How to Get the Best Mortgage Rate in Ontario – Slice.ca

One of the first questions to ask yourself is: what is the current mortgage rate in Ontario? Mortgage rates vary between provinces. The bigger provinces and those with more competitive housing markets, such as Ontario, tend to offer lower mortgage rates, according to Rate Spy.

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Mortgage payments are one of the things Canadians spend the most money on each year. To help you budget if you’re planning on buying a home in Ontario, you need to ask yourself: what is the average monthly mortgage payment in Ontario? You can then use this figure to work out whether the rate you’ve been quoted is above or below the average and if you’re being overcharged.

A good place to start when you’re trying to find mortgage rate information is to look on rate comparison websites. Simply use a search term like “mortgage rates Ontario 2018” or “mortgage rates Ontario 2019” and your search results will include several of these sites. They will give you a good idea of which lenders are offering what.

Before you start shopping for mortgage rates, you need to know the difference between fixed mortgage rates and variable mortgage rates and some basic financial terms most Canadians don’t know but should. Fixed mortgage rates stay the same throughout the lifetime of the loan and this makes it easy to work out the amortization schedule. Variable mortgage rates vary along with fluctuations in interest rates in general, making it harder to predict how much you’ll be paying in the long term.

Variable mortgages often offer lower rates to start with. However, before you start searching for the best variable mortgage rates Ontario lenders offer, you need to know how these mortgage rates work and what the downsides are. It may be easier to get a loan when interest rates are low, so talk to your bank or a reputable mortgage broker about when to apply.

A four year fixed mortgage is a hybrid between a fixed mortgage and a variable mortgage. For the first four years, your mortgage rate stays fixed. After that, it becomes adjustable. It may not help you much when you’re budgeting for retirement but it can help you budget for a shorter period of time, for instance while the kids are in college. While many Canadians opt for a five year fixed mortgage because it offers an extra year of interest rate protection, with a four year fixed mortgage, Ontario lenders may offer lower rates.

Banks usually offer higher rates than brokers. The reason for this is that mortgage brokers have access to more products and rates from various banks and credit unions. Essentially, they can do the shopping around for you.

When you compare the mortgage rates that the different banks and credit unions offer, remember that the banks’ posted rates aren’t the only rates available. These rates are simply the ones that the banks choose to advertise publicly. If you’re willing to negotiate with your bank, you may get a lower rate than the posted one.

Before you make a mortgage decision today, think about what the future may hold. Maybe you’ll want to change jobs in the future or maybe you want to retire at 40. As your circumstances change, so will your ability to pay your mortgage. So, look at the Ontario mortgage rates forecast and see whether you’ll be able to reconcile your changing financial situation with changing mortgage rates.

While banks generally don’t offer the lowest mortgage rates, they may be willing to give you a lower rate if you can show that you’ve found better rates elsewhere. They may even throw in extra perks like waiving bank charges or paying the appraisal fee. However, to be in the best position for negotiating with your bank, you need to have all the relevant information at your fingertips. This doesn’t only include the rates the bank’s competitors offer, but also what may happen in future, so you may want to research the mortgage rates Ontario trend.