A new survey has emerged showing that out of 1,901 owners and would be homeowners, 43% (more than two out of five) Canadians are not confident in their knowledge of the mortgage stress tests—despite them being in place for more than a year now. We wanted to give you a brief set of notes regarding the guidelines. […]

Recently, Stephen Poloz, the governor of the Bank of Canada stated that he felt that lenders and by offshoot, mortgage brokers, were not being creative in promoting mortgages for periods of longer than 5 years. He feels that the longer the term the less risk there is and people will be able to qualify for […]

Sole proprietors are individuals who run their own business and do not have it set up as a corporation or partnership. The biggest difference between them and a corporation is that a sole proprietor does not have separation between their business and themselves. This means that when taxes are filed, all costs that are essential […]

You know at one time I could give you a quote over the phone and not worry that I would be too far out. Today is a totally different story, here are some of the variables that come into play. What’s your credit score? A 700 FICO score is the new 650 for many lenders […]

by Ross Marowits The self-employed are among the growing number of Canadians turning to private lenders in order to obtain a mortgage. While many prospective homeowners are driven to alternate lenders because of government-mandated stress tests and poor credit scores, the self-employed often have additional burdens to overcome in proving their income. “There’s more and […]

In the March Federal Budget, the government introduced a few changes that impact the housing and mortgage markets. One of the changes, a Shared Equity Participation Mortgage with CMHC as a partner with the homeowner will not be implemented until the fall. At this time, we do not know the full details of the program. […]

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 […]

Recently I was finishing up a mortgage with a young couple who had just had a beautiful baby girl. I brought up the topic of mortgage and life insurance as well as getting a will written up. The response from the husband was that it was such a morbid topic and a real downer when […]

It is a reoccurring but common misconception that you will qualify for a mortgage in the future because you have qualified for a mortgage in the past. This is not accurate! Do. Not. Assume. Anything. Even if your financial situation has remained the same or has improved, securing mortgage financing is more difficult now than […]

  On March 19, the Federal Government announced the official 2019 budget. One major topic on the discussion table was the discussion of affordable housing in Canada. So just what happened on “Budget Day?” Here are the highlights of the 2019 Federal Budget: MORTGAGE INDUSTRY RELATED: CMHC First Time Home Buyers Incentive Plan This would […]