The best time

The best time to buy a house according to the old adage is always now. In this hot real estate market and thanks to rock bottom interest rates, you will be paying down principal much faster than you are paying in interest. For example if you bought a house for 550K with 30K down on a variable rate of 1.35% over 5 years, you would pay 33K in interest in the 1st 5 years while paying down your principal by over 94K.

The best time to invest according to legendary investor Warren Buffet is always now. It also helps to follow his investment advice of buying and holding for the long term. Trust me I am still kicking my self for selling my Apple stock in 2014.

The best time to start a business like the two previous statements is always now. With a long term outlook like your real estate and your investing and old school work ethic you are sure to succeed.

“If you aren’t thinking about owning a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes.” – Warren Buffett

Today I am thankful for the bodyweight warrior who helps keep me limber on the daily basis, seeing a doe and her two fawns eating apples near our home in the west end on Halifax and having fully formed ideas come to me while out on a run. Awesome.

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

Appraisals

Usually when you pay for something you own it. The exception to this rule is for real estate appraisals. When and if they are required, they requested and owned by the lender. On the odd chance that we your broker have a copy, just remember that we can not release it to you.

Appraisal are required if you are putting more than 20% down on a property and high ratio mortgage insurance is not involved. However there are a few lenders who use an Automatic Valuation Service to confirm the value of the property thus negating the need for a full appraisal inspection. Also as of late appraisals have been required if the agreed upon purchase price exceeded the listing price by a large margin. This is because of our hot real estate market.

Today I am thankful for the huge rush of endorphins after my run this morning, everyone should get to experience these natural feel good emotions on a regular basis and that we have cooler nights which make for wonderful sleeping conditions.

“Elevate what you want – because what gets measured, gets produced.” James A Belasco

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

New Clients

The best kind of new clients to get come from referrals. This could be from past clients or referral partners like realtors or financial planners. This is because they come pre screened from a trusted source so they are people who really know what they want and have already been told who you are and how you operate.

This is why I spend time every day developing relationships with these same referral partners. Every day I reach out and connect with my referral partners. To those who are afraid of cold calls, these calls are not cold and there is no selling involved. The purpose of my calls is just to touch base and keep the lines of communication open and see how people are doing. It’s not complicated, just just relationship building. If you are in sales, this is what you should be doing.

I am certain you can bring in a large amount of leads and or contacts from doing Google adwords, Facebook or Linkedin ads. However what’s missing is transfer for trust from someone you have developed a relationship with. So more often than not considerable time must be spent with these new contacts to develop the report and see if we are a fit or not. The best strategy for long term growth is to spend the time developing the key relationship that will attract you the people you want to work with in the first place.

Today I am thankful for a great 50K ride with folks from the gym, that all the peloton classes are paying off as I kept up with bikes 1/4 the weight of mine and for an early start so work can be done for the rest of the day.

“Referrals aren’t given easily. If you don’t take the time to establish credibility, you’re not going to get the referral. People have to get to know you. They have feel comfortable with who you are and what you do.” Ivan Misner

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

Extra Payments

If you are one of the lucky few who’s mortgage is coming up for renewal in the next few months, this post is for you. Let’s say for example that you will have a mortgage balance of 300K at renewal and that you have been at 2.79% for the past 5 years on a 25 year amortization. Upon renewal you are offered a fixed rate of 2.09 or a variable rate of Prime ( 2.45) less 1% or 1.45.

So 5 years ago you started at 350K at 2.79% and you have paid 1,618.88 per month, you did it with no struggle and now you have an option to renew at lower rates. For example if you take the fixed at 2.09 your monthly payment on a 20 year amortization will now be 1,529.18 or 89.70 less than what you were already paying. Now if you took the variable rate your payment would drop to 1,426.52 per month with a savings of 192.36 per month.

Now since that 1,618.88 was not a hardship, I would strongly recommend keeping your payment the same. You do this by taking advantage of the lender’s pre payment privileges. So your 20 year amortization has now shrunk by almost 3 years to 17.25 years. This is the power of the extra payments as they go directly onto your mortgage principal. This was based on taking the variable rate, and note however that those rates may change. At the end of this 5 year term your new mortgage balance will be 220K. Check out the stats below. Here is the link to the calculator.

Mortgage Summary

 Over the 20-year amortization period, you will:

  • have made 207 monthly (12x per year) payments of $1,618.88 ($1,426.52 + $192.36) and one final payment of $1,397.28.
  • have paid $300,000.00 in principal, $36,504.67 in interest, for a total of $336,504.67.

 Over the 5-year term, you will:

  • have made 60 monthly (12x per year) payments of $1,618.88 ($1,426.52 + $192.36).
  • have paid $79,541.69 in principal, $17,590.89 in interest, for a total of $97,132.58.

 At the end of your 5-year term, you will:

  • have a balance of $220,458.31.

 Prepayment Savings

  • By the end of the amortization period, with your monthly (12x per year) prepayment of $192.36, you save $5,859.24 in interest and pay your mortgage off 32 months sooner than if you had the same mortgage with no prepayment.
  • By the end of the term, with your monthly (12x per year) prepayment of $192.36, you save $390.37 more in interest than if you had the same mortgage with no prepayment.

Today I am thankful for my cousin introducing me some new music, great conversations with new clients and seeing wildlife during the morning walk with my dog.

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

Future Homeowner

Any goal worth achieving will take some planning to make happen. Take our hot real estate market for example. If you plan on buying a home in the not too distant future then you need to start to work on a few things to make that happen. We are going to look at the two most common road blocks to home ownership, being credit and down payment.

If you don’t already know your credit score, you should surf over to Equifax ( One of the main credit monitoring agencies) and get a copy of your free credit report. If you have had late payments to your creditors in the past then they will need to be paid as soon as possible. If you have not had credit in your name in the past then you will need to get a small credit card or revolving loan. Something that reports to the credit bureau with a limit of at least 1,500. Now here is the important part, never miss a payment or be late with a payment as this will impact your credit score.

Now that you are working on your credit and you have a plan to establish it or improve it. Next important item in your home ownership journey is your down payment. You are going to need at least 5% down payment and 1.5% of the purchase price as deed transfer tax. If this is going to be your first home you can take advantage of the Home Buyers Plan. This means that you can borrow up to 35K from your RRSP tax free ( it does have to be paid back) and use this toward your down payment. Otherwise starting putting some away from every pay check and stick it in a TFSA and watch it grow to the amount that you need.

“A house is made of bricks and beams. A home is made of hopes and dreams.”

Today I am thankful for the sound of rain overnight, a quiet walk with my dog and a refreshing run all before the craziness of the day started.

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

Exceptions

Rules in life and in mortgages are made to be broken, on an exception basis. Lenders look at your mortgage application and judge it based on the 5C’s of credit ( Character, Capacity, Credit, Collateral and Capital). Having a strong strength in 4 out of the 5 would be grounds to request an exception.

Note however that if the area that is suffering is credit, it is highly unlikely an exception will be granted. Most often the exceptions are coming from the Capacity or the debt service component. This is usually due to the applicant’s above average credit rating, high net worth and low loan to value.

There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by requesting an exception to get your file approved and completed. We must just build the case to show a compelling reason for the exception. More often than not lenders are willing to do it if the strength of the other factors outweighs the deficit.

Today I am thankful for an exception that was granted that allowed one of my clients to become a homeowner, a wonderful visit to my brother’s cottage and 80K bike ride with friends.

“Nature provides exceptions to every rule.” Margaret Fuller

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

Broker’s hours vs banker’s hours

Simply put, unless I am sleeping, eating or doing a workout I will take your call or return your text. Try getting that same level of service from your bank or even your bank mortgage specialist who have extended hours on occasion. However even-though I may take your call, if my corresponding lender is not available the best I can do is answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Although I do not get many client calls or texts on the weekend, it does happen and I want to make sure that they are take care of and that I have property answered their questions. I can’t imagine waiting to try to get questions answered on baker’s hours.

Today I am thankful for an early morning start to a 80K bike ride with friends, having tools to fix a loose pedal 40K away from where we started and beautiful ocean views along our ride.

“I really love showing up at work at 10 A.M and trying to make it funny until 3 P.M, and then going home. It’s like comedy bankers hours.” Chris Eigeman

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

Opporunity Cost

Not all financing is created equal. There are low rates for AAA credit clients, moderate rates for alternative lending and higher rates for private mortgages. I have done a lot of private lending over the years and at the end of the day it is never about the rate it is about the opportunity cost. The cost of completing your build on time, the cost of loosing your home or the cost of picking up this property at the right price and the right time. All these things private lending can help you accomplish.

It’s true that private lending is not for everyone. It is essentially a bridge loan which takes you from where you are right now to where you want to be. There is also a cost for missing out on the opportunities and this is just one option available to you to make sure that you don’t miss out. This is not long term financing but financing to make sure that you don’t miss out on the opportunities in life.

Today I am thankful for a beautiful walk to my meeting this morning, that it was close enough so I could do that and for my dog who tells me that Amazon or election people were at my door.

“Intelligent people make decisions based on opportunity costs”. Charlie Munger

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

5 to 10 basis points

This amounts to .5 to .10 of a percentage point as a basis point is essentially 1/100th of a percentage point. I bring this up as consumers will shop their mortgage business and leave an existing relationship at the last minute for perceived deal of 5 one hundreds of a percent.

So here is some mortgage math for you. Let’s take the average current mortgage balance of 400,000, taken over 5 year term and 25 year amortization. At current 5 year fixed rates of 2.09% that would give you a mortgage payment of 1,711 per month. There are also some no frills quick close deals at 1.99% giving you a monthly payment of 1,692 per month. This amounts to a savings of $19 a month or $1,140 over the 5 years. Or $5 per hundred thousand mortgage balance.

Remember not all products are created equal. Some products are locked in closed for the term, meaning that the only way to break it is with the power of sale. Some have reduced pre payment privileges or no portability features. Make sure that you look at everything as there is more to consider than just the rate.

Today I am thankful for a warm and refreshing run this morning before it got too hot, a delicious burger delivered right to my door yesterday and that my dog recovered quickly from overheating on Friday night.

“Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.” – Albert Schweitzer

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

August Market Update

As I have been a mortgage broker for just almost 20 years, I have seen a lot of interesting real estate markets. However this year really takes the cake. February, March & April anything with a roof sold as soon as it hit the market and in most cases with multiple offers and in many cases well over asking price. However since cases of Covid started declining and provinces started opening back up, things have slowed down.

I speak with hundreds of realtors every month and the common belief is that since things are open many people are choosing instead to take a well deserved vacation. In many cases their first in over 18 months. The fundamentals of the market are still relatively the same with not a lot of listing, it just that the buyers are taking a break. Don’t get me wrong there are still many properties getting multiple offer and going well over ask, but the consensus is that this is mostly the mid range properties. Will the craziness come back once school starts, only time will tell.

Today I am thankful for all the great conversations with past clients yesterday, a quiet early morning walk with my dog while most of the neighbourhood was sleeping and a run that seemed slow at the time ended up being much faster than I had though.

“I will forever believe that buying a home is a great investment. Why? Because you can’t live in a stock certificate. You can’t live in a mutual fund.” Oprah Winfrey

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