Mortgage Minute

December is traditionally slow in the mortgage business.  The cold weather has a way of putting a freeze on everything.  I suppose that is a good thing since our personal lives tend to get more busy this month.  Add to this, the current economic slow down and most of us start scrambling to keep b...

Generally speaking, equity lending normally shares one or more of the following characteristics: Self-employed individuals. Income which is difficult to prove. Down payments or existing equity (refinance), normally between 20-50%. Credit is satisfactory to excellent. People with former credit dif...

According to CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), "A large majority of Canadians who refinanced their mortgage in the last year, did so before the scheduled renewal time."  In fact, according to a recent CMHC survey, a whopping 71% of all borrowers refinanced before their mortgage term...

Originally popular in the busy spring market only, cash back mortgages have become a mainstay available all year long.  To the unsuspecting home buyer a cash rebate of 3-5 per cent of the loan value can be awfully tempting.  But a closer look at this marketing ploy reveals substantial money forfe...

In the world of mortgage finance, lenders are positioned to "originate" new mortgage business from a number of different "distribution channels'.  That's a bit heavy on industry jargon.  In layman's terms, lenders have a number of ways to source new business.  These sources or "distribution chann...