Scotiabank released a Mortgage Calculator application for the iPhone on March 27th, 2010.

This is Mortgage Calculator is great for those who have begun searching for a new home, or if you are considering refinancing your home. It is good to know how much your mortgage payments will be and what you can afford.

With the help of Scotiabank’s easy to use iPhone app, you will be able to estimate the maximum house price and mortgage you can afford, and your monthly mortgage payments.

With this application you will be able to calculate the value of the mortgage you can afford; calculate payment schedule; locate a mortgage specialist; email or call a mortgage specialist; or go to www.Scotiabank.com.

What is great about this application is that you can see who you would be calling when you are considering talking to a mortgage specialist. Scotiabank has listed the mortgage specialist’s name, number, and email in the application.

With the Mortgage Calculator, you are given three options, “What Can I Afford?”, “Payment Calculator” and “Mortgage Specialist”.

If you decide to go into the “What Can I Afford?” section, you will be prompted to enter your information, such as monthly gross income, monthly property taxes ,etc. You will then be provided with information of the home you could possibly afford.

The “Payment Calculator” will have you enter your mortgage amount, amortization period and payment frequency, and mortgage rate, which will give you a general idea of what your mortgage payments will be.

If you are interested in downloading the Scotiabank Mortgage Calculator, click here.

One of the largest investments you will make in your life is purchasing a home. When purchasing a home you are taking on a commitment to pay off the value of the house you may owe to the bank.

The question we have to ask ourselves is how can we actually save throughout the process? As many current homebuyers may already know, when you do begin the search for a home, the stress can be high, and the cost can just keep on increasing.

In order to save on the cost of your home there are several ways to go about it.

With most methods to saving, creating a budget is an essential part of the process.

Once a budget has been created you have to remember to always keep yourself in control of the situation and do not let your emotions get the better of you. You cannot begin to realize how many people have stretched their budget too thin because they wanted the house so badly that they did whatever they could to outbid the other purchaser.

From there, consider getting a shorter amortization period; with a shorter amortization period you will be able to save quite a bit of money on interest.

Buying a home is meant to be a great experience, but a costly one. By just following these few tips you will find yourself saving some money and hopefully getting the house of your dreams.

Author: mortgage_foreclosure_so lutions

BMO Bank of Montreal announced on March 2nd, 2010 that it would be making it easier for Canadians to become mortgage free with the introduction of the new BMO Five Year Fixed Rate Mortgage.

The new BMO five year fixed rate mortgage offers the lowest fixed rate for a five year closed term at 3.75%, it also allows customers to repay their mortgage faster with a maximum 25 year or less amortization.

Homeowners will be able to save over $67,000 in interest costs compared to leading competitors’’ five year special fixed rate at 4.09% and 35 year amortization (based on a $200,000 mortgage).

With the maximum amortization period now at 25 years, instead of 35 years, you will save on interest charges, which in the end could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

BMO released results from a survey done by Harris/Davis shows that Canadians are keen to shorten the amortization period of their mortgage in order to reduce costs.

You should not miss this opportunity to lower your overall cost. Visit a BMO branch or have a BMO Mobile Mortgage Specialist come and assist you in choosing the right mortgage for you.

With the new five year fixed rate mortgage, and BMO SmartSteps, BMO is giving immediate options for Canadians to begin saving right away.

Canada’s top bankers are pushing to have the government come down on the mortgage market to cool off the rise in home prices.

The heads of Canada’s six largest banks have told policy makers privately that they fear the wide ranging economic fallout of a U.S. style collapse in the housing market.

In order to avert this disaster, they are willing to accept tighter mortgage rules which would in turn slow down the real estate markets, which would mean that it would forgo some short term profits from giving out bigger mortgage as home prices increase.

The point was made in last November when the heads of the Big Six met with Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney; they want the government to look at options which include raising the minimum down payment to as much as 10% and shortening the maximum amortization period to 30 years.

Changing these rules would be a sensible and proactive approach noted a top executive at the second major bank in the Big Six.

The key to the solution is to convince Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Flaherty has made it clear in December that they would act if a housing bubble appeared in the future, but as prices increasing every month, not many want him to wait.

In the coming months we will see what will happen, however if prices increase as they have been in the past few months we might be seeing the government take action soon.

#1: Picking the right amortization schedule (Do I have to carry a mortgage for the rest of my life?!)

I want to begin by saying that it’s absolutely understandable to be confused when picking all the details of your mortgage. After all, you’d hate to walk into any commitments that has the word “locked” on the first page you’ll be signing & making the wrong decision about it…In most cases “locked” means once you get in, you can’t get out!!!

In world of mortgages, that simply means during the term of the mortgage you can’t get out to make major changes without having to pay penalties. Picking the amortization schedule is one of those “major” things you can’t just change when you feel like it. So, what does that all mean?! You need to make the RIGHT pick, the one that you won’t live to regret or question before your term is up. When it comes to making the right choice, it always helps to understand and educate yourself before making that decision.

When it comes to amortizations schedules you have the choice between going as little time as possible (minimum would be the same length as your mortgage term & maximum would be going as high as 35 years). What difference does it make how long it is?! It determines how much principal amount of your mortgage you are obligated to pay off with every payment you have to make.

Let me show you an example: Joe has a total mortgage amount of $200,000 , for five years fixed, with an amortization period of 25 years & Lisa has the same mortgage amount for five years fixed, with an amortization period of 30 years…They are both at 3.79% five years fixed rate (because they had Signature Service Financial to get them such an amazing interest rate): Joe pays $1,29.40 every month (from which: $626.74 goes to pay the interest & $402.66 goes to pay down his principal). Lisa pays: $927.41 every month (from which: $626.74 SAME AS JOE’S goes to pay the interest & $300.67 goes to pay down the principal).

Simple enough to understand, isn’t it? Because Lisa wants to have more room to play with every month according to her budgeting every month, it still doesn’t mean that she can’t put extra money into paying down her mortgage by using her pre-payment privileges..But truth of the matter is that she can do it ANYTIME she feels like it..As opposed to Joe, who wants to be OBLIGATED to put more into the principal because he knows that unless he’s forced into putting more money towards it he wouldn’t just FEEL LIKE IT.

This is why you need a special mortgage agent to do different calculations for you patiently until you find the ONE that works for you!

This decision really comes down to how you are with money. Are you a saver or a spender? What is more comfortable of a responsibility for you every month as far as expenses? Make sure to pick the option affordable for you, otherwise, it would be a pickle to be short cashed every month or every other month..(you get the point).

Stay tuned for more trips on more topics.

(Have a mortgage question that needs an answer?  Email: parmida@ssfi.ca)

A mortgage with a fixed interest rate is now available at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), with it you will know exactly what you payments will be.

You might ask yourself, “Is this type of mortgage the one I need? “. Well with a few questions you can easily decide whether the CIBC fixed rate closed mortgage is the right choice. If your mortgage is over 80% of the home’s value; you are operating on a tight budget or you want to lock in special interest rate for the full term of your mortgage. Then this is the right mortgage plan for you.

With the CIBC fixed rate closed mortgage you have the terms available of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 or 10 years closed. The interest rate varies for the term chosen; for a 1 year term the interest rate as of April 13 2009 is 4.35% whereas on a 5 year term the interest rate as of April 13th 2009 is 5.45%. You can prepay a maximum of 10% of your original mortgage payment amount annually and your mortgage payment can increase by 10% anytime during the term. This extra payment amount is applied to the principal reducing the overall costs. The amortization period gives you the option to take up to 25 years to pay off your mortgage which can help improve your cash flow.

As an added bonus for first time home buyers, you can get $500 cash back when you open a 5 year closed fixed rate mortgage.

I might not be at the stage of owning my own home yet, but after writing this I find that for people looking for a new home checking out CIBC for your mortgage might not be such a bad idea. It has a good interest rate, plenty of options and best of all you get $500 back.

If you are interested in a CIBC fixed rate closed mortgage to get pre-approved, Click Here.