HSBC and CEMA

It has once again been a while since I have been able to post. It's been pretty busy the last few months as homeowners continue to refinance and finally buyers are starting to pull the trigger on new purchases. Prices are down but appear to be somewhat stabilizing. The more desirable properties are selling while the less desirable ones are either seeing more price reductions or languishing on the market.

Interest rates are still low so anyone with an interest rate above 6% should contact a mortgage lender and inquire about a refinance and do not forget to make sure that you do a CEMA to save on the mortgage recording tax.

Speaking of CEMA, it has recently come to my attention that HSBC will not cooperate with a CEMA request made by one of their borrowers when the borrower is refinancing with another bank. If you are planning on refinancing out of an HSBC loan, you should know that unless you refinance with HSBC, you will not be able to do the CEMA and therefor, you will have to pay the full mortgage recording tax. I hope that HSBC changes this policy soon. If this is not true, please send me an email so I can update this post.