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 their mortgages. Waiting until a few weeks before maturity is stressful and remember your bank is counting on you just signing it without doing any shopping. As a matter of fact, 80% of Canadians blindly sign that mortgage renewal which locks them into a much higher rate, costing them thousands extra.                                                                                                                

That’s why we like to start about six months prior to maturity, so we can do a full analysis of every client’s situation. And sometimes it makes sense to pay it out earlier rather than wait till maturity, as was this case.                                                                                                               

So we had a look at Rose’s financial situation and much to her amazement we were able to really transform her financial situation. We took her from a 6.1% mortgage on her Drayton property to a 2.2 % variable rate mortgage. In the meantime, we found a way to reduce her total monthly payments from 3500 per month in adsdition to paying off 11 credit cards totalling some 69,000. Credit card balances were high because she had significantly improved the house. Now she has one easy payment of less than $1000.

But that is only half of the story. We were able to remove her father who had co-signed for the mortgage four years ago and replace him with her new husband who was a former bankrupt. Her father was very pleased, and her new husband was legitimized financially and as we like to put it, ‘brought back from the dead’. What was even more shocking was the value of their home. The appraisal came in approximately $50,000 more than they both expected so all their hard work fixing up the house had also paid off. it was a win/win situation for Rose and her hubby. They will now take some of the interest savings and pay down their mortgage as quickly as possible now, saving them even more.

A footnote to this story is that their bank would not lend them the money to improve the house, so they had to rack up high interest(bad debt) credit cards instead, putting them under much financial pressure. They had approached their bank a year ago to see if they could increase their mortgage. The bank declined them.  We got it done, and now they are out of a hole, and their lives are moving forward, with ease.

Folks, most people have ‘circumstances’ and most mortgages have’wrinkles’ and the banks only want straight forward mortgages without ‘warts’. Don’t waste your time appraching your bank. Call us first. We’ll not only get you approved, we’ll get you a better rate, better mortgage product, and give you better service.

If you want expert advice to look at your situation, especially if you need a creative solution, please call us. Even if your situation is very straight forward, we will get you a better deal. We love helping people put their financial house in order and we are very good at what we do because we have extensive experience, and we care.