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 […]

1. Make a double mortgage payment whenever you can. Doing this once a year can shave over 4 years off the mortgage! Sometimes you can skip a payment later on too…if you really, really need to. Try not to. If your payment is $2,000 a month, four years of no payments is $96,000!! 2. Increase frequency […]

Buying your first home is often the largest financial commitment you will have made and just coming up with the down payment is a difficult task for many! Then there are the legal fees, property transfer fees, disbursements and all those other costs that can really add up, creating a huge dent in your finances! […]

Trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and that can be seen as a single work of art or as three individual pieces. I pulled this definition from WIKIPEDIA. I wouldn’t quite go as far to say this series was ‘work of art,’ the only thing I did find comparable […]

We have finally seen a bump up in interest rates. The 5 year government bond rate hit a low of about .60 in mid-September and is now pushing towards 1%. The lenders have reacted to this and we have seen the low rates of 2.59% on the 5 year fixed rate disappear. Some banks have […]

On Friday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced changes to down payment requirements. Effective February 15, 2016, the minimum down payment for new insured mortgages will increase from five per cent to 10 per cent for the portion of the house price above $500,000. The five per cent minimum down payment for properties up to $500,000 remains […]

Many Canadians think of retirement as a time filled with vacations, getaways to the cottage and spending more time on hobbies and interests. However, there are many other factors to consider when thinking about retirement savings. More and more Canadians are forgetting about some key obstacles that may change their perspective on what they actually […]

Growing in popularity over the past few years, the vendor take-back mortgage can help buyers to purchase and sellers to find qualified buyers – especially in a tough market. What is a vendor take-back mortgage – or VTB? When a seller offers to lend the buyer a portion of money towards the down payment – […]

With mortgage interest rates at historical lows, it is a wonderful time for first time home buyers to take the leap into the market. But there are some considerations and preparations to be made before starting the process. A higher level of bank scrutiny has come into play now that the governance of CMHC has […]

With mortgage interest rates at historical lows, it is a wonderful time for first time home buyers to take the leap into the market. But there are some considerations and preparations to be made before starting the process. A higher level of bank scrutiny has come into play now that the governance of CMHC has […]