Tag Archive for: Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Close call

For most a close call is a wake up call. It’s a signal to pay attention so you won’t get caught off guard again. Almost hit people in a crosswalk cause you were playing with your phone, then it’s time to put it away and use Bluetooth only. Survived a heart attack or a stroke then that is a sure sign that you need to make your health a priority. Car making a weird noise and the dealer who only puts on new parts quotes you 2K to replace it until you find a local shop with a mechanic that can fix it for $250.

I thought of this today as I had one of those close calls yesterday. I always to my long workouts in the weekend and yesterday I did a 50K bike ride. Even though we finished before the day got really hot, I still lost quite a bit of fluids. Thinking I had my bases covered with Gatorade and other fluids wasn’t enough. Several leg cramps last night made me realize that I am not replacing all the nutrients that I have lost and need to make sure that I have enough potassium and magnesium. Neighbour is a dietician who helped with the diagnosis this morning.

So what will it take you before you take the necessary action and change your ways. Do you need a close call? Be fortunate if you get one cause sometimes people are not so lucky. Make the most of it if you get it.

Today I am thankful for a chat with a knowledgeable neighbour, the opportunity to do it again but better the next time and people who respond to service requests on Sunday.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Stimulus Response

Yes I know this was a scientific theory developed in the 1940’s by Clark Hull. However today I want to talk about my personal experiences with stimulus response. In layman’s terms it means that we are already pre programmed to respond to situations that life presents us in already pre defined ways. So in order for us to change our behaviours we have to recognize what sets us off so we can change how we respond.

I won’t say that I am a weekend warrior as I train every day of the week, I just schedule my longer intensity sessions on Saturday & Sunday. Saturday I normally do a 50-70K bike ride with friends and Sunday I run between 10-15K. However if I am not careful if I sit down too long at any point in the afternoon on either of those days, I very easily pass out. Now don’t get me wrong I love naps, it’s just unless I can have a full hour long one I ruin the rest of my day be being extremely cranky. So my wife’s rule for me is no more naps.

So find something that you want to change, it could be what you eat, how much you drink or watching too much tv. There is invariably a stimulus that sets you off by making the activity pretty much automatic. Once you realize what that is then it can be quite easy to change your behaviour. Once you cut out or change the stimulus it then becomes easier to change the response.

Go out with or hang out with certain friends and you drink too much, change your stimulus. Board and go to the mall or surf to Amazon/wayfair or any other online merchant and you spend too much money, then find other ways to spend your time and you will save money. I realized that I was wasting too much time on social media so I cut it out cold turkey as it wasn’t serving me. Change your stimulus and you can change your response.

Today I am thankful for the great Saturday morning ride with Marissa & Steve today, that I realized what was setting me off so I could change it and my quiet house when I got home so I could get some work done.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Every Penny Counts

When it comes to managing your money, every penny counts. It’s the same when it’s about life in general, the little things matter. Far too often we discount the small purchase or the small actions until they have accumulated into a massive bill or horrible habit.

So to put this into perspective, that daily coffee habit is closing you far more than you think. That grande non fat latte is $5.65, I know as this was my wife’s daily drink. This is $28.25 a week, $113 a month or $1,356 a year. Since she is now working at home we purchased a Nespresso machine and just make it at home for 1/4 of the cost.

You can look at your daily habits the same way. I just had breakfast with a childhood friend and he was asking me for advise about exercise. I asked him what he can give up in the run of a day to add in some time to exercise. This is because to add a good habit one must first subtract something that is not serving you.

What are you spending your money or your time on that is not giving you the results that you want? If you don’t know where your time or money goes most days then I highly suggest that you track it for two weeks to determine what you can remove or change for the better.

Today I am thankful for the breakfast with an old friend, keeping track of the little things before they become huge problems and my 1st day back in my renovated office.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

To the limit

No this is not a reference to the Eagles song, but rather about pushing yourself to new area’s of growth. If you are always living in your comfort zone and doing things well within your limits then you are merely surviving but not actually truly living to your fullest potential.

I bring this up as I have been running for years and was normally quite pleased with my running pace. However after having some injuries this past winter I was struggling to get back to where I was before and each run seemed like a struggle. The effortless pace of the past had been replaced by a slog to get through my runs.

This all changed when I started running with a neighbour and challenging each other to improve the pace at the next interval. Doing this resulted in my first sub 5 average over 5K today, when I thought my fast days were behind me. The thing is that we are capable of so much more than we are currently experiencing, all we really must do is push ourselves past our comfort zone to the area of real growth.

Today I am thankful for the extra push on my run this morning, finding one area of growth that is leading to growth is so many more other area’s and listing to my wife sing as she works this morning.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Better Goals

Better goals, and more specific goals get better results. More often than not most of us have the goal of just getting through the day or the week and if that is the case it’s no wonder that we are not getting the results that we want.

Be more intentional about your life and you will find that you may just get what you want. You need to be as specific as possible, what does it look like, sound like, feel like etc. Don’t get caught up in how it will become possible, the first thing you need to do is to get a really clear picture of what you want and why you want it.

This is not some manifesting thing where you create the idea or goal in your head and set it and forget it. Instead you need to write it down in as much detail as possible. With clarity comes focus and soon you will find events starting to come into your life that make it possible to achieve your goal. Since I am a mortgage broker, and if home ownership is your goal, what does it look like, describe it in great detail and then and only then work on a plan to making it happen.

Today I am thankful for the fact that my office is almost back to normal, a grey rainy morning which was great for teenagers sleeping in and several solutions to a problem that popped up late in the day yesterday.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Canadian Inflation Numbers July 2022

The inflation numbers for July 2022 just came out and they have finally started to come down. The Canadian inflation rate for July was 7.6% which is down from 8.1% in June. So it appears that we are headed in the right direction and coming down from peak inflation. This is similar to what the American’s announced last week.

On the whole consumer prices increased by only .1% the smallest change since Dec 2021. While we are not out of the woods yet as we are still well above the comfort level of 3% inflation. The next report in September will be the best indication that we are truly headed in the right direction once and for all.

The may be the news that the Bank of Canada has been looking for after hiking rates by a full percentage point in July. While there is still a strong possibility that they may still increase the rates in the next meeting in September at least this news should tamper them to only 25 or 50 basis points this time.

Today I am thankful for people who call me out of the blue for credit advice, for the YNAB program existing to help us all manage our money better and repair work getting close to being complete at my house.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Track It

In today’s modern world there is data for everything, from your daily steps, calories consumed, money saved or spent, distance ran or biked to amount of sleep. It has often been said that you can’t change what you don’t track. This goes for everything from your weight, your finances, your fitness or your sleep.

If it is important to you then you should be keeping track of it on a regular basis. In order to improve yourself you first need to know where you stand today and the best way to do that is track your current and past results.

Want to improve your finances then you should be keeping track of how much you make and how you spend it. Start first with recording everything for a week, incoming and outgoing. For any change to happen you need to know your baseline. From there you will have the data necessary to make any needed changes.

When you think about it the successful people and companies are using data all the time to improve. From professional golfers, tennis players, baseball, basketball and hockey. They all surround themselves with data all the time, comparing where they are now in their training cycle to where they want to go. Companies do this as well so they know how well they are doing with the products and services they offer.

So for any change to happen in your life and have it last you first must track it, and use that data to improve your results going forward.

Today I am thankful for my daily reading habit, picking up new ideas and concepts on a daily basis from someone else’s experience and new data from my latest fitness effort on the weekend so I know where I have to improve.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Silver Lining

If you are like most people there is probably some part or someone in your life that doesn’t make you happy. If this is the case then it sounds like a little change in perspective is in order. It is so easy to think about all the things that make you mad, that in and of its self is unproductive and will take you toward a no win scenario.

So instead of continuing to think what you don’t like or what’s not working, focus on what you like and what you are grateful for and a whole world of opportunities will open up to you.

Out of shape, be grateful that you now realized this and that it is in your power to do something about it

Too much debt, talk with your creditors if you have to but also realize that you are not alone and plenty of people have been in the same situation and climbed their way out.

Less than ideal relationship with your spouse or kids, start making a list of what you love about them and focus on that instead.

Hate your job, find something that you like about it and focus on that and do it to the best of your ability.

Today I am thankful for a great early morning run with the neighbour after the rain had stopped, quiet house as my kids are all working today and the slower pace of Sunday’s.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Double up

Roughly one year about the fixed mortgage rates for a 5 year AAA client were 2.04%. Now the rates for the same term is 4.59%. While much higher thank last year it has come down in the past few weeks from it’s peak of 5.09% back in June.

Let’s say that you were one of the lucky ones who got a fixed rate mortgage last year with a rate of 2.04%, 25 year amortization and 300K mortgage balance with a payment of 1276.15. Most of the lenders I deal with have excellent pre payment privileges, from putting an extra 15 to 20% of your principal directly on your mortgage once per year or doubling up your payments.

Since not many would have an extra 45-60K just lying around to put directly on your principal but you’re doing well this year and as a result want to take advantage of the double up feature. Everything on and above your prescribed mortgage payment of 1276.15 which is a mix of interest & principal will go directly to paying down the principal. So by doubling up your payments, you will pay off your mortgage 14 years early and have it paid off just over 11 years instead of 25. Just something to think about if you are lucky enough to have a low fixed rate mortgage.

Today I am thankful for a nice 50K bike ride with friends this morning, because of an early start I was back early enough to get some work done and new gears on my bike made it much faster.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here

Self Care

No matter who you are, there all comes a point where we must take care of ourselves. You can’t help friends and family with money if you yourself are experiencing money problems. You can’t help others relax if you yourself are overly stressed. You can’t help friends and family with their health if you yourself are also in poor health.

When we take care of ourselves first, it makes it that much easier to take care of everyone else that is important in our lives. So take care of your money so you can help those you love if it is needed. The same goes for your health, both mental and physical health are equally important.

Don’t feel guilty about taking some time to take care of yourself, we all need to do that from time to time. Even those of us who place the needs of other before our own ( all the Mom’s out there) still need to take breaks to take care of yourself too.

Today I am thankful for a great massage therapy session this morning, expert contractors who are fixing the leak in my office and when my kids are all out of the house at work.

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 Brokerage (2021-3000179) Broker (2021-3000180), Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

p.s.s.s You can download my new mortgage app here