Money lessons for kids – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Money lessons for kids – Friday, August 23, 2013 It’s that time of year again. With summer winding down and vacations coming to an end, many families are getting ready for the back-to-school season.For kids, this means settling back into the school routine — and for many parents, it means back-to-school shopping.These shopping excursions are a […]

Are bank online mortgage break-fee calculators reliable? Not always – Consult with a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Are bank online mortgage break-fee calculators reliable? Not always ROBERT MCLISTER– Special to The Globe and Mail Getting a quote for the cost of breaking your mortgage early – and understanding it – hasn’t always been easy. That was supposed to change last year when the Finance Department compelled banks to put penalty calculators and guidelines […]

Credit cards: Managing your credit rating – Consult with a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

By: Kristin Kent Special to the Star, Published on Fri Apr 05 2013 “I’m definitely not an impulse shopper. I suffer from deep buyer’s remorse; if I don’t have the ability to pay it off, I’ll fret over it. If it’s a large sum of money, I’ll fret over it. I keep delaying big purchases, because I’m looking […]

IRD Clarity Has Cometh – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

IRD Clarity Has Cometh In March 2012, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada(FCAC) announced improvements to the disclosure of mortgage prepayment charges. Those improvements were designed to make life easier for people needing to assess the cost of an early refinance or mortgage termination. The first set of enhancements arrived by last September. Among other things, they required banks to […]

Online resources to help you save

Online resources to help you save Here are a few places to start in your search for online information that will help you become a better saver and smart spender. By: Adam Mayers Personal Finance Editor, Published on Sun Mar 03 2013 In the Internet age, information is at your fingertips in a nanosecond. It took Google less […]

Is Your Bank Mortgage Really Fair – From Your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Is Your Bank Mortgage Really Fair – From Your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker Anyone who is somewhat savvy about mortgages knows that there are government agencies that keep tabs on what the banks are doing when it comes to mortgages. But, these agencies don’t see everything that goes on. Also, banks are also somewhat self regulatory when it […]

Your bank mortgage: Is it fair and does it suit your needs? – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Banks operate under the scrutiny of government watchdogs. But when it comes to mortgages, those watchdogs don’t watch everything they could. “Individual (bank) mortgage reps operate outside of regulatory boundaries which commonly govern licensed professionals,” says Samantha Gale, a former mortgage regulator with B.C.’s Financial Institutions Commissionand chief executive officer of the Mortgage Brokers Association of British […]

Prepaid credit cards face tighter rules – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Ottawa is stepping in with new rules for the largely unregulated prepaid credit card market. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Wednesday that in the future, issuers of prepaid cards will not be able to impose expiry dates and must be up front about hidden fees and conditions. The move is part of the government’s expanding […]

Beware the debt-reduction pitch

With Canadian household debt levels at historic highs, some consumers might be looking for ways to reduce what they owe – or at least make repayment a little less painful. A number of companies offer debt reduction deals to help provide relief from creditors. But the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) haswarned that by using […]