Vancouver Independent Mortgage Broker

Anyone have any recommendations? We are going to be in a position to buy soon and want some impartial advice on what our options are.

Thanks

I can recommend my friend Marcy in New Westminster. She's helped us with our mortgage renewal due this September, got us a great deal with no penalties or hidden clauses.
http://marcyk.ca/

Never hurts to spend an hour or two of research before talking with anyone.

http://www.ratehub.ca/ Will give a sense of some of the rates/terms currently available.

http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/ Have found this site somewhat useful whenever my mortgage is coming up to get a sense of the current mortgage market (unfortunately the last 10 posts seem to be job searches, but go back a bit for articles discussing current mortgage rate trends).

Anyone have any recommendations? We are going to be in a position to buy soon and want some impartial advice on what our options are.

Thanks

It is also worth contacting your own bank. Basically give them one shot at their best rate before you contact the broker (be sure to tell them it is their one shot). We've done it the last two times and the broker has never been able to beat the rate.

Never hurts to spend an hour or two of research before talking with anyone.

http://www.ratehub.ca/ Will give a sense of some of the rates/terms currently available.

http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/ Have found this site somewhat useful whenever my mortgage is coming up to get a sense of the current mortgage market (unfortunately the last 10 posts seem to be job searches, but go back a bit for articles discussing current mortgage rate trends).

Your sig. Holy crap.

I've dealt with Patrick at Mulhern Mortgages for my last two mortgage renewals. He's been able to get me rates that the banks have not been able to beat.

http://www.mulhernmortgages.com/

I use Andrew Wright at The Mortgage Group. We've had some great success with my initial mortgage and then a refinancing.

It is also worth contacting your own bank. Basically give them one shot at their best rate before you contact the broker (be sure to tell them it is their one shot). We've done it the last two times and the broker has never been able to beat the rate.

Yes, do this. Get the quote in writing, then see if a broker can beat.

Are you just after the lowest rate? Some mortgages limit options you have for annual lump-sum payments, increasing payment amounts or frequency, having a LOC attached to the mortgage etc. Make sure you get a mortgage with the right options (if you need them or can take advantage of them).

Geoff Parkin at Verico Select is very good.

The truth is your Bank can't touch the rates a Broker can get (if he/she is worth his salt)… Most if not all of the Big Banks have a discount subsidiary arm that lends at cheaper rates… They're able to do it because instead of paying all the overhead associated with operating and staffing a commercial branch (let alone the hundreds they all have across the lower mainland); they set up cubicle farms in Richmond or the outback of Ontario and basically give their underwriters a computer [HTML_REMOVED] a phone…

It's so much cheaper that way because the Brokers drive the business to them and they only pay out a commission on deals that fund - where as the Mortgage Specialist at your bank branch is quite likely on a base salary + commission regardless if they fund any deals in a month…

A perfect example of this is Firstline Mortgages (subsidiary of CIBC). When I was a Mortgage Broker we (Verico) fed so much business to Firstline that they gave us minimum 50 basis points off the lowest discount rate available from CIBC… Once you hit minimum funding levels the discount rose to 100 basis points (a full percentage point) off the lowest rate (NOT the posted rate). We'd pass that savings on to the customer.

But sometimes CIBC/Firstline isn't the right product for a borrower - which is another advantage a Broker has… Any bank is limited in what mortgages they can offer you; a Mortgage Broker can get you a mortgage anywhere else if it makes more sense for you… And perhaps the most important part of the broker network is that they only need to pull your credit bureau once… If you tried shopping at all the different banks they'd each have to pull your credit and your beacon score would drop as a result - and once it gets below certain levels (it used to be 680) CMHC, who insures most high-ratio mortgages would either charge a higher premium or you won't qualify for the very best rates…

http://michaelhallett.ca/

He's a friend and very hard worker

I found the rates at ING rock bottom competative and while I did talk to a real person I could have easily just dealt by e-mail [HTML_REMOVED] fax

Are you just after the lowest rate? Some mortgages limit options you have for annual lump-sum payments, increasing payment amounts or frequency, having a LOC attached to the mortgage etc. Make sure you get a mortgage with the right options (if you need them or can take advantage of them).

True - but the most important thing is most likely to be the lowest rate, so do not pay a higher rate to get features that you might use. The prepayment features tend to be fairly similar, but it is worth asking.

Also - do not buy mortgage insurance, it is hella expensive when sold attached to a mortgage. Just buy a separate life insurance policy.

Also - do not buy mortgage insurance, it is hella expensive when sold attached to a mortgage. Just buy a separate life insurance policy.

Great point. Mortgage insurance pays to the mortgage first. A separate life insurance policy gives the flexibility to pay however the beneficiary chooses.