Welcome to My Blog

Scams against Seniors
Fraud comes in all shapes and sizes, from investment swindles and suspicious phone calls to online scams and ID theft. There are many reasons as to why and how this takes place.Generally, this generation was raised to be polite, so may be easily pressured or...

Missed a Mortgage Payment Lately? How can I help?
There are times in our lives when the unexpected happens and we find it difficult to cope financially. It could be a job loss, an unexpected illness, the death of a loved one or separation and divorce. There may be enough money to get by for a few months, but soon...

First Time Home Buyers Incentive Programme
A boon for first time home buyers or a cynical election ploy? A new CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) program designed to make it easier to buy a home would be limited to first-time buyers who earn less than $120,000 a year. On Monday September 2nd the...

Realtors: Helping your clients downsize
1. HELP YOUR CLIENTS DOWNSIZE Many older clients are looking to downsize so that they can pay-off their debt and free up some income for retirement. However, downsizing may require your client to move out of their neighborhood, or move to a much less desirable...

The Pros and Cons of Land Lease Home Purchases
The advantages of a land lease: Land-leasing is a form of home ownership that reduces the capital costs of buying a house. By going this route, residents buy their home and own it outright and lease the land. As a result, the purchase price is often reduced because...

Tougher Mortgage Rules “Stress Test”
According to a recent article in Canadian Mortgage Trends, by Mortgage Professionals Canada, only half of Canadians are aware of the stress test requirements. While this isn’t necessarily alarming, given that most people aren’t imminently buying a house and don’t need...

“Aging in Place” with the help of a CHIP Reverse Mortgage
Why move when you don’t have to? Today, our aging population, the largest growing demographic, requires all of us to think and plan for our independence - our quality of life as we age. Our society’s infrastructure will be challenged to support the needs of where and...

Are you living in a (former) ‘grow-op’?
If the provocative nature of the above headline causes readers some concern, then my job is done! I just want to bring to homebuyers’ and homeowners’ attention just a few of the possible ramifications of the impending Marijuana laws being enacted in July as it applies...

Mortgage Renewals in Canada – More Bad News
Last month Mortgage Trends received an email from a distraught client who had just received a letter from his mortgage lender letting him know his mortgage maturing in just five months would NOT BE RENEWED! Another family complained that their mortgage lender had sent...

MYTHS About Reverse Mortgages – separating fact from fiction
Many of the myths surrounding CHIP Reverse Mortgages have often been as a result of information taken from American experiences and have absolutely no relevance in Canada. Below, some of the myths that we often hear about, the 'reliable' information sources...

