- A: Mortgage Brokers are independent, trained professionals licensed to represent and provide you with the best advice for your mortgage needs. Mortgage Brokers primary expertise is locating funding for mortgage financing. They know where the best rates can be found. What's more, they have the knowledge required to present a proposal for financing to lenders in the best way possible to successfully obtain mortgage financing.
- A: Mortgage Brokers represent you, the customer, not the lender. Because they are not employees of a lending institution, Brokers are not limited in the product they can offer you.
Brokers seek out the best lender package to suit your specific situation, whether it's with a Chartered Bank, Trust or Insurance Company, or Private Funds.
There is a wide assortment of options and features available to home buyers today. Shopping around takes a lot of time and effort. Many Canadians are intimidated by the mortgage process In today's very competitive marketplace. It pays to work with a mortgage professional who will represent you and ensure the mortgage you get is the one best suited to your needs.
Choosing the wrong mortgage can cost you thousands of extra dollars. Mortgage Brokers are the trained professional who can help you save on your mortgage dollar.
- A: You should obtain a pre-approval if you plan on buying in the near future in order to secure an interest rate guarantee from the lender. The interest rate can usually be held for 60 to 90 days. The pre-approval is based on the information you provide to us in your application and is subject to verification of conditions such as employment and down payment verification.
- A: Yes, most lenders will accept down payment that is gifted from a family member. A gift letter is usually required to be signed by the donor to confirm it is not a loan.
- A: Yes. Our lenders offer preapprovals from 60 days to 120 days. When it comes to new construction many lenders will extend that preapproval time to fit the construction schedule. This will allow you to hold a great interest rate while you shop for or build a new home.
- A: Qualifying guidelines vary depending on the lenders criteria and products available. To find out exactly what you can qualify for, please submit your application for a quick approval.
- A: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is a federally owned and operated institution that evaluates the client and property to allow the borrower to purchase a home with a lower down payment requirement. This corporation insures the mortgage on behalf of the bank, through a premium added to your mortgage. This way the banks are obligated to provide a mortgage for those with less than a 20% down payment.
- A: Our only job is to find our clients the absolute best mortgage product to fit their needs. We specialize in mortgage lending and only deal with lenders who can compete against the local branches for better rates, terms and service.
- A: The mortgage lenders that we use do not have local branches in each city or town, they have no large overhead and are in the business of lending money for mortgages only. This, combined with their large volumes, allows them to discount the rates far better than your own bank can provide.
- A: In addition to rates, because mortgage-based financing is the broker's primary business, he or she has developed expertise in what type of mortgage financing each lender prefers to pursue. This kind of knowledge not only results in the most favourable rates for each project, but often whether a project is funded at all.
- A: Interest rates are a concern to borrowers. Because of their daily contact with lenders, brokers know which project or home attracts a favorable interest rate from one institution, but a higher rate at another. Some institutions, in fact, will only accept mortgage submissions from mortgage brokers.
These rates, and preferences for types of mortgages, can change daily, depending on economic circumstances or based on the size of an institution's portfolio in a particular type of mortgage. Your Mortgage Broker keeps current and knows which lender to approach first. As a result, mortgage rates obtained by Brokers are among the best available at the time of placement.
- A: Mortgage shopping can be daunting for those who've never done it before. It's tough to know you're getting the best rate, or, if the terms and conditions of the mortgage are best suited to your specific circumstances. And haggling may not be one of your strong suits.
With this in mind, these are reasons to consider enlisting the services of a mortgage broker as they provide their services for free to borrowers. Their commission is paid by the bank or lender providing the mortgage product. A mortgage broker has the educational background and training to provide a consumer with choices that fit their needs.
Mortgage rates vary considerably and it is paramount that you choose someone that will shop around for the best rate, terms and options.
Mortgage Brokers will rarely charge a fee for their services, but if a fee is warranted, it is negotiated up front and documented.
- A: A professional presentation to a lender on the first application will get the best response and save you valuable time and money. Secondary applications with previous credit bureau inquiries may be more costly.
Often the success of obtaining mortgage approval depends on the way a proposal is presented and to whom it is sent. Your Mortgage Broker is trained to present your mortgage proposal where and how it will get the most immediate, positive result.
You don't call an insurance company for insurance - you use an insurance broker, because of their expertise, product knowledge and rates. So remember, call your mortgage broker first!
- A: Brokers can place all types of loans provided they are backed by mortgage collateral. All sizes of loans, from small loans backed by a residential property to commercial properties in the millions of dollars, are readily available. Mortgage-backed loans in the millions are not uncommon with private pension funds and private lenders.
In addition to handling straight mortgages, mortgage brokers are often called on to assemble financing (based on mortgage collateral) for businesses. Mortgage brokers excel in this type of financing package because of their expertise in looking at loans from a mortgaging perspective, as well as their knowledge of financial institutions' interests and desires for a particular product at specific times.
- A: The lenders who work with mortgage brokers include traditional sources, such as chartered banks, trust companies, as well as corporate and private pension funds. In addition to these sources, brokers often develop professional relationships with private sources of funds, termed private lenders. These lenders can provide many various mortgage products not available at conventional sources. For best results call your Broker first.
- A: Yes, letting a Mortgage Broker represent you to your own financial institution can often result in a better rate than you could get on your own.
- A: Yes, the Federal Government has announced that they intend to eliminate this program, but it has not happened yet.
- A: Don't believe anything a bank employee says regarding any other institution that deals in mortgages, unless they are willing to put the statement in writing and sign it. Bank employees are trained to spit out several scripted verbal statements that are completely false designed to scare you away from getting your mortgage from anywhere but them. Of course they will not put those lies in writing, because if they did they would end up getting sued. If you walked into a Ford Dealership, and asked one of their sales people on what their opinion of Dodges are, do you think you would get an unbiased response? Of course not, asking a bank about any other financial institution or lender would be no different. The truth is many of the non-bank lenders we deal with, are either owned by, or receive a significant amount of their mortgage funds from the big 5 banks themselves. We also deal with many other lenders that are banks, but are simply much smaller than the big 5, and therefore simply don't have huge advertising budgets and branches on every corner that would make you more familiar with them. Global Empire Corporation has a broker agreement in place with TD Bank, and we do place our clients in TD mortgages when they are the best fit for that particular client. There is a saying in the business that explains into a Ford Dealership, and asked one of their sales people on what their opinion of Dodges are, do you think you would get an unbiased response? Of course not, asking a bank about any other financial institution or lender would be no different. The truth is many of the non-bank lenders we deal with, are either owned by, or receive a significant amount of their mortgage funds from the big 5 banks themselves. We also deal with many other lenders that are banks, but are simply much smaller than the big 5, and therefore simply don't have huge advertising budgets and branches on every corner that would make you more familiar with them. Global Empire Corporation has a broker agreement in place with TD Bank, and we do place our clients in TD mortgages when they are the best fit for that particular client. There is a saying in the business that explains this perfectly "Do as the banks do, not as they say". So the fact that the banks are more than happy to do business with brokers, you should not pay too much attention to anything derogatory that their lowest level employees say about us.
- A: The bank or builder will be more than happy to pay for you to use THEIR LAWYER. Ask them to just give you the cash instead, or pay for a lawyer of your choosing and see what they say. The answer will of course be "No". The financing of your home or rental property is a huge financial decision, often resulting in a transaction in the several hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is absolutely imperative that you use a lawyer of your choosing to ensure that you get full and proper disclosure regarding the mortgage contract you will be entering as this is definitely money well spent.
- A: Completely false, unethical, and quite possibly illegal. If you were told this by anyone dealing in mortgages in Alberta, please contact the Alberta Insurance Council for information on how to register a complaint. Also of note, people sometimes confuse Mortgage Default Insurance which may be required and Mortgage Life / Disability (Creditor) insurance that is 100% optional on your part. These are two entirely different types of insurance related to mortgages. Mortgage Default Insurance (CMHC/Genworth) may be required to insure your lender against a loss in case you fail to make mortgage payments as agreed. This is coverage that you pay for, the cost of which is added to the mortgage. Mortgage Life / Disability (Creditor) insurance is an insurance policy that you take out on your person that names your lender as the beneficiary in case you die or become disabled and the claim is approved by the insurance company the policy is placed with. This insurance coverage is 100% optional and you have every right to waive it if you like without affecting any provision of the mortgage.
