CANADIAN MORTGAGE VIEWS

  With interest on bank saving accounts yielding little return many folks hear others talking about how they are getting high returns from investing their money in private mortgages. You look at your saving accounts and returns and begin to wonder - is this something I should look at?   You wonder why would a person not go to a bank for their mortgage? Sometimes good people who have worked to keep their credit in good standing run into problems:   - a person loses their job and needs the mortgage while they are between jobs   - a person has a recent bankruptcy, consumer propsal or collections and regular lenders will not look at      them for at least 2 years   - a mortgage is up for renewal and they do not qualify for another one because the debt level is too high     compare to the total income  - perhaps a divorce or separation has occured  - a person was forced to find another job but at a lower salary  - a lender has called the mortgage in and is foreclosing on a

Many times we hear the question: what is the difference between a mortgage agent and a bank employee taking an application? I would like to suggest what I see is the major difference between a bank and a mortgage agent. Anyone can help an excellent credit worthy client get a great mortgage and it is done quickly. We obtain mortgages from the big banks also. On the other hand some people have seen their credit rating slip usually through no fault of their own. Perhaps a husband or wife lost their job or a construction guy was injured on the job and money is stretched thin and maybe credit card payments are late or missed. EI helps but it is capped and temporary.There are many reasons. Banks don't want to deal with these clients. First Line had a "B" lender side as to Bank of Nova Scotia. They withdrew from this type of lending. This is where we play a critical role. We look for the companies that deal with these types. Many times it is a difficult process but if we get th

Gary Marr of the National Post has written a great article regarding those deal mortgages banks want to offer you. It’s almost a chicken-and-egg argument, deciding whether the government comes first in the crackdown on consumer borrowing or if the banks should be responsible for reining in Canadian debt. This month, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sounded like he’d had enough of banks posturing for the federal government to get tougher on borrowers and called on financial institutions to clamp down on their own customers. “I’ve tightened up the mortgage insurance market three times … I really don’t want to do it again,” he told reporters while commenting on the condominium sector. While some bank chief executives have put it on themselves to tighten their own lending rules, others continue to look to Ottawa to take the lead. In the interim, all you have to do is walk into a branch, grab some pamphlets and you will see an array of offers that could get you into even more debt trouble