Buy first home or repay student loans? Today’s question came 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 year salary. I have about $10,000 in savings, but am unsure about how...Read More

First home or student loans? 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 power saving for the foreseeable future –...Read More

No condition of financing nightmare Multi offer home purchase situations can be stressful for all involved in the buying process. Typically they 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...Read More

Why refinancing makes sense What is mortgage refinancing? Refinancing is the process that pays the existing mortgage and/or any other legal claims against the property and sets-up a completely new mortgage. Refinancing can save you lots of money when market interest rates drop one or more percentage points below your present rate. Mortgage refinancing can...Read More

Come to the dark side Anytime someone wants to borrow money – for whatever reason, from whomever, lenders always ask themselves one  simple question –“will they pay this back?” This is true even if it is your best friend hitting you up for a personal loan, or if you are sitting in your local bank...Read More

Marriage break up who gets house Liz from Ajax wrote me the other day; “I recently asked my husband to move out of our home (which he did) and I am now planning to divorce him. As we discuss the financial aspects of our divorce, he wants to keep the family home, and get me to...Read More

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 lock in if need be. It really is not that simple. Here...Read More

Home inspection saved a disaster 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 of our clients resisted this pressure, listened to...Read More

Hello is that Ross? I just put an offer on a house for $3.1 million and I want to put it in my sister’s name. Can you do a mortgage for her? Ross: Hi, yes it’s me. I’d be glad to help – tell me about the property and your sister please. Caller: It’s a...Read More

Hi Ross: We are buying our first house in Kitchener this summer, and we decided we would like your help with our mortgage, as we are regular readers of your articles. But we are concerned about the distance between KW and your office in North York. Any suggestions? Thanks, Wayne Dear Wayne: Well, first we...Read More