Posts Tagged ‘Mortgage broker’

The wild world of calculators has come a long way since it’s early “abacus” roots!  Today we have formula’s and devices that can compute just about anything…from the amount of calories we eat to that subject we kept failing in high school, alga-something-acus!  Yet, in Canada, there’s been a massive gap for one of the most practical calculations and one we all need to know: Buying A Property!!!

Shortly after becoming a newly licensed Realtor, I took to the streets fully armed and ready to educate my clients on everything from amortizing to double compounding.  I had formulas, scientific calculators and several bookmarked websites all within a few clicks away. The problem was, there was no central calculator that could perform all the functions in one place.  Even the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation website (CMHC) didn’t have a simple method of adding insurance premiums to those who wanted to purchase with a less than 20% down!

Finally I did what any mid 20′s Realtor would do in today’s day and age…I tweeted my frustration to my followers in the Twitter-verse.  With in minutes several Realtors from across the country echoed my comments.  Thankfully and to my surprise, a solution was already out there, just waiting to be found!  The answer cam from @RateHub_Canada who sent a tweet linking to their “Mortgage Payment Calculator“.

This my friends is not your typical copy-and-paste-crappy-bank-calculator that the big 5 offer…no, no, this is much bigger, and waaay better!  The RateHub mortgage calculator not only spits out numbers for your purchase or renewal, it covers the whole process!  It first asks you to put in your desired purchase price.  From there it breaks down the different scenarios based on a 5,10,15 or 20% down payment.  Say you wanted to put down more than the preset percentages, you can easily adjust the numbers to reflect that…all in real time. Green bubbles help guide the user through the process and if at anytime you’re not sure what one of the “terms” mean, simply click the question mark for it’s explanation!

Where most bank calculators fail is the only offer their companies rates.  Since RateHub is independent of any banks, they’re able to show the rates of several providers right across Canada! Once you’ve inputed the nessecary amounts, it let’s the user know exactly how much is needed per month…all in a nice and easy to read package!

The “Cash Needed” section is my personal fav…it answers one of the most basic AND important question a buyer should ask: “How much will this cost?”  Remember that problem I had with the CMHC website earlier in the post?  Well, the RateHub calculator solves that in a few quick clicks!  This section goes over everything from PST on CMHC insurance to potential appraisal costs.  It allows you to plan your purchase based on the 4 scenarios you enter at the start of the process (super helpful).

The “Monthly Expense” section covers exactly that.  It has several editiable boxes so users can add the “other” costs that tend to go unnoticed in the budgeting process!  And it doesn’t stop there…

The “Interest Rate Risk” helps budget way after your first few years in the new place!  This is one of the most realistic functions I’ve ever seen in a mortgage calculator.  It shows how much will be owning at the end of 5 years and what payments will be if rates go up.  This is huuuuuuge as we’ve been spoiled with historically low mortgage rates as of late.

If  couldn’t have been able to tell yet, I absolutly love this calulator!!!  My hopes is that more buyers, bankers and Realtors find out about it as it’ll make your purchase a much more realistic and planned buy!

Once you’ve figured out how much you can afford…give me a call or send me an email so we can figure out where you’ll live!

Chris Molder, Toronto Mortgage Broker, recently launched his newest blog appropriately named “SonOfABroker.com” The name came to be from the fact that he literally is the son of a mortgage broker. As Chris puts it: “Since 1975 my father has been sharing his wisdom and insights about mortgages with his clients and myself. The purpose of this blog is to share the knowledge and experience of over 30 years in the mortgage business with you!”

I’ve been following his work for the past few months and really like the approach he takes. I’m a firm believer that “the devil is in the details”, so it’s only natural for me to take a likening to Chris’ informed and educated approach when talking mortgages. Watch Chris in action as he explains ‘the 5 things everybody should know about their mortgage’ in the video below: Read the rest of this entry »