BMO Guides First-Time Buyers Home Launch of BMO First Home Essentials Kit

* Advice and tool to aid the first-time homebuyer
* More than $1,800 in savings and discounts
* Free banking for five years when a 5-year fixed rate closed term mortgage is booked

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.