Unearthing the unusual: Calgary home inspectors share their strangest finds

Determining it may not be as simple as you think

Some would think a rate sheet would make mortgage-shopping process  easy. All you have to do is scroll through the list and find the company  with the lowest rate, right? After all, pretty much every mortgage is the same? All you need to do is find the best rate?

It's not quite that easy. Not all mortgages are created equal. Behind each of those rates is a set of terms and conditions that affect the price of the mortgage, quite often more than the interest rate itself.

Why interest rates are not the only consideration

The common misconception is all mortgages are created equal –  the only piece you have to pay attention to is the interest rate.

 That couldn't be further than the truth.

In fact, if you consider the mortgages of the five big bank – RBC, BMO, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank and CIBC – the only commonality is the interest rate. The 20 or so pages that make up the rest of the mortgage document are completely different.  

Growth in new listings outpace sales growth in July, supporting double-digit inventory gains

Residential sales in Calgary this month totaled 2,336 units, a record level for July activity, according to CREB®'s latest stats.

However, year-over-year sales growth in the city slowed to 3.18 per cent.