#YVRREChat Sept. 27th, 2011 Social Media Courtesy & Best Practices

Posted by Scott Dawson on Sep 27, 2011 in Blog, Twitter Chat | 0 comments

I think we had a record number of Tweets this morning for #YVRREChat. The topic was Social Media Courtesy & Best Practices and it was great to have everyone’s input on what and what not to do while marketing yourselves on Social Media.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this mornings chat. Without your enthusiasm #YVRREChat wouldn’t be what it is.

If you missed the chat this morning on Twitter check out the transcript:

Bank Of Canada Qualifying Rate Now 5.19%

Posted by Scott Dawson on Sep 26, 2011 in Benchmark Qualifying Rate, Blog | 0 comments

The Bank of Canada Qualifying Rate has decreased to 5.19% which is effective Monday September 26th, 2011.

In accordance with the new CMHC mortgage changes, at 12:01 AM EST Monday, the benchmark qualifying rate for insured high-ratio mortgages is 5.19%.

Clients will now have to qualify based on the 5.54% interest rate if they want to choose a variable or a 1- to 4-year fixed term if you’re putting down less than 20%.

Social Media Week: The Real Estate Summit Recap

Posted by Scott Dawson on Sep 25, 2011 in Blog, Twitter Chat | 0 comments

The Real Estate Summit at Social Media week was a resounding success. There was upwards of 100 people who attended the event at Ceili’s Irish Pub in Vancouver to listen to the line up of speakers.

If you missed the event in person Lorraine Murphy (@raincoaster) live blogged the event for Socialized here.

The line up of speakers consisted of 6 Real Estate professionals and it was and honor to join these individuals to learn about the following topics:

The Secret To The Sudden Increase In Variable Rate Mortgages

Posted by Scott Dawson on Sep 23, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

I’ve touched on before part of the reason banks have increased their Variable Rate Mortgages but wanted to pass along a recent press release from The Mortgage Brokers Association of B.C. (MBABC) outlining why there was such a quick increase to the discounts available.

Geoff Parkin, MBABC’s president answers, “Why could I get Prime minus .90 last week and today it is Prime minus .25?”

Mortgage Tip Of The Week: Gifted Down Payments

Posted by Scott Dawson on Sep 20, 2011 in Blog, Weekly Mortgage Tip | 0 comments

The minimum down payment required to purchase a home is 5% and while there is still Zero Down 5% Cash Back mortgages available many clients opt for a gifted down payment for either the whole 5% or an amount on top of what you have initially saved to help avoid paying CMHC mortgage insurance.

There are a few things to keep in mind with gifted down payments however: