18 May

Time to renew or make a change to your mortgage?

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

Although the process may be simple, simply renewing with your current lender may cost you.  Renewing your mortgage with another lender requires a new approval and can take time to process.  However, renewing with another lender may save you thousands of dollars over your next term.  Should you qualify, you may even save tens of […]

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12 May

Your Credit Score

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

Your credit score indicates to lenders whether or not you are a “good investment” by relaying how long you’ve had credit, your habits in paying back that credit, and how much you currently owe in total. Your credit score is affected by how much debt you’re carrying in relation to the limit of each account, […]

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4 May

What does it take to replace your windows?

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

  What’s involved in replacing the windows of a home? And what are the indications that you might need to replace yours?  Let’s take a look at some questions you might have. new home, old windows When you purchase a home, you receive a seller’s declaration. This is a document that contains all the information […]

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27 Apr

5 Tips for Staging Your Home Yourself

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

Getting a home ready for sale or lease is a big job on its own. For some, the thought of staging your home may be overwhelming. Realtors may offer this service as part of their package, but if not, don’t worry, it’s easy to do it yourself with a little inspiration. Beyond the basic advice […]

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13 Apr

The Bank of Canada has raised its key lending rate by 0.50%

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

How does this affect my mortgage?   If you don’t have a mortgage yet and are thinking of making a purchase in the next few months, please see below.   If you have a variable rate mortgage or home equity lines of credit (HELOC’s), either your monthly payment will increase, or more of the payment […]

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13 Apr

Alternative Lending: Providing more options for your financing

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

There’s Often an Alternative. When it comes down to getting approved for a mortgage, there are a lot of factors and not everyone will qualify. So what are your options if the banks say “no”? When conventional lenders (such as banks or credit unions) deny mortgage financing, it can be easy to feel discouraged. However, […]

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6 Apr

Renewing your Mortgage

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

  Did you know? Close to 70 percent of mortgages never make it to the end of their term. This means that, for a variety of reasons, homeowners are ending their mortgages early. However, that still leaves a solid 30 percent of home buyers who keep their mortgage until the term is up and it […]

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30 Mar

Staying out of the Penalty Box

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

When it comes to mortgages, it is easy to focus on rates and your current situation, but the reality is that life happens and when it does, rates won’t be the only thing that matter. First and foremost, the most important thing to remember is that a mortgage is a contract. That means that there […]

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23 Mar

Investment Properties: Rates, Qualifying, and Down Payment

Mortgage Tips

Posted by: Karli Shih

Investing in real estate outside of your principal residence is one way to increase your net worth over time.  A few things to know about buying investment properties: Mortgages for investment properties are typically higher than rates for a principal residence or second home purchase by approximately .10% to .20%. Your income factors into qualifying […]

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16 Mar

Canada Reached Full-Employment in February

General

Posted by: Karli Shih

  Statistics Canada released the February Labour Force Survey this morning, reporting a much more significant than expected 336,600 net new jobs, with the unemployment rate falling a full percentage point to 5.5%. This is the first time the unemployment rate fell below its pre-Covid level and reinforces the expectation for another Bank of Canada […]

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