Open House- The Real Estate & Mortgage Show: April 21, 2018
Wondering where mortgage rates are this week? Plus, what upgrades will help when pricing your home. All this and more on this week’s episode of Open House: The Real Estate & Mortgage Show.
On this week’s episode of Open House: The Real Estate and Mortgage Show Frank Napolitano of Mortgage Brokers Ottawa joins host Steve Gregory and Paul Rushforth of Paul Rushforth Real Estate discuss the latest in mortgage and real estate news.
Frank notes that high ratio mortgage rates have been on the rise although bond markets have been stable over the last few weeks. Frank observes that some clients are thinking of taking mortgage default insurance in order to obtain a high ratio mortgage rate which at this time is lower than the conventional rates. However, working with a mortgage broker to analyze the costs of the interest versus the insurance, it may not be favourable. Variable rates are still very attractive and competitive.
Paul mentions that we are still seeing many instances of multiple offers and over list price sales if homes are showing well and are priced properly from the start. West and south markets are very busy right now. People interested in those areas should be ready to move quickly, have a clean offer and possibly budget to go over asking price. The risk that you take going into an offer without financing is that the banks will honour the lower of the list price or the offer, depending on appraised value if required; meaning buyers may need to come up with additional down payment to cover the difference. Paul notes that pricing is so important when it comes to listing your home. His teams’ strategy is to bring comparables to the table so people know what to expect from similar sales. Upgrades are also very important and there is a difference between tangible and intangible updates. Bathroom, fixtures, floors, kitchens, finished basements are upgrades that will help increase your price.