CALGARY — When the Bank of Montreal and TD Bank dropped their special five-year fixed mortgage rates earlier this month, it drove Alyssa Furtado “crazy” to see how much attention they received.
[np_storybar title=”Spring mortgage market kicks off with a new low rate from Bank of Montreal — but you can do better” link=”http://business.financialpost.com/2015/03/17/spring-mortgage-market-kicks-off-with-a-new-low-rate-from-bank-of-montreal-but-you-can-do-better/”%5D
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Call it March Madness for the mortgage market, as banks begin a full-court press to lure in homebuyers as Canada heads into another vibrant spring for the country’s hottest housing spots.
On Tuesday, the Bank of Montreal took an early lead, beating the competition with the lowest rate on a fixed five-year mortgage — ever.
Continue reading.
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The founder of RateHub.ca, a website that compares financial products, says homebuyers can do better if they shop around and do their homework.
BMO got the ball rolling by reducing its rate to 2.79% from 2.99% and TD quickly matched that.
And while it’s the lowest rate advertised among the big banks, it isn’t the lowest on the market, Furtado said.
“The banks do have such strong brands in Canada, so they are still a source that people go to look at the rates. So if you were only looking at banks’ websites, 2.79 would seem like a good deal,” she said.
“But if you were price comparing, including mortgage brokers, or you were going in and haggling and negotiating with your bank, you’d realize that the rates available were a lot lower.”
Many bank customers don’t realize they have negotiating power when it comes to mortgages, said Penelope Graham, with RateSupermarket.ca, another comparison site.
In Canada, she said, “going with a lender is almost hereditary. You bank with who your parents banked with. Banks know this. They want to retain your business and they do anything they can as well to make it as convenient as possible for you,” she said.
“Probably the most important thing that you can do before that process is to know what else is offered on the market and to know where you stand as a borrower. The better your credit score and your borrowing history is, the more leverage you are going to have.”
The ability to make a big down payment also works in your favour, Graham added.
[np_storybar title=”Spring mortgage market kicks off with a new low rate from Bank of Montreal — but you can do better” link=”http://business.financialpost.com/2015/03/17/spring-mortgage-market-kicks-off-with-a-new-low-rate-from-bank-of-montreal-but-you-can-do-better/”%5D
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Call it March Madness for the mortgage market, as banks begin a full-court press to lure in homebuyers as Canada heads into another vibrant spring for the country’s hottest housing spots.
On Tuesday, the Bank of Montreal took an early lead, beating the competition with the lowest rate on a fixed five-year mortgage — ever.
Continue reading.
[/np_storybar]
The founder of RateHub.ca, a website that compares financial products, says homebuyers can do better if they shop around and do their homework.
BMO got the ball rolling by reducing its rate to 2.79% from 2.99% and TD quickly matched that.
And while it’s the lowest rate advertised among the big banks, it isn’t the lowest on the market, Furtado said.
“The banks do have such strong brands in Canada, so they are still a source that people go to look at the rates. So if you were only looking at banks’ websites, 2.79 would seem like a good deal,” she said.
“But if you were price comparing, including mortgage brokers, or you were going in and haggling and negotiating with your bank, you’d realize that the rates available were a lot lower.”
Many bank customers don’t realize they have negotiating power when it comes to mortgages, said Penelope Graham, with RateSupermarket.ca, another comparison site.
In Canada, she said, “going with a lender is almost hereditary. You bank with who your parents banked with. Banks know this. They want to retain your business and they do anything they can as well to make it as convenient as possible for you,” she said.
“Probably the most important thing that you can do before that process is to know what else is offered on the market and to know where you stand as a borrower. The better your credit score and your borrowing history is, the more leverage you are going to have.”
The ability to make a big down payment also works in your favour, Graham added.
