Woah. Did Anyone See That Coming? After the dust has settled on 2020 the one question I want to ask is how’s your financial future looking? For many of us 2020 was a year we are going to look back on thinking ‘I didn’t see that coming!’. From lockdowns to furloughs, to many of us moving from downtown cities to …
How Much Are Closing Costs for a Home?
I often get asked this question: How Much are Closing Costs When Buying a Home in Ontario? A very important (but often overlooked detail) when purchasing a home in Ontario is how much the bank wants to see set aside of your own money for the closing costs. As a general rule of thumb this works out to about 1.5% …
How to Increase Your Credit Score Quickly
How to boost your credit: The 2-2-2 Rule Here’s a simple way to boost your credit score fairly quickly. 2 Trade lines: make sure that you have at least 2 credit products reporting on your bureau. This doesn’t include cell phone or utility bills but rather credit cards, bank loans, auto loans, lines of credit and even mortgages. $2,000 limit: …
The Hidden Costs of the CMHC First Time Home Buyers Incentive
Why you just might want stick with your own savings when it comes to purchasing First Time Home Buyers and Realtors who think the new Trudeau announcement is going to benefit them might be misinformed. I’ve been asked quite a bit by First Time Home Buyers and Toronto Real Estate agents what I think about the new incentives recently announced …
How to Beat the Stress Test: Credit Unions Take the Lead
(originally published in The Financial Post) OTTAWA/MONTREAL — Credit unions in Quebec could soon face the same stiffer mortgage rules as Canada’s big banks, its securities watchdog said, but the country’s other provinces with frothy property markets are split on whether to require tougher stress tests for borrowers who look to smaller lenders to buy a house. The schism opens …
5 Reasons to Use a Mortgage Broker
Recently I was ranked as the #1 Mortgage Broker in downtown Toronto and am incredibly humbled by the support and trust that people like you have put into me when arranging the financing for your property – whether it’s a purchase, refinance, HELOC, or debt consolidation. And that got me thinking, what are some of the benefits of using a …
The Top 8 Design and Staging Tips
I had the opportunity to meet with interior design and staging guru Justine Demsky of JustineElise.com to talk about some tips you can do to make your place sell for top dollar.
How to Get a Mortgage with Bad Credit – An Insiders Guide
We all have done things in our past that we might not be proud of. But part of life is moving on and forging ahead right? Well, in the world of obtaining a mortgage from a lender, they’re slow to forgive and forget. In today’s red hot real estate market here in Toronto I have been credit coaching some clients …
Applying For a Mortgage: The 4 Pillars That Determine Your Max Mortgage
A lot of people that are looking to either get into the housing market or move from an existing home don’t know the important factors that play into how much mortgage you will be approved for. I’m going to break down what I am calling the 4 Pillars of Applying for a Mortgage Lets put yourself on the other side …
Investment Face-off: Buying Pre-Construction vs Resale Condos in Toronto
I’ve purchased both types of investments and will use my historical data and personal experience to unlock what is really a better option. The outcome might surprise you. Drawing on my own historical data from purchasing a pre-construction condo in Toronto’s trendy King West I am going to turn back the clock and do a little comparative analysis on purchasing …
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