The Minister of Finance will implement the new down payment rules on February 15, 2016. They will affect anyone buying a home over $500,000. If you buy a new home…

One Last Tip… Each of the Tips in the last chapter will save you money—from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars. The majority of these methods can be…

TIP #10: Negotiate Your Next Mortgage

Hopefully by now you have learned that you no longer need to give-in to the demands of your bank or financial institution. You have options and rights that you may never have realized or wanted to pursue.

(more…)

Tip #9:  Use a Line of Credit Mortgage

These types of mortgages are the easiest to pay down and can offer you the most flexibility. They are designed to allow the mortgage holder the ability to pay down his mortgage without penalty with an adjustable or variable interest rate

With all the advantages there are also some risks. Certain types of budget-conscious people should avoid this type of mortgage due to lack of discipline. For whatever reason, if they have a credit line available they tend to always use it. Some people may go for months, or even years, and never touch their Line of Credit, and then suddenly, they may have an urge to get a new boat or go on that dream vacation.

Somehow this type of consumer will always find a way or reason to use the Line of Credit. This means the mortgage will never be repaid. This is not what the Line of Credit Mortgage was designed for, at least from the consumer’s standpoint. People with good credit management skills can use this type of mortgage to great advantage. They must be very careful about when and how they use the available credit.   (more…)

Tip #8: Use a Cash-Back Mortgage This is a very interesting type of mortgage for a number of reasons. Most people use this type of mortgage to help make the…

Tip #7: Use Your RRSP Refund or Tax Refund

Everybody dreads tax time; the stress of learning exactly how much money the government is taking out of our pockets. We have few options for hiding our income; one exception is RRSPs.

Many people plan grand purchases using any tax refund they get from the government. Some people use this refund money for investment purposes, while others use it for a vacation, furniture, or clothes. We all plan—months ahead of time—what we are going to do with this extra cash, right?

Remember the first few Tips you read? How little it takes each year to make such a big difference in what you will finally end up paying? By investing your refund into your mortgage each year you will once again save thousands of dollars in interest and payments. (more…)

Tip #6: Pay Your Taxes Annually…or Use Your City’s Monthly Installment Tax Payment Plan

This Tip doesn’t really fall under the category of saving you thousands of dollars, but it does save you money…and every little bit does count.

(more…)

Tip #5: Make a Pre-Payment Every Year We have discussed two pre-payment methods in Tips 3 and 4. Now let’s see how making a slightly larger amount can dramatically save…

Tip #4: Pay an Extra $50 or $100 Per Payment

Using Tip #3, you make one extra payment per year. Using this method you make an extra payment towards the principle with every regular payment. Depending on whether you choose to make your payments, monthly, bi-weekly or weekly you will pay a little extra on your principle with every payment.

Many people use this method when on a restricted budget. It is easier to save $50 to $100 each month than one lump sum of $700 or more. So how much money and time can we save using this method?

(more…)

Tip #3: Take Advantage of Double-up Payments Offered by Most Banks

The double-up advantage allows you to make an extra payment usually equal to your normal monthly payment. Depending on your financial institution, you can make anywhere from 1 to 12 double-up payments annually.

Each double-up payment is applied directly to the principle on your mortgage. This means you save thousands each and every time you make one of these double-up payments. Even one double-up payment per year can make a difference.

(more…)