30 Sep

MY BANK WON’T REFINANCE ME… WTF?!

Refinancing

Posted by: Tracy Luciani Price

30 year-old Antonio came to us, tired of being forced by landlords to move every year with his young family. He was paying rent of $1500 per month and with every move, the rent increased. He was struggling and hitting cash stores to help make ends meet.

Unfortunately, although his income could support a new mortgage, his credit was damaged.  These days, one requires a credit score of 600+ to qualify for a prime mortgage with a minimum 5% down payment. So, we suggested he find a co-signer.

Silvia loved her son dearly and said she would do anything to help him. After all, it was upsetting that her two wee grandchildren were living in an apartment without any stability. Silvia had a good job with high income and excellent credit. At first glance, she appeared to be a perfect co-signer.

The problem was, she had a very high debt load with multiple credit lines, which meant she would not qualify as her debt service ratios were too high.

We suggested she refinance her house, pay off her debt and then she would be able to co-sign (and, she would save herself tens of thousands of dollars in interest!). An ideal solution all around.

When we told Silvia she needed to refinance, she said she preferred to deal with her bank.  So, we waited, expecting that she would refi with the bank and hoped we would still arrange her son’s mortgage with her as a co-signer.

Silvia called us a week later, shocked and absolutely mortified that her bank turned her down! We were puzzled. It seemed like a cut and dry deal.  But not only that, the banker tried to talk her out of helping her son. WTF?

Why would the bank turn down a long-term client like Silvia for a refinance? Ah Ha! Since her multiple lines of credit, credit cards and high-interest loans were all with her bank, they would stand to lose huge profit if she refinanced to pay off that debt. They wanted to keep her in ‘bank interest jail’.

We were easily able to refinance Silvia with a new bank at a better rate.  The best news is Antonio and his young family were able to purchase a house. In a few years, once his credit has rebounded we will be able to remove Silvia from her son’s mortgage and he will be standing on his own two feet.

23 Sep

TIPPING POINT

General

Posted by: Tracy Luciani Price

We can now say without question, that the Tipping Point has occurred. By definition, this is the point at which a series of incidents has become significant enough to cause a larger, widespread, more important change.

Let us explain… When we first started this business 16 years ago in Mount Forest, we got all the tough mortgages.  From self-employeds who wrote their income down, to people on disability income,  homeowners with bad credit etc. endless problem mortgages were the norm for us.

Essentially, people who didn’t have a hope in hell of getting a mortgage from bank would turn to us. We worked with everyone, helping where we could and always giving sound advice.  With our help, many people were able to get into homeownership or refinance to improve their lives.

A few years in, we started to get what we considered to be ‘prime mortgages’.  Many of these clients were first time homebuyers looking for a little hand-holding during the home buying experience… and we were there for them. These clients had newer jobs, good credit and a downpayment.

About five years ago, our business started changing and momentum skyrocketed. Suddenly, professional people, homeowners with great credit, CEOs and people without any issues started flocking to us. Before we knew it, we were top brokers in Canada, operating from little ol’ Fergus.

Some said they came because of our reputation and others just liked the personal touch.  Still others liked how we would spend time and didn’t rush them out the door as they discussed their ideas to purchase or refinance.

The other day, it finally sunk in.  ‘We have arrived, we are now mainstream!’ The Tipping Point had occurred!

We looked at our list of clients from the past month and 90% of them had no issues. They consisted of teachers, a fireman, local government worker, several factory workers, local business owners, a lawyer, bank teller, a realtor and what really surprised me was a senior accountant who earns 7-figures. The accountant was definitely skeptical when he came to us.  He just intended try us out after getting the run-around from the bank he had been dealing with for 40 years.  After his mortgage closed with us last month he wrote us saying, “How quickly things got done by Price Team Mortgages compared with my old bank, was shocking!,”

We will always help the little guy, but it is so incredible to see how our mortgage business that started with just Ron and Tracy working from home, has matured into a thriving business on Tower Street. There are now seven of us, including daughters Jennifer and Melanie, who are all dedicated to finding the very best mortgage solution for each and every client.

For your next mortgage, please give us a call or drop in anytime.  No appointment is needed here.