Hello Everyone,

There has been much talk of late as to when and how far the Bank of Canada will be raising interest rates.  Recently economists have been doing a lot of backpedalling regarding a rate hike.  Originally, they were estimating that March or May would be the time for the increase to the overnight rate, which affects the prime lending rate.  Lately July 19th has been the predicted date that the Bank of Canada would raise interest rates.  Now, however, most economists are predicting that interest rates will not move until the fall, or later.

The reasons for this are the following:

• Weak economic data from the U.S.
•  Core inflation remains manageable.
• Debt-laden consumers are only cautiously spending,
• U.S. housing market that is double-dipping.
• U.S. unemployment that may be structurally and permanently elevated.
• The value of the Canadian dollar.

What economists from the big 6 banks are predicting, on average, is that prime will increase by about .5% by the end of this year and +1.5% from what it is now until the end of December 2012.

What this means is that if you are in a variable rate mortgage, you will likely have some additional time before considering whether or not you should lock in.  Often, by not locking in at all, you have a greater potential for savings.  You will have to decide.  However, I can help you with this decision by providing some illustrations and some number crunching.  Another thing to keep in mind is that  lenders reset the effective rate of their variables differently ie. one lender might change the effective rate immediately after the rate increase, while some will increase the effective rate up to 3 months after the increase.  Check with me if you are not sure and I can confirm this for you.

The banks are also predicting that as 5-year bond yields begin to rise, by the end of 2012, deeply discounted 5-year fixed rate mortgages could be as high as 5%.  Only time will tell and by then there could be many more revisions to these forecasts.

If you have questions about this or other topics, please call me any time.  Have a great weekend! 

Daniel Lewczuk

agent fsco. lic. M08011086

Mortgage Intelligence

fsco. lic.10428

Tel. 905-632-1800

I have never been a fan of Newsprint advertising. Although it can be  a good self promotion option. I have ran open houses with Internet Promotion only vs Real Estate Newspaper adds. The simple truth of the matter there has never been a significant increase as  a result of newsprint.

When I say self promotion it sells the agent to obtain more listings, This is called famous advertising .  I argue selling houses is what really counts. Selling houses in the Burlington and Hamilton area , my business has grown on a referral business. Newspapers in my view belong on the bottom of birdcages.

I have  embraced the internet.  

All of my Listings in Hamilton Burlington are on too many sites too mention. We now offer You Tube Marketing.

eg. Below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVMqfZpDYqU

One of the most effective internet sites for open house traffic is buyers are pointed to this site from their agents

which is  www.openhouses.ca

.

Another internet option is my new point2agent web site which shares information with all the other major  realtor site.  http://carlstars1.point2agent.com/

MLS ( known as  Realtor.ca) www.realtor.ca will always be the flagship of Real Estate.

So when buying or selling real estate  Hamilton or Burlington  please contact me for my complete Internet Marketing Program. I feel it is one of the best Listing Packages available.

Sincerely, Carl

I never post anything "political in nature. But  I have always commented on the amount of debt my clients seem to be very comfortable carrying  when purchasing real estate.  I myself have never liked debt. This You tube video is kind of cool because the debt clock seems to bring attention to the debt problem in Canada. I am amazed at all the blog comments from right and left.

Everyone has different opinions were the money is to be spent. Some say health care education, some say military, business, and infrastructure/ investment. Some say spend it all ………………..  

Check out the video and enjoy ! !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNBXi00Myro).

http://thestar.blogs.com/photodesk/2011/06/the-daily-beast-not-your-average-bear-june-2-2011.html

Stumbled across these photos and just had to post ! !

Unit 308 4003 Kilmer Drive Burlington, Ontario L7M 4M1 .

Freshly painted open concept unit.Generous Visitor Parking. Raised Breakfast Bar overlooking living room and dining room. 1+1 bedroom ( second room can be utilized as Den)  MLS # H 3062053

Condo fee includes building insurance, cable tv, exterior maintenance, parking and water . All appliances included.  Flexible closing.

For more details contact Carl Stars 905 730 5919

OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY 2 PM TO 4 PM ………….. STOP BY AND GET YOUR FREE CONDOMINIUM BUYERS GUIDE .

Some thoughts on Social Media !  Yes There is no question  Twitter, Facebook, Linked IN  and many other sites are short of remarkable. The exposure is amazing. My Active Rain Blog hooks me up with most " active Realtors" in North America.

Recently after a year of Facebook Fan Page ( which has been very useful as everyone is on Facebook ) Twitter and more. I have paused to reflect.

Are we  all sheep  going over the mountain in one direction. ?

The truth of the matter I rarely have time to BLOG.

For those that follow I apoligize not making an entry since March. But I have been busy selling Real Estate in Burlington- Hamilton.

Last week I have sold two houses and juggled 6 referrals. I expect one or two new listings shortly.

There are days I wish it was website hard copy newsletter and good old fashion hard work ONLY.

Well Social Media is here to stay and I am amazed at young people when they attend social functions and can't communicate as their heads are buried in their blackberry's.

I am pleased to annouce I will be sending out  a new newsletter to stay in touch with you the valued client.

Despite all the changes ( I suspect in one more year I will need an apple I pad to perform my job )

One thing for sure is  I will always provide good old fashion service and yes as always phone calls and emails  will be returned.

Recent stats that have recently come in indicate an 8% increase in house prices since last year in Burlington. For surrounding areas such as Hamilton we are enjoying a 3.7% increase.

I still have too many clients that are coming back to me and clearly they have used their homes as a line of credit. Consolidate "run" the  credit cards up again consolidate and the road to no where continues ! !  

As of this morning there are 561 Active Listing in Burlington which includes Condominiums. Inventorys are low and interest rates are  low. Give credit to the government right now who are consistently warning Canadian's  to pay down their personal debt.

Consumers most realize a $ 200,000 mortgage at 3% is approximately $ 948.42 amrt 25 years and should rates go up to 7% the payment jumps to $ 1413.55.

A home is a great investment but it is only one component of wealth building.

We are pleased to announce additional internet marketing. We have embraced Social Media . Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, Linked In and Carl Stars1 point2agent.com .

In addition to realtor.ca, (mls) blog and company sites. We also have added 16 linked real estate sites and a total of 32 ’secondary sites to our internet marketing tool kit.   

There are too many to mention plus Carl does not want to give away all his trade secrets ! !  For additonal information on our exciting internet marketing program please contact Carl 905 681 7900 for a real estate appointment.