The Canadian Dollar... Opportunities

[aygart]

How do Canadian interest rates compare?

[Denverite]

How do Canadian interest rates compare?

My bro lives there and has a crazy low variable rate.  He keeps waiting for them to look like they are going to go up at which point he would lock his loan but they have stayed low.  For someone like him it's actually really hard.  He has one of those crazy expensive houses in Toronto and would like to come back to the U.S. but would lose 25% right off the bat...

[Barryg]

How do Canadian interest rates compare?

AFAIK they don't even have 30 year fixed loans, everyone is in variable mode.

[Denverite]

AFAIK they don't even have 30 year fixed loans, everyone is in variable mode.

I know with my brother's he has the opportunity to lock it one time (once he locks it at a guaranteed rate it will automatically be higher than the variable) but it's been so low with no upward movement it hasn't made sense to lock it.

[Barryg]

I know with my brother's he has the opportunity to lock it one time (once he locks it at a guaranteed rate it will automatically be higher than the variable) but it's been so low with no upward movement it hasn't made sense to lock it.

Is it locked for duration of loan?

[good sam]

For sure, decreased demand is why any real estate prices go down.   Often though in depressed economies rentals actually rise and people no longer can or want to bear the costs of ownership, so you can do well just on the rental income side.  Also the difference is if you bought real in a similar US market you would only have the normal long-term upside of the real estate of whatever that market is and here you have that plus the currency upside if you alway intend to bring the money back to the U.S.

Don't forget that rents are paid in CAD. Presumably you're bringing that back to the US, so your income is peanuts.

[Alexsei]

Can fix for 10 yrs. Interest rates are as low as 2.20%

[henche]

Agreed, for that 1mil average price you could buy a huge multi-unit apt. Building in many cities BUT if the Canadian dollar swings back you'd make 25% right off the bat.

Question is if you'd want to combine your RE investment with your FX investment.  I would say invest where you find the best RE investment (if that's the investment you want) and then also buy CAD futures options if you want.

[Denverite]

Is it locked for duration of loan?

yes

[ludmila]

As for forex, the NOK, Norwegian Kroner is a much better currency to buy here than the CAD, Norway is the richest country in the world, their sovereign fund has close to a trillion USD$ without any debt. Canada is very dependent on the USA , the USD rise is almost over , the NOK is down because of oil just like the CAD, oil will find a bottom soon and both CAD and NOK will move higher, but NOK will go up much more than CAD, it is a more volatile and thinly traded.

[bubkiz]

My old clunker finally died.

With the current US-CAD exchange rate, I was thinking if it may make sense to buy a car in Montreal and save about 20%

In general are cars more expensive in Mtl? Is importing one car complicated?

I'd appreciate any advice, thoughts and leads on this.

TIA

[philbenjoe]

Cars aren't cheaper AFAIK in Canada.

[bubkiz]

Cars aren't cheaper AFAIK in Canada.

Are they generally more expensive? Because if its the same price it should be roughly a 20% savings with USD.

[AsherO]

As for forex, the NOK, Norwegian Kroner is a much better currency to buy here than the CAD, Norway is the richest country in the world, their sovereign fund has close to a trillion USD$ without any debt. Canada is very dependent on the USA , the USD rise is almost over , the NOK is down because of oil just like the CAD, oil will find a bottom soon and both CAD and NOK will move higher, but NOK will go up much more than CAD, it is a more volatile and thinly traded.

IMHO NOK's recovery is tied to oil much more than CAD's recovery. If oil stabilizes at $35/barrel for a few years, the NOK won't will stay at above 1:7 USD:NOK.

[Ergel]

Are they generally more expensive? Because if its the same price it should be roughly a 20% savings with USD.

It would be 30% cheaper with the exchange rate. But cats are generally 25-35% more expensive. And a pain to import. No way it's worth it

[username]

It would be 30% cheaper with the exchange rate. But cats are generally 25-35% more expensive. And a pain to import. No way it's worth it

But at least they have 9 lives!

[ajs625]

The only way to win with the CAD is if buy it on the internet and ship it to the US because as long as you buy it in Canada you'll be subject to the Federal tax and provincial tax.

[Ydad]

The only way to win with the CAD is if buy it on the internet and ship it to the US because as long as you buy it in Canada you'll be subject to the Federal tax and provincial tax.

-.5 Canadian Duty Free stores. I'm talking big savings on all things alcohol 

[CS1]

-.5 Canadian Duty Free stores. I'm talking big savings on all things alcohol 

There's a Duty Free near the Peace Bridge that has good Crown Royal and Glenlivet sales and some exclusive bottles.
they offer 36% - 38%+ of CAD onto the USD, even when you use a credit card.

[yitrap]

-.5 Canadian Duty Free stores. I'm talking big savings on all things alcohol 

+1
3 24 packs and a bottle of master distillers reserve for $64