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 […]

APRIL HOME SALES RISE NATIONALLY, BUT NOT IN VANCOUVER Statistics released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show that national home sales increased in April with most markets recording increases in both transactions and prices. The number of homes sold rose 3.6% compared with March, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The rebound in […]

BUILD A PLAN TO MOVE INTO YOUR HOME There’s nothing quite like stepping into your dream home for the very first time. You have achieved your goal of homeownership! However, the journey from home seeker to home buyer can be challenging – unless you have a well-defined plan and guidance from the right professionals. As […]

BLOCKBUSTER APRIL JOBS REPORT SIGNALS THE ECONOMY HAS TURNED THE CORNER Canada posted a record job gain last month, along with a decline in the jobless rate and a pick-up in wages, providing the strongest signal yet that the economy is coming out of a six-month slowdown. Other data this week portend a rebound in […]

WHO PAYS YOUR MORTGAGE BROKER? NOT YOU! If you’re looking to get a mortgage and considering a mortgage broker, there’s a good chance you’re wondering about how much the service costs. Good news! Clients looking to get a standard residential mortgage pay no fees to the broker. On standard residential mortgages, it’s 100% free for […]

GOING LONG, 5 YEAR + MORTGAGES Recently, Stephen Poloz, the governor of the Bank of Canada stated that he felt that lenders and by offshoot, mortgage brokers, were not being creative in promoting mortgages for periods of longer than 5 years. He feels that the longer the term the less risk there is and people […]

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. […]

CORPORATIONS AND MORTGAGES For self employed clients, incorporation is a popular business structure we tend to encounter. Having a corporate structure to your business allows for effective separation between the individual and the business. If you own your business and have it set up as a corporation, that corporation is essentially its own person. They […]

CMHC CHANGES WILL HARM, NOT HELP, THE REAL ESTATE MARKET A new program the federal government has announced to subsidize first-time homebuyers isn’t likely to help the market but more likely to harm it. And not only is it not going to help out the market, but it’s not going to help out new homeowners. […]

WHAT’S YOUR BEST RATE? You know at one time I could give you a quote over the phone and not worry that I would be too far out. Today is a totally different story, here are some of the variables that come into play. 1. What’s your credit score? A 700 FICO score is the […]