Five steps to scoring a mortgage Amy Fontinelle Investopedia.com A variety of factors can keep you from qualifying for a mortgage. The big ones include a low credit score, insufficient income for the size of the loan you want, insufficient down payment and excessive debt. All of these factors are within your control, however. Let’s […]

Good Morning Heads Up!!  Bond yields are almost up by 8bps, this means it is quite possible that we will have an increase in our 5yr fixed rate.  Guaranteed until midnight…Conventional 5yr Fixed – 3.87%…High Ratio 5yr Fixed 3.77%  You may want to get that deal in the system, but don’t hit the button until […]

Why I paid $10,000 to break my mortgage Tara Walton/Toronto Star  By Bryan Borzykowski | Last September, my wife and I started scouring the city for a new house. We were living in a cozy bungalow, but with a growing kid and another on the way, we decided it was time to move. Buying a […]

Nine signs you can’t afford a mortgage Michele Lerner Investopedia.com While plenty of individuals live from paycheque to paycheque, most consumers know they should be saving money and reducing debt. The recession has drummed that concept into everyone’s head as people have watched their neighbours and friends lose jobs and sometimes their home. Many people […]

Rent or buy? Do the math William Hanley, Financial Post · Apr. 28, 2011 A young couple who have been renting in our modest Toronto condo building recently bought a home a couple of miles away in a nice old neighbourhood with the aim of starting a family. The house is a big, detached fixer-upper […]

The ‘thrill’ of buying a house William Hanley, Financial Post · Apr. 21, 2011 You walk into the open house, take one look and say to yourself: This is it. It’s the house I have to live in. Where do I pay? A bidding war? I’m in. Over my years of buying houses, I never […]

Canadians struggling to save and pay off debt; 38 per cent have no savings LuAnn LaSalle, The Canadian Press Many Canadians are finding themselves caught between the struggle to save money and repay their debts, says a survey from TD Bank. And with interest rates expected to rise this summer, clearing debts probably won’t get […]

White Rock the New Richmond? As anyone who has resided in the Lower Mainland in the past decade or so knows, Richmond has been a favorite desti-nation for real estate buyers from China. Forty-five percent of the Richmond population was of Chinese ethnicity accord-ing to the 2006 Census figures. It was 34% in 1996. While […]

News Release: April 4, 2011   March home sale activity reaches 5-year high in Fraser Valley   (Surrey, BC) – Last month, Fraser Valley REALTORS® experienced their busiest March in terms of sales on the Multiple Listing Service®, since 2006.   The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,818 property sales in March, an increase […]

Experts best at brokering mortgage Denise Deveau, Postmedia News · Mar. 30, 2011 | Cheryl Hutton and Aaron Coates always thought getting a mortgage would be a challenge. But within 18 days of visiting a mortgage broker, they were able to close a deal on a new townhouse in Calgary without a hitch. Now in […]