Tuesday, April 26, 2011

BMO Eco Smart Mortgage & $50.00 Gift Card Giveaway

With rising housing and utility costs, it has become increasingly more evident to me that we really need to focus on making our homes more energy efficient.  It's not surprising that 51% of Canadian homeowners find that the biggest surprise of home ownership were the utility costs.  Which is why nearly half of Canadians are planning to invest in energy efficient upgrades to help reduce costs over the long term.   

BMO wants to encourage and reward Canadians looking to reduce their energy costs with a special rate.  This is where BMO Eco Smart Mortgage comes in to play.  The BMO Eco Smart Mortgage is a new mortgage product with a five year fixed rate of 3.89 per cent for those Canadians who meet BMO's energy efficient criteria.  That's an amazing rate, lower than comparable "green" mortgages. 

To see if you qualify for the BMO Eco Smart Mortgage, you can download a checklist from the BMO website.  The check list covers everything from your heating and cooling systems down to Energy Star qualified windows, doors and major appliances.  Once you've reviewed the checkless and feels that your home qualifies, you can then contact a BMO branch to talk to a mortgage specialist.  BMO will send an appraiser into your home to confirm the house qualification.

While I'm not currently in a position to re-do my mortgage, I reviewed the checklist.  Our home definitely does not qualify.  It confirmed what I already knew, that our house is very energy inefficient.  Sure we have Energy Star windows but two of them have this weird gap.

I'm not sure about our appliances, they are over 8 years old and we have baseboard heat. 

Still, it gave me great energy saving ideas such as a tankless hot water system or a Solar hot water system.  I had never heard of the Solar hot water system.  I also realized we really should check on our insulation in the attic and make sure it's the appropriate amount. 

So while I may not qualify for this special mortgage rate today, it's certainly something to be aware of because we intend to replace our old appliances and heating system in the near future.  At that point, we may well qualify and the additional money we save in interest will help pay for the upgrades, not to mention the savings in our monthly utility bills.

$50.00 RONA GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY 
 
CONTEST NOW CLOSED 

Disclosure – I am participating in the BMO Eco Smart Mortgage program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of BMO - Bank of Montreal.  I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own. 
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