Are you thinking of buying a property but don’t know where to start?  The first step would be mortgage pre-approval, and we’re here to help.   What is mortgage pre-approval? It means you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage. The mortgage lender has committed to approve...

The mortgage stress test has been a bane for Grande Prairie home buyers since it was rolled out. It shut out many people from the housing market because it used an interest rate far above the typically offered mortgage interest rate to determine if they could qualify...

Shop around based on more than the interest rate. Yes, shopping for the lowest interest rate will generally save you more money, but mistakes could cost you in the long run. For example, a low teaser rate on a short term mortgage will cost you a lot as interest rates...

Too many renters merely dream of owning a Grande Prairie home instead of buying it because they think they can’t. Many clients of Grande Prairie mortgage brokers say that we have helped them get into a new home.   Myth 1: I Need 20 Percent Down   This myth is based on...

Home listings and sales tend to drop off in the winter. Yet there are a number of benefits to listing your Grande Prairie home this winter.   Less Competition   Less serious home sellers remove their homes from listings over the winter. This results in fewer...

Tighter lending rules and more expensive real estate have resulted in many people being unable to qualify for a mortgage on their own. You could have good credit and a decent income and still not meet the tighter rules. One of the solutions is seeking a co-signer....

There are a dozen steps that are part of every Grande Prairie home buyer’s process if you can’t afford to pay cash for the property. We’ll outline these steps and involve what is involved in each.   Step 1: The Introduction   Before you start touring properties, talk...

There are a number of events that can leave someone with bad credit. Bad financial mismanagement early in life is one. Job losses, health problems and business failures can leave us with more debt than we can pay. When that results in bankruptcy or consumer proposals,...

The Canadian government has tightened its mortgage regulations over the past few years in an effort to cool off overheated housing markets like Toronto and Vancouver while trying to prevent people ending up in homes they can’t afford. This led to the use of mortgage...