Why Use a Mortgage Broker?

Mortgage services are just one aspect of our 1-Stop Real Estate Solution that we have created. Below are 10 benefits a mortgage broker provides and exactly how we can make it easy for you – one mortgage at a time.

1. Get Independent Advice on Your Financial Options

As independent mortgage brokers and agents, we’re not tied to any one lender or range of products. Our goal is to help you successfully finance your home or property. We’ll start by getting to know you and your homeownership goals. We’ll make a recommendation, drawing from available mortgage products that match your needs, and we will decide together on what’s right for you.

2. Save Time with One-Stop Shopping

It could take weeks for you to organize appointments with competing mortgage lenders — and we know you’d probably rather spend your time house-hunting! We work directly with dozens of lenders, and can quickly narrow down a list of those that suit you best. It makes comparison-shopping fast, easy, and convenient.

3. We Negotiate on Your Behalf

Many people are uncertain or uncomfortable negotiating mortgages directly with their bank. We will take care of all the negotiating for you.

4. More Choices Means More Competitive Rates

We have access to a network of major lenders in Canada, so your options are extensive. In addition to traditional lenders, we also know what’s being offered by credit unions, trust companies, and other sources.  And we can help you take care of other requirements before your closing date, such as sourcing mortgage default insurance if your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price.

5. Ensure That You Are Getting the Best Rates and Terms

Even if you’ve already been pre-approved for a mortgage by your bank or another financial institution, you’re not obliged to stop shopping! Let us investigate to see if there is an alternative to better suit your needs and budget.

6. Get Access to Special Deals and Add-Ons

Many financial institutions would love to have you as a client, which is why they often offer incentives to attract creditworthy customers. These can include retail points programs discounts on appliances, shopping clubs, and more. We do the math on which offers might be worth your attention when it comes to financing or mortgage insurance — so you get the perks you deserve.

7. Things Move Quickly!

We’ll help ensure your mortgage transaction takes place on time and to your satisfaction.

8. Get Expert Advice

When it comes to mortgages, rates, and the housing market, we’ll speak to you in plain language. We can explain the various mortgage terms and conditions so you can choose confidently.

9. No Cost to You

There’s absolutely no charge for our services on typical residential mortgage transactions. How can we afford to do that? Like many other professional services, such as insurance, mortgage brokers are generally paid a finder’s fee when we introduce trustworthy, dependable customers to a financial institution. These fees are quite standard and nearly industry-wide so that the focus remains on you, the customer.

10. Ongoing Support and Consultation

Even once your mortgage is signed and paperwork is complete, we are here if you need any advice on closing details or even future referral needs. We are happy to be of assistance when you need it – especially as a 1 Stop Real Estate Solution. Mortgages are just one aspect of our business that we can provide for you!

Steps to Purchase A Home

The process to purchase a home can be overwhelming and exhausting. We have laid out the details in 10 simple steps for you. As a 1-Stop Real Estate Solution, we will take care of each step to help you find your dream home. Just sit back, and relax.

1. Determine How Much You Can Afford

We consider your down payment, income, existing debt, regular expenditures, and your other key financial information to help you determine an affordable monthly payment amount that is within your price range, and most importantly, within your budget.

2. Team Up With a Real Estate Agent

Our multi-service agency allows us to team up with you! We can help you search for you dream home by becoming your personal advisor, consultant, and negotiator. We will show you the best homes out there for you!

3. Make an Offer

When you’ve found a place that you’d like to call your own, we will help you draw up an Offer to Purchase to present to the seller. This legal document specifies the price, the closing date, and any conditions.

4. Retain a Lawyer

We have an in-house law firm association that can help you look over any offers to purchase before you submit the documents – especially if you find yourself in a bidding war.

5. Arrange the Home Inspection

Many buyers consider including a home inspection as one of the conditions on their Offer to Purchase. A professional inspection is a good way to uncover major problems with the home. If the home doesn’t pass the inspection, you can adjust or withdraw your conditional offer. See our blog post that tells you what to expect from a home inspection here.

6. Get the Mortgage Approved

With a copy of the signed Offer to Purchase and the necessary financial information, we’ll submit your application to the mortgage lender that we have selected. The lender will qualify the application and complete a valuation on the property you have purchased. Mortgage insurance gives you the ability to buy a home with a down payment of less than 20% of the purchase price.

7. Get Property Insurance

Apart from the mortgage, you’ll need to purchase property insurance that protects your home against fire and other damages. Once you have a policy in place, we’ll forward a copy to the lawyer.

8. Check the Legal Details

With the deal finalized, and the financing in place, the lawyer can now search the title and check whether there are any unpaid property taxes outstanding.

9. Complete the Paperwork

A few days before the deal is set to close, you’ll meet with the lawyer to review, sign, and get copies of all the documentation. At this time, you’ll also provide the remainder of your down payment, pay legal fees, and any additional costs such as, prepaid utility expenses for which the seller should be reimbursed, that are due on closing.

10. Pick Up the Keys

On the closing day, your lawyer and the seller’s lawyer will exchange documents and cheques. Your lawyer will also register your new home in your name. When these tasks are complete, you’ll get the deed and your keys to your new home, and you can officially move in. You just purchased a home! Congratulations!

Bank of Canada Rate Announcement – July 2013

Last Wednesday, the Bank of Canada, with Stephen Poloz as the new central bank governor, decided to leave the key borrowing rate where it has been since September 2010 at 1% and said that it will keep interest rates near record lows for some time to come.

This was also the first chance for Mr. Poloz to provide input to the bank’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report — a look at economic conditions and possible threats to growth forecasts, and a document that he helped launch at the BoC before leaving to later head Economic Development Canada, the Ottawa-based export credit agency.

In Wednesday’s report, the bank said Canada’s economy is “expected to be choppy in the near term.” It forecast growth of 1.8% this year, up from an estimate of 1.5% in its April report. But for the second quarter this year alone, the bank is forecasting slower growth of about 1% reflecting the impact of the flooding on Alberta and province-wide construction strike in Quebec.

To read the Bank of Canada’s new release and report, click here.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please give us a call to discuss.

For more blog posts on real estate or mortgage related topics, click here or scroll back to the top of the page and click on blog.

How a Laneway Home will Help Your Cash Flow

The Vancouver housing market has seen its share of ups and downs. For those lucky to have purchased a number of years ago, your home has appreciated significantly but how can that equity help your bank account and not just on paper? For many in the city of Vancouver, the answer to that question is a laneway home.

A laneway home provides many benefits to the city, the tenant and the owner of the home. The city receives the added supply of rental units while preserving the existing streetscape and character of individual neighbourhoods. The renter can benefit by the opportunity to live in a detached, ground-orientated home in an area that may have been too pricey to rent a single family home. The owner of the laneway home would instantly add more space for elderly parents looking to downsize or adult children wanting to live independently but if rented, the income stream provided would help many owners with their monthly expenses. A quick look on the internet you can find rents from $1,000 to $2,500 depending on the square footage, number of bedrooms and location. Construction cost for a laneway home are in the $150 to $250 per square foot range. With these figures in mind consider the following.

A 500 Square foot Laneway home at $200 per square foot = $100,000.

Mortgaging $100,000 for 20 years at the rate of 3.55% = $581.20 per month

Rental income from laneway $1000 + per month

Sounds like a great idea and want to know the next steps? A phone call to a local Vancouver contractor who specializes in laneway additions and new home construction would be the next step. This call will help you find out whether your property is suited for this type of project, along with the associated cost and timeline. Once it has been determined that a laneway home is possible, speaking with a Mortgage Professional will help determine the best option to access the equity of your home to fund the construction.

With the right Vancouver contractor and your financing in place, let the laneway home construction begin!

BrokerSmart – Langley Times Article

Perfect Situation’ for Mother/Son Team

By Miranda Gathercole – Langley Times

Running a business with your son may be next to impossible for some mothers, but for Cindy Faulkner it is the perfect situation.

She and her son Mike Donovan have collaborated together to create an all-in-one mortgage broker and real estate office, BrokerSmart.

Located in the Jeske Building on the corner of 200 Street and 72 Avenue, both Faulkner and Donovan are dual licensed realtors and mortgage brokers, and have created a network within the corporate building to provide clients with legal, life and home insurance services all under one roof.

They also run a sister company in the same office, Coastal Mortgages, to work with clients looking for mortgage broker services.

“It’s more convenient for our clients, they don’t have to drive around to all different places,” Faulkner said. “We do everything, which makes it so much easier.”

Instead of home buyers and sellers having to deal with a separate real estate agent, mortgage broker, lawyer, insurance agent and more, at BrokerSmart they only have to deal with one person.

“Lots of people find it really overwhelming,” said Donovan. “It can be pretty stressful trying to pull everything together, but we make the process much simpler. We are like the project managers for real estate.”

The two Walnut Grove residents also make the perfect team, balancing each other out through Donovan’s educational background and Faulkner’s experience working in the industry for more than 20 years.

Though sometimes it’s hard to put work aside when at Sunday family dinner, Faulkner says watching her son grow in business is a very rewarding experience.

“It’s family, I raised him so I know his ethics,” Faulkner said. “I know how he would handle certain situations and it gives me comfort because I know I can rely on him. I know I can trust him and the trust factor is huge.”

“If you can make it work, it’s the better way to go,” Donovan added.

What To Expect From A Home Inspection

A quality home inspection provides buyers with many benefits but buyers often have misconceptions or false expectations about what a home inspection will actually provide. This can lead to a less than ideal experience. The following points are what you should expect from a home inspection.

1. A home inspection is a visual examination of the home and operating systems at the time that the inspection is done, but it is not a warranty.

2. Items that are not included in a normal home inspection are the cosmetic or esthetic features and systems such as the telephone, cable TV, alarm systems or lawn sprinklers.

3. A home inspector cannot knock out the walls to see what is behind them and will typically not move furniture. He/she cannot see through foundation, floors or walls and can only observe what is visible.

4. Also not included in a standard home inspection are inspections of swimming pools, spas, fireplaces, outbuildings or the like, although they are available as specialty services or add-ons to a home inspection.

5. A home inspection will provide buyers with an in-depth understanding of the home.

A quality home inspection can last up to three to four hours depending on the size of the home, but the intelligence gained is worth every second of your time when it comes to deciding whether you want to proceed with the purchase.

There is a lot of important information provided in a good home inspection report which should be provided either in paper or electronic format for your records. A thorough home inspection report will provide peace of mind on the purchase, outline ongoing maintenance costs to enable budgeting for the future, point out major repairs – when they will most likely be needed, how much they will likely cost – and describe good preventive measures that can be taken to optimize the home to prevent expensive surprises.

For more blog posts on other real estate topics or mortgage related topics, click here or scroll back to the top of the page and click on blog.

Vancouver Housing Market Update – February 2013

Although the Vancouver housing market is still trending below historical averages, we are starting to see subtle changes in the market. There has been an increase in the sale-to-active listing ratio and a decrease in the average amount of days for a listing to sell. There is also a lot of activity around open houses throughout the lower mainland which bodes well for the spring real estate market. See the video below from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver on the stats for the month of February 2013

For more blog posts on home improvements and other real estate or mortgage related topics, click here or scroll back to the top of the page and click on blog.

Why a Fresh Coat of Paint Can Help with Your Sale

When you decide to sell your home, getting top dollar and a quick sale is usually the goal. To do this, getting your home to stand up above the rest is key, especially when it comes to the Langley real estate market.

A fresh coat of paint can help your place stand out and do several things for a room. Not only can it help make it appear cleaner and newer, but it can also help with any odors that may be in the home, such as those from smoke, pets, cooking or just living in general. A fresh coat of paint can help to lively-up a room or tone down and neutralize one for a more general appeal.

Choosing Your Color Palette

With so many other homes for sale in Langley, choosing the right colors to paint your house for a faster sale is important. Opting for a neutral palette is advised, but this doesn’t mean that spraying every room in builder’s white is the way to go! Use these pointers to help you choose your paint colors for a faster sale.

 

  • Think of the first impression your color palette will make. You want potential buyers to walk in and be able to immediately envision themselves living in the house with their own things. A color palette that is specific to a certain style will only appeal to those who share your specific taste, so opt for colors that could work with a wide range of styles.

 

  • Avoid colors that will require multiple coats to cover. Most buyers don’t want to walk into a house and immediately see the work that is ahead of them if they buy it. Dark or bold colors are harder to cover, which to potential buyers equals more money and more work.

 

  • You can freshen up more than just walls with paint. If your kitchen cabinets, window trims and baseboards, or even bathroom vanities are looking a little tired or beat up, a fresh coat of paint can breathe new life into them and even update them with the right color. Look to magazines or talk to your Langley real estate agent for suggestions and ideas.

For more blog posts on home improvements and other real estate related topics, click here or scroll back to the top of the page and click on blog.

Home Improvements & the Potential Retrun

Many Canadians are opting to invest in home improvements before selling their home. While most plan to spend a reasonable amount, others plan on going the extra mile but how much of their investment will be recovered when their house sells?

Each year the Appraisal Institute of Canada surveys its members and compiles a list of renovations that provide the best return on investment. Refurbished kitchens and bathrooms top the payback list: 75 per cent to 100 per cent of the investment for these upgrades can be recovered upon resale. But you must remember, if you are renovating in order to sell, the updates must appeal to the majority of potential buyers to ensure the highest possible return.

The Appraisal Institute of Canada states on its website: “If the value of your house exceeds the average market value in your neighbourhood, your renovations will not yield much return. But if your house value is below the average, you can recover a larger part of the renovation costs.”
Below are approximate percentages to keep in mind when considering your updates:

Percentage recovered upon resale
Kitchen upgrade: 75% to 100%
Bathroom upgrade: 75% to 100%
Interior painting: 50% to 100%
Roof replacement: 50% to 80%
Replacement of furnace or heating system: 50% to 80%
Expansion (addition of family room): 50% to 75%
Doors and windows: 50% to 75%
Deck: 50% to 75%
Installation of hardwood floor: 50% to 75%
Construction of a garage: 50% to 75%
Fireplace (wood or gas) 50% to 75%
Central air conditioning: 50% to 75%
Finished basement: 50% to 75%
Wood fence: 25% to 50%
Interlocking paving stones on driveway: 25% to 50%
Landscaping: 25% to 50%
Asphalt driveway: 20% to 50%
Pool: 10% to 40%
Skylights: 0% to 25%

When You Should Invest in New Floors

If you’re living in a home with floors that have seen better days, then the following is very important as your flooring, when in good shape, can add tremendous value to your home. It’s no surprise that potential buyers are more likely to be dazzled by brilliant floors that look new as opposed to those that are outdated or scratched. The reason isn’t just aesthetics, but also the fact that floors in rough shape or outdated usually translate to extra work and expense to potential homebuyers.

Increasing Value with Your Existing Floor

Depending on the condition of your current floor, you may not need a complete overhaul. Carpets can be professionally cleaned and floors can be spiffed up with a good cleaning as well. If you have hardwood that is worn or has obvious scratches, then stripping & sanding the floors and having them re-stained is cheaper than installing new floors while giving you the look of practically new floors. In the case of laminate that may have gaps or some water damage; repairs are fairly easy as long as you are able to get your hands on pieces in the same color and style for an exact match. Tile can be made to look new again with a good grout scrub or even by using one of the many grout stain pens on the market.

When You Should Invest in New Floors

Any floors with very obvious damage or stains are going to result in lost sales or low-ball offers and the same goes for obviously outdated flooring. For instance, if you have broken boards or orange shag carpet, then you need new floors. Most buyers, unless looking for a fixer-upper, aren’t going to want to buy a home that requires new flooring. With older homes and townhomes, carpet and tile styles and colours can really date a home, so those should be replaced. Broken floor boards and tiles, as well as water damaged floors will also need replacing if you want to increase the value of your home.

Some Final Tips to Save You Money on Flooring

If you’ve decided to invest in new floors, consider the following to help you save money while increasing your home’s value:

  • Check home improvement store flyers for sales and discounts
  • Ask your contractor if he gets a discount on materials
  • Check out flooring warehouses and clearance centers
  • Check Craiglist and Kijiji listings for people and contractors selling extra stock