Mortgage insurance, what is it and why do I need it?

If you are putting less than 20% down payment on purchasing a property then it is a federal law that you have to pay for mortgage insurance. That's right, you have no choice. It is federal law, there is no way around it.

Mortgage insurance is insurance that protects the lender in case you default on the loan. If for whatever reason you are not able to pay your mortgage then the lender can make an insurance claim to get their mo...

Are you looking to purchase a property and want to know how much of a mortgage you qualify for? Knowing your purchasing power allows you to buy with confidence. There is a lot of information that goes into mortgage qualification and it takes an experienced expert to provide you with accurate advice. With our proprietary system we can give you an accurate maximum mortgage pre-qualification approval in just 15 minutes. A simple call allows me to ask you pre-qualification questions about incom...

   First Time Home Buyers typically want to maximize their buying power and are looking to purchase the best home that they can afford. At the core of mortgage qualification is a mathematical formula. Essentially your total debt payments divided by your gross income. If you find yourself not qualifying for the mortgage you want then you might be carrying too much other debt (ie: car loans, credit cards, student loans, etc.) which is limiting your mortgage amount. Keep in mind th...

Mortgage brokers typically get paid a commission from the lender and do not need to charge a broker fee for their services. Though, private lenders do not pay commissions and hence brokers do need to charge a fee for their service. There are no strict rules for what brokers can charge for their service. So, it is up to the individual broker on what they want to charge. However, there are some generally accepted industry fee guidelines that have evolved.

Here is what I see as reasonable...

A good rule of thumb is to allow three to four weeks for the entire mortgage process (including appraisal and lawyer). If you think that you have a more challenging case, please allow more time. It is never too early to start the mortgage conversation. As a rough guideline, the mortgage broker and lender need a week or so to get the approval, straight forward files can take less time and more complicated files can take longer. The appraiser needs about a week to do the site visit and to c...