Building a Real Estate Portfolio

General George Macris 15 Oct

More and more Canadians do not have a defined benefits pension plan. Companies are moving away from this model due to the expense of maintaining enough in the fund to pay out until the employee and survivors die. Those who are self employed also do not have pensions beside the Canadian Pension Plan. What can […]

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MORTGAGES 101 – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MORTGAGES

General George Macris 10 Oct

Mortgage [ˈmôrɡij] NOUN With a residential mortgage, a home buyer pledges his or her house to the bank. The bank has a claim on the house should the home buyer default on paying the mortgage. In the case of a foreclosure, the bank may evict the home’s occupants and sell the house, using the income […]

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MORTGAGE STRATEGIES: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME!

General George Macris 23 Sep

  While most people start off their mortgage search by going after the lowest rate, what they are really after is the mortgage with the lowest cost. Then again, the majority of borrowers in Canada end up with a mortgage that is not the lowest rate nor the lowest cost. Strike 1! Whether borrowers realize […]

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STRESS TEST RATE & RECENT DECREASE

General George Macris 22 Aug

Currently, all borrowers in Canada need to qualify for a new mortgage at the current Bank of Canada Benchmark Qualifying Rate or at their approved mortgage interest rate plus 2.0%, whichever is higher. For more than a year, this Bank of Canada Benchmark Qualifying Rate has been 5.34%. Now, for the first time in 3-years, […]

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WHAT IS A MORTGAGE “REFINANCE” AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT ME?

General George Macris 17 Jul

Refinancing a Home is one of those things where people understand what it is but have trouble explaining How it works. To put it simply, refinancing your Home allows you to access the equity you have built up, by changing the mortgage amount. Let’s say you bought a $300,000 condo and you paid 20% ($60,000) […]

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5 MORTGAGE TIPS TO HELP YOU AFFORD A HOME

General George Macris 9 Jul

Buying a home is more difficult now than ever—and this is not news to anyone! No matter where you live, the recent stress testing measures, increase in housing prices in major cities, and continued increase of the cost of living all combine to make home ownership a daunting task. But we do want to offer […]

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ZERO DOWN PAYMENT MORTGAGE–DOES IT EXIST?

General George Macris 29 May

Did you know that you can buy a home with ZERO down payment?? If a home purchase is your goal this year but you aren’t able to save up enough of a down payment, you may qualify for a low or zero down payment mortgage. One of our Lenders is offering a great zero down […]

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6 WAYS TO GET A DOWN PAYMENT

General George Macris 29 May

When is it time to think about saving for a down payment? I would say about a year before you think about buying a home. While that’s ideal in today’s world, we often do not have much time to save for a down payment. Sometimes your landlord is planning on retiring and wants to sell […]

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REVERSE MORTGAGES – TRENDING NOW

General George Macris 29 May

With approximately 1,000 people retiring every day in Canada, it’s not surprising that there has been an increased demand for Reverse Mortgages. A Reverse Mortgage can assist people aged 55+ to realize their dreams in retirement. Whether they want to travel, help their kids or grand kids or even just supplement their monthly income, a […]

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CORPORATIONS AND MORTGAGES

General George Macris 18 May

For self employed clients, incorporation is a popular business structure we tend to encounter. Having a corporate structure to your business allows for effective separation between the individual and the business. If you own your business and have it set up as a corporation, that corporation is essentially its own person. They have their own […]

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