Recent statistics show that Canadians are choosing mortgage brokers instead of the banks, much more often these days, and that is a good thing for the consumer. Read on, and find out ‘Why’Our overall industry market share in 2000 was 17%, in 2008 it was 25%. Today it has grown to 38% representing approximately 4 […]

It started innocently enough, my 26 year old son asked me for his credit card statements. I saw him on the phone and asked him who he was talking with. He told me it was a company who could reduce his credit card debt. Now my son is a university student, does not own a […]

While we pride ourselves with having a ‘squeaky-clean’ financial image and a more conservative approach to life than our American neighbours, it seems that we have been on the same slippery ‘subprime’ mortgage slope after all, albeit on a much smaller scale. Between 2005 and 2008 a dozen or more subprime(B) lenders, the most prominent […]

On October 18th TD Canda Trust launched a new type of mortgage that makes it easier for homeowners to tap into their equity. It is called a ‘Collateral’ mortgage charge which is registered at 125% of the home’s value. In other words let’s say your home is valued at 300,000 and you only borrow $150,000: […]

Almost every time we get a First Time Buyer(FTB) mortgage client that has applied to the bank for their first mortgage, we learn that the bank was trying to charge them a higher interest rate etc. First timers lack any knowledge and experience when it comes to understanding all the facets of the real estate […]

An interesting statistic that just came out from Stats Canada is that Canadians move, on average, every 3.3 years. At first blush, this seems a lot of moving doesn’t it? Some people live in their very first  home until they retire, but this is the exception. Tracy and I bought in Fergus this past summer, […]

Restrictions contained in the the fine print of your mortgage could cost you thousands of dollars. Often these restrictions are contained in the fine print and often homeowners are not even aware of these restrictions until they find the need to break their mortgage. This is why it is so important to talk to the […]

Quite frankly, it’s long overdue. Our mortgage industry has been pushing for years for banks to clearly define their penalties. Finally a few lenders are now putting their penalty clauses in their commitments but most have them contained in a 30 page mortgage charge which is given at the lawyer’s office(which clients never read) as […]

Rose called after reading in one of our previous articles which stated that it would be better to call us about six months prior to mortgage renewal. We encourage our readers to call sooner rather than later so we can check credit, book the best rate, or help clients get ready for the maturity of […]

Pete called in a panic. He went out and bought a house based on his bank’s pre-approval. The Agreement of Purchase & Sale gave him 5 banking days to obtain financing, otherwise the deal becomes null and void if he does not waive the financing condition, thereby firming up the purchase. Not only did the […]