Nuts & Bolts of the Federal 2019 Budget | What you REALLY need to know! On March 19, the Federal Government announced the official 2019 budget. One major topic on the discussion table (and one we were all holding our breath for) was the discussion of affordable housing in Canada. So just what happened on […]

Federal Budget 2019–Actions for Homebuyers   In its fourth fiscal plan, the Trudeau government spent its entire revenue windfall leaving the deficit projection little changed. In this election budget, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced $22.8 billion over six years in new spending initiative mostly for homebuyers, students and seniors. Trudeau promised in his first budget […]

When Death Strikes Suddenly 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 […]

March is Fraud Prevention Month You may have seen advertisements warning you to be aware of phishing schemes and other scams. In the past week, I have received fraudulent emails claiming to be Shaw Cable, RBC and even the FBI. These are easy to spot because of mistakes in the letterhead, spelling mistakes and formal […]

Why reverse mortgages are bucking the downward trend The reverse mortgage market in Canada has been increasing at a phenomenal rate over the last few years. In fact, for HomeEquity Bank, the provider of the CHIP Reverse Mortgage, growth was well over 40% in August, bringing Canada’s outstanding reverse mortgage balance to $3.03 billion. Compare […]

Mortgage Stress Test – Not the Bad Guy Ever since the federal government regulator, The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (or OSFI) brought in the Mortgage Stress Test, there has plenty of blame heaped upon it for slowing home sales and new home starts. Even though it has slightly reduced how much of […]

February Home Sales Weaken Sharply–Was It Weather or Stress Tests?   Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show that national home sales dropped sharply from January to February, plummeting 9.1% to its lowest level since November 2012. The month-over-month decline was the biggest since the B-20 stress test was introduced in […]

3 “Rules of Lending” – What Banks look at when you apply for a Mortgage Buying a home is usually the biggest purchase most people make and there are a lot of factors to consider. Our job is to provide you with a much information (as you can handle!!) so you make the best decision […]

Why I chose a Mortgage Broker? Our House Magazine – Winter Amanda Moss and her husband Robert have had a mortgage on various properties for almost 10 years. The Chilliwack B.C. couple was a few years into their mortgage term, but looking to pay off some extra bills and clear up some financing. They hadn’t […]

What is an Uninsurable Mortgage? With the mortgage rule changes in recent years, lenders have had to make some adjustments to their rate offerings. There are different tiers and rate pricing based on the following 3 categories: 1) Insured – a mortgage that is insured with mortgage default insurance through one of Canada’s mortgage insurers, […]