Tag Archive for: mortgage excellence

What is your Why?

Forget about asking what to do or how to do it, why to do it is the most important thing to ask. It has been said that with a strong enough Why anything is possible. Most people know what to do to get in shape and they may even know how to to do it, but without a strong enough why they will never do it. The same can be said to your personal finances or your relationships. Once you know why you want to improve anything becomes possible.

If you are reading this page, you may be thinking of refinancing or purchasing in the near future. The what to do and how to do it are sometimes fairly simple and straight forward. The why however can be a little fuzzy. Some of the common why’s I hear are the following, the family is growing and you need more space, you got a new position so you are moving here to take a job, spousal buyout and or need to clear up a mountain of debt.

Now I am not going to tell you to choose me for “what” many people focus on which are the lowest rates ( while I do in fact have low rates, so too do 95% of the other brokers & lenders). Also I am not going to tell you to choose me for “how” I am available to help you from X am to Y pm almost every day. However my “why” is that I endeavour to make the financing of your current home or your dream home as stress free as possible. If this is important to you then give me a call as I would love to work with you.

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).

It’s a Seller’s Market

Since this is very much a seller’s market and many properties are receiving multiple offers and are also then going for well above list price. So the number one quality to have in this market is patience. There are new properties being listed every day, so sooner or later you will find one that works for you. Just remember that if you are pre-approved ( and I hope you are, if not call me) for 500K that means that you can’t offer 525K. You should be pre-approved at the top of your affordability ratio’s so any higher and you will not get approved.

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).

It’s Grrrreat!

It’s not just a Good Friday, it’s a Great Friday. Getting up without having to rush around and drive anybody anywhere or have to call anybody is a great feeling. Got to meditate and do my workout before anyone even got up. I love holiday’s like this where sometimes the best use of our time is to settle down with a great book.

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).

Don’t be an April Fool!

Happy April Fool’s day, hopefully you have not been tricked yet. Just a short post with some idea’s on how not to be fooled in today’s hot real estate market. 

1) Make sure that you get pre-approved before you start house hunting. Note that most lenders just issue a rate hold but do not actually thoroughly review your file. You will need to deal with a competent professional who will actually review all your necessary supporting documents before your house hunting journey.

2) Don’t get carried away with excitement cause the inventory of available homes are low and there are many buyers bidding on the same property. So I am advising you NOT to write a condition free offer on a property you want to purchase. Unless you have the purchase price in cash this is not a wise decision. See my prior blog post.

3) Interest rates have been rising lately but not all rates. While in the past most people have favoured fixed rates since your payment would not change over the term of your mortgage. There is a better option with variable rates. While fixed rates are based on bond yield which have been steadily rising recently, the variable rates are based on the Bank of Canada overnight rate which has not changed. These are still at generational lows.

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).

Exclusive arrangement

Let’s talk about professional relationships. When you are looking to buy a home you don’t go house hunting with nor put in offers on the same property with 5 different Realtors. You also don’t consult and meet with 5 lawyers when it comes time to close your transaction. However when it comes time to finance said purchase why is it that a select few people (thankfully they are the exception not the rule) have no qualms about dealing with several brokers at the same time. Usually these people can be spotted in the first 15 minutes of the conversation as they seem to be concerned only about rate.

Let me save you the trouble with an example. Rates from most of the lenders in the market are consistently around the same amount. Some may very by 5 basis points or .05%. This works out to $2.39 per 100,000 mortgage payment per month. So all in all not a huge amount of savings for a small difference in rate.

Do yourself a favour and stick with whoever gives you the best service cause at the end of the day that is what is the most important. Do they get back to you in a timely manner, do they answer their phone and do they operate with a sense of urgency to get your financing done in a timely manner.

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).

Mortgage Emergency!

What is a “Mortgage Emergency”? Well the easiest way to describe it is when a mortgage request lands on your desk after having been declined with other brokers or lenders and they have a very tight deadline to get the file completed. While it is still possible to get these files completed, my preference is to avoid having “Mortgage Emergencies” at all.

This is how I do it. I require a full and complete document package upfront and upon submission of your file. This way it can be completely reviewed prior to submission and any potential issues can be addressed prior to sending your documents to the lender. You see we live in a stressful enough world we don’t necessarily need any more stress around what is commonly your biggest lifetime purchase or transaction. When we work together I set the expectation up front that my goal is to have your file broker complete one month prior to your closing date.

Problems invariably arise when documents are submitted too close to the closing date which could trigger your file to being subject to a more thorough internal bank audit. Make it easier on your self and everyone involved in your financing transaction by getting your documents together in a quick and timely manner.

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).

How bad do you want it?

With that you should also be saying, “what are you willing to do that nobody else is willing to do” to achieve your goal? If your goal is to be fitter. Are you watching what you eat? Are you doing your workouts? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you consistent with what needs to be done?

If your goal is to some day soon move out of your parents place and buy a place of your own. Are you putting money away from every paycheque towards your down payment? Are you monitoring your credit report? Are you looking at all your expenses for ways to save some money towards your down payment? Are you paying down your debts? Are you taking extra shifts, working overtime or starting a gig on the side to make some more cash?

Where there is a will there is always a way. To help you get control of your debt and your money I highly recommend YNAB. Focus on your end result and be relentless and you will get there in no time.

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).

Be a Detective

We all know the expression that a picture is worth a 1000 words and that William Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet that “Brevity is the soul of wit”. However when it comes to mortgage financing we need not be brief nor just provide a picture without the 1000 words. We must be like a Dective and flush out the details and tell a compelling story about why you’re a good person and how you can afford to pay back the loan. Let’s leave the one word answers to the unimportant stuff like the weather or politics.

So while some questions may seem quite personal, when it comes to getting your financing approved they are very relevant. Here is one example, during the mortgage application process I ask all clients their marital status. Now saying single can leave some important questions unanswered. Single could be never married or it could also mean recently divorced but now single. To a potential mortgage lender this is a big difference. Whereas the latter could potentially be responsible for support payments. 

You may also not think that it’s important that you co signed for your 2nd cousin twice removed in another province but the lender will care. The more we know about your financial history the better chance we will have of getting your mortgage request approved.

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).

Got time to chat?

As much as mortgages are about numbers, debt service ratios, pre approval amount and interest rates, they are at the end of the day a people business. If you have any questions about your mortgage whether I did it or not, feel free to give me a call and I would be more than happy to help you out.

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).

Real Estate Bubble???

We are in the midst of a crazy real estate market from coast to coast here in Canada. Properties are selling very quickly and in some cases there are multiple offers and they are selling not for thousands of dollars over list but hundreds of thousands of dollars over the listing price.

Here in Nova Scotia in particular where we are used to only modest gains in values of only single percentage points. There was recently a transaction in my subdivision, single family home, bungalow, 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and unfinished basement. The property had not been on the market since new 54 years ago. My Realtor told me that this home had 28 offers and sold for just under 300K over list price.

Now unless you have been under a rock lately you have heard some of the financial pundits talking about a possible real estate bubble here in Canada. While that headline does get a lot of attention, I don’t believe that is the case nor will we experience the pains that the US felt back in 2009.

A few facts to consider, since we are still in the midst of a pandemic our borders have essentially been closed to all except for necessary travellers. Normally Canada welcomes about 500K people per year to immigrate here but now it is down to just a trickle. Real estate inventories on the market are down compared to past years. So with low interest rates, record levels of immigration prior to the lockdown and general population with money to burn has only poured fuel on the fire that was already present.

Knowing this I don’t think we are on the brink of a similar bubble the American’s faced in 2009. We don’t have lenders making loans with low or no documents, nor do we have people qualifying for their mortgages on teaser rates like they did. Our mortgage stress test was implemented in 2016 and has served us well. With discounted AAA rates now at 2.24% and the qualifying rate still at 4.79% I would say that we still have a great buffer in place to protect consumers from rates rising too quickly.

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).