7 Steps To Buying a Home It’s important to understand the home buying process, so here’s a 7-step checklist. Step 1: Down Payment The hardest part to buying a home is saving the down payment (a gift from the Bank of Mom & Dad also works). • For purchases under $500,000 minimum down payment is […]

3 “Rules of Lending” – What Banks look at when you apply for a Mortgage Buying a home is usually the biggest purchase most people make and there are a lot of factors to consider. Our job is to provide you with a much information (as you can handle!!) so you make the best decision […]

Who Really Sets Interest Rates? A recent article in the Huffington Post addressed the pricing strategy for the Big Six Banks, BMO, CIBC, National Bank, RBC, Scotia and TD and who really sets interest rates.  RBC announcing a rate drop in January and the other banks soon followed.  For consumers the banks are seen as […]

What is an Uninsurable Mortgage? With the mortgage rule changes in recent years, lenders have had to make some adjustments to their rate offerings. There are different tiers and rate pricing based on the following 3 categories: 1) Insured – a mortgage that is insured with mortgage default insurance through one of Canada’s mortgage insurers, […]

Credit Cards for the Credit Challenged If you want to buy a home and don’t have a bucket load of cash – you are going to need a mortgage. In order to get a mortgage, you are going to need credit… When you get a mortgage, banks lend you “their” money and secure the loan […]

What is a mortgage broker? You may have noticed that there are many different terms for those of us who work in the mortgage industry besides “broker”. Mortgage: specialist, expert, advisor, associate, officer, etc. I just want to clear up some potential confusion with all these monikers. There are 2 main categories that these fall […]

Buying your first home? – These tips will save your life So you’re wanting to buy a new home? That is some very exciting news. First question, are you prepared?! We all know big-item purchases are scary. It’s expensive, you are fully committing to this household – there is no turn backing without that pricey […]

5 Things NOT to do before closing on your new home 1. Change your job.  You were qualified for your mortgage financing based on your income, years at the job and the understanding that you were there for a while. Changing jobs should be put off until after possession day. 2 – Changing your name. […]

Get to know Title Insurance Are you officially Mortgage Free? CONGRATULATIONS! That is a monumental milestone to achieve! With that significant accomplishment, you should look at obtaining a Title Insurance Policy. What most people don’t realize is that when you had a mortgage, the lender will likely have had this in place for you. Once […]

5 Reasons why Realtors want you to have a Pre-approval You’ve decided that you want to buy a home and you call up a realtor to show you a listing and the first question they ask is “ How much are you pre-approved for?” Many realtors will refuse to book home viewings until they can […]