With a shell-shocked COVID-19 Canadian economy as backdrop, CMHC moved to tighten lending standards for insured mortgages. New rules for CMHC-insured mortgages are intended to reduce the risk of increasing mortgage defaults in Canada, to contain likely fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and to make mortgage qualification harder for insured mortgages.Read More

Most first-time buyers lack sufficient funds to purchase their home outright and require loan financing (a mortgage) to make it work. In this article, we cover the basics of getting your first mortgage.Read More

Canada's mortgage stress test was designed to help ensure Canadians don’t overstep their financial means. However, there are special cases where it makes sense to bypass this process, yet still keep affordability top of mind. The question is how to safely bypass the stress test and secure the mortgage financing you need when the banks...Read More

Whether shopping for a new home, have a mortgage renewal coming up, want to refinance or just want to know how much you're able to spend, getting a mortgage pre-approval is well worth it, and can save thousands of dollars or more. The principal benefits are protection against rate increases, and the safety and security...Read More

Mortgage pre-approval is used by lenders to “vet” borrowers and estimate spending ability for a home purchase. Seven factors determine the amount, both for pre-approval and final approval.Read More

In this primer for first time homebuyers, we examine how you know you're ready to take the leap, 7 steps to become a homeowner, and 5 common mistakes that first time homebuyers often make.Read More

Published: • The Meaning of Down Payment VS Deposit can be confusing… First-time buyers can sometimes get confused by the terminology. For example, they understand you have to make a deposit when your Offer to Purchase is accepted, but may not be sure if this deposit is included in or separate from their down payment....Read More

Home Prices Are On The Rise – Affordability is a Big Issue The thirty-five year amortization period mortgage is a topic that attracts a lot of inquiries from our website visitors. It makes sense – with home prices climbing so rapidly these days, affordability is becoming a bigger issue than ever. You do have to...Read More

With Careful Planning and Execution, You Can Go From Zero To a Great Credit Score Quickly Five months ago, Arun Kumar from Right at Home Realty referred his clients Raj and Nindy to me for a pre-approval for a mortgage for their first home. Raj has a good job making $71,000 per year, and Nindy was...Read More

Discovery of errors on a credit report at the last minute could have cost homebuyers the home they wanted if sellers didn't generously extend the deadline. With only 5 days to waive the financing condition, there's no time for credit report surprises.Read More

Published: • Mortgage Vocabulary: What’s the Difference Between ‘Amortization Period’ and ‘Mortgage Term’? Mortgage professionals often fall into the trap of presuming knowledge and understanding of our terminology that simply isn’t there – especially with first time home buyers. I was reminded of this when an intelligent, financially responsible new buyer recently asked us how...Read More

Published: • Traditional Home Now A Luxury; Condos Are Where Most Start A few years ago, mortgage insurers and lenders began to really toughen up their lending guidelines for condos – convinced this particular segment was overheated and overbuilt and headed for a huge correction. Mortgage brokers and their clients increasingly turned to private mortgages...Read More

There is a lot more to choosing your mortgage than simply hammering your banker into submission and nailing the lowest interest rate possible. Sorry to rain on your parade folks, but would you choose the cheapest new home on the market, regardless of where it was located? Of course not! Today’s post focuses on the...Read More

How can young people afford to buy homes these days? They can’t. Today I want to vent about a few societal problems developing as a result of high real estate prices. Homeownership is so expensive these days – it seems like every time you take a second look at a property, it is way more...Read More

Published: • Reader Asks: “What’s the Right Choice? Pay Down Student Debt, Or Save Down Payment For Investment Property?” Today’s question comes from Alison in Mississauga: “Hi Ross I currently have a $50, 000 CAD student loan which I must now start paying off. I have a short term work contract, making a $70,000 a...Read More

Should you buy your first home or pay off your student debt? This is part two of the response to a question from Alison, who wanted to know if she should first pay off her student loans before saving for a house. You can read part one here. Hi Alison, I like the idea of...Read More

Published: • Stress of Bidding Wars Drives Homebuyers to Abandon Safety of Financing Condition Multi-offer situations (bidding wars) typically rear their ugly head in a heated market, when a desirable home in a good neighbourhood is deliberately listed at a lower-than-market-value price. This can lead to realtors rushing their buying clients to the house to...Read More

Published: • For those who want to buy a home with no down payment From time to time I meet people who are anxious to buy a home, but have no down payment saved up. They are frustrated being on the sidelines and watching everyone else grow their home equity. So, with all the recent...Read More

We Bought A New House – When Do We Get The Keys? Dear Ross, we are buying our first home next month, and we want to move in to our new house as early in the day as possible. But our realtor tells us we will have to wait till late in the afternoon. Why...Read More

Want to pay your mortgage down faster? You can, but here’s what you need to know Dear Ross, we have a quick question about paying back the mortgage. I know for a closed mortgage you’re penalized if you pay it back before the end of the term, but I know there is a certain allowable...Read More

If I ask for a pre-approval, will it reduce my credit score? Dear Ross, we are looking around for our first home, and we want to know how much mortgage we will qualify for. If we ask for a pre-approval, will you have to check our credit history? Is that a ‘hard inquiry’, and will...Read More

You might be able to include overtime when you apply for a mortgage! Dear Ross, I work at an assembly plant, and routinely work 50 to 55 hours a week plus some overtime. My base pay is around $40,000 and last year I made $60,000 with all the overtime. Which number will lenders use when...Read More

Think a variable rate mortgage is a piece of cake? Read this! I just read an excellent analysis by Rob McLister, the editor of the highly regarded Canadian Mortgage Trends website. It takes to task the people who believe they are fine with a variable rate mortgage and can adjust quickly to rising rates and...Read More

Don’t Get Swept Up In An Emotional Bidding Frenzy and Forgo Home Inspection A couple of weeks ago, during the mini buying frenzy here in the GTA, many buyers were under pressure to submit offers to purchase homes without any conditions attached. Sellers were pricing their homes low, in anticipation of receiving multi offers. One...Read More

How to avoid mortgage fraud – tips from a pro Here is an article by Dianne Nice from the Globe and Mail that was published October 18, 2010. Six suggestions for avoiding mortgage fraud By DIANNE NICE Globe and Mail Update Whenever the housing market starts to heat up, so does mortgage and real estate...Read More

Engaged or Married? Quick Money Tips For A Great Start On The Road of Life This article is the third in a series on personal finance and investing at different stages of your life. As some issues may overlap the different stages of life, they could be covered in a prior or subsequent article. Money...Read More

Another reason to have a high credit score – home insurance costs! Last week James Daw of the Toronto Star wrote an excellent informative piece on yet another reason why we should all care about our credit scores. I don’t like it at all, but the fact is property insurance companies peek at our credit...Read More