Tag Archive for: Halifax Mortgage Broker

30 Days out

For those who have received an email from me, you know that the tag line of my email is ” An easy, stress-free mortgage process tailored to meet your unique needs. Guaranteed!” Not every broker in the mortgage industry can say a statement like that, and do you know why I put it out there? It’s because I work to insure that your mortgage request file is complete at least 30 days prior to funding. I don’t and you don’t need the stress of scrambling for paperwork in the days leading up to closing on your new house or your refinance. If you want to wait till the last minute to get your paperwork in order I am sure there are lots of other brokers and bank specialists would would love to work for you. It’s just that I am not one of them.

When we work together and hopefully we will soon, we need your complete document package upfront and upon submission. I will provide you a list on our initial phone call and once I have all your doc’s in order then and only then will your file be submitted for approval. Excellence is expected from me as much as it is from you. With cooperation from both parties this can be as stress free as possible.

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

Cheers,

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).

St Patrick’s Day

I would not be much of a Patrick if I didn’t not wish you a happy St Patrick’s Day. May the luck of the Irish be with you all day.

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

Cheers,

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).

You vs You

Incase the title didn’t give it away, your only true competition is with yourself. Keeping up with the Jones next door is not what keeps me going nor should it be with you too. The only measurement that really matters is if you are doing more and better than you did yesterday.

A runner should only be concerned with how well they did today vs yesterday and did they make any improvements. My 1K pace may be different from yours and the true measure of performance would be to look at how well you are doing compared to yesterday, last week and last month. In crossfit we don’t compare our workout results to Matt Fraser or Rich Froning that would be totally unrealistic and defeat the purpose if you are actually making progress.

In regards to the mortgage business, there are possibly thousands of brokers and bank mortgage specialists across our great country all offering fairly similar rates. Some may be doing better or worse than I am doing, but at the end of the day my only goal is to do better than I did yesterday. I will do this by making sure your experience is second to none, and if it wasn’t to let me know how I can improve.

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

Pat

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).

Ides Of March

Unless you are Julius Caesar you have nothing to fear about the Ides of March. Before Brutus and Cassius made March 15th infamous it was notable for several Roman religious observances. Notable of which was the feast of Anna Perenna the goddess of the year, which people commonly gathered for picnic’s, drinking and revelry.

However one of the lesser know facts about today was that it was also the deadline for settling debts. Speaking of debts how are you making out with yours? Are you settling your debts every month or are you just treading water making the minimum payments. As a homeowner, there is no better time than now to look at combining all your debts into one payment.

Some of the benefits of refinancing and consolidating your debts using your home equity is that you will get access to much lower interest rates. By paying off high interest loans and keeping them paid off you will improve your credit rating. You can apply the snowball method by using your savings from the refinance and put that towards your mortgage payments and thus become debt free so much faster. Here is a link for a great snowball calculator.

Contact my office and we can work out some numbers to see if it is worthwhile for you.

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

Pat

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).

Accountability & Commitments

Let’s face it we all set goals and make commitments. Sometimes we even hit our targets. However on those occasions where you don’t reach your goals do you look back and see if you could of done something different or do you look to blame an external factor for preventing you from achieving your objective?

If you decide to eat better but then you notice that your spouse has just made chocolate brownies, do you have one and blame her for making them or do you use some restraint and leave them for the kids? If you have made a goal of getting in better shape but it’s -20c outside today, do you go for a run anyway or put it off till the next day. If the prospect decides not to buy from you do you blame them or commit to doing better the next time.

The sooner we all realize that we are fully responsible for our own fate, the happier we will all be. If you want to get into better shape, it’s up to you. If you want to make more money, it’s up to you. You want a better relationship, it’s up to you.

Nobody is going to make the calls for you, run the miles for you or read the books for you. Set the standard for a higher personal responsibility and the sky is the limit for you.

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

Pat

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).

Spring Forward!

Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour before you got to bed tonight. Starting tomorrow your days will be brighter and you will get an extra hour of day light. All of which means that spring is just around the corner.

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

Pat

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).

10 Things NOT to do once your financing is approved.

Congratulations you have just been approved for a mortgage on the new home that you are buying. You went through all the steps with your banker or broker and now all you can do is wait till you pick up your keys on the closing day in a few weeks.

You may think that just because the bank signed off on all the conditions that you are free to do what ever you want and that there would be no repercussions effecting your purchase. Sadly this is not the case. The lenders continue to work on your file behind the scenes up until your closing date.

Any material change that you make from the date you received word that all your conditions were met until the closing date may in-fact effect your ability to close the transaction.

Here are a list of 10 things in no particular order of what NOT to do prior to closing on your new home.

  1. Don’t quit your job.
  2. Don’t suddenly become self employed
  3. Don’t commit a crime or get arrested
  4. Don’t finance your furniture
  5. Don’t finance a new vehicle
  6. Don’t get divorced
  7. Don’t go on a spending spree on your credit cards
  8. Don’t close any credit accounts
  9. Don’s apply for new credit
  10. Don’t increase the limits on existing cards

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

Pat

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).

Subject free offer’s

This is when you write an offer to buy a property without any conditions. So there would be no financing condition, no property inspection and no subject removal period. Once accepted by the vendor ( the seller) it’s a done deal. Well at least in your mind and the sellers mind it’s a done deal. Unless you have the cash on hand don’t do this, and I’ll tell you why.

Yes I know that the real estate market across Canada is crazy right now. I was speaking with one of my local Realtors this week and he told me about a property in my subdivision that was listed for 349K, had 28 offers and ended up going for 646K. This was absolutely un heard of almost a year and a half ago.

That 60 second pre approval you have in your hand isn’t actually a pre approval. However unless they pulled your credit, reviewed your income and verified your down payment, it’s most likely a rate hold. That is great as fixed rates have been increasing lately but it does not allow you the put in a subject fee offer.

While it’s true that we have many sources of funding available to you in Canada these days. If you were thinking of going subject free and using 5% down payment, those sources have now shrunk to 3. This is because we only have 3 high ratio mortgage insurers in Canada, CMHC, Canada Guaranty and Sagen ( formally Genworth). Also a bad idea if you are putting 20% down or more as lenders will require an appraisal. Now what if that appraisal comes in less than your agreed upon price? If this happens you will have to make up the difference from your own pocket.

Lastly if you are putting in a sight unseen offer, as these have been happening. You could find out that the house has a cracked foundation, was a former grow op/meth lab, has a mold problem or is just plain non conforming. You may be perfectly suited to getting financing but that house is not.

For most people this is your single largest financial transaction in your lives. Don’t put yourself in jeopardy by presenting a subject free offer.

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

Pat

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).

Peaks and Valleys

There are seasons to the year just like there are peaks and valleys to your life. If you are like many where the last year with the pandemic was challenging for you both personally as well as financially then you should now be starting to pick up steam and make improvements to many areas of your life. I know that it is that way for me. Just know that the bad times never last forever, and that the one thing constant in life is change. Like my great Mother use to say, ” weather and your underwear are things that change on a constant basis”.

Now since I am in the mortgage business this is how it relates to my field. If you have been listening to the news you may have heard reports that mortgage rates are rising. While that is true, it is also not. Let me explain. Five year fixed mortgages rates have started to move upwards over the past two weeks. However variable rates have not changed. You see the fixed rates are based on bond yields which have been rising thus changing the five year mortgage rates. The variable rates on the other hand are based on the Bank Of Canada prime lending rate, which as they have announced today is not being changed.

So even though the fixed rate payment will be set for the term of your mortgage, you will end up paying less and have a lower penalty to break with the variable. I am here for you if you have any questions but variable is looking like the best way to go. So if your current lender is calling you asking if you wanted to lock into a fixed rate, DON’T DO IT!

“Remember that our problems come in waves, but so do the solutions” Tony Robbins

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

Pat

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).

Crazy ones

Steve Jobs was one of my business idol’s. Not just because I am a huge Apple geek, but also because he saw things differently and found ways to make things happen. The common expression goes that if you want something done just ask someone who is busy and they will find a way to do it. Look for the men and women of action, the risk takers and those with a sense of urgency.

The same goes with your mortgage request. Find someone who is willing to go the extra mile and get your financing completed. Every mortgage file is unique like your fingerprint. No two are exactly the same. Let me find the solution that works best for your situation.

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

Pat

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).