There have been a dizzying number of changes to the mortgage rules over the last six or seven years. The red hot markets in Toronto and Vancouver coupled with increased household debt and concerns over the risk to the Canadian tax payer through CMHC have caused the federal government to […]

      Over the years, I have come across all sorts of people who have had no idea what their credit score is. Some of them have declared to me that they have great credit only to find that they had poor credit scores or a number of late payments. I have also had […]

      Mortgage rules have become stricter over the past few years. Assuming you have a down payment, good credit and a good job, what could prevent you from obtaining financing for a home purchase? Below are five less obvious reasons a bank may turn you down: It’s not you, it’s the building Hate […]

The best part of writing about mortgages is that I get the chance to educate people about a topic which I find endlessly interesting. Reverse mortgages are certainly a topic which deserves some consideration. Everyone seems to be quite polarized over this issue so it seems it is past time we took a closer look. […]

We are all familiar with the banks and local credit unions, but what are monoline lenders and why are they in the market? Mono, meaning alone, single or one, these lenders simply provide a single yet refined service: to fulfill mortgage financing as requested. Banks and credit unions, on the other hand, offer an array […]

  For many people, a home will be the largest purchase of their life. It stands to reason then, that when you are shopping around for your mortgage you will want to take certain steps to ensure you are getting the sharpest rate and best product. We have a few pointers to make you a […]

Mortgage brokers have a reputation as superheroes. Although we cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound we can do extraordinary things. Is the down payment money coming from outside of Canada? I had a client who had a joint account with her father in Japan. She showed me bank statements with the money in […]

This is the fourth part of a series by Pam Pikkert of things the average mortgage professional wished people knew so that they would not be held back by inadvertent missteps. Life can go sideways and that is a fact. Illness, divorce, death, longest recession in 30 years or whatever the cause is, before you […]

You have a family member that doesn’t qualify for a mortgage on their own and needs a co-signor. Since you’re a nice person, and of course would like to see your son/daughter/parent/sibling in a better position, you agree to co-sign for the mortgage. If I had a dollar for anytime I’ve heard the phrase “but […]

With low rate offerings over the past several years and a struggling economy, some homeowners chose to lock into a longer term mortgage even if the interest rate was a bit higher. If you are one of those people who feel stuck in a high rate 10 year fixed mortgage you may be wondering if […]