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Welcome to our monthly Better Mortgage Select newsletter - this is our February 2025 edition.

 

Brought to you by Daniel Patton, Michael Zanzini, Lorenzo Podda, and of course, our President, Dave Butler.

   
   

For those reading our newsletters for the past couple years, you know we have been beating the same drum with respect to when we think our clients should be getting back into longer-term fixed interest rates.  Since the fall of 2022 until recently, longer-term fixed rate mortgages were just too high for us to recommend to our clients.  During that time, it made the most sense to be in ‘flexible’ rate terms, like a variable rate or even a shorter-term fixed rate, until inflation and interest rates came back down.  We have been consistent in our messaging that once the 5-year fixed rate fell to 3.99% or lower, it needed to be given serious consideration from mortgage borrowers.  Well, that time appears to be here. 

 

We can report that our office is now consistently getting approvals with a rate of 3.99% (or better) for 5-year fixed rate mortgages on applications where our clients are buying a home with less than 20% down payment (insured mortgage).  We also can report that we have been guiding many clients on the conversion process (changing from variable to fixed) where they are locking into a fixed rate mortgage and getting 3.99% for a 5-year fixed term.

   
   

  • If you are currently on a VARIABLE rate mortgage, contact your mortgage lender and say:

 “I am currently on a variable rate, and I am looking to convert my mortgage to a fixed rate at no cost; what can you offer me for a 5-year fixed rate?” 

  • If your lender returns offering anything higher than 3.99%, then respond back with:

“My mortgage broker is telling me they can get me 3.99% from another bank,” and see if your existing lender comes back with a better offer.  Finally, if they refuse to offer 3.99%, then reach out to us and let us guide you from there.

  • If you are buying a home in the next 120 days and are putting in LESS THAN 20% down payment, reach out to us ASAP - as we are currently getting approvals for INSURED mortgages at 3.99%, or better, on 5-year fixed rates.  Just this morning, we received an approval for an insured purchase that came back at 3.94% from Scotiabank.
  • If you have a mortgage renewal coming up soon and are not looking to change anything within your mortgage (like the amount or amortization), then reach out to us - we can provide you with leverage that may result in your current lender offering 3.99% or better for a 5-year fixed rate.

   
   

Canada’s January inflation report was released this week, and it showed headline inflation rising slightly to 1.9%, but still under the bank’s target rate of 2%.  Without a trade war between Canada and the US, the bank’s committee had been projecting inflation to stay in the 1.5% - 2% range until the second half of the year.  But with a trade war now fully in play, this could change the bank’s projections.  Tiff Macklem and the Bank of Canada are expected to revise their projections at the next interest rate meeting on March 12th, and we will share our insights with you once we have thoroughly analyzed the information.

   
   

With inflation rising slightly and last month’s unemployment coming in lower than expected, the chances of a Bank of Canada rate cut at the upcoming March 12th interest rate meeting are now split down the middle. As of today, the market appears to be pricing in a coin-flip bet on whether we will see the Bank of Canada drop their key rate again by 0.25%, or whether they will “stand pat” after lowering rates at six consecutive interest rate meetings.

   
   

At Better Mortgage Select, we are leaning towards the Bank of Canada issuing another 0.25% rate cut at the March 12th meeting, however the meeting is still over two weeks away, and a lot can happen between now and then which could affect that decision.  As always, we will bring you the breaking news as it happens on March 12th, when the Bank of Canada renders their decision.

   
   

First and foremost, a big thank you to everyone who attended our webinar earlier this month! We truly appreciate your engagement and the fantastic feedback we received. It’s been a pleasure connecting with so many of you afterward to explore ways to help you save on your interest rates. We've seen an overwhelmingly positive response to the insights we shared about potential huge savings for those who signed 3-year fixed rates in 2023 and 2024. Many homeowners could benefit significantly by breaking their mortgage and switching to a lower, longer-term rate, locking in savings over the years to come.

   
   

Congrats to Donald Sylvester for winning a $150.00 Amazon gift card, just for being an attendee!

Our next webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9th, and we’ll be diving into the spring real estate market! We’ll discuss the latest market trends, share helpful tips, and provide an interest rate update, including our outlook for the summer. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and get expert insights. 

Be sure to register below!

   
   
   

Rockstar Real Estate has been buzzing this year, with no signs of slowing down as they announced their ‘Your Life, Your Terms’ spring event will be taking place on Saturday, April 12th in Mississauga.  The ‘YLYT’ event is now a semi-annual ‘must-attend’ conference for real estate investors, and we are looking forward to seeing many of our clients there, much like past events.

   
   
     
   

Our very own Vice-President and Director of Sales, Daniel Patton, will be the featured mortgage expert at an online real estate webinar hosted by Rockstar agents, Tammy Di Tomaso, James Maggs, and Chris Hook.  The webinar takes place tonight at 7:00pm and you can REGISTER HERE to join.

   
   
     
   

In preparation for the event, the group decided to all get into the same mindset by crushing an escape room before putting the final touches on their upcoming webinar presentation.

   
   
     
   

Our very own Sr. Mortgage Agent, Michael Zanzini, has been hitting the pavement hard this February.  Kicking things off with our partners at Smart Home Choice, joining their team and clients on a property tour to view ongoing conversion projects. These under-construction projects involve transforming single-family homes into multi-unit properties, a growing trend among homeowners looking to generate additional cash flow while increasing property value. Michael provided a step-by-step breakdown of financing options from the acquisition phase to the construction phase, as well as exit strategy planning.

   
   
     
   

Michael didn’t stop there! He was able to get some strategic planning time in with one of our valued realtor partners, Melissa Flynn, from the Melissa Flynn Real Estate Team.  They talked about the upcoming Bank of Canada interest rate meetings this year and how this could affect our mutual client pre-approvals and selling prices. 

   
   
     
   

Operations Manager, Lorenzo Podda, recently joined Kyle Sommerville, broker - owner at Weston Realty Partners, for the exclusive launch of City Centre Residences - Oshawa’s newest luxury condominium development.

 

The event provided future homeowners and investors with an inside look at the project, along with priority access to exclusive early bird deals.

 

Next month, Lorenzo will be speaking at a special presentation at the Oshawa Golf and Country Club, where he’ll dive into project financials, a market update, and expert mortgage strategies to help buyers navigate new construction financing.

 

Stay tuned for more details!

   
   
     
   

Daniel was certainly a busy man this past month as he was able to find some time to strategize and gameplan with realtor partner, Zoe Brown from Affinity Real Estate.  They shared some great success stories about our real-time pre-approval updates as Interest rates change and how that has had a tremendous impact on Zoe’s clients’ purchasing power.

   
   
   
     
   

Michael Zanzini and Senior Underwriter, Marko Vidovich, spent some time with Rick Collard from Equitable Bank, going over changes to Equitable’s reverse mortgage program that is gaining a lot of traction in the last couple years.  For those that do not know, reverse mortgages have no mortgage payments, and the applications do not look at income.  Getting an approval is fully based on the age of the applicant as well as the equity remaining in the home.  Our office has closed more reverse mortgages in the last 24 months than we have in the previous 20 years.  It is definitely a product that is seeing a massive gain in popularity amongst homeowners over the age of 55.

   
   
     
   

Finally, Better Mortgage Select and Daniel Patton were honored to sponsor the WPC’s National Dance Team at the Dance World Cup, being held in Spain in July.  WPC’s National Dance Team will represent Canada alongside 50+ other nations and share the stage with over 9500 competitors world-wide.

   
   
     
   

Just a friendly reminder to come visit us on our socials, where we put out a ton of videos with tips and information to help you navigate the wild world of mortgages! Check out the links below and give us a follow!

   
   
   
     
   

As always, if you have any questions or want to do some mortgage planning, feel free to reach out to us at: