Trevor Hickey, B.A. - Calgary Mortgage Brokers | Mortgage Brokers Calgary | Calgary 2nd Mortgages

If you need money to do debt consolidation Calgary - fire me a quick email to see what we can do for you.  Consolidating debt is basically taking a number of smaller debt accounts and combining them.  Usually you would only do this if the overall interest rate dropped though. 

But, how to know when the overall interest rate will drop?  Simply follow this basic formula:
(debt balance 1 x decimal value of interest rate)+(debt balance 2 x decimal value of interest rate)+…

                                           debt balance 1 + debt balance 2 + debt balance 3 + …

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE:

Loan 1 balance: $10,000

Loan 1 interest: 10%

Loan 2 balance: $5,000

Loan 2 interest: 7%

Loan 3 balance: $7,500

Loan 3 interest: 6%

($10,000 x 0.10)+($5,000 x 0.07)+($7,500 x 0.06) =          $1,000 + $350 + $450          =        $1,800        = Average

($10,000 + $5,000 + $7,500)                                         $10,000 + $5,000 + $7,500             $22,500         (0.08) 8%

Basically – your average interest rate is 8%, and if you can beat that – then you should take a cheaper loan.

The answer will give you the decimal value of the overall interest that you are paying on those loans.  If you can get a cheaper loan/mortgage, go for it! 
Free tip: Don’t be afraid to look at mortgages/loans that are around 18% – I understand that many credit cards say that they charge 18%, and by that math you would not be saving anything – but, I have given people lots of 18% mortgages (when no-one else would lend) and my clients still saved alot of money.
Another way to tell if a new loan is going to save you money – simply add up the payments, whichever loan has the lower overall payment – that’s the one that will save you money.  BUT – be carefull not to move from a mortgage into unsecured credit card debt – even if the credit card payments are lower you will likely take WAY longer to pay it off (since mortgages typically have amortization and therefore ensure that the principle is slowly being paid off).
So – should you never use credit cards? NO – credit cards are a wonderful tool – they are great for:
- starting a small company (because you can access the money immediately AND you can pay it off without penalty)
- making quick purchases
- using points/Airmiles (even if you have the cash – sometimes it is better to pay for things on your credit card, get the points, then pay it off)

If you need any help – let me know – thanks!

Suggested article: Calgary Alberta Private Mortgage Lenders

Trevor Hickey, B.A. is a Mortgage Associate in Calgary, Ab with Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.  Trevor operates Calgary mortgage brokers (www.MortgageBrokerCalgary.info)

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Popularity: 10% [?]

 

I wrote an article called “Subprime mortgage melt-down: a definition” and in it I explained what the mortgage melt-down was and house there were several mortgage companies that were foreclosing on houses that were worth less than what the mortgage balances were.  The interesting part was that the companies that were foreclosing were rarely the same company that approved the mortgage.  What I mean by this is that company “abc” would approve the loan, take their fee, then sell it to company “xyz”.  The interesting thing is that company “xyz” happend to usually be in India, China or some other overseas country.  So, since many of these mortgages are still being held by “xyz” China, India and these other countries effectively own our country.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Top desired search term for this blog: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 12% [?]

The sub-prime mortgage crash was good because our population has an abundance of baby boomers and a lack of “generation X” to support them when they go into retirement. 
The reason why the sub-prime crash was good is it forced alot of baby boomers to lose their investments, and therefore increased the average age of retirement.  Considering that no-one has any money to retire anymore, we won’t be plighted with the problem of a majority of our population retiring.

I know this sounds grim, but, we needed the crash.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Top desired search term for this post: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 12% [?]

You’ve heard the term “sub-prime mortgage melt-down”, but I bet you have never been told what it means.  Basically (about 3-4 years ago) there were a number of banks that developed “b” or “sub-prime” lending divisions.  They thought it would be a great way to get a larger share of the mortgage market, while mitigating their risk and making lots of money.  The theory was this – banks are picky, they choose guarenteed loans and they don’t charge much for interest, so they can’t afford to take on risky loans.  But, if you charge lots in terms of rates and fees you can afford to have the odd loan not repaid because your profits will be so high.  Anyways, the banks weren’t the only ones jumping into this market.  There were alot of other private companies doing this too. 

Great, how does this affect you?  This affects you because you are funding these companies.  You see, many companies were started with their primary source of funds being from pension funds.  The idea was to take the money that everyone pays into their pension programs with, invest in mortgages, make a killing and pay the pension funds back with loads of cash. 

Now, not everyone is willing to take a mortgage at 10%, which means that those who were borrowing these funds weren’t exactly “bank worthy”.  Most of them were self employed (often very recently), many had no income proof, many did not file taxes, and many did not have any net worth or down payment.  What this meant was that these people were borrowing funds based on the hope that they would make enough money to pay their mortgages.  And, to make matters worse, there were often large fees charged to the borrowers since the loan was running on hope.

So, naturally, everyone that thought they were going to strike it rich (as a self-employed person) did not end up doing so well and were having trouble paying their mortgages.  Not only this, but when you buy a house with no down payment, and your mortgage is more than house value because the lender fee is added on to the mortgage there is not a really high incentive to spend your last dollar on your mortgage payments.  Needless to say the whole system crumbled, houses were being foreclosed on all over the place. 
So, that is what the mortgage melt-down was, and how it affects you is that there are likely going to be alot of pension funds that are a little short on cash after this event. 

See http://www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info/november-8-14-2010/why-the-sub-prime-mortgage-crash-was-good/ to see why the mortgage melt-down was actually good.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Top desired search term for this post: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 2% [?]

You’ve likely heard that the overall savings rate of Canadians and American’s have a low (or negative) savings rate. Why is this bad?  Well, banks lend out money that you put in the bank – so if there is no money in the bank, then there is no money to lend out, no money to buy houses with, no money to employ workers with etc. 
I know this post was short, but (I think) informative.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Top desired search term for this post: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 2% [?]

A syndicated mortgage is a mortgage, where there is not just one source of cash.  Lets say that you want to invest in mortgages and you have $10,000 to invest.  It is highly unlikely that someone wants a mortgage for only $10,000.  So, you team up with a few friends until you have enough money to lend out (this is a syndicated mortgage). 
Are they endangered?  YES – in Alberta, new legislation was just passed that made syndicated mortgages alot more difficult to perform.
Why you should care – there are millions of people in Canada and the USA that have a few thousand in the bank that they can use to invest.  However, there are very few that have enough money to fund an entire $100,000 mortgage on their own.  What this means is that (if your state or province makes it difficult to perform syndicated mortgages) then there will be a drastic shortage of available money because there are very few people that can fund a mortgage on their own.  This will then limit the number of people who can get funds to mortgage/buy houses, therefore housing demands drop, overall income drops, house builders, realtors, lawyers, brokers and appraisers will be less busy/unemployed (not to mention every other aspect of the economy). 

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Top desired search term for this article: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 2% [?]

The CBC recently quoted a study that reported that the overall sum of all of Canada’s outstanding mortgage debt has recently exceeded $1 trillion dollars.  This is likely bad news but I will show you why it isn’t ALL bad news.

It is fairly well broadcasted that North America has a terribly low savings rate and therefore it is fair to assume that the bulk of the debt outstanding was acquired for the purpose of purchasing non-productive (aka leisurely) items and services.  However, this article addresses that small section of the population that are holding mortgage balances for the purpose of leveraging so that they can invest.

What is leveraging?  Leveraging is basically the use of debt in order to invest.  Ie. if you do not have any savings but you have a house that is free and clear – you can borrow money against the house and then use that money to invest and hopefully turn a profit. 

The reason for this article is to simply note that although our country’s total mortgage balance seems to be increasing, it is not entirely due to leisurely products or services.  Being a Mortgage Associate in Calgary, Ab – I see many people who are mortgaged to the hilt in order to invest.  Although this isn’t always a successful procedure – it does mean these people are trying to be successful producers, rather than consumers.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info 

Trevor Hickey, B.A.

Mortgage Associate

Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.

#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW

Calgary, Alberta

T2E 2S7

Bus: (403) 290-1990

Cell: (403) 860-8738

Fax: 1-888-587-1426

Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

 Website: www.mortgagebrokercalgary.info

Desired top search term: Calgary Mortgage Brokers

Popularity: 100% [?]

There are a number of indicators as to if rates are going to go up or down.  I am just going to point out a few simple ones. 
1) If a USA federal election is comming – typically rates drop just before a USA federal election (some speculate this is so that
voters are happy with their current government.  And if it happens in the USA, Canada is quick to follow.  In fact – the mortgage
broker arm of the CIBC Bank offers a mortgage term that comes up for maturity every time there is a federal election. 
2) If the banks have all suffered a loss of some kind – rates are going up.  The bank never loses – if their profits are down, they’ll
make you pay.
3) If Inflation is high – in an effort to curb inflation the federal governments typically increase the interest rates to discourage
spending and cool off inflation.
4) If inflation is low – in an effort to promote market activity the federal governments will typically reduce rates to induce spending.
5) If the difference between the federal banks’ overnight lending rates and the banks’ prime rates have increased.  Ie. if the banks can
borrow the money from the federal banks at 2% and they typically charge 1% more, therefore making their prime rate 3%.  If the banks all
of a sudden start to charge 2% as their premium, therefore making their prime rate 4% – keep an eye on this.  They could just be trying to
make up some losses.  Chances are high that they’ll drop the rate back down to a 1% premium – but be weary if all banks/lenders do this -
it could be a new trend.
Please contact Calgary mortgage brokers for some tips.

This article was written by Trevor Hickey, B.A. who is a Mortgage Associate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.
Mortgage Associate
Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.
#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW
Calgary, Alberta
T2E 2S7
Bus: (403) 290-1990
Cell: (403) 860-8738
Fax: 1-888-587-1426
Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Popularity: 5% [?]

It doesn’t always make sense to payout a mortgage for lower rates when you have to pay a penalty.  Lets look at the following scenarios:
1) When you are sure rates will drop like a rock any day now – in this event, even if you have to pay an IRD penalty this is one of those
times that it makes sense to pay an IRD – then get an open mortgage or line of credit.  You do this because you want to get
a fixed mortgage when the rates are the lowest so that you are safe when the mortgage rates start to rise. 
2) When mortgage rates are low and are not likely to go much lower – if you have to pay a 3 month payout penalty go for it.  If you have to
pay an IRD – your penalty will be for the exact same amount as your savings so there is no point in paying an IRD.
Feel free to contact Calgary mortgage brokers for some free advice.

This article was written by Trevor Hickey, B.A. who is a Mortgage Associate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.
Mortgage Associate
Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.
#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW
Calgary, Alberta
T2E 2S7
Bus: (403) 290-1990
Cell: (403) 860-8738
Fax: 1-888-587-1426
Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Popularity: 2% [?]

You may have heard in the news recently about mortgage companies and banks that are charging outrageously high payout penalties.
You may have also heard the term “IRD” or “Interest Rate Differential” used to explain this phenomenon of high payout penalties.
What Interest Rate Differential (IRD) means is if mortgage rates have dropped since you borrowed the money then the lender/bank
can’t lend out the money that you were borrowing to someone else at the same rate that you are borrowing it for.  This leads us
to a lesson that is very much true – the banks never lose.  But, in all reality, they shouldn’t be expected to take a loss if you
agreed to borrow money from them for 5% and now they can only lend it out at 2%.  Many people think that the banks/lenders are so
big that they can take the hit – They make billions anyway!  Keep in mind you borrowed the money, if you didn’t want to play by their
rules then you shouldn’t have borrowed the money in the first place.  Secondly, it is the banks/lenders that allow each of us to move
out of our parents homes before we’re 40 – because there is no way we could afford to buy a house in cash before then.

Now, you may have also heard about lenders/banks that charge 3 month payout penalties even when the rates have increased and they can
lend your money out for more of a profit. Again I bring you back to the fact that BANKS NEVER LOSE.  I have absolutely no way
of explaining this.  This just appears to be a money-grab to me and other Calgary mortgage brokers. 

This article was written by Trevor Hickey, B.A. who is a Mortgage Associate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Trevor Hickey, B.A.
Mortgage Associate
Concord Mortgage Group Ltd.
#107 – 1905 Centre Street NW
Calgary, Alberta
T2E 2S7
Bus: (403) 290-1990
Cell: (403) 860-8738
Fax: 1-888-587-1426
Email: trevor@concordmortgage.ca

Popularity: 5% [?]