Often, the route to owning your own home can seem like a trip to the moon and back. Really though, it comes down to five key steps: 1 – Manage your credit wisely. If there is one thing that will gum up the purchase of that perfect home, it’s an unwise purchase or extra credit […]

Approximately 32 per cent of Canadians are in a variable rate mortgage, which with rates effectively declining steadily for the better part of the last ten years has worked well. Recent increases triggers questions and concerns, and these questions and concerns are best expressed verbally with a direct call to your independent mortgage expert – […]

The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 1% and signalled a cautious approach to future rate rises. The bank is forecasting a continued rise in inflation, reaching 2% in the second half of 2018 and for the economy to grow at above-potential with 3.1% for this year, 2.1% for 2018 and 1.5% in […]

It has been said that there are two certainties in life; death and taxes. Well, as it relates to your mortgage, the single certainty is that you will pay back what you borrowed, plus interest. However, how you make your mortgage payments, the payment frequency, is somewhat up to you! The following is a look […]

By now the media, along with multiple mortgage brokers’ social media feeds, have likely let you know that more changes to your ability to get a mortgage are arriving soon. But so what? Should you care? SHORT VERSION; Probably Not. LONG VERSION; The five ’W’’s follow to help answer the above questions and more; Who […]

Vancouver West Side is the priciest neighbourhood in Canada on a price-per-square-foot basis, and the city dominates the top 10. A nationwide study by Century 21 reveals that Vancouver West Side has a PPSF of $1,201 with the city’s Downtown second at $962.75 and Toronto Downtown taking third place at $818.86. Metro Vancouver is home […]

Although home prices in Toronto and Vancouver seem to have stabilized recently, they are still at historical levels. The average home price in these two major Canadian cities are still well over $1 Million. Unsurprisingly, first-time homebuyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get onto the “property ladder”. It is now harder than ever for […]

When the new tighter restrictions on mortgage lending come into effect in just over two months they could spark a new trend – longer amortizations. With OSFI’s stress test requiring borrowers of uninsured mortgages to prove they can afford payments 2% above their contract rate, fewer people will qualify. However, switching to a longer amortization […]

This week, OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) announced that effective January 1, 2018 the new Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures (Guidelines B-20) will be applied to all Federally Regulated Lenders. Note that this currently does not apply to Provincially Regulated Lenders (Credit Unions) but it is possible they will abide by […]