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 for the meeting, I lose the time to get there and the time to get back. Which is a killer for productivity.

Virtual meetings are a whole different story. Yes I still block off the same amount of time to meet with the person, but if they are a no show it’s not a great loss of time. Typically I will wait in the online meeting room for up to 15 minutes after the start time, cause sometimes life happens. Then if they are a no show it’s no big deal, I can not miss a beat in my day and continue to stay productive.

When I started doing this 20 years ago, we didn’t have these options. When documents needed to be signed it was always in person, and driving all over town to meet with people was not very productive. Now in the digital age of online meeting software and digital signing programs it can all be done remotely. Saving everyone time and yet remaining productive.

Today I am thankful for the fact that our Canadian Girls did it again and won the Olympic Hockey Gold medal, that I don’t lose any productivity when clients don’t show up for virtual meetings and kids walking to school cause the weather is nice.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

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 the remaining few on the market.

So while I am waiting to get the data that I requested from NSAR, here is some proof that we are in a very hot housing market. In Dec of 2020 the average cost of a home in Halifax/Dartmouth was $400,965 and just 12 months later that had jumped by 22.2% to $490,127. All the while the whole country averaged a 17.7% increase and the the markets everyone mentions in the news Toronto was up 31.1% and Vancouver was up 17.3%

While all this talk and news reports about pending rate increases may temporally calm the market, it will not correct the greater underlying issue which is that we have a fundamental supply problem. We do not have enough homes for people who want to buy them nor do we have enough rental unit for those looking to down size. This is preventing the empty nesters from selling as they have no place to go. Until these factors are correct we will be seeing price wars and multiple offers on properties for a while yet.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

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 all you need is financing for your new home. Who cares if they have a great rate on savings accounts if they are unable to help you finance your property.

This brings me to the new lender to my portfolio. They have just started lending her in the maritimes and are registered with all three high ratio mortgage insurers. They have a rather unique product that you need to hear about. There are many lenders who have purchase plus improvement mortgage and these are proving a required element in today’s tight housing market due to the fact that the perfect home is now longer available so you must now make it perfect.

So back to the new guy, the typical purchase plus program allows you to increase your purchase price by 10% or 40K which ever is less. The new lender allows you to go to 20% or up to 100,000. This is incredible as with the recent spike in property prices and the cost of renovations, there is not much you can accomplish with 10% or 40K.

If the house that you plan on buying requires some work, and most do in today’s market then this is definitely a program to check out.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

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 a few things you should know.

Ok so to make sure that you are informed, we need to do some math. I just looked at the our current rates, and for AAA credit clients who required an insured mortgage the variable rates are averaging at prime ( 2.45) less 1.10%, so that means they start at 1.35% and the fixed rates for insured mortgages average 2.89%. If you haven’t done the math that is 1.54% in the difference. For uninsured clients the rates are slightly different, variable is prime -.90 (1.55%) and fixed is 3.04%, which is a difference of 1.49%.

Historically the Bank of Canada has moved rates at .25% at a time. There have been instances where that has been .50% and also .15% but the average in the past 12 years has been .25%. Given the current disparity between the current fixed rate and the available variable rate, I still believe that the variable rate is the way to go. The BOC would have to move the over night lending rate 8 times at .25% to equate to the current fixed rate. Even at that the variable rate is still superior as the potential penalty to discharge or break it is a fraction of what it would be for a fixed rate.

So do the math and see if this makes sense to you. However if you are risk adverse you may sleep better knowing that you have a fixed rate but you should at least make an educated decision.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Cost of Opportunity

Nothing absolutely nothing is free in life. There is always a cost whether it be time or money. In this case I am talking about opportunity cost. Sometimes the cost to take advantage of an opportunity is more that other times specially if you are backed into a corner and the only financing option is a private mortgage.

Private mortgages are by default expensive. However they are sometimes necessary if an opportunity is too good to be true. People have to understand that they are just bridge or short term financing. They are meant to bridge the gap so the opportunity can be seized and give time till less expensive financing can be secured.

So while expensive it is best to focus on the intrinsic cost if the current opportunity is lost. Private mortgage are short term solutions and allow financing for client that are current not ready to get financing through the bank channel. This may be due to credit, income or even time constraints. So see them as a solution to your current problem rather than just looking at the cost of funds.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Commercial mortgage priorities

So you have finalized your plans, gotten all your quotes, applied for your permits and have hired a general contractor for your new commercial construction project. Next on your list is to secure your financing so construction can start. Now while you have owned several homes and a few small residential rental properties, this is your first large scale commercial project.

It’s understandable that for your residential properties that your priority has almost always been interest rate when negotiating or arranging your mortgages. However things are different on the commercial side of things.

For your commercial project you have determined that you will need 21.5M to complete it. You have your value upon completion already from an AACI commercial appraiser and fully occupied it will be worth 32M. Now you have arranged your own residential mortgages before so you call your own bank and they are interested in your project but only give you an offer for 18.3M but with an incredible interest rate so they say that it’s better than any other commercial lender in the market.

Being short 3.2M is not going to get your project finished. So that shiny attractive interest rate will not cut it. This is why for commercial mortgages the loan amount is paramount, followed by amortization ( the amount of years to pay back the loan) and then by interest rate.

So when you’re ready to start construction on your commercial project, please talk with us and we can prepare your loan package and then speak with the 10-15 commercial lenders we have available. Quite possibly getting you better terms from your own personal bank as we answer all questions up front and present a full package thus saving time for you and the prospective lender.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Referable

The goal of any service based business is to cross the tipping point of huge outlays of time and capital in marketing and instead receive the bulk of new business through referrals. In order to accomplish this you must treat each and every client like your one and only client and work to not only meet their expectation but to exceed them. This is my goal each and every day and I am also extremely grateful for my clients who have referred me to their friends and family as referrals are the lifeblood of my growing business.

Today I am thankful for the client who referred me to her friend even though we haven’t finished her own mortgage, for having cleats on my winter boots so it was still possible to walk the dog in today’s icy conditions and now being able to automate many of the repetitive tasks in my business thanks to Zoho Flow.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Private Sales

We are currently in the midst of an intense seller’s market. As a result some home owners are resorting to selling their homes privately in an attempt to avoid paying realtor’s fees. However if you are considering this, there are a few things you should know.

  1. Realtors may not show your home to their buyers. This is because the seller does not or will not pay the realtor a commission for bringing a buyer. To avoid this problem you should negotiate an agreement to pay them a fee.
  2. It’s less emotional if it’s arms length between two professionals. Dealing with the home owner can be challenging if they are not receiving what they believe the home is worth and hearing any and all negative feedback.
  3. Selling homes is what Realtor’s do as their full time jobs. You may not feel like showing your home at 10am on a Tuesday nor be available to do that, however this is what your Realtor is engaged to do for you.
  4. Even thought you can list your home on Facebook or Kijiji, it is not the same as listing it on MLS and thus having the power of all the local Realtors and their contacts to spread the word about your home.
  5. You don’t want to show your home to every Tom, Dick or Harry. A Realtor will help screen your potential buyers to make sure that they qualify to buy it. This is why a pre approval is vital.
  6. How are your negotiation skills? You may be fairly decent at sales but this is a whole different ball game and an experienced seller’s agent may have sold hundreds of homes in the past while this may only be your 3rd home.
  7. Do you know what makes some homes sell while others sit on the market. An experienced agent can help guide you through the process to you can avoid these pitfalls.
  8. Lastly but most importantly are the legal risks. How are you with contract law? What do you know about property disclosure? Did you know that you have a fundamental duty to disclose any fact that may effect the value of your property. Unless your a real estate lawyer it is probably best to have a Realtor help you with this.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

High Tech

There have been a lot of changes to the brokering business in the 20 years since I have been doing it. When I started in 2002 all client meetings were done in person, all applications were done on paper, all documents were collected on paper and faxed to respective lenders and client data bases were all on Excel.

When I think to what we have available today, most if not all the changes have been done over the past 2 years since the pandemic started. Meetings are conducted over zoom or similar virtual meeting programs, applications are taken via secure online portal, documents are securely uploaded, and all client data is saved in a cloud based CRM. While digital signing programs have been available for a while now, banks suddenly came on board when we could not meet our clients face to face.

While some may miss the face to face aspect, I find it has improved productivity exponentially. Prior to this I would have to drive all over the place to meet clients taking up valuable time that could be better spent processing the applications and getting files funded. A full day involved possibly 4-5 meetings tops given the drive time, now I can have double that and still have time to focus on getting the files funded and closed.

So it’s still a people business but now more than ever reliant on high tech products to make us more effective and productive. If anything this has been the silver lining to the pandemic that allowed the transition to more effective ways of doing business.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Should I refinance?

After looking at your Christmas bills you may be wondering if it is a good idea to refinance your mortgage. Below are a few things to consider to help you to properly make your decision.

  1. Will it lower my over all payments? It’s best to look at everything you may want to include in your refinance and properly determine if you will be saving money. Look at your current mortgage payment, your credit cards, lines of credit, student loans and any other debt that may be included and compare to what you are paying now to what you could be paying.
  2. Is it a better interest rate? Fixed rates have moved quite a bit over the last 9 months and currently are very close to where we were almost 5 years ago. Variable rates on the other hand are still quite low but there is potential of them increasing soon.
  3. Has my home increased in value enough? Home prices are up across the country so it’s a good idea to know this as refinances are limited to 80% loan to value while purchases top out at 95%.
  4. What will it cost me? Savings on your current payments are only one part of the picture, even if you could be saving money yet it will cost you too much to refinance then it’s best to hold off. Those who have a fixed rate mortgage could possibly be surprised at how much your bank will charge you to break your mortgage.
  5. Will I even get approved? Has the pandemic affected your income in any way, have you missed any recent payments or lost your job? Even with these scenario’s it is still possible to refinance but there is a good chance that you will be paying a higher rate.

See there is so much to consider so it’s best to talk with an expert to go over all your options.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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