Throughout the mortgage and home buying process, there are many steps and many checkpoints a buyer will need to complete before they can move on to the next one. A buyer will not be able to close on a purchase if they do not have a lawyer. Financing conditions need to be lifted after confirmation from a mortgage broker that a file is broker complete. A buyer should never write an offer on a home until they have a realtor working for them. Most importantly, a buyer should never be looking at property they are considering buying until they have been pre-qualified and pre-approved.

Now, one thing we need to make clear- pre-qualified and pre-approved are two different things. Pre-qualified is when someone completes a mortgage application with a mortgage broker or a bank representative and is told how much they can afford. Pre-approved is when someone has written confirmation from a lender stating they are willing to lend based on what is stated in an application and the applicant’s current credit history.

The difference?

Pre-qualifications are based solely on the knowledge and experience (sometimes even opinion) of a broker or bank rep. A pre-approval on the other hand is backed by the lender actually willing to give you the money. When someone says they are pre-qualified, that means they have taken an application with a mortgage broker or bank and in broker or bank rep’s opinion, they can afford “x” amount on a home. A pre-approval is a written letter from a lender stating based on applicants current credit history, declared income on application and current assets, we will lend “x” amount pending confirmation everything stated in the application is verifiable and the property meets all lender requirements.

As you can probably tell, one can be more reliable than the other, especially if you are working with a mortgage broker or bank rep that is inexperienced in the industry. Pre-approvals also usually come with a rate hold. What a rate hold does is guarantee you the interest rates that lender is offering today for a certain amount of time (usually 120 days), and if you put an offer on a place within that time period, they will give you that previous rate even if they went up. If rates go down, they will allow you to access the lower interest rate as well.

You must always get yourself pre-qualified before you begin looking at homes so you know what you can afford. Once you have and you are actively looking, it is very important you try and get a pre-approval before you write an offer. It will give you that extra confirmation your application is acceptable, and protect you against interest rate increases while you look.

If you require a pre-qualification, pre-approval, or want to speak with someone about your current situation, please give a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional a call.

Your First Home. What a THRILLING thing that is to think about!! One of the best parts about our job is helping individuals purchase their first home. We know that the process can seem daunting at first, but we have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of what steps are required to make the process go smoothly. Follow these and you will be turning the key into your new home before you know it.

1. Find a Fantastic Mortgage Broker
Finding a mortgage broker who can help with your pre-approval process can allow you to determine the price point of home you can really afford. Finding a mortgage broker right off the bat can also give you an advantage over working with your bank:

• Mortgage Brokers work for you, not the bank or lender
• They have access to multiple lenders and are not limited to one single product
• They are an expert in the field. They focus on mortgages and mortgages alone!

2. Get Comfortable With The Numbers
There are two numbers that all first-time homebuyers should keep in mind: 39 and 44. These two numbers can help you budget and determine what you can truly afford when looking to purchase a home. Why 39 and 44? Here’s why:

• A maximum of 39% of your total income can go towards your housing costs. This will cover your mortgage payment, property tax payment, heating costs, and strata fees.
• A maximum of 44% of your total income can go towards your housing costs and total debt payments. This will include ALL housing costs and all debt repayments (credit cards, car loans, student loans, etc.)

Now, here are a few other key numbers that can help you in your house hunting:

3. Know What Your Down Payment Needs to Be
You know the numbers, now let’s look at what you need to know about the down payment itself. First, if you have less than 20% down payment your mortgage will be insured and have insurance premiums added to your mortgage. If you are considering putting the minimum down, that would be 5% if the property is worth $500,000 or less. A down payment of 10% is required for any amount over $500,000. Here’s a quick example of what this looks like:

Purchase Price of $600,000

5% of $500,000                                   $25,000

10% of $100,000                                             $10,000

Total Down Payment:                                   $35,000

4. Take Advantage of The RRSP Home Buyers Plan
The Canadian government’s Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) allows for first time home buyers to borrow up to $25,000 from you RRSP for a d own payment, tax-free! You are able to combine this with your partner if you are both first time home buyers you can both access the $25,000 from your RRSP for a combined total of $50,000. Certain qualifications do apply for you to use this plan, we have laid them out here for you to review.

5. Don’t Forget About the Closing Costs!
This is one so many people overlook! Closing costs are something that can add up quickly when you are purchasing a home. Here is an approximate breakdown of the funds you will need:

• Legal Costs: $1000
• Title Insurance: $200
• Appraisal: $350
• Property Transfer Tax: Pending on purchase price

An additional few facts on property tax for you to consider:

This is an approximation of what your closing costs may be, but it is always good to budget for them beforehand.

6. Have your Documents Ready to Roll
Mortgages = paperwork! There are a number of documents that you will need to have to give to your mortgage broker. This will vary depending on your employment situation and where your down payment is coming from, but here is a general list you can follow:

• Most Recent paystub
• Letter of Employment
• NOA’s (2 years)
• T4’s (2 years)
• Down payment verification—up to 3 months of bank statements
• Contract of Purchase and Sale (Your realtor will provide this)
• Property Disclosure Statement (Realtor will provide)
• if you are self-employed you may also have to show:
  o T1 Generals
  o Articles of Incorporation
  o Financial Statements

7. Start Working on Your Credit Score
Yes, your credit score does directly impact your ability to get a mortgage. Lender’s want to see that you can responsibly manage credit and debt repayment before loaning you a large sum of money to purchase a home. Your credit score will be a determining factor in the terms and rate associated with your mortgage.

Just what impacts your credit score? Good question! Here are a few things:

• Late payments will lower your score
• Collections, judgements, consumer proposals, bankruptcy this will lower your score
• Exceeded limits on credit cards
• Ideally, you will be able to show a minimum of 2 active and current trade lines
• The longer your trade line is, the better increase in your score!
• Lenders also like to see a minimum of $2,000 limit on your credit cards.

Understanding and using this knowledge can help make your first home buying experience a great one! Once you have gone through the pre-approval process with a mortgage broker the fun part begins! Upon you receiving your preapproval, you can begin the house hunting. From there, you can put an offer on your dream home (yay!) Once your offer is accepted, we go through the mortgage process with you and then it’s moving day for you!

This is an exciting time for first time homebuyers—we enjoy getting to help our clients go from start to finish and helping them get the keys to their first ever home. If you have questions or are looking to find out just how much you will qualify for you can check out our mortgage calculator OR you can reach out to a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional directly!

Contact me for your best mortgage options 705.669.7798 or trina@ndlc.ca

#trinamortgages #mortgages #ndlc #freedomofchoice

#bestmortgageforme #executive #firstimehomebuyer

If you found this information valuable, I only ask that you share with your friends and family.

Copyright DLC

This time of year, there are a few less mortgage’s being done- not many people want to move into a new home in the snow. But if you want to get a worry free mortgage, this is a great time to be shopping.

Scope out those potential neighbourhoods – how many snow shovels?

• Will my new neighbours shovel their driveways?
• Are there any super nice people on the street willing to snow-blow my sidewalk?
• Can I walk around safely?
• Are they using salt, sand or kitty litter to de-ice the walk?
• How far is this house located from a bus route or major traffic route that will get plowed first when we have a lot of snow?

My top tip? Scope out that neighbourhood right after it snows – compare early morning snow levels to slightly after work snow levels. In some neighbourhoods you can drive around and count how many people have shovels ready near their front door.

And if you closely examine sidewalks, try looking right between two homes – this can tell you if two people shoveled at different times – or if that super nice multiple driveway shoveler exists in this neighbourhood! That’s what I call a worry free mortgage!

What? You need more than just good neighbours with shovel’s to have a worry free mortgage?
You want the best interest rate, or to confirm that you’ve got a mortgage that let’s you pay it off faster? Well, a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker will help with that. Give us a call to get those details in place!

Ever wonder what happens to bank accounts that are inactive, forgotten about and left unclaimed? The answer to that question is that you probably haven’t. I know the thought of it never really crossed my mind and I bet that would be the case for most Canadians.

My initial thought was “Seriously? Who forgets they have money or investments sitting at a bank?” However, the numbers actually speak for themselves and I bet you will be a bit blown away.

At any given time, the Bank of Canada holds approximately $740 million of unclaimed money. You read that right….

$740 MILLION!!

This is money that at one time was held in a Canadian Financial Institution and went unclaimed. Those funds are eventually transferred to the Bank of Canada for safe keeping. The number caught my attention, so I did some digging.

It is not uncommon for funds to go unclaimed and when you think about it, it makes sense. Maybe there was a death and family members did not have a full picture of their loved one’s financial holdings or maybe there was no family to step in. Maybe there was a volunteer group, organization or business that had funds sitting somewhere, but they ceased operations and these accounts were lost or forgotten about.

Here are the highlights on what happens to the money.

• When an account or investment remains inactive for a period of 10 years and reasonable efforts have been made to contact the rightful owner, those funds are then transferred to the Bank of Canada at the end of the year.
• The Bank of Canada then takes control over those funds. Interest is earned and paid on the funds held over the next 10 years or until the funds are claimed by the rightful owner or beneficiary.
• The Bank of Canada retains those funds for 30 years if the balance is less than $1,000.
• If the balance is greater than $1,000 then the Bank of Canada retains those funds for 100 years!
• If the funds are not collected by the rightful owner (that includes estates or beneficiaries) within those designated time frames listed above, then funds become the property of the Receiver General of Canada.

Here is the good news! The Bank of Canada has an online database that you can search and its quite simple to use. The data base retains any funds that have yet to be collected and remain in their possession. Once a claim has been made, approved and a payout processed, that information is removed from the data base. Therefore, when you search the database anything that shows up is still in the possession of the Bank of Canada. The Data base shows the account owners name, the institution the funds came from along with branch address (if available), and the amount being held by the Bank of Canada. A simple search I conducted showed balances as low as $2.00 up to $10,000-plus.

If you have some time, CLICK HERE and take a few minutes to search the names of your loved ones that have previously passed away, see what comes up. If you run a business or community organization, search those as well. Just remember that the funds will not show up in this database until the original account has been inactive for more than 10 years. For more information about the database and how to process a claim, CLICK HERE to visit the database information page on the Bank of Canada’s website.

Contact me for your best mortgage options 705.669.7798 or trina@ndlc.ca

#trinamortgages #mortgages #ndlc #freedomofchoice

#bestmortgageforme #executive #firstimehomebuyer

If you found this information valuable, I only ask that you share with your friends and family.

Copyright DLC

You’ve decided that you want to buy a home and you call up a realtor to show you a listing and the first question they ask is “ How much are you pre-approved for?” Many realtors will refuse to book home viewings until they can confirm that you are pre-approved. Why?

1- It shows that you are seriously committed to a home purchase. I have been told stories by realtors of people booking a series of homes to see and then being dropped off at McDonald’s to be picked up by another realtor to see some more homes.

2.- People have an idea of how much home they can afford. Sometimes this amount is way off. Lines of credit, installment plans, alimony or child support payments or high condo fees can make the amount of house you can afford a lot less than you would expect.

3- Surprises on your credit report. Many times home buyers haven’t checked their credit report before house hunting. An unpaid bill or a dispute with a contractor may result in a lien or collection showing on your credit. There may even be something from a person with a similar name. It’s important to make sure your credit is clean and that it is yours and not someone else’s.

4 –Income issues. A lot of people run out to get a new home when they receive a promotion at work. If the promotion includes a pay hike, is it salary or are they relying on overtime? Mortgage rules demand a two-year history for commission income, overtime or self-employed income. This also can curtail how much you qualify for.

5A – Credibility of the realtor.  When a realtor makes an offer on a home for you, they are not only investing their time and the listing agent’s time but their reputation. Making offers that will not result in a firm sale hurts their reputation in the industry. Trustworthiness and reputation are very important to realtors as they are guiding you in the largest purchase you make in your lifetime.

5B- Negotiating Strength.  In a situation where there are competing offers on a property, the sellers agent will encourage the sells to take the offer that is backed by a pre-approval over another offer that does not have a pre-approval to support it. Your chances of getting your dream home are greatly increased with it.

My one recommendation is that you take the time to contact your favourite Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker and get pre-approved. It will save everyone time and help avoid disappointment for everyone.

Contact me for your best mortgage options 705.669.7798 or trina@ndlc.ca

So you’re wanting to buy a new home? That is some very exciting news. First question, are you prepared?!
We all know big-item purchases are scary. It’s expensive, you are fully committing to this household – there is no turn backing without that pricey consequence. We totally get it.
The ultimate first-step is to do your research. You are going to want to find out the essentials before you start hunting for those pretty houses listed on Pinterest!
Let’s start here.

Credit History 
• How many credit cards do you currently have under your name?
• Do you pay your bills on time?
• How many loans do you currently have?
If you own a credit card or have a loan with an established bank, you have credit history. This information is then transferred into a financial summary known as a credit report.

Credit Report
Your credit report states these vital pieces of personal information (DO NOT let other people in on your personal finances. This should be a give-in by now!)
• first and last name
• home address
• social security number (SIN)
• credit cards
• loans
• how much money you owe
• whether or not you pay your bills on time
All this ‘credit’ talk is important because it allows lenders to determine IF they will lend you money. Your lender, whoever you choose to go with, will be on your credit situation right away. The sooner you know what is on your credit, the better!
As for your credit score, it’s best to only have it checked once as having multiple credit check by different lender can cause it to change. Let us know. We’d be happy to help here.

Employment 
It is important to have a steady income and also proof of employment for the last two years. Any changes to your employment have to be explicitly explained. Gathering these documents a head of time can save headaches later.

Down payment 
In Canada, you need to show a 90-day history of the down payment to prove you have not borrowed the money. We will need to see any movement of that money within the 90 days so its best not to move it around. You are allowed to get a gift from family for the down payment but this money must not be repayable and we will need a letter from that gift giver explaining that!

Consult Your Wish List 
It’s good to know what you want in a home if you can do it realistically. Buying a house for two? Thinking of expanding your family? You need to consider what life will look like down the road before you commit and sign that paper. Nothing would be worse than to move into a house that eventually ends up being too small because a couple of kids came into the picture or in a similar situation those grown-up kids come back home from college, university – you get the picture.
It’s also reasonable to think about factors in your dream home such as maintenance, renovations, the longevity of your stay, etc. Cover all bases, it is way better to be safe than sorry.

Finding a Broker 
Who should you use to find the best mortgage for you? We think a Broker (like us), especially if you’re a first-time home buyer. There are many lenders in Canada and a broker will be able to sort through all your options.

Finding a Realtor
When it comes to a realtor, you want someone reliable. Makes sense right? A couple ways you can find out whether or not a certain realtor is legit is by doing some online research:
• Do they have a website/social media accounts? Go check it out!
• Double-check if their licence is registered and legitimate
• Look up their client feedback/disciplinary comments against them
• Check out their current listings – price range, are they a busy/relaxed business?
• Send them an e-mail with any questions! Do they have the appropriate knowledge?

Feeling better about buying that first Home? That’s exactly what we like to hear. If you have any other questions, call a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional today.

Contact me for your best mortgage options 705.669.7798 or trina@ndlc.ca