Know your number

For this post I am not talking about your SIN number or your age, phone number, work or student ID number. For this I am taking about your credit score. In order to qualify for a mortgage you must know your credit score and if it is poor how to improve it quickly.

Although you are way more than a number in so many ways, when it comes to mortgage lending there are hard stops when it comes to getting you approved based on your credit. Because the products I have available are so diverse I am not going to focus on one number for qualification but just to say that the higher the number the better the credit and the lower the risk of default for the lenders and easier to get you approved.

If you are reading this and you are new to Canada then you need to establish your credit as soon as possible. Opening a credit card, line of credit or getting a car loan will all help as they will report to the credit bureau’s. According to Equifax the new to Canada people are scoreable within 4 months of having a credit file created here in Canada with 80% over 660 beacon score.

In terms of the make up of your score, 35% comes from your payment history ( so make your payments on time and in full), 30% comes from utilization ( so the lower your balance is in relation to your limit the better), 15% from your history ( how you have paid your bills in the past), 10% from new credit ( takes time to develop a history) and the last 10% from the type of credit that you have. Knowing this you should pull your own credit ( this will not lower your score when done from the provider) once a month so you know exactly what is going on as your creditors report to Equifax monthly. So click on this link to go Equifax Canada and pull your own report today. If you find something that is not right then contact Equifax or your friendly broker so we can help you get it fixed.

Today I am thankful for the cool crisp morning and all the stars that were still out as Augie ( my dog) and I did our morning walk, new knowledge gained from a seminar this week and zoom meetings where I told my cousin that pants are optional.

I look forward to hearing from you in regard to your mortgage needs.

Patrick

p.s- You can click on this link to start the process whenever you are ready. Schedule your meeting with me here.

p.s.s- I should tell you that I am licensed in Nova Scotia Brokerage (2022-3000179) Broker (2022-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here