Gridiron star tackles the renovation world – Our House Magazine

The following is an excerpt from the July issue of Our House Magazine. 

Chatting with Sebastian Clovis about home renovations, it’s impossible to miss his enthusiasm. He’s splitting a downtown Toronto single-family home into a duplex. It may not sound like the most stimulating project, but for Clovis this is his element. He quickly rattles off all the neat parts of the project, from separating the HVAC system to soundproofing a building that’s now in two.

“It’s a really exciting project,” he told Our House Magazine in a recent interview.

It’s probably a good thing Clovis is passionate about his work, because his time in front of the camera as an HGTV star has made him a target of fans who want his advice, whether it’s at the gym or the grocery store.

“I’m known for getting into conversations that are way too long,” he said. “I would say I’m one of the contractors who’s given out the most amount of renovation advice in the steam room in the gym.”

With all jokes aside, Clovis maintains he’s blessed for the opportunities he had since he made a turn to do television. And he has no problems dispensing valuable advice on the subject of renovations.

Patience is everything in a home

It’s easy to spot the imperfections as soon as you move into a new place. While Clovis points out people have a natural inclination to change and customize their home as soon as they move in, he sees it differently. He recommends people start by tackling the items suggested in a home inspection, like the roof, windows, and siding.

“Do the things that are going to protect your home in the long-term first,” he said.

Clovis believes those improvements will give you the opportunity to spend a little time in the home. That’s time to see how the flow works with your family, how the sunlight comes through the windows and to figure out how to make efficient changes.

He said a lot of people want an ultra-modern kitchen after watching TV shows and seeing them in magazines, but they may not be a fit for the character of your home.

“You don’t want to spend $60,000 on a kitchen and two years later you’re frustrated with yourself because you put the wrong kitchen in there,” he said.

While people always like to get their hands a little dirty around the home, when asked whether people should DIY, Clovis is cautious in his response. The man who hosted his own DIY show said he’s all for people building benches, chairs, and tables, but bigger projects that touch on the envelope of the building should be left to the pros.

“If you’re not a professional builder, you don’t have too much business messing with the structure of the home,” Clovis said.

While some projects may look easy on TV, the handyman believes even laying flooring should be left to professionals. If anything, it might save money in the long run. He noted with the ever increasing costs of materials, wasting material on a failed installation attempt will burn through a budget. If you’re going to splurge on beautiful floors or tiles, spend the money to get them installed properly, he said.

And if you’re thinking about a budget, Clovis said he follows the golden rule of a 20 per cent contingency above and beyond the quote. That contingency is critical because you don’t know what’s going to happen once the walls are opened up.

He also suggested a contingency is important to accommodate for evolving design plans, adding often by the time a project is half way through, people start thinking about changes. And when it comes to his clients, he sets up a payment schedule with benchmarks in place to make sure payment is made when a certain amount of work is complete.

“It’s great to know when payments are going to be due and what they’ll be,” he said. “It makes everyone more comfortable when you have that in place.”

– by Jeremy Deutsch

Last Minute Credit Check

As I’ve said many times, one of the single greatest determining factors in whether you can become qualified for a mortgage and the interest rate at which you do, is your credit history. Many people unfortunately don’t know this, and can be completely blind-sided when it comes time to qualifying.

However, the truly unsettling idea about credit scores and their relation to home financing is the fact that most people do not even know they are extremely important even after you have been approved…

Once your offer on a home is accepted and you remove financing conditions, it is your obligation to secure the money needed to close the sale. There are usually a list of conditions one must meet and satisfy in order to obtain the financing they need from a lender. Once that is done, the mortgage will be sent to a real estate lawyer where they will be instructed to finalize everything. This is where all closing costs will be paid and all corresponding money will be sent to the proper parties involved.

However, before any of this is done, one more thing must happen…

Your credit report can be reviewed once again in order to verify your credit history is the same as it was when you were first qualified for a mortgage, sometimes months earlier.

So what happens if you made an offer on a home, got approved for financing, lifted all conditions, and because you also met all the lenders conditions, went out and bought new furniture for your home on a credit card? Well, you may not be able to receive your loan anymore…

If you increase the amount of money you are borrowing through any credit card or bank, miss payments on existing debt, or for any reason alter your credit history from the day you are approved until the final closing day at the lawyer’s office, you run the risk of not being able to complete your purchase.

If you plan on spending any money that isn’t cash and isn’t in a separate account needed for your down payment or closing costs, you need to talk to your broker because it could end horribly for all parties involved and potentially result in legal disputes.

This is the most important purchase and decision you may ever make, why things like this have never been explained in schooling or anything like that is beyond me. That is why it is important to work with an experienced, knowledgeable Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker and make sure you fully understand the process you are about to embark upon.

– by Ryan Oake

Reverse Mortgage – Common Uses

Here is the final blog in the REVERSE MORTGAGE series. If you missed the first two, you read them here and here:

Eliminate mortgage payment – Retired, or wanting to retire, but still have a mortgage and mortgage payment to make? Use a reverse mortgage to pay off the traditional mortgage, getting rid of that monthly payment.

Unexpected expenses – Home repairs, helping children, vehicle repairs, health care/home care, etc. A reverse mortgage gives you access to your tax-free equity whenever you need it. The equity can be used to pay for those expenses without the burden of adding a new monthly payment into your life.

Helping family – Home values have risen, and often the plan is to leave the house to children or grandchildren as an inheritance. A reverse mortgage is a way to access some of that inheritance money today, gift the money now and enjoy it with them as the family benefit much earlier in life.

Purchasing a new home – Some clients are moving to that just right, final home, but finding they cost more than anticipated. A reverse mortgage can be used to buy a new home, allowing clients to afford a much higher priced home, or keep more cash on hand.

Aging parents needing home care – As we age, sometimes a little additional help is needed to stay in the home. Instead of selling and moving to a care home or assisted living, some clients prefer to stay in the house and have in home care. A reverse mortgage is a terrific way to access the equity in the home, month by month, to pay for those care costs.

Tax free retirement funding – By using the home as part of the financial plan, clients can preserve investments, pay less tax, and often have a greater net worth in the end.

If you or a family member would like to learn more about reverse mortgages, contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional near you.

– by Michael Hallett

Why We Chose a Mortgage Broker – Our House Magazine

The Dolejsi family needed more than just the purchase price of their new home. Their DLC broker made it easier for them to ask the “dumb questions.”

Lindsay Dolejsi and her family are finally getting settled into their forever home. The three-bedroom, 2,000 square foot townhouse in south Surrey, B.C., is the perfect place for the family of three, her husband Ryan and their daughter Violet.

“It’s just amazing,” Lindsay tells Our House magazine. There’s plenty of space outdoors for Violet to play and be a kid before she grows up. (Their daughter had spent the previous five years in an apartment, Lindsay notes.) But getting to this stage wasn’t easy.

After their bid on the home was accepted in March, the place needed a total renovation. Several months and thousands of dollars later, the work is complete. And the couple is quick to credit their Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional for helping them through the process.

Our House: Why did you choose a mortgage broker?
Lindsay Dolejsi: I was a service adviser at the time for BMW. My broker was my customer and he sold me on [using] a mortgage broker. When we had bought a pre-sale they kind of set it up for you and so he said he could do better than that. So he did! He came in with better numbers. My mother-in-law at the time was trying to get a mortgage on the pre-sale plus her house, so he happened to come up with two mortgages [including] hers. Basically I met someone who was a mortgage broker and that’s how I learned about having a mortgage broker.

OH: How was your experience working with a mortgage broker?
LD: He helped us out to figure out how we were going to get there and what that looked like. He’s helped us ever since we got the mortgage to now. It’s awesome. They do everything for you. I can ask lots of dumb questions and they just fill in the blanks.

OH: What advice would you give to someone in your situation?
LD: I think there’s a lot of people who don’t think they would qualify or don’t know what it takes. I have a couple of friends who are late in the game, but I know they have a good amount down and they’re scared. Just talk to somebody. Find someone you connect with, mortgage-wise, and it flows from there. Don’t be afraid to just ask questions and see. It’s better than asking a bank. A lot of people think you have to go through a bank and it’s not as personal.

– Jeremy Deutsch

4 Signs You’re Ready For Homeownership

While most people know the main things they need to buy a home, such as stable employment and enough money for a down payment, there are a few other factors that may help you realize you’re ready, perhaps even earlier than you thought!

As a mortgage broker, it is my job to ensure that each one of my clients is getting the best service I can provide. Part of this means educating as much as possible when it comes to buying a home, which is why I’ve put together a list of 4 signs that may tell you that you are ready to become a homeowner.

You should have more funds available than the minimum of a down payment
This one may seem obvious, but it’s something that people may not realize until they actually think about it. It’s very difficult to afford a home if you only have enough money for a down payment and then find yourself scrambling for day-to-day living after that.

If you have enough money saved up (more than the minimum needed for a down payment), you may be ready to start house-hunting.

Your credit score is good
This might seem obvious at first glance, however, if you don’t have a good credit score, chances increase that you could be declined altogether or stuck with a higher interest rate and thus end up paying higher mortgage payments. If you have a less-than-optimal credit score, working with a mortgage professional can help you get on the right track in the shortest time possible. Sometimes a few subtle changes can bump a credit score from “meh” to “yahoo” in a few short months.

Breaking the bank isn’t in your future plans
Do you plan on buying two new vehicles in the next two years? Are you thinking of starting a family? Are you considering going back to school?

Although you may think you can afford to purchase a home right now, it’s extremely important to think about one, two, and five years down the road. If you know that you aren’t planning on incurring big expenses that you need to factor into your budget anytime soon, then that’s something that may help you decide to buy a home.

You are disciplined
It’s easy to say, “it’s a home, I’m going to have it for a long time so I may as well go all-in!”. While that would be nice, that’s rarely the case!

You must have a limit that you’re willing to spend. Sitting down with a mortgage broker or real estate agent and analyzing your finances is crucial. It’s important that you know costs associated with buying a home and what the maximum amount is that you can afford without experiencing financial struggles. IMPORTANT: This is not the amount that you are told is your max!

This is the amount that you calculate as your max based on your current monthly budget and savings plan. It’s quite frequent where I have clients tell me that their max budget is, say, $1200 and then when I run the numbers they could actually be approved for much more. Low and behold suddenly these guys are looking at homes that are hundreds of dollars a month higher than their initial perceived budget. It is up to you (with my help or pleading, when necessary) to reel things back in and make sure that you aren’t getting into something that affects the long-term livelihood of a well thought out budget or savings plan.

Conclusion

These are just four signs that you may be ready to purchase a home. If you’re seriously considering buying or selling, talking with a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker, such as myself, can help put you on the right path to a successful real estate transaction.

– by Shaun Serafini

When double dipping is okay

Perhaps you remember the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza catches someone double dipping in the salsa. While this is considered unsanitary and bad manners, some forms of double dipping are okay.

Sometimes two levels of government want you to do something, so they offer you an incentive. The idea is that people’s behavior over time changes and it becomes the norm to do this.
Several years ago when I was having my furnace cleaned and serviced, the service man told me that the firebox had rusted and fumes could flow through my home. He turned the furnace off and told me that I needed a new one.

At the time, the local natural gas company was offering discounts on furnaces for people who switched over to their company. The local electricity provider offered lower rates to people who bought a heat pump and the federal government had a program to encourage people to become more energy efficient. As a result, I was able to triple dip – I got a discounted more energy efficient furnace with air conditioning and a new lower rate for electricity.

That program is gone now but there are others that you can benefit from. At this time Alberta residents are being bombarded with ads and flyers from window companies. They say that if you replace your windows now you can qualify for a $1,500 rebate through the provincial government. What they are not telling you is that you can double dip. If you get an energy audit before the windows are replaced and you apply to your mortgage default insurance company , whether it’s CMHC, Genworth , or Canada Guaranty, you may qualify for a 15% rebate on your premium ! On a $400,000 mortgage with 5% down you pay $16,000 in fees. How nice would it be to get $2,400 back?

The programs vary from province to province and cover windows, hot water tanks, appliances. You can check out what’s available here or ask your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker for more information. Go ahead and double dip.

– by David Cooke

How to Navigate The Mortgage Rate Wars

You may have heard that rates are changing, and that is true. They don’t call it war for nothing and you need an expert by your side!

Think of mortgage brokers as your loyal soldiers. What we are seeing is exactly what we anticipated when prime rate goes up and discounts go down. Confused? Don’t be, variable rates are based on prime and both Bank of Canada Prime and Bank Prime are different.

What the new discount means is what it means – they anticipate prime to go up higher.

With current regulations, borrowers qualify for more mortgages on a variable rates! This is a shift from the previous policy where more Canadians were having to take fixed rates to qualify for the most.

These new discounts on new mortgages getting taken out there discount is lower off of the bank’s prime rate- this does not apply to an existing mortgage

Did you notice earlier I said the bank’s prime rate, you would think they are all the same… right?

This is not the case. In November of 2016 one Canadian lender broke the trend of their counterparts and raised their internal prime to immediately impact their existing customers by adding to their amortization. This discount below was for new clients they increased the discount so it looked bigger.

It’s important to note – each lender has unique criteria to be met to get these offers: some only for purchases, some only with switches, some only certain amortizations, and some only certain property types. The list goes on!

Remember your broker shops all these lenders without bias, while protecting your credit score to assist you in finding the best one. It’s important that we evaluate the following criteria with these lenders- here is an example of three lenders:

Lender one

• Bank has a higher Prime than anyone else
• No change to payment
• Increases amortization  which can put into effect a trigger clause- cash call in on mortgage or forced pre-payment and other costs such as appraisal at your expense
• Not portable
• Does have a 12 month penalty payback if getting a larger mortgage at new rates! Best one!
• Have to go to branch to lock in and then be subject to their IRD (usually 3-5% of balance pending where you are in your term).
• Based on history this lender is generally the first to raise their rates and last to decrease

Lender two

• Prime rate consistent with all lenders
• Change to payment so amortization doesn’t increase
• NO trigger clause
• Have to go to branch to lock in and face large IRD between 3-5%
• Not portable but will refund you within 6 months if the mortgage is larger and will get rate available at that time

Lender three

• Prime consistent with all lenders
• Change to payment so amortization doesn’t increase
• NO trigger clause
• lender will pay back penalty within 3 months of getting a larger mortgage with them
• your mortgage expert can assist you with lock in
• If you lock in they have the lowest penalties in the country to break your mortgage in the future, generally 1-1.5% of the balance

With seven-in-10 mortgages breaking before the term is over, this should be weighted very carefully.

Let me demonstrate the following:

A mortgage that gets locked in with first or second lender above at $500,000, by the third year the cost to break a mortgage will be between $15,000 and $25,000. With the third lender the cost would be between $5,000 and $7,500.

What to do with this info?

These new wars apply to new mortgages. If you have a mortgage with a discount less than .50, a renewal upcoming, looking at accessing your equity for home renovations or to consolidate debt and you have a variable rate, it may be time to run the numbers to see if taking a new variable rate mortgage is beneficial for you. One of the significant benefits of having a VRM is to get out at any time with only three months interest penalty (unless a restrictive product was taken for a better rate or had a sale only clause).

As you can see we have only scratched the surface in terms of the differences. There are many other differences and mainly you have to consider as a consumer, do you want to be calling a bank branch and play Russian roulette with the education level and sales goals of the person who guides you through deciding what to do with your biggest asset? Or would you rather have a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional who is in the front lines proactively guiding you and assessing the economic factors to give you personalized advice based on their experience and knowledge of the mortgage industry.

Depends on what you value most!

– by Angela Calla

Mortgage Moment: When Life Gives You Lemons…

We all do it. Even I fall guilty to it at times. It’s really a part of Human Nature…and really what fun is life without it?

What exactly are we talking about? Dreaming. We make grand plans and lay them out with the utmost care. We write them out, daydream about them, and (hopefully) we make them come true! There is nothing wrong with doing this…not a single thing! However, as many of you know, rarely do the dreams and plans we lay out stay on course as we would like them to.

This holds true many times for mortgage clients. We find that many times, what they initially come to us with when they are being pre-approved, rarely is the same less than 3 years later (There’s a reason 6 out of 10 Canadians break their 5-year term mortgage early).

Recently, we had just this happen with one of our clients. A young, working professional couple, found themselves in a difficult situation when one of them was injured and went on long-term disability leave.

Their income took a significant drop due to this and their cash flow was of course, negatively impacted. They relied (as many people do) on credit cards and at one point also took out a line of credit. They were able to make minimum payments each month on their loans and debts, but the problem sat with the interest rates. They kept getting higher and the debt they carried wasn’t being reduced.

Basically, life had handed them some lemons.

At this point, they felt they were left with one option: seek private funding. The problem with this was fear of losing their home if they approached their lender. The interest rate quoted by the private lender was less than that on their credit cards, but still higher than what was reasonable. The couple felt that seeking to obtain a second mortgage would be the best-case scenario. However, with a rate of 10% plus a lender fee of up to 6% of the loan amount and a 1 year term with renewal fee of 1% for total amount borrowed, this was not at all ideal!

This is where we stepped in and decided to make some lemonade! Here is how the story played out once they came to see us:

1. We were able to use the income received from disability and refinanced their existing mortgage
2. We consolidated the credit card and line of credit debt at a rate of 2.35% in doing so we reduced their current monthly payments by $1500 with an annual savings of $18,000! Or $90,000 over five years!

Here is a brief number summary to give you the full recap:

Value of the Home: $525,000

Requested Mortgage Amount: $420,000

Loan to Value: 80%

Income Documentation:

1. Letter of employment and pay stub
2. Letter from insurance company detailing disability payments and confirmation of deposit into current bank account.

Credit Score: 746 & 676

Total Debt Service Ratios: 41%

Mortgage Solution: All debts were paid with proceeds from their 5-year variable-rate mortgage with a 30-year amortization. The annual savings was MORE THAN $18,000!

 We helped this couple get back on track and allowed them to keep on dreaming! We understand that life rarely will stay on course and go just as you picture it, but there is often a creative solution that can help you get back on track. If life has handed you a few lemons and you aren’t sure where to start, visit a Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Broker—they can make some of the best lemonade!

– by Geoff Lee

Bullying Ends Here – Update for May

Hello Friends,

What a year it has been so far. I feel as though I am always having something new to share with you. This will be a brief overview of some of the final achievements for this past school year and our expectations for this coming one.

First of all, I was honoured to have been recognized by the Governor General in Ottawa for my efforts to end bullying. I was presented with the Sovereign Medal for Volunteers. I was blessed to have my parents, along with Jamie’s parents, present as I received this honour. Please check out our Facebook page (Bullying Ends Here Canada) to see some of the footage of the ceremony. Jamie’s parents expressed how proud their son would have been.

We are about to embark on our first overseas tour with presentations scheduled in Scotland and England. This is set to begin in late June as to not take away from our own youth here in Canada. Seeing as the UK school system is essentially year-round, we wanted to help even more youth while also expanding our program. This tour will be the final one of the 2017/2018 school year.

With that said, I am proud to say that we achieved all new records during this time. I presented Bullying Ends Here in every province (many with return visits during the year) to over 135,000 youth. This brings our overall total to more than half a million students have heard the message. I received another 20,000 plus emails and social media hits. Each one, I respond to myself. The current total for acknowledged lives saved is 44. I still can’t wrap my mind around this but am truly humbled by this.

We have updated our website to include even more videos, news reports and resources. Take a look anytime to keep updated and follow along. The website is www.bullyingendshere.ca and you can also follow me on Instagram/Twitter @tadmilmine.

I still pinch myself when I realized that I had the absolutely honour of sharing our program with over 15,000 students from centre ice at the Saddledome in Calgary. Talk about a nerve-racking experience but something that I had to do.

I am currently working on a new book that I have tentatively called ‘Bullying Ends Here – Walking the Talk’. This book will be more of a resource book that speaks to what the youth are sharing with me via social media, what they hope to see and what they want adults to do. This, on top of information gathered by some of the experts in this field, will enhance our ability to help as many as possible.

Another project we are working on is information guides that will be targeted for Teachers and Parents. I know there is a gap right now with information missing for these two groups. With our experience doing this for six years, there is much we can offer. We are also working closely with some of the leading experts in the anti-bullying field to put out the very best information possible. Our target date for launching this is the fall and is sponsored by Industrial Alliance.

I am pleased to report that the Ministries of Education for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have partnered with the PrairieAction Foundation and Bullying Ends Here to provide presentations to communities that they deem most vulnerable. I know that most of these will be to our remote brothers and sisters in the north where they arguably need the support most. To be ‘the one’ to help with this mission is beyond words. I will be providing at least 10 presentations in each Province for this joint mission. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

We now have a youth advisory board that will start up come September. This will consist of a youth advisor (16 years old) who will interact with youth directly and help us gather an understanding of what school is like, directly from the source. This role will be done through social media and email and open to anyone who wants to contribute. Yet again, the most current information and knowledge will be available to us.

We now have an annual scholarship available as well. This is awarded to a youth attending continuing education who has done something outstanding for our communities/country. This scholarship is in loving memory of Jamie and supported by his family. There are more details on our website. We expect to start publicizing this more next year.

Lastly, I have updated the website for the presentation schedule starting in September. I know this may seem far off, but (sadly) summer will come and go quickly and fall will be upon us. I expect these dates to go QUICK! I have dates for every province. If you see something that works for you and your communities, please let me know and I will see what can be arranged. Presentations are 75 minutes long, suitable for grades 6 and up and ‘cost’ $300 each. There is a presentation outline and more details on the website of course.

So thats it for me. Its almost time to take some time to kick back and relax so I wish all of you a very happy and safe summer. Keep smiling and I know that our paths will cross soon.

Your friend,
Tad

President/Founder
Bullying Ends Here

A few reasons why you should consider a Variable Rate Mortgage

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, variable rate mortgages saved you more money than fixed rate mortgages 95 out of the past 100 years. First time home buyers were worried about what their home costs would be and avoided variable rate mortgages (VRM’s) because of the risk of rates going up higher than the fixed rate, but experienced home owners often took a VRM at mortgage renewal time.

However, in the past 5 years, most people have gravitated towards fixed rates because the gap between fixed and variable rates was small enough that the cost of uncertainty outweighed the potential reward for most borrowers.

Once again , the gap is widening. While fixed rate mortgages are going up due to the bond yield, variable rate mortgages have moved in the other direction.  Two years ago a VRM would be offered at Prime rate + .20%,  but later it reverted to Prime – .30% . In recent months, rates have dropped even further with some lenders offering Prime -1.0% !  You now have a choice between a 5-year fixed rate of 3.44-3.59% depending on the lender and a variable rate with a discount that calculates out to 2.45% . With a gap this large, it’s worth considering if you are risk tolerant enough to have a VRM.

Even if you are skittish, you can ask your Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker to notify you if rates are going up and switch you to a fixed rate if they go above a certain percentage. Will your bank do that for you? I don’t think so. Be sure to have this discussion with your broker when your mortgage comes up for renewal or if you are considering a home purchase.

– by David Cooke