As the government has tightened lending guidelines making it more difficult to access  home equity, the demand for private second mortgage money has increased. Many of our private lenders have come to us (for a better return) because both interest rates on savings accounts and their stock (bank) investments provide negligible returns any more. […]

  Jillian called us right after she had signed her mortgage renewal with a private mortgage at a 10% interest rate.  She told us she had put her house up for sale because  she couldn’t pay her income taxes and she was behind a year on her property taxes.  Although she was self-employed and receiving […]

  When Sue and John were talking to their long-time friends Jim and Heather, the subject of mortgages came up.  Five years ago, the Guelph couple purchased their first homewith financing from one of the major banks and had just recently received their renewal notice.  They were young people with kids and typically hadsome consumer […]

  Consumers hate mortgage prepayment penalties, largely because they don’t understand them. How can they when the exercise amounts to ‘smoke and mirrors’, when they are simply given the penalty amount without explanation, when it is not fully disclosed/discussed at their bank or even at the lawyer’s office on closing? The wording (found in the […]

  The primary reason our mortgage marketplace is as competitive as it is, is because of mono-line or non bank lenders. These are lenders who are neither owned nor affiliated with the big banks, do nothing but mortgages and who compete ‘tooth and nail’ with the banks for mortgage market share. We have 47 different […]

  Getting a mortgage is much more than about ‘Rate’. We have said this many times in past articles, but it has never been more relevant than today. Beware of the fine print.Mortgages have become very complex documents, especially so in the last couples of years with the introduction (by the banks) of collateral mortgages. […]

  Myths have been perpetuated by man since the dark ages. They are mysterious and can evolve into ‘beliefs’ to such an extent that they are thought to be ‘true’. Examples of nouns analogous with the word ‘Myth’ are ‘legend, fable, parable, fairy story, folk tale, urban myth, illusion, delusion, falsehood, fabrication’ etc. A myth […]

  Mortgage rates are once again at ‘all time’ lows, in fact lower. Yes we still have 40 year amortizations and we still have 100 per cent, no down payment mortgages too, at rates you won’t believe. Anyone who is renting should do everything they can to own real estate because it is much cheaper […]

  A new trend we are seeing is more people refinancing their homes to consolidate debt and put away funds for the proverbial ‘rainy day’ should it come unexpectedly. There is growing concern about job security in this volatile economy as export manufacturers have seen demand diminish for their products as both the U.S. and […]

  A common misconception about more frequent payments is that they help you pay down your mortgage faster. Bob and Alice brought in their(bank mortgage) amortization schedule. They had been on biweekly payments for 5 years and thought they were paying down their mortgage faster. What they did not know was that the bank put […]