When is the Right Time to Hire a Mortgage Broker?

A mortgage broker is a professional widely recognized for services in acquiring a profitable mortgage deal. If you are a first time home buyer, real estate investor or an individual looking for the best mortgage deal in the market, you need the services of a qualified and experienced mortgage broker. They ensure that you land a deal that suits your mortgage requirements precisely.

When to Hire a Mortgage Broker?

A Mortgage Broker Vancouver, BC plays a critical role in bargaining the best mortgage deal in the market. Therefore, the moment you decide to buy your first home or invest in real estate, hire the services of a reputed and professional mortgage consultant in your region. It is important to discuss your financial position, investment criteria, expectations, market analysis along with dissection of the available rates in the market. The association with a mortgage broker right from the beginning till the very end helps in determining the final outcome of the mortgage deal process and in securing a profitable loan.

Mortgage Consultant or Bank

It is always better to hire the services of a mortgage broker in comparison to a bank because of the competency offered by them. They are a lot more dedicated and competent in ensuring that you get the best from the market. They scout the market evaluating the different mortgage offers and securing the best interest rate that suits you right. Another important reason that helps mortgage consultants score over financial institutions such as banks is that they have connections. A mortgage broker or a mortgage consultancy firm is widely networked. They closely work with a wide network of banks and lenders in the market. They stay updated with the latest news related to mortgage deals, real estate etc.

4 Ways to Become Mortgage Free and Pay-off Your Mortgage Faster

For most people, a mortgage is the largest financial obligation they’ll ever have in life. Unfortunately, that means it’s probably also the longest. When you buy a home in your 20’s, you can look forward to paying it off perhaps in your 40’s - perhaps longer if you upgrade your home and renegotiate a higher mortgage. However, there are ways to pay off your mortgage faster, allowing you to attain that coveted “mortgage free” status sooner than you realize.

Here are 4 mortgage-free-sooner strategies by Mortgage Broker in Vancouver:

Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster #1:

Increase Your Payments

When you set up your mortgage payment, you’re told what the payment amount will be. This isn’t the only payment amount you can make, though. Why not bump it up just a little bit. For example, a monthly payment of $300 bumped up to $350 probably won’t break your bank but, by the end of the year, will have paid back another $600 onto your mortgage more than you were expecting. That’s no drop in the bucket! It adds up. In a decade, that’s $6,000 you’ll pay back sooner.

Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster #2:

Increase Your Payment Frequency

This strategy is sometimes offered by your lender or mortgage broker when setting up the loan. If it’s not offered, you should definitely ask. Accelerated payment schedules increase the number of mortgage payments you make in a year (i.e., you might make two payments a month instead of one). As you can imagine, this is a quick method to pay down your mortgage sooner – just make sure you can afford the sustained frequency increase.

Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster #3:

Lower Your Interest Rate

A small change in interest adds up over time and can mean thousands of dollars extra or saved in what you have to pay. Therefore, when it comes time to renew your mortgage, work with your mortgage broker to ensure that you are getting the most favorable interest rates available.

The first three ways are ways to consistently pay down your mortgage faster. Here’s one more:

Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster #4:

Make an Additional Payment

When you get extra money, put some of it toward your mortgage. For example, if you get a tax return or a bonus at work or even a small inheritance, put some of that money toward your mortgage as a single “lump sum” payment. One or two of these a year may not seem like a lot but they add up.

Your mortgage can take years to pay off… but it doesn’t have to take as long as you expected. Use these ways to pay off your mortgage faster.

Why You Should Get Pre-approved for a Mortgage

More often than not, a home buyer with a pre-approved mortgage stands more to gain than the home buyer without it. 

This is because most home sellers are apt to view purchase offers supported by a pre-approved mortgage more positively. 

In a nut shell, mortgage pre-approval is a great negotiating tool. 

With a mortgage pre-approval, you are sending a signal to sellers that you are serious and that you have the fiscal back-up to make the purchase; summing up, you have more credibility.  

Plus, mortgage pre-approval gives you a realistic idea of how much money you can afford to part with. 

What’s more a seller might be persuaded to sign on a slightly lower offer if it is backed by a sound pre-approval. 

This can be especially handy if you are competing with a buyer who hasn’t applied for a mortgage yet. 

Before getting pre-approved for your mortgage keep in mind that pre-approvals are not full approvals and that you should get acquainted with their many advantages and few disadvantages. 

The best thing about getting your mortgage pre-approval is that it is simple, easy and costs nothing. 

Moreover, if you hire services of a licensed mortgage professional you may qualify for a locked-in interest rate from 60 to 120 days while you are considering your shopping options for the best rate. 

Should interest rates inch down, your locked-in rate will go down too. On the other hand, if interest rates edge up, your locked-in interest rates won’t. 

If you opt for a locked interest rate, you are guaranteed mortgage terms equivalent to that rate or lower. 

Also, you are under no obligation to use the lender who has pre-approved you for a mortgage.

  

What’s not to like about all this?

Don’t procrastinate and get pre-approved for a mortgage to get the best loan terms out there. 

Why Mortgage Refinancing? The In’s and Out’s And What You Need to Know

Your mortgage can seem like a long term commitment – a financial obligation that stretches over many years, even a couple of decades. It may be a long term commitment but you’re not locked in. The economy and the interest rate changes and you build up equity in your home, so being able to adjust your mortgage allows you to optimize your mortgage for your needs. In this blog, I’ll explore the in’s and out’s of mortgage refinancing and why it might be a smart financial move.

Interest Rate Adjustment

The first reason that most people think about refinancing is because the mortgage interest rates have changed. If banks are offering a lower interest rate than what you committed to in your mortgage, it might make sense to refinance (and even pay a small penalty) to take advantage of that lower interest rate.

Tap into Equity

As you pay off your mortgage, and as home values increase in general (which they tend to do, although not always consistently), you build up equity in your home. You can access that value and borrow against it, usually through a home equity line of credit, which is a low-interest revolving loan. Use that money to pay down debts, fix up your home, reinvest in other things – whatever you need.

Mortgages are long term financial obligations… but refinancing makes it possible to adjust our course as necessary. In this short blog post we’ve only been able to cover the in’s and outs of mortgage refinancing and why homeowners love it. Adjusting your mortgage through refinancing allows you to pay less and to tap into the value that is building in your home. It can be a great idea! Talk to a lender or mortgage broker to see if it’s right for you.