Robert Morrow

The prime rate remains unchanged at 4.75%...for now.

If you have a variable/adjustable rate mortgage, your payments will remain unchanged. The Bank of Canada announced today that economic growth and inflation are lower than anticipated last month. The overnight rate--what banks charge each other for overnight loans--remains steady at 3%.

The Bank of Canada will likely cut interest rates further in the near future, hopefully causing similar cuts from national banks.

It was a great idea at the time.

But as of Oct. 15th, Canadians can't get government-backed morgages that are based on 40-year amortization and no money down.

The Finance Dept. stated on Sept.3rd that it won't guarantee 40-year mortgages anymore and will require a minimum 5% downpayment on the value of a home. That means a 35 year amortization is the most available for government backing. In addition, the government will only insure 95% of the value of the home, forcing buyers to find the last five percent as a down payment.

Mortgage insurance protects lenders from borrowers who default by making up the difference needed to repay the loan of the sale of the property doesn't cover the debt. All federally regulated lenders (banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies) must have mortgage insurance on loans where the buyer's down payment is less than 20% of the price. The government backs the insurance, whether it's through CMHC or private insurers.

There is also a new stipulation that buyers maintain a consistent minimum credit score. Of note is that these new requirements don't affect mortgages currently in place by homeowners.

FINTRAC...For the unititiated, it means Financial Transactiosn and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

What it means is that as of June 23/08, new laws dealing with money laundering and anti-terrorist financing took place. Amongst other professionals, Real Estate professionals now have to collect and verify more personal information from Buyers and Sellers. Agents must now be able to track the source of funds used in housing transactions. These new regulations (part of Bill C-25), passed in 2007, are intended to help stop money laundering and terrorist financing.

Every real estate transaction from now on is under the new rules and verified personal information on clients must be kept available to FINTRAC representatives and be produced upon request. All agents are now required to ask all clients to prove their identity, date of birth, and place of employement, at a minimum.

Corporations--as clients--are required to produce much more, including corporate ownership documentation (naming directors).

For more information on FINTRAC and how it applies to Real Estate Sales Reps, brokerages, and consumers, contact any licensed representative, or go to: http://www.fintrac.gc.ca/

I've posted this mostly for consumers.

Many have complained about the efficiency, speed and general usability of MLS.ca, namely that it's lacking. Now, with www.realtor.ca, consumers can finally get the service they've been asking for. The mapping is amazing, and the speed vastly improved.

However, no one is really promoting the change. Yes, if you go to www.mls.ca, there is a bright red banner saying "click here" to get to the new, improved site. And, of course, it has been mentioned in various real estate mags (and I think on our message board a couple of times). No doubt, some research has been done to prove that running both sites for a while is the best way to help consumers adjust. Of course, I've never seen it done in any other industry but then, I'm not the expert. (feel free to comment on that observation)

In my experience, most consumers don't take the time to read all the banners on a website, no matter how large and colourful--especially if the look of the site hasn't changed that much. They're used to doing something one way and it's hard to make them change. I've been told by reliable consumer sources that if they can't get to listings within 5-6 seconds, they leave the site. I think the MLS gets better results than most REALTOR(R) sites, but will most consumers catch on that there is a better site to use?

Reps, tell your customers about www.realtor.ca. Consumers, switch your listing search allegiance to www.realtor.ca today; you'll be glad you did!

Robert J. Morrow is editor of www.HamiltonHomeReview.com, an e-magazine focused on real estate in the Greater Hamilton, Ontario area.