Tag Archive for: Refinancing

The Financial Gut Punch — And How Smart Homeowners Fight Back

Yesterday was a good day. I picked up a commission cheque from one of my private lending files, swung by the bank to deposit it, and was feeling the kind of quiet satisfaction that comes from doing good work and getting paid for it. Then, on the way home, my 2015 Nissan Pathfinder decided it had other plans. Check engine light flashing. Bad vibration. The kind of feeling in your gut that tells you this isn’t a loose gas cap.

This morning a tow truck came and took it away. Funny how that works.

I’m not telling you this for sympathy. I’m telling you this because it happens to all of us — and it almost always happens at the worst possible time.

The Financial Gut Punch Doesn’t Care About Your Timing

It’s never a leaky roof in a good month. It’s never a transmission when you have a fully funded emergency account and zero stress. It shows up when you’re building momentum, when you finally feel like things are moving in the right direction, when you had plans for that money.

My clients go through versions of this all the time. A furnace. A job interruption. A separation. And then there’s the one nobody sees coming — your favourite cousin just announced her destination wedding. In Bora Bora. Of all places. Now you’re looking at airfare, a hotel, a wedding gift, and apparently a new outfit because you can’t show up to Bora Bora looking like that. Does she think you’re a Rockefeller? But it’s your favourite cousin. So obviously you’re going.

The details change but the feeling is the same — sudden, stressful, and expensive.

The difference between people who recover quickly and people who spiral isn’t luck. It’s knowing your options before you need them. And if you own a home, you likely have more options than you think.

Four Ways Homeowners Fight Back

1. The HELOC — Your Financial Fire Extinguisher

A Home Equity Line of Credit is one of the most powerful and underused tools a homeowner has. It sits quietly in the background, costs you nothing until you use it, and gives you access to your equity on demand. Think of it as a financial fire extinguisher — you hope you never need it, but you really want it on the wall when the kitchen catches fire. If you have equity and you don’t have a HELOC, that’s a conversation worth having before the next gut punch arrives.

2. Refinancing to Reset

Sometimes a surprise expense is actually the nudge you needed to look at the bigger picture. If you’re carrying high-interest debt alongside a mortgage, a refinance can roll everything together, lower your monthly payments, and give you room to breathe again. It’s not giving up — it’s restructuring. Smart people do it all the time.

3. Private Lending as a Bridge

This one surprises people. Private mortgages aren’t just for clients who can’t qualify traditionally — they’re also a legitimate short-term tool for homeowners who need to move fast. When timing matters and traditional financing is too slow, a private bridge can solve a problem in days instead of weeks. Short term, higher cost, but sometimes exactly the right move.

4. Strategic Use of Investments

RRSPs and TFSAs can play a role in a financial recovery plan — but this one requires care. The timing, the tax implications, and the long-term cost of withdrawing early all matter. Used thoughtfully, they can be part of the solution. Used impulsively, they can create a new problem. This is where having the right conversation makes all the difference.

There’s Always a Path Forward

I’m still waiting to hear whether my Pathfinder needs a valve body or a full transmission rebuild. Either way, there’s a solution. It might not be the one I wanted, and it might cost more than I’d like — but there’s a path forward.

There always is.

If life just handed you an unexpected bill and you own your home, don’t sit on it. You may have options you haven’t considered yet. That’s exactly the kind of conversation I have every day.

Let’s talk.

Patrick Sawler — Mortgage Broker, Craigburn Capital Licensed in Nova Scotia and Ontario | Private Financing in NB and PEI craigburn.com

Put a few notches in the win column!

We have all had those times where we think that nothing is going our way. I was having one of those days and one of my good friends sent me this:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

– Author unknown

So to summarize that, persist until you succeed. If your goal is to get in better shape, then decide to do something about it by starting a health & fitness program, If you want to improve your relationship(s), then work on improving “you” and if you want to improve your finances, then pick up the phone and contact my office and we would love to see how we could improve your situation.

Cheers,

Pat

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How to use your home equity to feather your nest!

More than a decade ago, trendsetters began to tell us about the future trend of “cocooning”.  They predicted that decoration magazines, home renovation businesses and luxury home fashions and furnishings would see a big boom. However recently we continued to look outside our home for entertainment, and the idea of nesting at  home seemed unlikely. 

But the the futurists were right, and Canadians have come home en masse: to work ( as I am doing right now) to play, to socialize, and the retreat. Not surprisingly, they are reshaping their homes to accommodate their new passion for home life. Canada has become the renovation nation, with more than one third of Canadian homeowners planning a significant renovation in their near future ( just ask my wife) and  according to CMHC. Even with our simmering economy sales for home improvements remain strong, just try to find a parking spot at your local Kent, Home Depot or Rona on a Saturday Morning. That “Honey Do List” needs to be tackled.

So where are people spending the money? People are still renovating their kitchens, but they have been overtaken by exterior renovations ( like landscaping, roofing, decks and fences) bathroom renovations ( anyone need a bidet?) and carpeting and flooring. Kitchens are now the 4th most popular. Do it your self renovations are most likely to tackle rec-room renovations or paining and wallpaper. 

Before you embark on a renovation project, you should consider whether you are improving your home for your own comfort, or to increase the value of your home. Renovations are not created equal, and some will perform better than others when it comes to adding value to your home.

Most renovations will improve the value of your home, but you should not expect to fully recover your renovation costs. There are some exceptions and they often vary from one region to another. Go to the CMHC website as they provide a general cost vs value guideline. For example, you can expect to recoup up to 73% of a kitchen renovation, making it the smartest renovation investment. Followed by bathroom  up to 71% then exterior work like landscaping or painting up to 62% and re doing the family room up to 56% of your investment. 

But there is more to the renovation fever than a desire to practice trading spaces at home. The passion for home life is coinciding with the availability of attractive financing. A mortgage is one of the lowest cost of borrowing loans that you can get, and Canadians are taking advantage of this to do the upgrades that they have been dreaming of, rather than putting it on the credit card!

If you are thinking of doing a major renovation, then you owe it to your self to give us a call to find out about some of the financing options that are available. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Cheers,

Pat