It’s been a challenging few weeks for brokers lately. No not because of the usual spring rush with everyone and his dog buying a home. There is that part, but the new factor driving us all crazy was the anticipation by *ALL* the lenders was the increase in the bank prime.

In the space of 6 weeks, the average 5 year closed rate went from fighting to scrape the bottom of the barrel at close to 5% to what seemed like daily increases of 20 basis points (bps) from each lender. Until they finally leveled off at 5.85%. Some flirted with 6 before pulling back. It was nice to see certain lenders, rising slowly and then just below their competition.

The banks for the first to raise their rates on the “rumour” that rates were going up. This despite economists telling us that  rates have to go down long term. Their “posted” rates actually rose 3/4 point in anticipation. I think the fear or consensus was the rat was going up 1/2 point. Better safe than sorry. The banks are in the business of making money. I must say over the last 6 weeks or so, they certainly made money given that their lending rates didn’t go up.

Anyway, the announcement from the Bank of Canada was made official this morning. Rates have gone up a full 25 bps.

For those in variable rate products, do the math before you decide to lock in at a much higher fixed rate. I’d sill recommend staying with the variable product. 25 bps shouldn’t be that significant a change to your monthly mortgage payment. As well check when your variable rate “adjustment” occurs. For some it’s next month, others, next quarter and if you got a really good product, next year.  Yes, that’s right, every lenders variable or adjustable rate products are all different. Read those details of the mortgage commitment before you sign.

Now that the big announcement has been made, it will be interesting to see how long before everyone starts reducing their rates back to the new low water mark of 5.5%.

It will also be interesting to watch what happens elsewhere in the market. Will this slow the march of the dollar toward par with the US? Will inflation drop? Will the US housing market finally get into gear and change everything? Will this effect our GDP positively?

Stay tuned. Let’s watch and see what happens in the next quarter.

I took advantage of the holiday weekend this past weekend to spend some time writing out my goals.

Oddly enough at the same time, I’ve been listening to two different recordings in my car and they both suggested the same format for goal setting. Namely the S.M.A.R.T. method.

Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic & Timely.

It’s been around for what seems forever. Everyone seems to use the same good/bad examples. “I’m going to loose weight” vs “By Feb 15th, I will have lost 15 pounds.”

I was speaking with my coach a few weeks back and she added a few more letters to the acronym.  A.R.R. for Accountability, Replace (behaviour/mindset), Reward.

I couldn’t agree more. I’ve seen so many people set goals. The follow the SMART method and then promptly file them until next time (usually a year later). Hm. Nope missed that goal too. Accountability. I think this is critical. I usually use my wife for accountability. Although my coach did suggest I find an accountability partner who knows me enough to push me, but who isn’t directly related to me or associated with my business.

Replace the behaviour. This was a new idea for goals. I’ve always been told to change your thoughts, renew your mind, etc. But never attached this to a goal.

Reward. Yep. Gotta have it. You work hard. Achieve the goal. Now what? Celebrate the victory. But always be sure to associate the reward with the goal. It’s a whole mindset thing. If I get this done, then I’ll get to do this thing. Hopefully something you’ve wanted to do for at least a little while. Incentive is a good thing.

I see people do good things towards achieving their goals, but then end up sabotaging themselves as they have gone too long without any kind of reward for themselves. The analogy that many people pick here is running a race & then stopping just short of the finish line to take off your shoes and sit down.

So remember to be SMARTARR then everyone else when setting goals.