Tres up here we get the banks to compete for our business - again at least in my neck of the woods, equity is key in getting a good rate - as long as you have
the requisite 20% down and have a decent job the borrower is pretty much in the drivers seat. Sorry, I can't help you there.
Token, there is no cap on the variable rate as far as I know but it moves so slowly and infrequently you would have plenty of notice when to lock in. You would have to be a real gambler to not lock in should the rate creep up to what your payments cover and hope they go back down. Frankly it would probably take the whole 5 year term of the mortgage for that to happen.
That is another difference. In Canada though we amortize over 25 years (sometimes over 30 but I hate to hear people doing that) most of our mortgages are for shorter terms which you must renegotiate every 1 - 5 years depending on the chosen term. There are just starting to be lenders willing to give a 25 year term, fully closed and I figure thats a horrible deal as you may be in a much better financial position through the years and want to pay down the mortgage but you would be subject to penalties.
Token, there is no cap on the variable rate as far as I know but it moves so slowly and infrequently you would have plenty of notice when to lock in. You would have to be a real gambler to not lock in should the rate creep up to what your payments cover and hope they go back down. Frankly it would probably take the whole 5 year term of the mortgage for that to happen.
That is another difference. In Canada though we amortize over 25 years (sometimes over 30 but I hate to hear people doing that) most of our mortgages are for shorter terms which you must renegotiate every 1 - 5 years depending on the chosen term. There are just starting to be lenders willing to give a 25 year term, fully closed and I figure thats a horrible deal as you may be in a much better financial position through the years and want to pay down the mortgage but you would be subject to penalties.
