Tag Archive for: mortgage professional

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).

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Warren Buffett is famous for saying this in regards to your investments, as it opens you up to greater risk. However I want to also tell you that it applies to your banking relationships as well.

We have some great banking institutions here in Canada. There are lots of great options for your personal banking, your investments, your mortgages and your commercial banking. However it’s best if they were not all with the same lender. Let me give you an example of why in regards to your mortgage.

The majority of lenders these days are securing your mortgage as a collateral charge. What this means is that they are registering the loan for the value of the property or the value + 25% depending on the market. The advantage of this is that it allows the lender to offer you a line of credit without you having to incur additional legal or appraisal fee’s. While that is convenient but what if you also have all of your savings, chequing and credit cards with the same lender and for some unforeseen reason you missed some credit card payments, because all of your lending is with the same source you could have your mortgage foreclosed upon because of a credit card default.

The solution is to make sure that your personal baking ( checking, saving & investments) are with lender ABC while your mortgage is with lender DEF, and your credit cards could be with lender XYZ. Diversify your personal banking as much as you diversify your investments.

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).

All your ducks in a row

When you leave for a vacation do you scramble around the morning of your departure cramming suitcases and trying to think if you have everything and then invariably arrive late to the airport and almost miss your flight. I am sure there are some of you that do that but I assure you that is not the best way to go.

If you want the smoothest experience as possible it’s always best to plan ahead. That is the same way that I approach getting your financing for your property in order. For most of us this is the single biggest financial transaction in our lives. Wouldn’t you rater that it be as stress free as it can be for all involved.

The way that we do this is to work with you and gather all the pertinent documents upfront and then thoroughly review them prior to submitting them to the prospective lender. Thus allowing for your financing to get approved as quickly as possible so then you can focus on the other important things in your life.

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).

Shack Happy

Shack Happy, Cabin Fever or whatever you want to call it you’re feeling cranky from being stuck inside with the same people for way too long. March Break is almost over, just be thankful that it didn’t last as long as the March Break that never ended in 2020. Now that the weather is finally starting to warm up and Spring 2021 is officially here today, to put yourself in a better mood go for a walk or better yet a run. Change your surrounding and just get out and move your body for at least 30 minutes. It will do yourself some good as well it will be beneficial for those you live with.

If you in fact desire to change where you live, please touch base with me so I can work to get you pre approved so you can be well on your way to your next property.

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).

Snow shovelling

Just a quick post to make sure that you are shoveling safe today .

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).

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).