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OLENA KUKURUDZA Sales Representative
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Additional Costs When Buying a Home
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 | | The purchase price of your home is only one of the costs you'll encounter. Here are other possible costs you need to consider:
Mortgage loan insurance: If you are putting less than 20 per cent of the house value down, you're going to need mortgage loan insurance. Depending on the lender, the premium can be added to mortgage payments. Appraisal fee: Lenders typically loan a percentage of the home's purchase price or the market appraisal of the property. Cost depends on the size and complexity of the assignment. Land survey: The lender may ask for a current survey or certificate of location before signing off on the loan. There can be a substantial cost for having a new survey done on the property. Deposit: A deposit normally goes with the formal offer to purchase. Insurance: The lender will require proof of property insurance for the replacement value of the house and its contents from the day you take ownership. Title insurance: Provides coverage in case of problems with the property title among other things. The cost is relatively low, usually a few hundred dollars. Application fee: Some lenders will pass on the cost to process your application. These fees vary and some lenders will waive entirely if you have other accounts with them. Mortgage broker's fee: If you use a mortgage broker, a fee may be charged to arrange a mortgage on your behalf. Home inspection fee: An inspection protects the buyer by revealing any problems in the property that you'd want to know before you move in. Legal fees: You can save some of the legal fees usually charged by the lender if your lawyer draws up the mortgage. You'll also pay for disbursements which are the costs involved in drawing up the title deed, conducting a title search, and preparing and registering the mortgage. Land Transfer Tax: First time home buyers qualify for a maximum $2,000 (LTT on a $227,500 home) provincial rebate and a maximum $3,725 (LTT on a $400,000 home) City of Toronto rebate. Goods and Services Tax: Resale (used) homes are exempt from GST but it does apply to newly constructed homes and may qualify for a partial rebate depending on the sales price and if the home is going to be your primary place of residence.
For new homes costing $350,000 or less, you will receive a GST rebate of 36% of the GST paid to a maximum of $8,750. The rebate for new homes costing between $350,000 and $450,000 declines to zero on a proportional basis. GST also applies to most of the services provided in completing the real estate transaction. Other costs: These include moving costs, fees charged by utilities for service hook-ups, property tax and other adjustments (an adjustment takes place when the seller has already paid for something in advance and wants to be credited for the unused portion on the date the house becomes yours), and ongoing maintenance (condo fees etc) and utility costs.
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Congratulations!
You have decided to purchase a home, or are thinking about buying one. You'll be joining the ranks of hundreds of families who realize that home ownership offers a number of benefits including building equity, saving for the future, and creating an environment for your family. When you own your own home, your hard-earned dollars contribute to your mortgage. The equity you earn is yours. Over time, your home will increase in value. Here are some tips how to save even more money.
By-weekly and weekly payments
Most mortgages have the option to allow payments to be made on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This option may be desirable for two reasons. The first is it can save you money as you can expect to pay off your mortgage about 4 years sooner. Th
is can save you dramatically over the life of your mortgage. The other reason why these options are so popular is that if your employer pays you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, you can simplify your budgeting by making the payment line up with the way you paid.
Making Extra payments
Paying extra amounts on your mortgage can make a big interest saving over time. When we select a mortgage company, privilege payments options are something that we look for. A 20% privilege payment will allow you to pay off up to $20,000 per year on a $100 000 mortgage. It is important that the privilege payment also be flexible to allow you to pay smaller payments on the mortgage and as often as you wish. An extra $1000 periodically paid on a mortgage can help you become mortgage free faster.
Reducing the CMHC fees on your purchase
When you require a mortgage for more than 75% of the purchase price of a property, that mortgage must be insured by Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) or GE Mortgage insurance. The premium charged by these company`s decreases as the down payment increases. When you finance your property at 95%, a premium of 2.75% is added to the mortgage. By increasing the down payment to 10% of the purchase price the premium can be reduced to 2.5%. If you can put down 25%, you can avoid any additional insurance fee. Depending on your situation there are ways that you can structure this financing to avoid the CMHC or GE insurance premium.
Short Term Rates vs. Long Term Rates
The options for mortgages available can be very confusing for most mortgage shoppers. Terms for mortgages vary between variable and fixed rate, 6-month terms to 10 year terms. Taking a variable or floating rate mortgage can have savings. Typically the shorter the term or guarantee of the rate, the lower the rate will be. This does not always happen, depending on the market place and the economy, but history has shown that short-term rates tend to be lower than long-term rates. The up side of variable rate is the strong potential for interest rate savings. The down side is the fact that you are accepting the interest rate risk without a guarantee. If you are considering a variable rate mortgage you need to look at your own risk tolerance, and your cash flow available to deal with potential increased payment. Considering projections of rates and where we see interest rates heading can also be important in this decision. Make sure you talk to an expert when you are making this decision.
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Contacts
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RIGH AT HOME REALTY INC., BROKERAGE Monte Carlo Corporate Centre
7045 Edwards Boulevard, Suite 201
Mississauga, Ontario L5S 1X2 OLENA KUKURUDZA
Sales Representative
Office: 905 565 9200
Direct: 647 300 2543
Fax: 905 565 6677
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