Can the mortgage process be difficult?
Absolutely.
But it can also be exciting when you aren't faced with surprises at every turn. Let's remove some of the potential surprises and make your life a little easier.
Check Your Credit
The first step in making your mortgage process a bit smoother is to look into your credit; our broker team can assist with that if you aren't familiar with how to do it. Our team's job is to not only get you a mortgage, but to get you the right mortgage.
Often, when people go to banks or brokers they’re so focused on the rate. Instead, look at the different options that are out there. What’s the mortgage product you’re getting? What are the terms? What are the restrictions? And that’s what our team will help you figure out. It’s our job to make sure you're informed so you can make the right decisions.
Get a Hard Pre-Approval
A lot of times, we find that folks will typically do what’s called a soft pre-approval. They will go online themselves to an institution's website, punch in a few numbers, and the calculator will tell them that they’re qualified for XYZ amount. There’s really no audit process, and nobody’s checked or verified anything. They simply filled out their own information.
Or the other classic thing that happens is, somebody will walk into a branch, talk to somebody really quick and have a conversation that looks just like this:
“Hey, you know what, I’m interested in a mortgage.”
“Well, how much do you make?”
“I make this.”
“So, do you have any debts?”
“Yeah, I have those.”
“Well, great. You should be good for this much.”
That really isn’t a good way to go because nine times out of ten it’s not accurate. What we certainly come across more often is folks who go out, look at a house, tell their realtor they’re pre-approved, and write up an offer on the house. They've spent all this time looking at houses and got really excited, but when they finally go to the bank, the bank suddenly says “No, we can’t do that, because you have this situation or that situation, or we didn’t know that about your income, or we didn’t know you’re declaring something different.”
Now, what we do is called a hard pre-approval. We do the due diligence and check out everything, from income verification and credit right down to your ratios. That way, you can actually go out and house hunt - and put in an offer - with confidence.
The Catch: Mortgage Insurance
When you have less than 20% down, you have to go to CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty to obtain mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurers don’t pre-approve anyone; they will only look at live deals. However, with our hard pre-approval process, 99% of our clients are approved by the insurer as well.
So, if you’ve been to any mortgage institution and you have less than 20% down, make sure they've done a hard pre-approval, ensuring that you will also likely meet the insurer's guidelines. The key to avoiding disappointment later is by taking the time to do your due diligence today and asking the questions until you have an understanding of the process.
Talk with a mortgage broker and get your mortgage underway today: call us at 250-590-6520 (toll-free 1-855-590-6520). You can also visit us at 307 Goldstream Avenue during regular business hours. We can arrange an appointment evenings or weekends, to work with you.
Auxilium Mortgage Corporation is based in Victoria, BC and works with clients locally and across Canada. The Auxilium team has over 100 years of combined financial experience and access to dozens of lenders to help you meet your goals.
Updated March 2018
