It's Very Funny 'Cuz I've Got Your F***ing Money

Alright alright alright. Shopping around for houses and going to appointmants with banks is a lot of work. I'm so glad it's almost over! Visiting houses isn't so bad, but the banks have really given us a run for our money, so to speak - har har har.

When Mike and I got our first pre-approval with CIBC, we were so excited because we managed to get such a fantastic rate (prime was 6.0% at the time and we managed to get an interest rate of 4.82% for 4 years). It was around that time we discovered a house from Construction Farand that we both absolutely love and no matter how many houses we visisted afterward, it was that model we kept going back to. Same house from the previous post, by the way. After talking to the real estate agent, we found out that we couldn't get financing through our bank of choice, because the construction company uses National and Royal Bank. So our fantastic rate was out the window; not worth a thing. That was a let-down, because all of the other banks were offering around 5.30%, which would have amounted in us paying an extra $2,250 during the term. What a waste!

So we went to Royal Bank. Our guy there was able to offer us a rate of 5.15% for 4 years. Better, but not close. We also had an appointment with National Bank, but since that bank is much smaller, we weren't expecting anything and decided to get pre-approved with Royal. It was only then we discovered that there was a limit of 120 days on the rate guarantee and there was no way out house could be ready by then.

Well, this was when we really started getting bummed out. It seemed like every time we made any progress, something would pop up to work against us and send us 3 steps backwards. And it's so stupid; we're model cleints with no debts, plenty of money for a down-payment and steady well-paying jobs. So why were the banks making it so difficult for us to finalize a mortgage rate? It didn't make any sense!

Seems we're finally making progress though. National Bank blew us away with a surprise offer for 5.04% over 7 years and $500 cash-back to put towards notarial fees... care to beat that Royal? We'll see who's got the best rate in the end. Pitting banks against each other is fun! We're so tired of running around and constantly negotiating: let someone else do the fighting now!