Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely couple. He was 75 and she was 80 years young. They were both disabled and needed to purchase a new car because their previous car had fallen apart on them. As a result, the couple had to use disability transportation buses to get around. When the […]

Recently I was fortunate enough to travel to the small island country of Iceland in the middle of the North Atlantic. It had not been a destination on my radar until I started to plan a mountain biking trip for my milestone 40th birthday. I knew I was going to utilize the locally owned (Whistler […]

Borrower or credit costs can be outrageous. To go get a line of credit, you are usually paying upwards of 6% to 7.5%. These lines of credit can be based on interest only or principle and interest payments. This kind of loan is based on how the lender views you as a risk. In other […]

After diligently saving your pennies and carefully managing your credit to be as strong as possible you are finally ready to start house hunting for that perfect dream home. Between you and your new life lies the seemingly terrifying mortgage process so let’s go over what you can expect so there are no surprises along […]

In a nutshell, a CHIP mortgage or “reverse” mortgage is a mortgage that is secured by the client’s principal residence and as long as one of the client’s lives in the house, it never has to be repaid, not even the interest. “CHIP” stands for “Canadian Home Income Plan” by the way; however the lender […]

There has been much hand-wringing about the overheated housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto. Accelerating price gains in the past year are indicative of a buying frenzy, especially in Vancouver, which is clearly unsustainable. New listings are way down, new supply is constrained, and buyer euphoria seems to be suggestive of panic fear of missing […]

A short time ago Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) changed the rules on how much down payment buyers have to have in place to buy a home worth more than $500,000. The new rules stated that you have to have 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the remaining balance up to $999,999. […]

I have asked this question quietly to myself more than once over the years. ***For a post on the nuts & bolts of the new BC 15% foreign tax legislation click here – this post is specifically about the unbelievable way in which we are implementing it. A few points about me, for perspective: I am […]

As a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker, I often see in the lender’s conditions sheet a request for the lawyer to obtain title insurance. We all know that this is a measure to protect the lender and to allow for the deal to proceed if there is a delay with the title or the other […]

When you purchase a property, you may be a little overwhelmed by all the insurance offers related to purchasing a new property that come your way. Mortgage Insurance, Condo Insurance, Mortgage Default Insurance, Earthquake Insurance; the list goes on and on. It can be confusing and it is important to know what insurance covers what. For […]