18 Jul

FORECLOSURE, BANKRUPTCY, CONSUMER PROPOSAL & CREDIT COUNSELING

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

The Canadian Bankers Association’s latest report on mortgage delinquency shows that Saskatchewan has the highest per capita of all the provinces. The national average shows that .24% of home owners are having difficulty paying their mortgage. Saskatchewan is more than triple that at .80% with next in line Atlantic Canada at .51% and then Alberta […]

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16 Jul

WHAT IS A MORTGAGE “REFINANCE” AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT ME?

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Refinancing a Home is one of those things where people understand what it is but have trouble explaining How it works. To put it simply, refinancing your Home allows you to access the equity you have built up, by changing the mortgage amount. Let’s say you bought a $300,000 condo and you paid 20% ($60,000) […]

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15 Jul

SHOULD YOU PAY DOWN YOUR MORTGAGE ASAP?

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

One of the top questions we get asked: Should I pay down my mortgage as fast as possible? In theory, this makes sense. The faster you pay it down, the faster you get out of debt, right? For many people that is the case and it does make sense often times to take this route. […]

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12 Jul

5 WAYS YOU COULD USE A CHIP REVERSE MORTGAGE

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Reverse mortgages are continuing to grow as a retirement solution for Canadians 55+. Homeowners 55+ are unlocking their home equity for tax-free funds that improve their cashflow and pay-off higher interest loans. Consider your own financial needs. Do any of these 5 common scenarios sound familiar? 1) You have missed a payment/made a late payment. […]

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11 Jul

CONDO HOME INSURANCE

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

First thing I would like to say about home insurance- this is not what we specialize in. We are experts when it comes to brokering mortgages, not determining what type of home insurance would be best suited for you. That being said, there are 3 key topics we would like people to be aware of […]

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10 Jul

20 TERMS THAT HOMEBUYERS NEED TO KNOW

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. It’s common for a first-time homebuyer to be overwhelmed when it comes to real estate industry jargon, so this BLOG is to help make some of the jargon understandable. To help you understand the process and have confidence in your choices, […]

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9 Jul

5 MORTGAGE TIPS TO HELP YOU AFFORD A HOME

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Buying a home is more difficult now than ever—and this is not news to anyone! No matter where you live, the recent stress testing measures, increase in housing prices in major cities, and continued increase of the cost of living all combine to make home ownership a daunting task. But we do want to offer […]

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8 Jul

INCOME QUALIFIED

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

There are several different ways a borrower can qualify for a mortgage when it comes to their income. One of the most common ways is known as income qualified. All of the following methods of employment income are under the income qualified umbrella: – Annual salary income employees – Full time employees working guaranteed weekly […]

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5 Jul

MILLIONAIRES AND REAL STATE

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Andrew Carnagie was one of the richest men in America over 100 years ago. Today his wealth would be worth $4.6 billion dollars. He was a shrewd businessman. While he made most of his money in oil and iron, he understood the value and importance of real estate in building wealth. Leveraging your money is […]

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4 Jul

TECHNOLOGY IN MORTGAGES AND REAL ESTATE

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Technology is already playing a huge role in the mortgage industry. In the past, mortgage applications had to be physically taken by hand and faxed in (what’s fax anyways?!)… It may soon by possible, with technology’s help, for borrowers to be able to fill out their own application and send it, along with all supporting […]

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