TORONTO,
November 18, 2008 – Falling house prices are giving
first-time homebuyers a reason to celebrate. And BMO Bank of Montreal
is helping remove the complexity that comes with making the biggest
purchase of their life with a new home-buyer's ‘kit' specifically
for the first-time buyer.
Based on talks with prospective and recent home purchasers, the BMO
First Home Essentials kit was created as a step-by-step guide for entering
the real estate market. The kit includes helpful tips, worksheets to
calculate various home purchasing scenarios, access to an online planning
tool and more than $1,800 in special offers.
“Your home is the largest investment you'll ever make and
we understand that buying your first place, while exciting, can also
be a stressful and confusing experience, even in the best of markets,” said
Lynne Kilpatrick, Senior Vice President, BMO Bank of Montreal. “When
combined with the expertise of your home buying team including your realtor
and lawyer, the First Home Essentials guide is a great first step in
shopping for your home with confidence.”
In addition to the guide, the BMO First
Home Essentials package offers
BMO mortgage customers more than $1,800 in special discounts including:
- Free banking
for five years when a 5-year fixed rate closed term is booked on
mortgage or
Homeowner ReadiLine (HRLC)
- Up to $1,000 cash back
- Refund of the cost of the BMO First
Home Essentials package when a mortgage
or HRLC is booked
- Collect up to 20 per cent more AIR MILES each month on purchases made
with a BMO debit card and BMO Mosaik MasterCard
With the shift from
a seller's to a buyer's market, questions
about interest rates, affordability and associated costs, many first-time
buyers can feel overwhelmed. To help prepare for the traditionally busy
spring house hunting season, savvy first-time buyers are starting their
search today.
“One of the biggest challenges for any first-time buyer is trying
to make sense of it all,” adds Kilpatrick. “There's
an abundance of information and confusing data leaving prospective buyers
uncertain about where to begin. With our First Home Essentials kit we've
done the heavy lifting for you and packaged it in a way that makes it
the ideal house hunting companion.”
The BMO Home Essentials kit retails for $24.95 and can be ordered at
www.bmo.com/firsthome or by calling 1-866-240-9920.
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