AGENT LICENSE ID
M08000964
BROKERAGE LICENSE ID
10460
Margo Wynhofen
Mortgage Broker
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Address:
7 Livingston Avenue, Grimsby, Ontario
BROWSE
PARTNERS
One Mortgage Broker. Many Mortgage Solutions.
Since 1998, I have been providing expert mortgage advice to clients looking to purchase residential real estate, or for the renewal or refinance of an existing residential property mortgage. Much of my business is from repeat clients who have either moved, or refinanced for consolidation or future investment, or who have simply renewed a mortgage. From the twenty-something, anxious first-time homebuyer to the seventy-something, anxious reverse mortgage homebuyer, I cover it all!
Is your sole focus to find a low rate? I am confident that I can secure a competitive interest rate for you, but, when shopping for a mortgage, the biggest mistake that a consumer can make is to base the decision solely on the interest rate. Yes, the rate is important, but it should not be the only point you base your decision on.
Ask yourself the following questions before you commit to what you think is the "lowest rate" mortgage:
- What kind of service can I expect from my mortgage lender, and/or my mortgage broker once my mortgage has funded?
- How will I be treated at renewal time? Will I be offered competitive pricing then, and if not, how difficult will it be for me to transfer this mortgage to another institution?
- Do I understand the "fine print" of my mortgage contract - specifically, how the prepayment penalty is calculated?
- How difficult will it be to make changes to my mortgage mid-term, such as applying to transfer the mortgage if I need to move to another home, or to make a lump-sum prepayment, or to refinance my mortgage mid-term?
- Does my mortgage lender allow for me to obtain secondary financing elsewhere - for example, obtaining a home equity credit line elsewhere?
- If I have obtained my mortgage from a call-centre, how can I be assured that I am getting the best-available solution for my particular financial situation, and future needs?
My interest rates may not be that different from what you can find online or elsewhere, however, I am different. And, it is this important distinction that will ensure you are happy with your new mortgage!
BLOG / NEWS Updates
Scotiabank Economics: Rules of Thumb for Estimating the Impact of U.S. Tariffs on Canada
From Scotiabank
There are many uncertainties about the economic outlook as President Trump is set to take the helm of the United States. Those range from uncertainty about the policy actions he will take to uncertainty about the impact of those very policies. A case in point is the recent statement that he would implement tariffs hikes of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on imports from China. While we do not believe these tariffs will be implemented (see here), it is very likely that over the next several months, economic forecasts will need to present some alternative paths for the economy around a central scenario. Those alternative scenarios are likely to represent choices made by forecasters as to which policy assumption to include in their forecasts. Only when policy measures will actually be announced and implemented will uncertainty around the policy environment diminish. Given its critical nature to Canada and other trading partners, and to the U.S. itself of course, we thought it would be helpful to provide some rough rules of thumb for estimating the impact of trade policy changes on Canada and the U.S. These rules of thumb, derived from our macroeconometric model of the U.S. and Canadian economies, while by no means meant to be exact, are designed to help provide a quick and dirty assessment of the impact of changes in tariffs on the economy, inflation, and interest rates in both countries.
Click to read more https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.insights-views.tariffs--november-28--2024-.html
Canadian Home Sales See Surprise Jump in October
Home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS Systems increased 7.7% on a month-over-month basis in October 2024, reaching its highest level since April 2022.
Rising home sales activity was broad based, with the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and British Columbias Lower Mainland recording double-digit increases in October.
The jump in home sales last month was definitely an October surprise, although with the big interest rate cut of 50 basis points announced during the last week of the month, the increase was more likely related to the surge in new listings we saw in September, said Shaun Cathcart, CREAs Senior Economist. There probably wont be another rush of new supply like that until next spring, and at that point, mortgage rates should be close to their expected lows, as well. With that in mind, you can think of the October numbers as a sort of preview for what we might expect to see next year.
New listings posted a 3.5% month-over-month decline in October, although that followed on the heels of a 4.8% jump in September, so new supply remains at some of the highest levels since mid-2022. The national pullback in October was led by a drop in new supply in the GTA.
With sales rising considerably in October and new listings falling, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 58%, up from 52% in September. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 55%, with a sales-to-new listings ratio between 45% and 65% generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.
https://stats.crea.ca/en-CA/
Investors are more prominent among small condominium apartments in Toronto and Vancouver
Condominium apartments are the most common type of property owned by investors in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) like Toronto and Vancouver. In 2022, nearly two in five condominium apartments (38.9%) in the Toronto CMA were investment properties, while this was the case for about one in three (34.2%) in the Vancouver CMA. In these CMAs, new condominium apartment projects often rely on presales to investors to be built. Investors buy pre-construction units with the goal of making a profit when the buildings are completeeither by renting them out or by selling the unit at a higher price. These pre-construction sales are used by developers to secure financing for the projects. This dynamic means that investor preferences may have an influence on the type of buildings that get built.
One concern with this process is that it may lead to the construction of more properties with smaller units. Investors are perceived to prefer these units because rent per square foot of living area tends to be higher for smaller units. This may have contributed to the shrinking size of condominium apartments in CMAs. For example, in the Toronto CMA, the median living area of condominium apartments built in the 1990s was 947 square feet, compared with 640 square feet for those built after 2016. In the Vancouver CMA, the median size also declined over the same period, from 912 square feet to 790.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241003/dq241003a-eng.htm
