I recently met a couple that took out a reverse mortgage to purchase a house in Hamilton, ON. Their daughter was attending McMaster University, and was just starting her post-graduate degree. After spending close to $25,000 over 4-years in rent, her parents decided to get into the landlord business! Here’s how the numbers worked out: […]

By now you will have likely heard that the Federal Finance Minister has made drastic changes to mortgage lending rules making it tougher to qualify for a mortgage. For Canadians with less than a 20% down payment, their purchasing power has been dramatically reduced. So what can you do if you want to purchase a […]

Often times it’s the simple math that will betray you when selling a property. In your head you do quick calculations, you take what you think your property will sell for and then subtract what you owe on your mortgage, and the rest is your profit! Well… not so fast, there are several costs that have […]

So it seems that there are still Canadian consumers who have reservations or misunderstandings about why a mortgage broker is their best choice. Time to take a quick look at 5 reasons you should use a broker. 1. Almost always free to use. 41% of consumers polled for the June 2016 Mortgage Professionals Canada “The […]

The Minister of Finance announced on Monday new Canadian mortgage rules effective October 17,2016. The new rules will impact high ratio buyers – those with less than 20% down payment. Other rule changes are expected to follow so stay tuned for details as they unfold. The important thing to remember is that this is not the end of […]

Lately in the news we have seen several articles on major mortgage fraud happening in different parts of the country. Many of these cases involved unregulated mortgages and they are the source of most of the complaints to the governing bodies in each province. Consumer education on the different types of mortgage lenders is very […]

Yesterday, Ottawa unveiled major initiatives to slow housing activity both by potentially discouraging foreign home purchases and, more importantly, by making it more difficult for Canadians to get mortgages. As well, the Finance Minister is limiting the degree to which mortgage lenders can buy portfolio insurance on mortgages with downpayments of 20% or more. Ottawa […]

Every mortgage secured by a property will be registered with the land title office.There are two ways your mortgage can be registered on title: Standard charge or collateral charge.  Not long ago, most lenders registered all mortgages as a standard charge.  In recent years, some lenders – mainly the major big banks – have moved […]

Do you remember the ‘choose your own adventure’ books? You would read through the story and watch as the hero or heroine battled through their struggles until you got to the page where your involvement was required. You could choose path A and turn to page X or you could choose path B and turn […]

Did you know that the majority of first-time homebuyers are Millennials? That’s right; Canadians born between 1980 and 1995 now represent a full 77 per cent of first-time homebuyers. If you fit the mold, then get a leg up on the competition as we enter the year’s hottest real estate month. Here are our five […]