March 2007

Learning Annex Real Estate Expose Rather Than Expo

This was the weekend of the Learning Annex Expo… Saturday and Sunday with a Free starter workshop on the Friday for those with VIP tickets.

With the exception of Tony Robbins & a few other smaller headline speakers the topic of all of the smaller breakout workshops was basically real estate.

The workshops each started the same way ( at least the ones I attended) with the speaker telling everyone about how he started out in almost poverty, just about living on the streets and gave his tale of how he attended multi-millionaire status through some aspect of real estate investment.

Then the speakers went on to deliver their real estate investment wisdom… This is where I have a problem. Their stories are boring, but some people need to hear them. It’s the content that’s the problem. They each gave tiny dribbles of information usually a definition that any good investment realtor or investor would be happy to divulge free of charge at any time. But that’s not the point… these little dribbles were intended to entice the prospect to buy the investor teachers big package.

Package prices seemed to start about $1000. up to $6000.. The Learning Annex staff were of course handling the sales. Typically in events like this the promoter gets 50% of the take and the speakers speak free because they are allowed to promote their packages.

This is all the breakout seminars were in my humble opinions big upsells. I would gladly diseminate most of this infortmation freely to anyone who would like to come to my investment workshop and learn how it works in Canada. Yes I do invest in real estate and I am Canadian understanding the Canadian way of doing things.

There didn’t appear to be a single Canadian there that I could figure.

Now Tony Robbins was fantastic as always and brought the house down. I’m a Richard Branson fan but couldn’t be bothered showing up Sunday morning for 8 A.M. so that’s my problem.

But I truly despise seeing people gouged for thousands of dollars for information that is readily available locally or available in books that you can buy at Amazon.com albeit the technics described will be American and work well in U.S. markets as were the speakers at this event..who came with their Canadian counterparts or managers.

There is valuable information to be had, but not at these prices. This was a thinly disguised big bucks money grab on the part of the Learning Annex. If they didn’t have Tony their it would have been positively a smokescreen.

The Truth About Interest-Only Home Loans & Mortgages

An interest-only home loan is one that gives you the option of paying just the interest or the interest and as much principal as you want in any given month during an initial period of time after your closing.

You are only committed to the very low interest portion of the loan or mortgage – and in months when you have extra cash, you can choose to pay down the principal.

We offer a variety of interest-only home loan options, including fixed-rate, variable-rate, fully open, or up to 10 year closed. Our interest-only home loan programs are offered as interest-only loans for periods of either three, five, seven or ten years.

For many, the most appealing feature of an interest-only loan is that you are in control of your payment amount and your cash flow in any given month during the interest-only period, and your monthly mortgage payment will be lower than it would be with an interest plus principal payment home loan.

Your interest rate may or may not be lower than a traditional mortgage, depending on your specific situation, but you will have the option of flexible payments.

Who Is an Interest-Only Home Loan For?

There are a number of good reasons to consider an interest only home loan. For instance, it might make good financial sense.
On a traditional 25-year mortgage, roughly 70% of the payment goes toward interest during the first six or seven years of the loan. If your interest rate is low, then you've borrowed money at a good rate.

Instead of paying down that low rate loan, you could take the extra money you’d have each month from making interest-only payments, and invest it in something that would bring you a higher rate of return.

Depending on your loan amount, you could have access to thousands of dollars over the course of several years to invest or reduce high interest debt, including credit card debt.

An interest-only home loan may also be a good option for people who expect to be in their homes for less than ten years. The average homeowner stays in their home between five and seven years.

An interest-only mortgage is ideal for first time homebuyers: it provides very low initial payments, and when they can handle the costs of owning a house they can convert it to a regular mortgage.

As mentioned before, home mortgage payments are mostly interest for the first years of the loan. Many homeowners like the option of making interest-only payments and using the extra money as they please – save for college tuition, make home-improvements, or buy a much-needed new car.

Common Misconceptions About Interest-Only Loans

While an interest-only home loan may be an appealing option to many, there are a number of common misconceptions that you should be aware of prior to making any final decisions.
One common myth is that if you’re not paying down your loan’s principal, you’re not building equity in your home. This is not necessarily true.

Homes in the Canada have been appreciating between 5 and 6% a year. Chances are that even if you’re not paying down your principal, you’re building equity in your home through appreciation.

You should also know that with any interest-only home loan, you can refinance anytime you’re ready for the higher payment and start building equity.

Is an interest-only home loan right for you? Call me today and I’ll help you come to a decision that’s right for you.

This article is contributed by Suman Singh Mortgage Alliance, Toronto www.welendmoney.ca suman@welendmoney.ca

Spring Market Has Started

Finally, if you are looking for a home or income property in Toronto the market is starting to break. What I mean by that is that a larger amount of new listings are coming out on the market… There has been a shortgage of listings supply since early winter, people are not so keen to move in the cold. Niether am I, so that is all we can expect.

However, January 07 has been a record month for Sales. With 5173 sales that is 13% higher than January 2006 and up 6% over January sales of 2002 which was the previous record January.

The average price in Toronto has climbed 5% over Decembers figures to $353,724. An encouraging sign for those worried about the market.