Tips To Paying Your Mortgage Down Faster

Everyone knows they should make extra payments on their mortgage, but life tends to get in the way and make it a low priority on the overall budget.  Most of us will have something they could pay towards the mortgage, yet it doesn’t seem like much compared to the balance, so we spend it on other things…and let’s face it, paying down your mortgage isn’t sexy!

So is it important?  Let me show you an example of the impact of even small extra payments on your mortgage.  For example on a $250,000 mortgage over 30 years at 3.99%, 2 years into the mortgage if you were to start making $100 extra payments alone, you would knock 3.7 years off your mortgage and save $23,468!

So how do make this happen?

One of the easiest ways is to have your Bank or Credit Union deduct a small amount from your pay and have it automatically added to your mortgage or a savings account.  This makes it easier than having to remember every time you get paid to make that extra payment.  If your mortgage is with another institution, you will likely have to use the Savings account to save it up and then contact them to have the money transferred to the mortgage.  Most lenders can take out the extra payment automatically from the account your normal payments come out of.
The other way is to ask the lender to increase your payment amount by $x amount…obviously this is a more permanent solution.

What about Biweekly Payments, or Weekly Payments?
The sooner you make your payment the better.  As well, by paying in an accelerated manner, more money is being paid onto the mortgage, reducing your principal and interest costs.  For example:
$1,000 x 12 (monthly payments) = $12,000/year
$500 x 26 (biweekly accelerated) = $13,000/year
$250 x 52 (weekly accelerated) = $13,000/year
If you can manage this, it makes a significant impact on your mortgage!
Here we see just changing from Monthly to Biweekly accelerated alone knocks 4.1 years off of a 30 year mortgage!

Please note!  Some Bank’s offer weekly & Biweekly payment options which are not accelerated!!  This is useless, as it does not reduce your principal any more than Monthly payments…beware!
Other ways to pay down your mortgage faster!

•    Use your tax return to pay down your mortgage…this can make a big impact on your mortgage over the long term!
•    When you get a pay increase, increase the payment on your mortgage by the same amount.
•    If you receive any “extra” payment or gifts, put them on your mortgage asap!
•    Instead of gifts or presents on your Birthday, your spouse’s Birthday etc, pay extra down…a free & clear home is a much better gift!
•    Check with your lender consistently and ask for a new Amortization Schedule based on your new balance and payments…when you start to see the end date is getting closer (What we call Mortgage Freedom Day!) you will be able to focus on it more.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

8 Negotiation Tactics To Help Reduce Your Credit Card Debt

Call at a good time: One of the simplest yet most effective negotiation tactics is to choose the right time to call a credit card company. Call first thing in the morning, as people are more likely to be pleasant and willing to help you out. If you call at the end of the day, people tend to be tired and cranky.

Let them know you will pay back your debt: What concerns credit card companies most are people who are trying all sorts of dirty negotiation tricks to get out of paying their debts altogether. It is crucial that you explain to them that you do intend to pay back your debt. What you are asking is some small help. If you do this nicely, you may be surprised how understanding credit card companies can be!

Take advantage of your first time: If you have not asked for a lower interest rate or to have a late fee waived with this credit card company before, make sure you tell them. These companies are usually much more generous with first time offenders than with those asking for extensions on a monthly basis.

Show them you are a loyal customer: If you've been a long-time customer or a big spender for several years, use this to your advantage. By reminding a company of your loyalty, you'll find that they will be more willing to renegotiate your credit card debt because they don't want to lose your business.

Ask for a lower interest rate: Unknown to many, credit card interest rates are often negotiable. If you have had a good payment history, you shouldn't have any problems with requesting for a lower interest rate. Explain that you'll be able to put more money towards paying off your principal balance instead of your interest rate charges.

Have late payment fees waived: This is such a simple, yet very effective bargaining tactic. Late payment fees can usually easily be waived if you settle your bill within a short period of the due date. If you have, leverage a solid credit history on top. An extra phone call, that is likely to be well worth the effort.

Request to miss a payment: If you have had some unexpected financial issues that you are expecting to resolve in the coming weeks or months, explain your situation honestly to the credit card company and ask very carefully if you could miss a payment or two. Beware though that these kind of skipped payments may have a bad impact on your credit rating.

Speak to the decision maker: An effective negotiation tip is to talk to the person in charge as soon as you can. When you first call, you will probably be diverted straight to a customer service representative. If this is the case, request to talk directly to the manager or another person who can make decisions. Don't forget to write down all the names, designations, and contact details of everyone you talk to, as well as the time, day, and details of the discussions.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

3 Helpful Tips On Debt Consolidation

If your debts have become uncontrollable and you are serious to get out of this financial instability, you must go for debt consolidation. With the help of debt consolidation all your multiple unmanageable debts will be consolidated into a single debt. After consolidating your debts, you also do not need to face the hassle of paying off your creditors separately. All your various creditors are paid off with a single monthly payment that you make to your consolidation company. Thus, there are various benefits of consolidating your debts. However, you must be aware that in order to have a successful debt consolidation, you need to know certain tactics. This article provides you with some tips on debt consolidation that may help you out.

Debt Consolidation Tips

Here are some tips on debt consolidation you need to know before you go for consolidating your debts with the help of a debt consolidation company.

• Reputable company - Before you choose a debt consolidation company, make sure to have a thorough research on the debt consolidation company that you want to go for. Research well online about the company and find out if it is a reputable one. All debt consolidation programs are not equal. Shop thoroughly and this in turn will help you get the best deal that suits your needs. Investigate not only whether they are offering you a low fees or not but also how long the company has been in the business, their experience and reputation.

• Non-profit companies - Non-profit organization may offer you much lower fees but you must keep in mind that non-profit doesn't mean that they are eager to help you out with your financial situation. Some also make fake claims to be a non-profit company in order to attract you. Thus, you need to be cautious about them.

• All debts do not need consolidation - All debts are not similar and may not even need consolidation. Thus, do not unnecessarily consolidate them. Analyze each debt separately. You must read the terms and conditions for each of your debt carefully. Estimate the APR and total cost of loan with help of an online loan amortization calculator. If you find out that your existing unsecured debt is cheaper than the consolidation loan that is being provided to you, it is better to avoid consolidating it.

Apart from these tips mentioned above, you must also figure out the total cost of your debt consolidation loan. Securing a low interest rate provides you with the main benefit of consolidating. Thus, make sure to utilize these tips on debt consolidation if you want to secure a successful consolidation.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

Eight Facts About Debt Consolidation

You are scared to look at your checkbook balance. You avoid opening bills. You are late on making payments to creditors, and paying high late fees and interest charges. If this sounds familiar, you might be considering debt consolidation. Essentially, debt consolidation combines all of your debts into one loan so you owe only one creditor. This idea might sound appealing, but it has its disadvantages as well as advantages. To determine if debt consolidation makes sense for you, take a look at these facts.

Fact #1: Debt Consolidation Alternatives Exist

There are several ways available to obtain funding to consolidate, and pay off, debts. One of them involves working with a debt consolidation firm. But individuals can consolidate their debts on their own, too, and pay off debt.

Fact #2: Debt Consolidation Is Not Right for Everyone

Debt consolidation works best for those who are able to pay bills but find it difficult to juggle multiple bills or remember payment due dates. For those struggling to pay bills at all, or who have bad credit, many debt consolidation options may not present the best options. Those individuals can talk with a debt relief counselor to figure out alternatives.

Fact #3: You Could Lose Your Home

Some people look to refinancing or borrowing against their homes as a route toward debt consolidation. Refinancing and taking cash out at closing can help pay down high-interest debt, and can be tax-deductible, but carries risk. Make sure that there is no possibility of missing a payment, because you don’t want to face a foreclosure because you transferred too much unsecured debt to secured debt. (Unsecured debt is not backed by any type of collateral or asset, and includes debt from credit cards, medical expenses and utility bills.)

With a home equity loan or line of credit, you borrow against your home’s equity in order to take out a loan to pay off creditors. However, in order to secure this type of loan, you have to put up your house as collateral. Essentially, you are taking out a second mortgage on your home. This means you could lose your home to foreclosure if you are unable to make payments. Plus, if your home’s value drops, you may not be able to pay back all the money you owe if you need to sell your home.

Fact #4: A Personal Loan Can Be Costly

If you are not a homeowner or do not want to risk your home, you may be able to take out a personal loan to pay off creditors; this, too, is a form of debt consolidation. This option requires you to have a strong enough credit rating to qualify for a good interest rate without any collateral. The problem is that it is difficult to get a personal loan with a low enough interest rate. Often, you may be better off just continuing to pay your creditors.

Fact #5: Using Another Credit Card Is Risky

A popular way to consolidate credit card debt is to transfer debt to a zero- or low-interest credit card. If you have good credit, this may be possible, but remember that the great rate will not last forever. Make sure you know when the introductory offer expires and what the new rate will be. Keep in mind that this rate will increase if you miss a payment or are late. Most importantly, do not continue to charge on your other cards once you have consolidated your debt. And do not use the new card to make new purchases.

Fact #6: Debt Consolidation Services Do Not Eliminate Debt

Debt consolidation services ask consumers to make one monthly payment, which then is used to pay creditors. Consumers pay back 100 percent of the debt, plus interest. If the problem is too many accounts with too-high minimum payments at crippling interest rates, these services may offer a solution. They can be helpful to people who are sure they can change their habits, so that they can focus on just one interest rate and one payment.

However, these loans are usually secured by the borrower’s property, such as a home or car, which puts those items at risk if the borrower cannot pay. Fees can be high. Many services have poor histories and reputations. Those working with a debt consolidator will likely sacrifice the freedom to open and use additional credit lines and, in many cases, their credit profiles. In addition, you can only consolidate unsecured debt.

Fact #7: Consolidating Debt May Cost You More in the Long Run

A debt consolidation loan – whether from a debt consolidation service or other – often gives you additional time to repay the loan. This might sound good. In reality, this means that you could pay more interest over the life of the loan even if you have a lower interest rate and make lower payments than when you started. Also, you could face costly penalties and see your interest rate increase if you are late with a payment, or miss one.

Debt consolidation can simplify on-time payments for some people. But it does not address issues like overspending and poor budgeting – issues that, for many people, created the original debt problem. If you choose debt consolidation, you must also turn over a new leaf and avoid adding to the mountain of debt, or you risk doubling your debt instead of eliminating it. Either way, think carefully before opting for debt consolidation.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

6 Tips To Help You Renew Your Mortgage

Before you go ahead and re-sign with your mortgage lender, it’s important to consider these six tips to help you.

The biggest monthly expense for most Canadians is their mortgage payment.


Yet according to an Angus Reid survey, almost 27 per cent of households automatically renew their mortgages when the term is up instead of trying to find a better deal.

Here are six tips to help you lower your payments come renewal time.

 1. Get going early
Start shopping around for a better rate four to six months before your mortgage is up for renewal.

That’s the longest lenders will guarantee a discounted rate, says Vancouver’s Robert McLister, editor of Canadian MortgageTrends.com. “If [your current lender’s] rates rise, you’ve got your guaranteed rate to fall back on. If they drop, you simply renegotiate a lower rate.”

2. Do your homework
Before negotiating a lower rate from your bank, find out what other lenders are offering. Plenty of websites post current rates from all the banks, which can vary widely.

For example, at press time, Scotiabank’s rate for a five-year closed-term fixed rate mortgage was 5.29 per cent, while ING Direct’s was 3.59 per cent.


3. Never accept the bank’s posted rate
"You might as well hand your wallet over to the lender," says McLister. If you determine that your current lender has the best mortgage features, advice and policies, ask your bank to match a competitor’s lower rate.

"If you don’t come right out and ask for a better rate, you won’t get one," says Alan Silverstein, a real estate lawyer in Toronto and author of The Perfect Mortgage: Cutting the Cost of Home Ownership (Stoddart, 1995). He also notes that banks may be more willing to lower your rate if you transfer over other accounts or investments, such as an RRSP.

4. Negotiate on other available options
Don’t just fixate on the interest rate. The amortization period, the rate type (fixed or variable) and the flexibility of the payment schedule can be crucial to lowering your costs.

5. Change lenders
"A lot of people renew with their lender and don’t even think about switching to another one, despite the fact that they could do better," says Silverstein. And there’s no penalty if you switch at renewal time.

6. Broker a deal
If you don’t like negotiating and don’t have the time to research rates, a mortgage broker will do the legwork for you — usually without charging you anything, since they are paid a commission from the lenders.

According to the Bank of Canada, people who use a broker usually pay less than those who don’t.

Using a broker can typically save $1,670 of interest on a $200,000 mortgage over five years. “The results of using a good broker are twofold,” says McLister. “Better rates and a less restrictive mortgage.”

Did you know!

Saving even half a percentage point on your mortgage rate can save you up to $10,000 over 25 years (based on a $150,000 mortgage).

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

Learn Everything About Home Mortgages In This Article

The housing market is slowly but surely bouncing back in a big way, and thus many potential homeowners are out there looking into home mortgages. It's very important that you select the right mortgage for you and your family. Getting trapped with the wrong mortgage could lead to mounting debt and foreclosure. Use the tips provided below to help you select wisely.

Begin getting ready for a home mortgage well in advance of your application. If you are in the market for a mortgage, you should prepare your finances as soon as possible. Build some savings and pay off your debts. Lack of preparation could prevent you from being able to purchase a home.

Gather your financial material before going to the bank to discuss a home mortgage. Showing up to the bank without your most recent W2, work payment checks, and other income documentation can lead to a very short first appointment. Your lender is going to need all of this. Having it handy will make things more convenient for all involved.

Refinancing a home mortgage when interest rates are low can save you thousands of dollars on your mortgage. You may even be able to shorten the term of your loan from 30 years to 15 years and still have a monthly payment that is affordable. You can then pay your home off sooner.

You may be able to add your homeowners insurance costs to your mortgage payment. One advantage of this is negating the need to make two payments. Instead of paying your mortgage and an insurance bill, you can pay both bills in one payment. If you like to consolidate your bills, this is a good idea.

Make sure you're not looking at any penalties when you apply for a new mortgage. Your old mortgage may impose fines for early payment, which can include refinancing. If there are fines, weigh the pros and cons before getting into a new mortgage, as you may end up paying a lot more than you expected, even though refinancing means a lower monthly payment.

More often than not, people fall into the trap of believing that all mortgages are the same. Hopefully you have learned throughout the above article that there are many differences in mortgage types and options, and also many different ways you can approach seeking a mortgage. Remember to use this information to your advantage when seeking a home mortgage.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

Making Home Improvements Will Be Easier When Following These Tips.

While tricky or potentially dangerous home improvement jobs are best left to professionals. But there are many things you can learn to do around the house yourself. Learning to perform home improvement jobs is an immense confidence booster and will allow you to take control of your property. These tips should help you build a better knowledge of home improvement.

Hardwood, tile and other smooth surfaces may seem like a good idea in high traffic areas like stairs and hallways, but those same areas can then echo and reverberate throughout the entire house. You wouldn't want to hear every footstep going down the hallway if you were in a bedroom sleeping.

Make sure you take before and after photos of any work or improvements you do to your home. You may like to look back on all the hard work and changes when it feels like the project as a whole will never be done. Keep pictures on your computer or have them printed for a scrapbook.

When it comes to home improvement, be sure that none of the workers that will be working on your home have a criminal record. This is important to the safety of you and your family, and also for the security of your belongings. It is not uncommon for you to ask for the names of all the workers that will be on the property. Background checks are available online.

When choosing a contractor, make sure to interview them and check references. There are few things more painful than a home improvement project gone wrong. At best you'll have to live in a house that makes you unhappy and at worse you could find yourself without a place that's safe to live in. Perform your due diligence upfront in making your choice so that you won't be surprised at the results at the end.

As you can see, home improvement is a multifaceted trade. Oftentimes, your knowledge of a type of task will determine the success of it. This means that research is an excellent first step in any home improvement project. These tips should be a helpful first step in your path to learning about home improvement.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.