Mortgage Services
When you’re ready to get started!
Home Purchase
Home Purchase Overview
At TC Mortgages, we want to make each and every purchaser aware of the many mortgage options available to them prior to their purchase and closing date.
Now, more than ever, financial institutions are regularly launching new products and programs, making it easier to get into that new home sooner. Today, interest-only loans, self-employment programs, rental purchase programs, vacation property programs, and a host of other innovative financing alternatives are dotting the home purchase landscape, making homeownership a reality for more people than ever.
Whether you are first-time buyer or an experienced buyer with excellent credit, TC Mortgages has access to the very best products and rates available across Canada. Give us a call… we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Mortgage Pre-Approval
The mortgage professional that you work with to get pre-approved will let you know for certain what you can afford based on lender and insurer criteria, and what your payments on a specific mortgage will be.
TC Mortgage professionals can lock-in an interest rate for you for anywhere from 60 – 120 days while you shop for your perfect home. By locking in an interest rate, you are guaranteed to get a mortgage for at least that rate or better. If interest rates drop, your locked-in rate will drop as well. However, if the interest rates go up, your locked-in interest rate will not, ensuring you get the best rate throughout the mortgage pre-approval process.
In order to get pre-approved for a mortgage, a mortgage professional requires a short list of information that will allow them to determine your buying power. A mortgage professional will explain to you the benefits of shorter or longer mortgage terms, the latest programs available, which mortgage products they believe will most likely meet your needs the best, plus they will review all of the other costs involved with purchasing a home.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is something every potential home buyer should do before going shopping for a new home. A pre-approval will give you the confidence of knowing that financing is available, and it can put you in a very positive negotiation position against other home buyers who aren’t pre-approved.
Self-Employed Mortgage Solutions
Proving self-employment income, and income stability for the years to come, can be difficult for new business owners.
Many Canadians have successful small business ventures and would not trade the lifestyle for anything in the world. However, many begin to question their lifestyle and business choices when they first attempt to obtain financing for their home, or even something as simple as a new credit card or vehicle. The nature of self-employment income can sometimes leave the self-employed looking like poor credit risks, even though they may actually have a more stable source of income than those who are working 9 to 5 for an employer.
Thankfully, Canadian mortgage lenders are starting to understand the importance of self-employment in our culture, and are making great mortgage programs available to the self-employed to finance their primary residence and even their vacation homes.
Licensed mortgage professionals are experts at assisting self-employed individuals with getting a mortgage, and they will ensure you get the best mortgage available through one of Canada’s largest lenders.
Obtaining a mortgage if you’re self employed has never been easier, and you will be excited to learn that the mortgage products available today are structured to help you succeed in your business and your personal life.
When it’s time to renew…
Mortgage Renewals
By omitting proper consideration at the time of renewal, this practice costs Canadian citizens thousands of extra dollars every year. Nearly 60% of borrowers simply sign and send back their renewal that is first offered to them by their lender without ever shopping around for a more favourable interest rate.
Homeowners should never accept the first rate offer from their existing lender. Without any negotiation, simply signing up for the market rate on a renewal is unnecessarily costing the homeowner a lot of money on their mortgage.
Generally it is a good idea to start shopping for a new term between four and six months before your current mortgage term expires. Many lenders send out your renewal letter very close to the time that your term expires and this does not give you ample time to arrange for a mortgage term through a different lender. This means that you need to be tracking your own mortgage term timeframe and know when it is time to start shopping for a good mortgage renewal rate.
Before you ever hear from your lender about renewing your mortgage term, have a licensed mortgage professional shop around for you, you will be amazed at what they can accomplish on your behalf!
Your mortgage is one of your biggest expenses. For this reason it is imperative to find the best interest rates and mortgage terms you possibly can. By shopping around at renewal time you can save substantial amounts of money over the life of your mortgage loan. Don’t be one of the 60% who just simply sign their renewal letter and send it back. Use the services of TC Mortgages, mortgage professionals to ensure the lenders compete for your business.
When you need to access money…
Refinancing
Canadians today face many reasons to refinance their mortgage. For example, you may have been working at improving your credit score and now qualify for a new mortgage with a better discount, or you may want to stabilize your payments by changing from a variable rate mortgage to a fixed-rate.
Refinancing is also a good option to pull out equity for consolidating debt, home improvements, investments, college expenses, and more.
Using home equity to your advantage
Home Equity
Many people find that one of the easiest and most affordable ways to access money is through the equity that they have accumulated in their home. This is a very popular option, especially when you have an excellent first mortgage in place.
Canadians purchase homes for a variety of reasons. Some want the stability of owning their own home, while others also look at home ownership as an investment vehicle. No matter what the reason, the truth is that home ownership has proven itself to be a good stable investment over time, and one which many Canadians are profiting from.
While many people have chosen to purchase their first home during these times of lower interest rates, there has also been a large movement to refinance home loans and pull out equity for home improvements, investments, college expenses, and even high interest debt consolidation. Canadians have been borrowing against their home’s equity in record numbers, taking out billions of dollars in cash each year.
In years past, many saw their homes as a shelter of safety, yet today, they are more than ever before, willing to borrow against the equity owned in their homes to further their investment portfolios, get out of debt, send their children to university, make improvements to their home, or even boost their RRSP contributions. Where home equity was once sat upon, today it is often used to one’s advantage.
While removing equity from your home can be a good idea, you should do so with caution and fully understand the benefits and possible risks. The best thing you can do is to consult a licensed mortgage professional and financial planner to discuss opportunities to make your home’s equity work for you
Mortgage Insurance Provides a Quick, Easy And Affordable Solution to Protect Your Investment.
Mortgage Life Insurance
Buying a home is one of the single largest purchases you will make in your lifetime. At TC Mortgages we also believe it is an investment in you and your family’s financial future… an investment that needs to be protected.
45% of uninsured Canadians included life insurance among their top five financial priorities and 21% ranked it in their top three – yet they still have no coverage.
76% of parents said they worry about their family’s financial situation in case of their death according to a recent Ipsos Reid report.
What would your family do if something unfortunate happened and they were left to make the mortgage payments on their own?
Mortgage Protection Insurance protects your investment while helping secure your family’s financial well being in the event of death of you and/or your spouse. Should something tragic result in the passing of you or your spouse, the mortgage on your home would be paid off, allowing surviving family members to use other existing insurance to carry on with life, maintain their lifestyle and recover from your loss.
The mortgage insurance offered through Dominion Lending Centres has some great features that traditional bank mortgage insurance doesn’t provide. That includes portability – so when it is time to renew your mortgage you won’t lose your coverage (or have to re-qualify) no matter how many times you change homes or lenders in the future – and premiums don’t increase with changes in health or as you get older.
In addition, Mortgage Protection Plan includes two vital insurance products for your mortgage protection: Life Insurance and Total Disability Insurance.
With this coverage in place, your mortgage is protected not just in the event of death, but also if a serious accident or illness leaves you unable to work. Most traditional term life policies only cover you in the event of death.
HOW TO APPLY
Your TC Mortgages, mortgage professional can walk you through the ins-and-outs of mortgage life insurance, the applicable costs, as well as provide you with instant coverage and a money back guarantee, just in case you choose alternative coverage and cancel your policy within 60 days.
Talk to your TC Mortgages Broker or Agent today, and make the simple choice to protect your mortgage with life and disability insurance today.
When most of us dream of retirement, we imagine ourselves in our homes – sharing a meal with family or just relaxing in a comfortable spot.
CHIP Reverse Mortgage
But retirement can also bring financial strain. Seniors often face the challenge of managing with less cash flow than they anticipated or coping with unforeseen expenses.
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We understand. HomeEquity bank is the only bank dedicated to empowering older Canadian homeowners with smart, simple ways to use the value of their home during retirement.
For over 25 years The Canadian Home Income Plan (CHIP) our reverse mortgage solution has helped thousands of older homeowners enjoy more financial flexibility without having to sell or move. CHIP might be the solution for you.
Steve Ranson,
President and CEO HomeEquity Bank
Features of a CHIP Reverse Mortgage
- Homeowners age 55 and older
- No payments are ever required
- No Income qualifications
- No Credit requirements
- Qualify for up to 50% of the value of the home
- Money can be received as a lump sum, or over time or combination
- Owner maintains title
- They can sell or move at anytime
- Receive the money tax free
Testimonials
“CHIP is a way to take advantage of the equity that you have in your home and use it for whatever purpose you want.”
Sandy & Christopher M“If you sell your home you’re gonna be living off the proceeds and what you’re doing now is not selling your home and living off the proceeds.”
Edward F“If it wasn’t for CHIP we would have had to sell our home.”
James B“Dealing with CHIP Home Income Plan was amazingly simple. I would recommend the CHIP program to anybody.”
Jan & John MContact me today to discuss CHIP Reverse Mortgage solution and to learn more on how you can unlock the value in your home.
Commercial Mortgages are designed for businesses and investors who wish to purchase or refinance commercial, income producing properties and offer a flexible way to raise capital.
Commercial
Mortgages and Leasing
Some common commercial mortgage products provide funding for:
- Income properties
- Multi-residential properties
- Bridge financing
- Restaurants
- Industrial properties
- Office properties
- Self storage
- Retail malls
- Raw land financing
- Start ups financing
- Debt consolidation
Benefits of using a Leasing Professional
A Dominion Lending Centres leasing professional can help you in discovering multiple ways to structure lease financing for new equipment, a sale-lease back to extract capital from existing assets, or solve other equipment acquisition opportunities. Many of our lease professionals are also mortgage brokers who can use commercial and residential mortgage and property credit-line products alone or in combination with lease-financing to help you achieve the best solution for equipment acquisition.
Benefits of using Dominion Lending Centres Leasing
As a franchise organization with local ownership of our street-front locations, you get committed, local-office presence with a team that understands your market, is in your time-zone, and has community-involvement and knowledge. Our national credit office offers the best tools, underwriting centre, and efficiency in the leasing business today.
With leading funding resources, we provide the best opportunity for approvals with the lowest monthly payments.
Why rely on only one or two lease-sources when you can have over 30 specialty lease-funding sources in Canada and the United States.
Creative and flexible, Dominion Lending Centres Leasing can break up large-dollar transactions into multiple leases across a number of funders to ease and simplify the approval process.
Exposure limits are not an issue as we simply move the lessee to additional funding resources when exposure-limits are imposed by each funding source.
Dominion Lending Centres Leasing provides a broad range of auto & equipment leasing programs which dramatically increases our capabilities at solving the most challenging equipment acquisition challenges.
Mortgage FAQs
What is the difference between a fixed and a variable rate?
Fixed Rate vs. Variable Rate
The decision to choose a fixed or variable rate is not always an easy one. It should depend on your tolerance for risk as well as your ability to withstand increases in mortgage payments.
YOU CAN SOMETIMES EXPECT A FINANCIAL REWARD FOR GOING WITH THE VARIABLE RATE, ALTHOUGH THE PRECISE MAGNITUDE WILL EBB AND FLOW DEPENDING ON THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT.
Fixed rate mortgages often appeal to clients who want stability in their payments, manage a tight monthly budget, or are generally more conservative. For example, young couples with large mortgages relative to their income might be better off opting for the peace of mind that a fixed-rate brings.
A variable rate mortgage often allows the borrower to take advantage of lower rates – the interest rate is calculated on an ongoing basis at a lenders’ prime rate minus or plus a set percentage. For example, if the current prime mortgage rate is 5.5 percent, the holder of a prime minus 0.5 percent mortgage would pay a 5.00 percent variable interest rate.
As a consumer, the best option is to have a candid discussion with your mortgage professional to ensure you have a full understanding of the risks and rewards of each type of mortgage.
How does my credit score work?
As credit has become more and more abundant in our society, your credit report, and thus your credit rating, has become more important in your daily life.
Your credit rating affects all aspects of your financial activities when it comes to borrowing money. Your credit rating also has the ability to affect the job you get, the apartment you rent, and even the ability to open a bank account.
Your credit report itself is simply a listing of all of your mortgage and consumer debt. Here in Canada, the two main credit reporting agencies are Trans Union and Equifax. Both agencies have a credit history file on anyone who has ever borrowed money. Every time you borrow money, or make a payment on a loan or credit card, the lender then reports the information about the transaction to these two agencies. In addition to credit information, you will also find liens and judgments on your credit report as well as your address and possibly your work history. The accumulation of all of this information is called your credit report.
The information on your credit report varies based on your creditors and what they have reported about you. Potential lenders and others, such as employers, view your credit history as a reflection of your character. Whether we like it or not, our financial habits have a lot to say about the way in which we choose to live our lives.
The credit score, or beacon score, is a number which gives mortgage lenders an idea of your lending risk. Credit scores range from 300 to 900, the higher your credit score the better. The mortgage products and interest rate that you will qualify for are often determined by your credit score.
One thing that many people do not know is that you have the legal right to obtain a copy of your credit report. A mortgage professional can help you obtain a copy of this report and go through it with you to verify that all of the information is true and correct.
The good news is that your credit report is a working document. This means that you have the ability over time, to repair any damaged credit and increase your credit score.
How do I determine the right mortgage term?
Determine the Right Term
Choosing the mortgage term that is right for you can be a challenging proposition for even the savviest of homebuyers.
By understanding mortgage terms and what they mean in dollars and sense, you can save the most money and choose the term that is right for you.
There are many factors, either in the financial markets or in your own life, which you will also have to take into consideration when you select your mortgage term length.
If paying your mortgage each month places you close to the financial edge of your comfort zone, you may want to opt for a longer term mortgage, for instance ten years, so that you can ensure that you will be able to afford your mortgage payments should the interest rates increase. By the end of a ten year mortgage term, most buyers are in a better financial situation, have a lower principle balance due, and should interest rates have risen, will be able to afford higher mortgage payments.
If you are shopping for a mortgage for an investment property, you will likely want to consider choosing a longer mortgage term. This will allow you to know that the mortgage payments on the property will be steady for a long time and allow you to more accurately project your future income from the property.
Choosing the right mortgage term is a unique decision for each individual. By understanding your personal financial situation and your tolerance for risk, a mortgage professional can assist you in choosing the mortgage term which will work the best.
How do I pay off my mortgage faster?
Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster
Mortgages in Canada are generally amortized between 25 and 35 year terms. While this seems a long time, it does not have to take anyone that long to pay off their mortgage if they choose to do so in a shorter period of time.
With a little bit of thinking ahead, and a small bit of sacrifice, most people can manage to pay off their mortgage in a much shorter period of time by taking positive steps such as:
- Making mortgage payments each week, or even every other week. Both options lower your interest paid over the term of your mortgage and can result in the equivalent of an extra month’s mortgage payment each year. Paying your mortgage in this way can take your mortgage from 25 years down to approximately 21.
- When your income increases, increase the amount of your mortgage payments. Let’s say you get a 5% raise each year at work. If you put that extra 5% of your income into your mortgage, your mortgage balance will drop much faster without feeling like you are changing your spending habits.
- Mortgage lenders will also allow you to make extra payments on your mortgage balance each year. Just about everyone finds themselves with money they were not expecting at some point or another. Maybe you inherited some money from a distant relative or you received a nice holiday bonus at work. Apply this money to your mortgage as a lump-sum payment and watch the results.
By applying these strategies consistently over time, you will save money, pay less interest and pay off your mortgage years faster!
What are the benefits of using a mortgage broker?
Benefits of Using a Mortgage Professional
While a bank only offers the products from their particular institution, licensed mortgage professionals send millions of dollars in mortgage business each year to Canada’s largest banks, credit unions, trust companies, and financial institutions; offering their clients more choice, and access to hundreds of mortgage products!
As a result, clients benefit from the trust, confidence, and security of knowing they are getting the best mortgage for their needs.
Whether you’re purchasing a home for the first time, taking out equity from your home for investment or pleasure, or your current mortgage is simply up for renewal, it’s important that you are making an educated buying decision with professional unbiased advice.
How much does it cost to work with a mortgage broker?
How Much Does it Cost
From the first consultation to the signing of your mortgage, their services are free.
A fee is charged only for the most challenging credit solutions, and it’s especially under those circumstances that a mortgage professional can do for you what your bank cannot.
Mortgage Calculators do you have any, so I can estimate my monthly payment?
Use the Mortgage Payment Calculator to discover the estimated amount of your monthly mortgage payments based on the mortgage option you choose. Learn more...