General Crystal Pickering 23 May
Five-year fixed mortgage rates continued their upward march last week as the five-year Government of Canada (GoC) bond yield they are priced on hit its highest level in seven years. Meanwhile, five-year variable-rate discounts deepened, further widening the gap between five-year fixed and variable rates. When I started working in the mortgage industry in 2005, […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 3 Apr
Prepayment, Portability and Assumability Prepayments One of the most common questions we get is about mortgage prepayments. The conditions vary from lender to lender but the nice thing about prepayments is that you can pay a little more every year if you want to pay off your mortage faster. A great way to do this […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 1 Apr
What usually follows once someone hears the term “Monoline Lender” for the first time is a feeling of suspicion and lack of trust. It’s understandable, I mean why is this “bank” you’ve never heard of willing to loan you money when you’ve never banked with them before? In an effort to help you see the […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 5 Dec
As many of you may remember, this past October the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) issued a revision to Guideline B-20 . The changes will go into effect on January 1, 2018 but lenders are expecting to roll this rules out to their consumers between December 7th – 15th, and will require conventional mortgage applicants to […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 22 Oct
Canada’s banking regulator (OSFI) has published the final changes to its guidelines for residential mortgage underwriting taking effect January 1st 2018. Does this affect you? The media and Mortgage Professionals alike are all flooding this topic with blogs, emails and maybe too much content leaving people confused about whether this will affect them specifically. Let’s […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 29 May
Renew (the mortgage industry meaning): to remain with the current lender by simply signing the renewal letter that comes in the (e)mail. Switch (again, the mortgage industry meaning): to move from the existing lender to a different lender without leveraging any additional funds/equity; the outstanding balance remains the same. Is renewing your mortgage with the […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 23 May
Life can definitely throw some challenging financial situations your way. As mortgage professionals, we can provide solutions and strategies during or after these challenging times in order to get you back on track. We have access to banks, trust companies and mortgage companies that specialize in this transitional period to help you move forward with […]
Read MoreGeneral Crystal Pickering 17 May
Thinking of buying a property, but don’t know where to start? Well… that’s where a mortgage pre-approval comes in. Start here. Just like you wouldn’t go into a restaurant without having enough money to buy your meal, so you shouldn’t start shopping for a home without an understanding of how much you can afford. So let’s […]
Read MoreLatest News Crystal Pickering 4 May
If you have not yet found yourself skimming the news online, you may not have heard yet about the Provincial Government’s announcement regarding the Ontario Housing and Rental Markets. The Provincial Liberal Government, laid out for the Province their plan to address issues in key aspects of the Real Estate and Rental Property Markets in […]
Read MoreLatest News Crystal Pickering 3 May
Looking to access equity in your home to pay off debt or renovate this spring? Let’s talk about refinancing your mortgage. When we refinance we are looking to move debt from bad (unsecured) debt to good debt where it is secured against an appreciating asset. Having high usage of your credit limits is likely eroding […]
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