Hello Roger, the beauty of a variable rate product is that you should be able to lock it in at any time to a fixed rate product with the same or longer term that what is remaining on your variable. Check with your lender to see what rates they will be offering and then check with me to see if there are better rates at your banks competitors. I am afraid that once a bank has you they are not as eager to give you the larger discounts. The other banks are always hungry for new business and will often fight for it. Give me a call once you find out what your bank is offering and I will let you know if you can save money elsewhere. Abraham Niyazi - Mortgage Agent - Lic#M08010640 - Centum One FInancial Corp - Lic 10758. Cell: 416-993-4082 Toll Free: 1-866-728-3708 http://www.centum.ca/abraham_niyazi/ I deal with 25 Banks/Lenders and can do mortgages across Canada except Quebec. Abraham Niyazi - Mortgage Agent - Lic#M08010640 - Centum One FInancial Corp - Lic 10758. Cell: 416-993-4082 Toll Free: 1-866-728-3708 http://www.centum.ca/abraham_niyazi/ I deal with 25 Banks/Lenders and can do mortgages across Canada except Quebec.

In the United States their mortgages were set up to adjust after 1 or 2 years. In Canada you get a 5yr variable rate mortgage and the interest rate will only change when the bank of Canada changes their rates. In Canada its different though because when the Bank of Canada changes rates it affects visa cards and lines of credit for home and business so they cant jump too fast too high without heavy consequences to the economy. As for locking in your rates, the closed mortgages are at all time lows so its not a bad idea to seriously think about it. Contact me for more info. Abraham Niyazi - Mortgage Agent - Easyrate.ca - 1-866-728-3708 x 115.

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They are at an all time low so eveyone is buying. there at roughly 3%. were currently looking at gettting our mortgage at 1100 a month with a fixed variable for 5 years. the house is after 15,000 down would be 335,000 canadian. so we would like to know if anyone who reads the markets would possibly be able to tell us how much the interest rates could go up in the next 5 years. as most canadians know in the 80s is when people were losing their homes. thanks a bunch.

Nobody can answer this question... Too many economic variables. Don't be surprised if fixed rates are close to 10% in 5 years from now. At that point you would want to switch to a variable rate. Historically variable rates have shown to be a better choice in the long run.

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Firstly, i live in ontario canada, so this deals with the canadian banking system. my husband and i currently have a line of credit worth $25,000 at 4.55% interest. we have a closed mortgage worth $165,000 with a term of 5 years @ 5.3% interest and an ammortization period of 25 years (we are doing accelerated weekly payments, so our mortgage can be paid off sooner). our mortgage does not come up for renewal until june 2011. it is forecasted that interest rates are going to start climbing again, likely beginning this summer...they won't climb quickly, but will start to again. at this time, we are aggressively paying down our line of credit and we expect to have it down to $10,000 by the time our mortgage is up for renewal next year. we were talking to an account manager last night, and what they recommended was that we take our line of credit, put it on our mortgage, switch to a variable rate mortgage for 5 years (so our rate would go down to prime, which is currently at 2.25%), and take the additional penalty of about $5,000 for ending the term early on the closed mortgage. the way they explained it to us was that our mortgage payments would go up slightly, but we'd be paying off so much more interest, so the penalty would be worth it to take. if we took a closed variable rate mortgage for 5 years, we'd pay whatever bank of canada prime was. if we took an open variable rate, we'd pay prime + .70%, but could easily get out of the term if we wanted to with no penalty. we're not sure what to do. is it worth it to consolodate and put our line of credit on our mortgage + take the penalty? or should we just continue chisling away at the line of credit, wait until our mortgage is up for renewal and then take a variable rate mortgage (assuming prime is still pretty low). i hope i explained it all okay, thanks for the advice in advance.

If I understand correctly, you're about 4 years into a 30 year mortgage. Several points come to mind. The first is that the only way to make a good judgment is to take ALL the costs with switching mortgages, ie the penalty for closing the first mortgage as well as all the costs for the new mortgage, which will be in the range of 3-5K, make some guesses as far as interest rates and see how the costs compare. You don't say what your current mortgage could go to, ie +2% every 5 years, etc; this will have a bearing. If you do make a switch, why aren't you considering a 15 yr mortgage? Your payments go up by 15-20%, but you pay off the mortgage in half the time. In the same vein, while paying of your line of credit is good, your mortgage is at a higher rate, I would put most of the extra money toward it. Print out an amortization schedule and look at where you are on the mortgage and see how many months you can knock off the mortgage by prepaying on it. (Look at the principal column, so for every $ extra, it makes a big difference as at that point in your mortgage, for every $1K regular payment, $100-150 is going to principal. So if you dump in $1K extra, you just shortened the mortgage by 8-10 months.

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Im in my late 20's, buying first apartment. rbc wants to give me 4.04%, fixed, closed for 5 years. i have a high risk mortgage because i was only able to put down 15000 on a 255000 apartment and my mom had to co sign for me so she said this is the best she could do. we're having a meeting next week to discuss my options. but she did send me this email: "we touched on this briefly the other day...as of april 19th there was a change in the guidelines for anyone going through cmhc. those clients that do not qualify at the 5 year posted rate (before any discounts) have to take the 5 year term. you do not qualify at his rate..so you have no choice but to go with the 5 year rate." so does it sound like there is no way for me to change the rate? what if i want to go variable and open. if that's allowed, would you guys reccomend that. are the rates going to go up like i keep hearing or should i lock in. i'll take any advice. thanks.

4.04% from RBC is a fair and very competitive rate. New rules stipulate that if you are taking out a mortgage for anything shorter than a 5year fixed rate term then, no matter what rate and product you chose to go with (for example a 3 year fixed which would be at a lower) you still have to qualify based on your income at the bank of Canada's posted 5 year rate (which is much higher and harder to qualify for). Seems like you are doing OK with your offer from RBC.

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As of 19/09/2009 the variable rate is 2.35 % and the fixed 3.99 for 5 years. i am planning to by a house on 01/11/2009 but since it’s the beginning of winter the heating costs would be high, i was thinking of taking the variable rate for 5-6 month from now which will reduce my payments by around $ 150 a month to offset the heating costs and then switch to fixed mortgage. would this be a smart or risky move? are the interest rates expected to jump in the beginning of 2010?

NO ONE can say what WILL happen. What we CAN say is the rates you list are at or near historical lows and there is not much room to go down. An increase is significantly more likely than a decrease. A fixed rate is ALWAYS smarter than a variable rate. If rates drop, you can refinance at the lower rate. If they go up, you many not be able to.

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I am in canada. i have about 3 years left on a 5 year closed mortgage with a variable rate that is the bank's prime minus 0.8%, and i can convert to a locked in rate with no penalties. their prime is 4.75, and the posted fixed rate is 6.09 so my rate would go up by 2.14%. i may be able to get slightly better than the posted rate, but not by much. how much do you think mortgage rates are going to go up? should i lock in now or gamble on the variable rate? please explain your reasoning. the fixed rate is 5.79% if i lock in for 5 years. i am not planning on selling in the next 2 years. (i suspect the market is on the verge of a downward trend, or even collapse, so it's sell now or hang on for the ride!)

I don't live in Canada, but by staying in the variable rate you are putting a time limit on your gamble. You are gambling that in 3 years the interest rates will go down...which is possible but not likely to see a signifigant change. The current status of the economy makes me believe that the interest rates are at there lowest, or very near. This decision will be based on what your future plans are. If you are thinking that you will sell the house within the next three years, then keep the variable, sell the house, and move on. But, if you are thinking that you will live in this house for many more years, then you are better off to get the fixed rate. There is less of a gamble with a fixed rate, and 6 points is very very good. Lets hope for the best and the economy makes an upward turn, it is likely that the rates will not hit these lows for a very long time. And if that happens, you will see a rate that is in the 7-7.5 range in that three years for a fixed rate. So, you will save money in the long run if you plan on living there for a long time, lose money if you plan on selling in the short term.

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I have original principal : 390,000,00 from td and they gave me two choices to make 1.fixed rate 3.90 5 years term total pyment 1761 and 2. variable rate 2.150 5 years term monthly payment 1322 i am in edmonton canada and i want to know which is the best option to chose right know i really think variable is best choice now. please give me your suggestion and your opinion thanks

If the loan term for each rate is only 5 years you must also have a balloon payment at the end of term. It would make more sense to get a longer term fixed rate as rates will certainly be considerably higher in 5 years. I suggest you sit back down with your mortgage broker and look for a third option.

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Ok, i can either lock in 3.69 fixed for 5 years, or take the variable at 2.3 what would you do? if it's of any relevance, i'm in canada.

That is a great rate, I would lock the fixed.