Recent Posts
Contact
Pat Sawler
902-465-5533
HALIFAX OFFICE:
1959 Upper Water Street
Suite 1301
Halifax, NS B3J 3N2
SURREY OFFICE:
7404 King George Blvd
Suite 200
Surrey, British Columbia, V3W 1N6
Nova Scotia Brokerage 2021-3000179
Broker 2021-3000180
2022 Federal Budget
Yesterday the federal government tabled the 2022 federal budget. While it seems that we are getting away from the spend your way out of the pandemic, this one seems more focused on the need to improve access to housing for Canadian’s. Here is how it is going to effect the real estate sector. They will […]
Changing Rates Again
Bond yields increased again yesterday so therefor the fixed mortgage rates on which they are based also increased. If you are putting down less then 20% your 5 year fixed AAA rate is now 3.84% which is up by .05 basis points since last week. However if you are putting down 20% or more your […]
Hire an expert
Generalist are fine when the problems or issues are minor, but when they are important or vital it is time to consult an expert. I was having issues with my feet this winter and asked my GP about it when I saw her. While the level of care is normally great for minor issues, if […]
NS budget 2022
Just as a point of reference I am not going to delve into all the items on the 2022 budget here in NS, but only how it effects the real estate market. It doesn’t matter the political strip of the government just the details on how it effects your ability to purchase property here in […]
Buckle Up
Buckle up as it may be a bumpy ride. Since Russia decided to invade Ukraine, I am not saying because of it but this did start around the same time, that bond yields have been steadily rising thus the fixed mortgage rates have also been increasing. In the past month the 5 year discounted fixed […]
Changing Rates
The global instability due to the war in Ukraine has finely started to effect mortgage rates. There have been a lot of changes in the past month and they are now starting to hit the financial markets. Bond yields which effect fixed mortgage rates have steadily started to rise since the start of the month […]
Qualifying rate change
As some of you may know that we have a mortgage stress test or qualifying rate of 5.25%. This is to help insure that when you are qualifying for a mortgage you will still be able to make the payments if and or when the rate changed to 5.25%. What many of you may not […]
Overheated
In the past few days there have been several articles all taking about the potential upcoming downfall to the Canadian real estate market. If this is true should you be worried. Let’s examine a few things first, the pandemic changed a lot of things about our lives and with it came the ability to work […]
KYC
In the financial services industry which I work as a mortgage broker, it is expected that we all practice KYC also known as know your client. Without doing so how can I possibly recommend a mortgage product for their current needed or requirement. When I started doing this 20 years ago there was always a […]
Tell your story
Not every mortgage application is the same, and thankfully no two lenders are the same either. This is why it is vitally important to tell a very compelling story with every mortgage request submission. You see this is because lender’s policy’s often are not black and white and clients don’t always fit in the same […]
Prime Rate Change
Yesterday at 11am Atlantic Standard Time, the Bank of Canada increased it’s overnight interest rate from .25bps to .50bp. Thus all the banks followed by increasing their prime rate from 2.45% to 2.70%. Except for one key lender who was at 2.60% and has now increased to 2.85%. As a quick comparison for those who […]
Virtually yours
Since the start of the pandemic, I have pretty much eliminated face to face meetings. I may have done 3 in the past 3 years and hundreds of virtual meetings. Of those three meetings in person one did not show up, so I am not only losing the actual time that I have blocked off […]
Seller’s Market
As many of you know we are definitely in the midst of an intense seller’s market. New properties hit the market only long enough in some cases for your first and only viewing before it is sold shortly there after. It’s also the low number of new listings that are pushing the pricing higher on […]
More Options
One of the benefits of dealing with a mortgage broker is that we have more financing options for our clients from more diverse lenders. Yes I know the other side of the debate and the multitude of products available at the big banks. However more products from the big bank may not help you when […]
Do the Math
There is a lot of talk about the Bank of Canada changing overnight lending rate at it’s next meeting. So some ill informed homeowners are rushing to lock in their mortgage rates to avoid any rate hikes. That is entirely understandable if you are risk adverse, however if you haven’t already I think there is […]