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Mortgages
A lot of useful information on mortgages
(and real estate generally) is available free of charge at
local branches of several Canadian banks. The Royal Bank,
for example, currently offers "40 plus One Real Estate
Tips" and several other
titles for sellers, and
"Buying A Home" and "Residential Mortgage
Guide" for buyers.
An excellent book for any Canadian borrower is
The Borrower’s Answer Book by Gail Vaz-Oxlade
(Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd., 1993), which
treats everything from the proper use of credit cards to
business loans and the criteria lenders consider in
evaluating loan applications.
As for mortgages in particular, look for The Perfect
Mortgage, by Alan Silverstein (Toronto: Stoddart
Publishing Co., Ltd., 1995), which clearly explains
commonly-available mortgage options worth tens of thousands
of dollars over the life of your mortgage, as well as
traps and pitfalls that can cost you just as much.
Realtors are another obvious source of information. And,
of course, there’s the Internet:
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Cannex Mortgage Rates |
An up-to-date online survey of Canadian
mortgage rates. |
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Mortgage
Calculator
Calculatrice
d’emprunt hypothécaire |
Very cool! This Java calculator
helps you save tens of thousands in
mortgage interest by playing with interest-rate,
amortization, payment-frequency, and prepayment
options. Also prints a full payment schedule. |
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Mortgage Guide |
Adapted from an article from the
West Fort
William Credit Union, this summary tips for the entire
house-buying process as well as a detailed explanation
of mortgages and a useful glossary. Well worth
printing out! |
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Mortgage
Wise |
A downloadable (.pdf format) introduction to the
home-buying process and mortgages, also available (along with other
titles) as a FREE printed publication from the
Canadian Bankers
Association. |
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Mortgage
Learning Center |
From CanadaMortgage.com, an excellent
series of articles on a wide range of mortgage topics. |
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Online Mortgage Explorer
glossary
calculator |
A well-done series of articles on the
mortgage market in general and how it affects
buyers and owners in various situations. Excellent
glossary, and the calculator lets you
print out a full amortization schedule. |
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ING Direct Mortgage Pages |
Based in Amsterdam, this huge ($1 Trillion in assets)
banking/insurance congolmerate has been chartered in Canada since 1997;
they have some of the lowest interest rates and best online mortgage
and personal finances information around. |
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Mortgage
Calculator |
This nifty Java appelet updates summary
info, graphs or a repayment schedule as you play with
principal, amortization and interest rate. (Use
“settings” to specify Canadian rules.)
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What
Can I Afford? |
This calculator, from the Calgary Herald, let’s
you calculate how much house you can afford, given your
current monthly income and debt load. |
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Google Mortgage Resources |
A gazillion links to Canadian mortgage-related
web-sites, from the Google search-engine. |
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Royal Bank Mortgage Pages |
General articles, buyer/seller checklists,
and notes on a variety of mortgage options suited
to particular situations.
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B
of M Mortgage Center |
A series of articles from
the Bank of Montreal, useful for both first-time and
experienced buyers.
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