Tag Archive for: Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Make One Change

What if I told that you that you only had to make one change that it would exponentially improve your odds of success would you do it? It’s not the latest app or gadget and anyone can do this. It is the building block of all achievement, it is the belief that you can do it. You see with belief you are willing to try new things and persist through the failures until you succeed.

I though about this one fact while watching a few minutes of the Tampa Bay Bucks game against the Chicago Bears last night. I will admit that I am not a football fan and would readily watch any other sport but their quick reversal of fortune intrigued me.

You see prior to Tom Brady joining the Bucks last year Tampa had a record of 5-11 in 2018 and 7-9 in 2019. Finishing out of the playoffs both years. Then with the addition of Brady and his proven track record of winning they finished last year 11-5 and won the Super Bowl. However I think it was more than the addition of this Hall of Fame player, it was him also instilling in them the belief that they could do it.

Wouldn’t you agree that we always have performed better when someone intensely believes in us. In fact there are countless movies where just the addition of a teacher or coach who has profound belief in his/her students/athletes immediately effects their results. Henry Ford said it best when he said ” whether you think you can or can’t you’re still right”. With that in mind make this one change and see how your life changes.

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning.” Mahatma Gandhi

Today I am thankful for the two deer that greeted me and my dog on our walk this morning, great chats with old friends and the optimism for a great week ahead.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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


Mortgage Math Revised

A few years ago I wrote a post about how you can calculate out your own debt service and figure out on your own how much house you can afford. A lot has changed since I published that in 2015, so today I wanted to update a few key components to that prior post.

Insurer’s ( CMHC, Sagen & Canada Guranty) have revised the debt service requirements ( GDS/TDS). See the prior post for the definitions. What was once the limit at 32/40 has now changed to 35/42 and up as high as 39/44. Note that these new limits are based on your credit score. If your beacon score is between 650-680 you can now qualify for 45/42 and those over 680 beacon scores can now qualify for 39/44.

Also one must not forget the fantastic qualifying rate of 5.25% that all mortgages must qualify for even though the current rates are much much less.

So here is a quick example. Say that your engineering job pays you 70K per year and you have 750 beacon score. Let’s assume for now that there are no other outside debt to make the example easy. 70,000/12=5,833.33 X .39 = 2,275. This is now your maximum mortgage payment for GDS before household expenses.

Now for TDS the process is the same but with a different ratio. 70,000/12 = 5,833.33 X.44 = 2,566.66. This is now your maximum payment for TDS before household expenses and debt payments.

To figure out what your maximum mortgage you can afford, you take the lesser of the two ratio’s which in this case is 2,275 and divide that by the the qualifying rate of 5.25 and multiple that by 1000. So 2,275/5.25 = 433.33 X 1000 = 433,333.33. This is your maximum mortgage amount.

“Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” Albert Einstein

Today I am thankful for the beautiful fall colours, the crispiness in the air and the feeling of euphoria after a great run.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Off Day

Every now and then we have an off day where we just take a mulligan and restart from scratch the next day. Yesterday was that day for me.No excuses and I am back on the horse today.

Today I am thankful for a chance to restart when I had fallen off yesterday, walking up to spring time temperatures and new opportunities that have just arrived.

“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.”
― Bill Watterson

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Get it in writing

Important events in your life should always be received in writing. A handshake is good for a greeting not for a formal agreement. I had a prospective client call me yesterday and tell me that the previous broker they worked with got them pre approved but that they had never received it in writing.

Job offer’s for any reputable company are always received in writing. Part of the marriage ceremony is to sign your marriage certificate. If you go into business with someone you enter into a partnership agreement. When I take on commercial clients I have them sign a mandate agreement. Most importantly when you buy real estate you need to get it in writing.

Also to illustrate this is that your pre qualification is only a rough calculation of what you can afford based on what the clients disclose. A pre approval is NOT a pre approval unless it is received in writing. In writing it will have the rate that is being offered, for how long it is held for and the amount of the pre approval.

Today I am thankful for crisp cool nights and still some warmth in the afternoons, getting to practice my french during my daily calls and the new licensing process is almost complete.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt (she was awesome)

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Fall Colours

With the cooler weather there is no better time than now to take a day trip to go around the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton and see the beautiful fall colours. This also happens to coincide with family’s annual October contest. This is one where we try to make it till November 1st before we turn the heat on. So until then enjoy the beautiful scenery and put on a warm weather and wool socks.

“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” Stanley Horowitz

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Accentuate the positive

Life is far too short to go though it always focusing on or talking about what’s not working or thinking about what may not work. Nobody wants to associate with someone who is always complaining. We much more enjoy hanging out with those who are always laughing and who are the life of the party.

Also by accentuating the positive you are opening yourself up to more possible solutions when challenges do arise. Our lives aren’t always perfect however by focusing on the positive you end up getting more of that and when problems do arise they tend not to be a very big deal anyway.

The age old expression of you get what you think about is so true so control the little demon between your ears and start thinking about what you want more of in your life.

Today I am thankful for my internal alarm clock waking up up at the perfect time even though I was up far too late working last night, my son who had a very happy birthday yesterday and my dog who was willing and able to help him unwrap his presents.

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Life’s a game

However your life is not a game of comparison or competition. It’s not a game of social media likes. It’s not a game of who makes more money. It’s not a game of who takes the best vacations. It’s not a game of who has the fastest car. It’s not a game of who has the best abs, hair or who is the fittest.

The only person you should be comparing yourself to and competing agains is you. Specifically your version from yesterday as are you getting better every day. Sure big fantastic goals are great but it’s the small incremental improvements on a daily basis that will give you the best results.

Contribute a little more that you did yesterday. Save a little more than yesterday. Love a little more than yesterday. This all adds up to exponential improvement over the long run. It is a game of the present moments, so focus on them and enjoy every experience.

Today I am thank for a beautiful fall day for a long run, smiling at a dog on my run and have both the dog and owner smile back and hitting a pace on my run that I had not hit in over a year.

“Life is a game, and it’s much more fun if you play it as your own game, so stay light and loose and relaxed.” Bill Murray

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Time Control

Every day we are given a deposit of 86,400 seconds. It does not mater if you are rich or poor, black or white, christian or atheist we all get the same amount. It is what we do with it that sets us all apart.

Those who learn to manage and control their time better will have better results. I have noticed this a lot in the last week when I basically cut out social medial except for 3 two minute blocks where I cleared away notifications. My productivity increased 10 fold as I found I was much more focused on high return tasks.

To compare time management to money management, YNAB does a great job where it gives ever dollar a job. Could you do the same with time and how much better would your productivity increase? What are you doing that you could cut out where you are basically wasting time and what could you do in replace of it?

Today I am thankful for friendly new neighbours, increased productivity thanks to better time control and the feeling of accomplishment from the increase in productivity.

“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.” Bill Keane

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Sliding into the weekend

Yes the picture was me this morning, and apologies to my neighbours as I did my C&J in the driveway. So are you sliding into the weekend like a boss or have you barely made it to Friday. If you made progress towards your goals rather than putting out fires all week I would say you arrived like the former rather than the later.

Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment that you have made some serious progress towards your goals. If homeownership is your goal, then make sure that are managing your credit well and saving for your down payment. You can do this by signing up for a credit monitoring service so you can keep track of how you are doing. In regards to your down payment, I highly recommend that you check out and start using YNAB to help you manage your money.

Today I am thankful for a beautiful fall morning so it’s still warm enough to workout outside, all the great conversations from my massive amount of calls this week and good news via email over night.

“Weekends don’t count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.” Bill Watterson

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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

Self Talk

The starting point of any achievement is actually believing that you can do it. This is actually more important that brainstorming your goals or taking massive action. Doing those things yet still doubting your self is not going to get you very far. Once you believe it is possible your chances of success increases exponentially.

Without a doubt we are always our own worst critic. So if you can’t believe in yourself how do expect anyone else to believe in you. Change how you talk with yourself, and what was once problems now become opportunities.

Here are a few examples and how to turn them around:

Negative: Positive:

I have never done it before It’s a chance to learn something new

I don’t know how to do it I can learn it

It’s too complicated I can figure it out

I will mess it up I have overcome tougher challenges

Other people can do it better I look for the bright side of things

Someone else should do it I deserve to win, I am always improving

I don’t have the time/resources/experience I am resourceful/ Others can help me

It won’t work I will come up with an answer

I have to do it I choose to do it

I tried and failed before I enjoy adapting and growing with change

I am not good enough I trust myself to succeed

I am not good at this I can do this

I give up I will use a different strategy 

I can’t make this better I can always improve

This is too hard It may take some time but I can do it

I made a mistake Mistakes help me learn

I am not smart enough I will learn how to do this

“Whether you think you can or your can’t, either way you are right.” Henry Ford

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, Ontario(M18001555) & in British Columbia(BCFSA #504098).

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