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

Flex Down

For those who don’t know there are other options to securing your down payment to buy your first home. Sure you can pinch pennies and save your hard earned cash. You can also receive it as a gift from your blood relatives ( mother, father, sister, brother) or incase you don’t know you can borrow it.

Yes you can borrow your down payment. This can come from arms length sources such as your line of credit, a personal bank loan, or lender credit. The loan payments must fit into existing debt service calculations, meaning that your GDS/TDS must not exceed 39/44 which are the existing limits.

You must have strong credit ( above 700 beacon score) and have the necessary 1.5% deed transfer tax from their own resources. This can be used to purchase a single family home or a duplex. However non arms length loans are ineligible. Such as builder or realtor incentives or loans that impact the purchase price of the property.

Please let me know if this is an option that you would like to consider. Remember even though this is a way to get into a home sooner it does come with higher interest rates than if you had saved up the money on your own.

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

Setting Records

We are setting records all across the country lately. However these seem to be more of the unfortunate records than the ones we can be proud of accomplishing. Records are being set daily now for the amount of Covid-19 cases we are seeing. Records levels of hospitalizations and record levels of restrictions.

Towards real estate the business that I am personally associated with on a daily basis, there are records here as well. We have record levels of home prices, up over 25.3% year over year. We also set a record for the amount of transactions across the country at 630,634 which is an increase of 14.158% versus the previous record year, and this did not include Dec of 2021. All of this while we experience record low levels of listings available for new buyers, which further pushes up the prices.

So now instead of focusing on the records which are not going to serve us, we should focus on setting some personal records of our own. Set a record of focusing on your family during the holidays by putting aside your electronic devices. Focus on getting along and love and compassion as we can all use more of that. Lastly focus on becoming the best version of yourself for now and into the future.

Today I am thankful for a refreshing walk with my dog earlier today, for my friend in Montreal who is celebrating his birthday today and for my gift wrapping helper who made it much more enjoyable.

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

No Way Home

First off I have to admit that I am a huge geek or nerd or whatever you call us who love sci-fi and superhero movies. I am extremely lucky as my wife also likes them as well. We went to see the new Spiderman No Way Home last night, yes fully masked and distanced. No spoilers here but just stay till they turn the lights on as there are two post credit scenes.

Now about the home part of my post. There was plenty of talk this week as OFSI ( office of the superintendent of financial institutions) was meeting to discuss any changes to the mortgage qualifying rate, which is currently at 5.25%. Luckily for the future homebuyers there was no change to the qualifying rate today, so it is staying at 5.25%. So any changes to this rate would really effect affordability for future homebuyers.

So although Spiderman came home then went far from home and now has no way home, there is in-fact still a way for you to own your own home. See what I did right there! With the qualifying rate staying the same, this means that there is no changes to affordability. So even though the real estate market is very hot and homes are selling as fast as they are listed, they are not going to try to cool it off by changing how much house you can afford. Covid may in-fact have other plans for the market but we shall see.

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

Happy Clients

Happy Clients is what drives any successful business. Focusing on the commission may only get you one single transaction, but focusing on exceeding your clients expectations will bring you many many more. Sure the commissions are good in this line of work, but I prefer to focus on building relationships and exceeding expectations.

There are many brokers across the country who spend a considerable amount of time and money to generate leads through internet marketing with Facebook, Google or LinkedIn. This is a very expensive endeavour that gives very poor results. I find it is best to focus on building relationships with referral sources and past clients. That way the people they refer to me are pretty much pre qualified and come already committed to doing business.

We all like to go out to eat, see movies or read great books. These are all much easier to discover when referred by people you trust. This is why it is so great to be referred by all my great clients and referral partners.

Today I am thankful for the nice person who paid for my daughters lunch at McDonald’s yesterday, clients and referral sources who continue to think of me for their friends and family and talking with old friends on their birthday’s.

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