12 Apr

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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11 Apr

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 Apr

FEDS OFFER NEW INCENTIVES FOR NEW HOME BUYERS

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

In this year’s budget, the federal government announced a program for first-time homebuyers that would offer between 5% and 10% top up from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. If you’re buying a brand new home, the CMHC will give you 10% of the total cost, and it will offer 5% if it’s an older […]

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9 Apr

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 hours Part […]

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8 Apr

A SHIFTING MARKET… AGAIN

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

The recent data sure has changed the tone of rates in the coming months. The prime rate – what variable rates are based on, while a few short weeks ago was expected to rise three times in the next 18 months now with the data on the slowing of the market and uncertainty in projects […]

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5 Apr

SOURCE OF FUNDS

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Over the past several years, investigators have been working on an ongoing investigation relating to criminal money laundering in Canada. Looking at B.C. alone, billions of dollars have been laundered through B.C. casinos by criminal organizations and parked in high end B.C. real estate over the past decade or more. With government citing limited resources […]

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4 Apr

7 STEPS TO BUYING A HOME

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

It’s important to understand the home buying process, so here’s a 7-step checklist. Step 1: Down Payment The hardest part to buying a home is saving the down payment (a gift from the Bank of Mom & Dad also works). • For purchases under $500,000 minimum down payment is 5%. • Buying between $501-999,000 you […]

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3 Apr

HOW A SIDE HUSTLE CAN CHANGE YOUR HOME-BUYING OUTLOOK

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

So you want to buy a house, but you’re short on the downpayment. Have you ever considered getting into some sort of “side hustle.” The term side hustle describes something you do to make extra cash outside your full-time job. Anyone can make a hundred bucks on the side by literally doing anything – mowing […]

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2 Apr

WE’RE NOT JUST A MORTGAGE COMPANY

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

Well, it finally happened. I was meeting with a financial advisor today and they looked at my business card and asked “Why does it say Dominion Lending Centres and not Dominion Mortgage Company?” I have been waiting 7 years to hear this question. I had an answer all ready for today. I said “that’s because […]

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1 Apr

WHY WE WORKED WITH A BROKER

General

Posted by: Mike Hattim

We recently had a couple come into our office who we had worked with in 2011. They had some life changes that had occurred in the past 7 years and were unsure if they could make things work. They came back to speak with us and shared a little bit of their story and thoughts […]

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