MILLIONAIRES AND REAL STATE Andrew Carnagie was one of the richest men in America over 100 years ago. Today his wealth would be worth $4.6 billion dollars. He was a shrewd businessman. While he made most of his money in oil and iron, he understood the value and importance of real estate in building wealth. […]

TECHNOLOGY IN MORTGAGES AND REAL ESTATE Technology is already playing a huge role in the mortgage industry. In the past, mortgage applications had to be physically taken by hand and faxed in (what’s fax anyways?!)… It may soon by possible, with technology’s help, for borrowers to be able to fill out their own application and […]

MORTGAGE BROKER HISTORY AND MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS In the past, we had banks (bank as a catch all for credit unions and trust companies) and Mortgage Brokers. Writing mortgage applications is extremely difficult; there are a lot of moving parts in a mortgage. Because of this, banks employ mortgage specialists whose sole role is to provide […]

HOW TO GET A 5% DOWN PAYMENT FOR A $500,000 PURCHASE We have seen a return of the buyers’ market and many people are asking, how long will this last? While some renters without a down payment might be asking, how can o put a plan in place to own? With the cost of living […]

The controversy over the mortgage stress test continues. Banks, economists, mortgage lenders, Realtors, mortgage brokers, and its association Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) are urging government to make some changes, not to get rid of the stress test altogether, but to consider some variables, such as income growth and mortgage repayment which may not have been […]

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 […]

THE PREDATORY LENDING SURGE IS HERE As we’ve been reporting for months on our North East blog, instead of protecting many homeowners, the federal government’s restrictive mortgage rules are pushing people out of the safe mortgage market, and into the arms of secondary lenders. By pushing people to the alternative lending market, they’re being pushed […]

3 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT CASH-BACK MORTGAGES About twice a year, one of the big Canadian banks likes to run an advertising campaign for their cash back mortgages. These are mortgages usually with 5 year terms where you receive a certain percentage back in cash. The percentage varies from 1% to 5% in […]

6 WAYS TO GET A DOWN PAYMENT When is it time to think about saving for a down payment? I would say about a year before you think about buying a home. While that’s ideal in today’s world, we often do not have much time to save for a down payment. Sometimes your landlord is […]

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR VARIABLE MORTGAGE Working with your DLC mortgage professional can save you thousands of dollars by making the most of your variable rate mortgage in a shifting market. In the past year we have seen an increase in the prime lending rate by 1%. For those home owners with variable rate […]