This article in the Globe & Mail is soooo true.

Save yourself thousands -

Robin Schade, a 25-year-old student and business owner from Calgary, used to pay $122 a month in bank fees and unnecessary insurance. She paid $24.99 for a joint chequing account with her husband, an additional $14.99 on mortgage insurance and $8.99 on rental property mortgage insurance. Her biggest fee was credit balance insurance on her credit card at $73 every month.

Ms. Schade says her financial ‘Aha! moment’ occurred after signing up for Mint.com, a site that automatically gathers all of your transactions and associated costs to give you the big money picture.

“I have never been able to see in one categorized bundle what these [fees] are actually costing me,” Ms. Schade says. She estimates that by simply cancelling unnecessary insurance and switching to a no-fee bank account, she will save more than $1,400 this year.

When your fees (ATM fees, minimum balance fees, overdraft insurance, monthly account fees, etc.) are pulled together and highlighted in one spot, it’s easy to see if you’re paying too much. And if you are, it’s time to switch to a better package or a no-fee chequing account to reduce costs. Switching from a bank account with a $12.95 monthly fee to a no-fee chequing account saves you $155 a year. Let’s say you apply the savings to the minimum payments you currently make on your credit card, which has a $5,000 balance at 11 per cent interest, and you’ve just saved $275 in interest payments.

If your banking needs are different now than they were when you opened your account, there’s likely a cheaper and more fitting account for you. Calling your bank to review account details and monthly fees will determine if you’re with the right institution and on the right plan. Or try searching for the cheapest banking packages based on your monthly activity and financial status at the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website.

Another unnecessary cost is credit balance insurance, insurance for your card that can protect you in case of unexpected events. If you carry a balance of $5,000, you could be paying up to $50 a month for this insurance. A waste of money, especially if your life insurance plan already has you covered.

Ms. Schade acknowledges she buried herself in insurance costs as a way to protect her family. But with great life insurance, excess insurance on her credit card was a waste of her money.

Your insurance needs, like your banking needs, may also be different today. You could be over-insuring yourself. Enter your info into the calculator here to find out exactly how much coverage you need, or click here to compare coverage costs. Then, call your insurance provider to ensure you’re fully covered for your needs and not paying a cent more than you have to.

After setting up her online account, Ms. Schade says she has never been so excited to create a budget, or so shocked at how much she actually spends on bank fees. If you have an online account, great. If not, tally up monthly banking and insurance totals this week. Once you get over the shock, you can put an end to the unnecessary fees.

Mark Fidgett, Your Vancouver Mortgage Broker For Life

www.notapennydown.com

604-273-2002

Vancouver Mortgage Broker Mark Fidgett explains High Ratio Mortgages

Banks and financial institutions are not allowed to lend against real estate mortgages unless the down payment is at least 20% of the value of the property.  In order to achieve a higher level of financing, lenders need to obtain mortgage default insurance from one of three institutions in Canada – the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC),  Genworth Financial (formerly GE Mortgage) and AIG United Guaranty.   In the event the borrower is unable to pay the mortgage, the lender will be paid by these institutions.

AIG is not widely used due to the financial difficulties experienced by their parent company in the US.

It is the lender’s choice as to which mortgage insurance company to use.   Many lenders have a preference as to which mortgage insurance company to use.

There may be cases where one mortgage insurance company is more suited to the transaction.  For example, Genworth has a more flexible policies for rental suites. Genworth will accept non-conforming basement suites while CMHC will not.

The insurance premiums is computed based on the level of financing, as shown below

Note: premiums are for fixed rate or capped variable single advance mortgages.  Please contact www.notapennydown.com for other types of mortgages..

The cost of mortgage default insurance is paid by the borrower and can be added on to the mortgage amount.    Note that with high-ratio mortgages, CMHC,  Genworth or AIG will do the appraisal so there is no appraisal fees in a high-ratio transaction.

Mark Fidgett | 604-273-2002

“Your Personal Mortgage Consultant….For Life!”

PS – Please Don’t Keep Me a Secret
A REFERRAL is when you INTRODUCE someone you care about to someone you TRUST!

T 604.273.2002 | F 604.522.2072
W http://www.notapennydown.com

An independent Mortgage Specialist associated with the Verico Mortgage Network.

Housing starts across British Columbia remained depressed in the first quarter of 2009, falling almost 70 per cent from the same quarter of 2008, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Wednesday.

While housing starts ticked up slightly in March on a national basis, builders in B.C. started work on 2,517 new homes in the first three months compared with 8,532 in 2008.

Locally, the declines in starts ranged from almost 93 per cent in Kelowna, where builders started on 72 new homes compared with 985 in the first quarter last year; to 31 per cent in Nanaimo, where builders started on 170 new homes vs. 247 in the same months a year ago.

New-housing construction slipped in March to a pace that would see builders across urban B.C. start work on 10,000 units in 2009, compared with a pace of 12,000 units seen in February.

In the Lower Mainland, Metro Vancouver saw starts fall by two-thirds, 1,829 units compared with 5,131 in the first quarter of 2008.

Robyn Adamache, senior analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing in Vancouver, said the drop in starts now is a lagging response to the dramatic fall-off in sales that the Lower Mainland and other regions experienced through last summer and fall.

Comparing the current real-estate market correction to the past couple of market cycles, Adamache added that “it seems like builders have responded a little bit more quickly to the downturn in the resale market.”

Across Metro Vancouver, West Vancouver saw the steepest drop in the first quarter at 92 per cent, with the Tri-Cities and Surrey not far behind at 91 per cent.

Delta was the only municipality to see an increase in housing starts. Builders there started work on 81 new housing units, an increase of 55 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

B.C., and Metro Vancouver in particular, did see a significant rise in the value of building-permit applications in February, which signals higher levels of building in future months.

Adamache added that current housing starts are well below her forecast for Metro Vancouver, so the permit numbers are evidence backing her expectation for “things to start improving a bit by the end of the year.”

Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, said record attendance of almost 900 participants at his organization’s seminar for first-time homebuyers indicates to him that there is demand in the market that will support more housing starts later on.

“That [seminar], for me, was the litmus test of where we are,” Simpson said in an interview.

If the seminar had low attendance, coupled with low housing starts, “I’d say that’s going to be a long-term [situation],” Simpson added.

In the meantime, however, Simpson said the low level of starts does not bode well for employment in the construction sector.

Adamache said rising unemployment in B.C. is one factor that will weigh on housing in the months to come.

Douglas Porter, an economist with BMO Capital Markets said, “You are starting to see very real job losses in B.C. B.C. is, unfortunately starting to catch up with Ontario on that front.”

On the bright side, Porter said falling prices and lower interest rates have made homes more affordable, which will help mitigate the effects of higher unemployment.

Across Canada, home construction rose unexpectedly in March, led by Ontario and Quebec, CMHC said.

There were 154,700 housing starts on an annualized basis during the month, up from a revised 136,100 units in February, the government agency said. Many economists had expected housing starts to dip to 130,000 units in March.

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