Most realtors now\nwill not conduct an open house for the sake of safety and the law. This is not\nonly due to the strong urges from realtor boards, but provinces like Ontario\nhave prevented gatherings of more than 5 people<\/a>, which can make the idea of an open\nhouse more or less impossible. Instead of urging its realtors to not conduct\nopen houses, some boards like the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA) have outright banned<\/a> open houses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re\ncurrently looking to purchase a property, you\u2019ll likely have to make do with\nvirtual home showings. If you\u2019re very serious about a property, it may just be\na reason for a realtor to provide an in-person showing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a seller, you\nneed to understand that realtors are now more limited than before. Without the\nopportunity to hold open houses, your agent has lost a tool in their belt, but\nthat doesn\u2019t mean that they won\u2019t continue to do the best that they can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When a bank\nprovides a mortgage, the debt doesn\u2019t stay with the bank for long. They\ncommonly pool together these mortgages and sell it to someone else, taking a\ncut on the way. What they sell is called a mortgage pool. If banks want to keep\nproviding mortgages, there needs to be demand for these mortgage pools. To help\nprovide this liquidity, the Government of Canada committed to the Insured\nMortgage Purchase Program (IMPP).<\/a> In this, they\u2019re prepared to purchase\n$150 billion of insured mortgage pools. This is to ensure lending continues in\nthis dire time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result of the\nIMPP, the government has also ensured agreement with the leading\nsix Canadian banks<\/a> that they would allow for up to six months of mortgage\npayment deferrals. This will ultimately vary on a case-by-case basis. Banks are\nalso set to provide relief on other credit products such as credit cards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ability to\ndefer mortgage payments will provide Canadians with some much-needed financial\nflexibility. If you\u2019ve lost your jobs or lost other sources of income, it can\nhelp to defer payments till later on so that you can use your money on\nnecessities like food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this\ndeferral will not be interest-free in most cases. So, if you do decide to defer\nyour payments, you\u2019ll end up having to pay more money back to the bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This deferral\nalso helps those who are renting. Landlords who can defer their mortgage\npayments may be more lenient in deferring or reducing rent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Estimates believe\nthat these deferrals will leave\nhomeowners with roughly $663 million<\/a> in their pockets per month. This is\nbased on monthly Canadian mortgage payments averaging to $1,326. However, everyone\nis now rushing to their bank<\/a> to defer their next mortgage payment\u2014whether\nthey need to or not\u2014and therefore, it may take some time to get through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This opportunity\nto defer your mortgage can be useful if you\u2019re selling your property due to a\nloss of income, since this may mean you need extra capital. Delaying your next\nmortgage payments can hopefully put some money back in your pocket until the\neconomy returns to normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rankmyagent.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/COVID19-BS-Pt2-1024x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Ability to Defer Your Mortgage Payments up to Six Months<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rankmyagent.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/COVID-19-HSB-Pt-3-1024x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInterest Rate Cuts by the Bank of Canada<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rankmyagent.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/COVID19-end-1-1024x341.png\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"