Shopping for a mortgage can hurt your credit score a little, because every lender you apply to pulls your credit. Equifax says similar mortgage inquiries made close together are generally counted as one for scoring, but they all still show on your report. With me, there is one application, one credit pull, and I do […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/mortgage-shopping-credit-score-hero-personal-shopper.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-11-03 13:31:352026-11-03 13:31:37Your Own Personal Mortgage Shopper
Start looking at your mortgage renewal about six months before your term ends, not when the lender’s letter arrives. Federally regulated lenders only have to send the renewal statement 21 days before maturity, and by then most of your negotiating room is gone. When should I start shopping for my mortgage renewal? About six months […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/mortgage-renewal-when-to-start-hero-waiting-handled.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-11-02 13:53:372026-11-02 13:53:39Waiting Is the Hardest Part. But It Doesn’t Have to Be.
Should I renew my mortgage early after a rate hike? Sometimes, but not automatically. If your rate is fixed, Wednesday’s Bank of Canada hike didn’t change your rate or the fixed rates on the lender sheets I looked at this week. If your rate is variable, it already went up. Either way, the smart move […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/should-i-renew-early-rate-hike-hero-broker-fans-out.jpg10241024Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-10-30 12:15:522026-10-30 12:15:54Should I renew early after a rate hike?
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate a quarter point to 2.50% on October 28 — its first move in a year — and the honest answer to “what does the Bank of Canada rate hike mean for your mortgage” is that it depends on which side of the rope you’re standing on: variable-rate […]
A blanket mortgage rolls several rental properties into a single commercial loan — one rate, one renewal date, one lender relationship — instead of juggling three, five, or ten separate residential mortgages that all renew on different timelines. I had a landlord call me in a bit of a panic a few months back. He […]
I had a client last month who’d been sitting on a pre-approval for three weeks, too nervous to get a second opinion. “I don’t want to wreck my credit shopping around,” she told me. She’d read it somewhere — every lender you talk to is another ding on your score, so pick one and hope […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/five-lenders-one-hit-hero-funnel.jpg1168784Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-10-27 13:00:412026-10-27 13:00:45Five lenders one hit
Here’s a scene I see more often than you’d think: someone sits down across from me, and before we even get to the mortgage question, they’re juggling a car loan, two credit cards, a line of credit, and a “we’ll deal with it later” balance on a store card from a couch they bought in […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/one-pile-better-than-five-footer-consolidated-stack.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-10-26 12:05:362026-10-26 12:06:09One Pile is better than five
Yesterday, Albertans went to the polls on a question that’s been dominating headlines for months: should the province pursue a path toward separation from Canada? If you’d been following the noise online, you’d think it was a coin flip. Rallies, slogans, months of heated debate on every platform. Then the votes came in. Roughly 77% […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/stronger-together-hero.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-10-20 13:24:222026-10-20 13:24:25The Loudest Voice in the Room Isn’t the Room
If you’ve talked to me in the last week, you’ve probably heard me mention that rates are moving again — and not in the direction anyone renewing or buying wants to see. This isn’t just noise from one lender repricing on its own. Canada’s 5-year government bond yield — the number that drives most fixed […]
Every few months I get a version of the same call: someone’s found a property — usually an older single-family home on a lot zoned for more — and they want to tear it down and put up a 4-to-7-unit building. They ask what the mortgage will look like. The honest answer is that there […]
Should you switch mortgage lenders at renewal, or just take the rate your bank offers you? Twice this week, I told a client to stay exactly where they are. Both were renewals. Both were with the same lender I’d placed them with myself, years ago. And both times, when I went shopping for a better […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/stayput-hero.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-09-21 13:15:562026-09-21 13:19:46The Best Mortgage Advice I Gave This Week Cost Me a Commission
Someone told me last week they’d found a renewal rate that seemed too good to pass up. A few days later, it was gone — not because they were too slow, but because something in their life quietly changed underneath it. This happens more than people realize, and it’s worth understanding before you get attached […]
Every private file I take on starts with some version of the same question: “Realistically, how fast can this actually close?” Fair question. “Fast” gets thrown around a lot in this business, and it means different things depending on who’s saying it. So instead of a vague promise, here’s the actual math — real ranges, […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/howfastisfast-hero.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-09-17 17:06:162026-09-17 17:07:02How Fast Is Fast?
Every pro forma I’ve ever seen has one thing in common: it looks fantastic. Steady rent growth, full occupancy, no surprises. That’s not because the deal is actually that clean – it’s because the spreadsheet was built to sell the deal, not underwrite it. I’m not saying anyone’s lying on purpose. Most of the time […]
“My tax assessment says my house is worth $410,000 — why is the bank only working with $365,000?” I get some version of this question almost every week, and it comes down to one thing: your property assessment and a lender’s appraisal are answering two completely different questions. Your tax assessment exists to fairly split […]
https://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/assessed-vs-appraised-value-hero.jpg7841168Pat Sawlerhttps://craigburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/craigburn-logo2-e1426637601970.pngPat Sawler2026-08-31 12:07:002026-08-05 20:40:25Two Appraisals Walk Into a Bank… Only One Gets You a Mortgage
Your Own Personal Mortgage Shopper
Shopping for a mortgage can hurt your credit score a little, because every lender you apply to pulls your credit. Equifax says similar mortgage inquiries made close together are generally counted as one for scoring, but they all still show on your report. With me, there is one application, one credit pull, and I do […]
Waiting Is the Hardest Part. But It Doesn’t Have to Be.
Start looking at your mortgage renewal about six months before your term ends, not when the lender’s letter arrives. Federally regulated lenders only have to send the renewal statement 21 days before maturity, and by then most of your negotiating room is gone. When should I start shopping for my mortgage renewal? About six months […]
Should I renew early after a rate hike?
Should I renew my mortgage early after a rate hike? Sometimes, but not automatically. If your rate is fixed, Wednesday’s Bank of Canada hike didn’t change your rate or the fixed rates on the lender sheets I looked at this week. If your rate is variable, it already went up. Either way, the smart move […]
Tight Rope Walker
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate a quarter point to 2.50% on October 28 — its first move in a year — and the honest answer to “what does the Bank of Canada rate hike mean for your mortgage” is that it depends on which side of the rope you’re standing on: variable-rate […]
Blanket mortgage for rental properties
A blanket mortgage rolls several rental properties into a single commercial loan — one rate, one renewal date, one lender relationship — instead of juggling three, five, or ten separate residential mortgages that all renew on different timelines. I had a landlord call me in a bit of a panic a few months back. He […]
Five lenders one hit
I had a client last month who’d been sitting on a pre-approval for three weeks, too nervous to get a second opinion. “I don’t want to wreck my credit shopping around,” she told me. She’d read it somewhere — every lender you talk to is another ding on your score, so pick one and hope […]
One Pile is better than five
Here’s a scene I see more often than you’d think: someone sits down across from me, and before we even get to the mortgage question, they’re juggling a car loan, two credit cards, a line of credit, and a “we’ll deal with it later” balance on a store card from a couch they bought in […]
The Loudest Voice in the Room Isn’t the Room
Yesterday, Albertans went to the polls on a question that’s been dominating headlines for months: should the province pursue a path toward separation from Canada? If you’d been following the noise online, you’d think it was a coin flip. Rallies, slogans, months of heated debate on every platform. Then the votes came in. Roughly 77% […]
Rates Are Creeping Up Again — Here’s Why, and What to Do About It
If you’ve talked to me in the last week, you’ve probably heard me mention that rates are moving again — and not in the direction anyone renewing or buying wants to see. This isn’t just noise from one lender repricing on its own. Canada’s 5-year government bond yield — the number that drives most fixed […]
Rates Are Creeping Up Again — Here’s Why, and What to Do About It
Tear-Down-and-Build Financing Isn’t One Loan — It’s Three
Every few months I get a version of the same call: someone’s found a property — usually an older single-family home on a lot zoned for more — and they want to tear it down and put up a 4-to-7-unit building. They ask what the mortgage will look like. The honest answer is that there […]
The Best Mortgage Advice I Gave This Week Cost Me a Commission
Should you switch mortgage lenders at renewal, or just take the rate your bank offers you? Twice this week, I told a client to stay exactly where they are. Both were renewals. Both were with the same lender I’d placed them with myself, years ago. And both times, when I went shopping for a better […]
One life change away
Someone told me last week they’d found a renewal rate that seemed too good to pass up. A few days later, it was gone — not because they were too slow, but because something in their life quietly changed underneath it. This happens more than people realize, and it’s worth understanding before you get attached […]
How Fast Is Fast?
Every private file I take on starts with some version of the same question: “Realistically, how fast can this actually close?” Fair question. “Fast” gets thrown around a lot in this business, and it means different things depending on who’s saying it. So instead of a vague promise, here’s the actual math — real ranges, […]
The Spreadsheet Lie Every Investor Believes
Every pro forma I’ve ever seen has one thing in common: it looks fantastic. Steady rent growth, full occupancy, no surprises. That’s not because the deal is actually that clean – it’s because the spreadsheet was built to sell the deal, not underwrite it. I’m not saying anyone’s lying on purpose. Most of the time […]
Two Appraisals Walk Into a Bank… Only One Gets You a Mortgage
“My tax assessment says my house is worth $410,000 — why is the bank only working with $365,000?” I get some version of this question almost every week, and it comes down to one thing: your property assessment and a lender’s appraisal are answering two completely different questions. Your tax assessment exists to fairly split […]