It may come as a surprise if you are in the middle of a five year fixed mortgage
term. The surprise is that the mortgage industry in Canada has changed. Fundamentally, from the top down and this affects so very many of us in ways we won’t see until we go to make a change to the largest debt contract you’ll ever have. Here is how it is affecting Tom and Elsa:
Bank loves me…loves me not…
How do I describe to you the on again, off again relationship that so many Canadian consumers have with their primary financial institution? Like a charged teenage crush with the most desirable person at school. The bank has wooed us into a false sense of their love for our business. Tom and Elsa sat in my board room looking like only a lovesick adolescent can. Lines like “It’s just not fair” and “Our bank always used to approve” were being thrown around like petals off a flower. They had received the mortgage pre-approval from their bank a number of weeks back only to learn that their income was insufficient as it was verified later on in the process.
What Has Changed For You?
Tom and Elsa are now joining a growing number of Canadians being tossed out of the bank’s mortgage box. From qualifying interest rates to guaranteed hours requirements to reduced loan to value restrictions – the results are the same. Stressed out and feeling abandoned. The changes are wide ranging and only the mortgage elite are unaffected. For the rest of us we now need to become a personal financial guru in order to thread the mortgage needle. For Tom and Elsa we needed to come up with a solution fast as their closing date was fast approaching and the finance condition was already waived.
Change Can Be A Good Thing
My heart goes out to folks who feel they have been duped into believing in the million dollar marketing campaigns and the sports arena slick advertising that the banks are famous for. They are as patriotic as our favorite past time…right? Well at least for Tom and Elsa there was a happy ending to their situation. We were able to get them a mortgage with a lender who had more favourable debt service ratios and that insufficient income was a thing of the past. When you are done feeling that love me…love me not feeling – reach out to me as your Mortgage Broker and we can look at getting the job done.
