Credit scores are like report cards for grown‐ups. The score you get ranges from 300 to 900. Your score indicates your creditworthiness to potential lenders, banks, landlords, insurance companies, and even to some employers. The higher your score the better. 1. GET A COPY OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT Make an inquiry once a year, twice […]

The decision by British voters to leave the European Union (EU) has shocked markets and will no doubt lead to continued uncertainty for an extended period. Stock markets around the world are reeling, the British pound has taken an unprecedented nosedive, commodity prices with the exception of gold are plunging and interest rates are falling […]

There are great advantages to having business for self. There are many extremely successful business owners that live great lifestyles but don’t have to pay for medical, all because they have great tax write-offs that bring their income down to a low tax bracket. The other side of this is that these great benefits actually […]

1. How the penalties are calculated if I break my mortgage early? Specifically, ask what rate they use to calculate the “interest rate differential”. Typically, if the lender has “posted rates” they use these to calculate the penalty. If this is the case, the penalty can be 3, 4 or even 5 times higher than […]

Interest rates are only one of many features that should be looked at when you are applying for a mortgage. But all things being equal, the interest rate may be more important than you think. I was reviewing mortgage options with a client and the only thing they were interested in was the mortgage rate. […]

Lately we’ve seen projections that rates will begin to increase through the next 15 months. Some banks have projections that show the 5 year bond will increase from the current .65% to 1.7% that 1.05% increase will equate to these numbers. The 5 year mortgage rate on average is set by most lenders at the bond […]

I receive calls every month from people who want to know how to qualify for a mortgage because they were declined by their bank. In many cases I can help them and in some cases they have to wait – but we identify what they need to do to get in a better situation to […]

With the recent changes to the mortgage rules in Canada, we take a moment to look back at the evolution of the mortgage, and to highlight these new changes and what they mean. LOOKING BACK BEFORE 2008 During this time, lending and mortgages were much more laid back! There was 100% financing available, 40 year amortizations, […]

In Winnipeg, MB, Jackson and Hailey have been living in a rental home for more than three years. They liked this rental home so much; they asked the landlord if they could buy this house. The landlord agreed to sell the property for $300,000 to Jackson and Hailey. On August 1, 2015, the landlord as “seller” […]

It’s been a month since Donald Trump stunned the world by beating Hillary Clinton and his presidential win is already affecting many Canadians. Who else but Donald could wipe out more than 1 Trillion dollars in the bond market [1] as investors worry about his campaign promises to cut taxes and take on massive amounts of debt? […]