The “Backwards” Way Finding the Best Mortgage

Looking for your next home – and the mortgage you’ll use to buy it – is like traveling to a foreign country. The language and customs are different and your head will spin with an overwhelming number of details.

Most people who find themselves in this strange land of mortgages try to find their mortgage as quickly as possible. They race to a mortgage that, at first glance, looks like the right one for them. But that approach doesn’t assure that you’ll get the best mortgage for your needs.

Since your mortgage represents the largest purchase, here’s the way that you should find your best mortgage (and stay sane while doing it).

First, take your time. Don’t rush to find the mortgage. There are plenty of mortgages out there and plenty of lenders. Decide ahead of time that you’ll narrow your choices and evaluate from a position of confidence and patience rather than impatience.

Second, get educated. Yes, there are highly qualified mortgage experts out there who can help you find a great mortgage but the onus is on you to decide what’s best for you. Learn everything you can about the local real estate market, the mortgage industry, and what mortgages are available to you. It’s just like landing a plane:

1. Start at 50,000 feet and develop high-level knowledge about the market in general

2. Then go to 40,000 feet to learn about the market right now

3. Then go to 30,000 feet to learn about real estate and mortgages

4. Then go to 20,000 feet to learn about the most applicable real estate and mortgage options for you

5. Then go to 10,000 feet to narrow your options and learn more deeply about each one

6. Then land that plane and decide on the best mortgage to meet your needs!

Third, find a mortgage broker who can work with you. They’ll not only take away a lot of the guesswork, they can help you through each level of learning and you’ll end up making the best mortgage decision for you!

4 Ways That Vancouver Mortgage Professionals Help Find Flexible Payment Options for Homebuyers With Non-Traditional Mortgage Needs

When I was growing up, my parents moved a couple of times, and each time they did the same thing: My dad would go to the bank (“our bank” my parents would call it) and sit with someone there and then come away with a mortgage. That’s not the way it works anymore. Today, my spouse and I both meet with a local mortgage broker – a Vancouver mortgage professional who helps find flexible payment options for us.

Today, dads are no longer the main breadwinners, nor are mortgages the same financial instrument they once were. Here’s what my mortgage broker did for us:

·         The job market has changed and is far less secure than in dad’s day (no more “jobs for life!) We want to pay less on our mortgage and a mortgage broker helps find mortgages that cost less over the life of the loan as well as on a monthly basis.

·         As freelancers (I’m a photographer and my wife is a graphic designer) our income is pretty good but frankly it’s all over the map – we go from boom to bust and back to boom again. Our bank is still stuck in the Stone Age and didn’t “get” this but our mortgage broker nodded, smiled, and said it wouldn’t be a problem… they even found us a mortgage where we could skip occasional payments or pre-pay without penalty.

·     We were able to select the days of the month we wanted our payments to come out – multiple payments and the frequency of those payments (and our mortgage broker even showed us a trick to pay off our mortgage a little sooner by helping us “sneak in” an extra couple of payments a year).

·         Our favorite: Our Vancouver mortgage professional helped find flexible payment options at zero cost to us. This was a service to us that was essentially free – keeping more money in our pocket while finding the best rate out there.

I learned that mortgages are like complex machines with all kinds of “buttons” – from payments schedules to interest rate and more. And our mortgage broker pushed all the right buttons to find a mortgage that worked for our unique situation.

Should You Renew Your Mortgage? Why a Professional Mortgage Broker Can Help.

If there is one constant in life, it’s that things change – and circumstances have probably changed since you hired a mortgage broker and took out your current home loan.

Perhaps your current mortgage is no longer a good fit for you and your family and you are thinking of talking to a mortgage broker about mortgage renewal.

After all, shouldn’t your mortgage adjust according to your changing circumstances? 

If you are considering renewing your mortgage it is very likely that you are in the process of reevaluating your financial goals and reflecting on the last time you spoke with your broker.  

Is mortgage renewal right for you?

Maybe your income level hasn’t changed significantly but the value of your home has, in which case adjusting your monthly payments might be a wise thing to consider. 

The process of renewing your mortgage in Vancouver boils down to finding a loan that best reflects your new lifestyle. 

This is why it is so important to find a professional mortgage broker who will sit down with you and talk about your interest preferences: are you looking to save through variable rates or seeking the simplicity and security of a fixed rate term?

A good mortgage broker will speak to you about your current mortgage and how your needs have changed since you signed up for it. 

Keep in mind that you don’t have to renew your mortgage through your current lender.

A professional mortgage broker can make a big difference helping you choose from a host of loan terms at competitive and less competitive rates. 

Start shopping

Don’t wait until you get a renewal letter from your lender. 

Get in touch with a mortgage broker a few months before your mortgage term expires to see what’s out there, and if you can find loan terms that are a better fit for you. 

Remember that if you don’t take initiative on time the lender may automatically renew your mortgage for another term.

You may qualify for a lower rate and not even know it. 

Mortgage renewal can save you money, so contact us now to speak to a professional mortgage broker about your options.