortgage.

In a fixed rate mortgage, as the name suggests, the interest rate for your mortgage is fixed for an appointed period of time which in Canada is usually between 6 months to 25 years. The good thing about a second mortgage with a fixed rate is that you know how much you are paying for a set period of time which is technically called ‘term’.

In contrast, you may want to go for a second mortgage with a variable rate. This means that the fluctuation in the interest rate will determine how much your monthly payment will be appointed for the principle of your mortgage and what portion to be appointed for the interest. If interest rates go down, more of your payment will help reduce the principal of your second mortgage; if rates go up, a larger portion of your monthly payment will be appointed to cover the interest rather than the principle. Although interest rates may fluctuate from month to month depending on market conditions in Canada, the payments of your second mortgage are fixed for a period of one to two years.

Because second mortgage rates, and generally mortgage rates, change quite frequently, you many want to choose a longer-term mortgage if you don’t want to involve yourself with the rate changes. But if you want to choose a more flexible option, a shorter-term mortgage then allows you to potentially take advantage of lower rates.

Second Mortgage Rate Canada.