Blog

Si Espresso Bar & an Offer I Could Refuse

Last week I went to one of my favorite local coffee shops, Si Espresso Bar on Broadview at Danforth. My friend and owner Egidio (“Edge” for short) served me up one of his authentic Italian espresso shots to kick start my day as the warm morning sun shone through the large front windows and ...

Monday Interest Rate Review August 23rd 2010

Mortgage interest rates continue to stay low as weak numbers indicate that we are still far from full economic recovery. Rates are always changing and it’s hard for a borrower to explore and shop the entire market to ensure that they are getting the right product and best rate. Mortgage brokers are people who ...

What Is a Conventional Mortgage?

As a Toronto mortgage broker it’s important for me to remember that there is mortgage jargon and terminology that my audience may not be familiar with. When I work with clients I try and make the experience as educational as possible and I always make an effort to step back and explain mortgage terms ...

Monday Interest Rate Review for August 16th 2010

If we were to take a general macro view of  fixed mortgage rates in Canada one can say that when the markets (i.e. TSX, DOW etc) are strong there is upwards pressure on fixed rate mortgages and the opposite is also true so that when the markets are weak there is downwards pressure on ...

Monday Mortgage Minute for August 9th, 2010

Mortgage interest rates are back down. Way down. I am back from my road trip out West and ready for action. Picking up sound bites from different headlines in the news it looks like the complexion of our Canadian housing market looks just a little bit grayer. With headlines such as “CREA lowers home ...

Files of the Broker: Property Tax Arrears & Judicial Sale

The consequences of not paying property taxes are not well appreciated. In my last blog entry I explained the term Judicial Sale and highlighted that this legal process is a great opportunity to acquire undervauled properties in cottage country. More often than not the cause is the non-payment of property taxes. The other day ...