You’re Making a Difference Reducing Mortgage Fraud! Want to Know How?

So you may have noticed that we often blog on the topic of mortgage fraud. This is because we are firm believers that awareness is the first step towards prevention. Fraudsters are always trying to stay one step ahead and so doing your best to be well-tooled to spot possible fraud can help you protect yourself, your lenders and clients.

As recently as this past summer a major Canadian alternative mortgage lender admitted to having suspended 45 mortgage brokers after uncovering evidence that mortgage fraud was taking place. 

In this instance the mortgage fraud related to fake employment letters that overstated the borrower’s income being provided to obtain mortgage approvals. In this instance, through their own audit, the lender uncovered the fraud and dealt with it.

We often suggest education, discussion, collaboration, technology and tools as being the main areas that can really lead to an overall reduction of fraud in the mortgage industry. It seems that Genworth has produced some Canadian statistics that validate this assumption.

In the same article in the BNN that discussed the incident that occurred with the lending institution discussed earlier, Stuart Levings, CEO of Genworth MI Canada, Canada’s largest private insurer, seemed to indicate that fraud is on the decline in Canada.

The article begins “Mortgage fraud has been on the decline in Canada in recent years thanks to tougher regulations, better training and new technology, the head of Canada’s largest private mortgage insurance company said Wednesday.”

A brokerage, especially super brokerages with franchises and established brands, have to lead by example, and so if Genworth is seeing a decline in fraud overall, we hope that many are.

Super brokerages who mandate continuing education, even over and above what is required by FSCO, and also mandate the use of underwriting tools to ensure stronger underwriting, make a massive difference when it comes to combatting fraud.

Courses like the ones offered by CAAMP and IMBA show agents how they can identify fraud and tools like Purview enable them to validate the information in their applications so that if something fishy does come up, they are positioned to address it.

Continuing the above practices really help the industry as a whole because not only are you the agent or brokerage offering a better service and maximizing profitability, you are protecting your other partners who may become a party to the deal you originate with a fraudster.

This was a great article and we blogged about it because it is definitely worth a read and we are also interested in your thoughts… You can read the article here: http://www.bnn.ca/News/2015/8/5/Mortgage-fraud-on-the-decline-in-Canada-Genworth-CEO-says.aspx.

Want to know more about how Purview For Mortgage Brokers can help you combat mortgage fraud? Call us today at 1.855.787.8439.

HPI Monthly Report - Home Prices UP 0.1% in October

In October the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 0.1% from the previous month, a 10th consecutive monthly increase. This rise was about average for a month of October. Prices were up on the month in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 1.9% in Winnipeg, 0.6% in Vancouver, 0.3% in Toronto and Victoria and 0.2% in Edmonton. For Vancouver it was the 10th consecutive month in which prices did not fall, for Toronto the eighth – a trend consistent with the seller’s-market conditions prevailing in those two markets, as measured by the ratios of listings to sales calculated from the data reported by the Calgary and Toronto real estate boards. Elsewhere prices fell – by 0.2% in Quebec City, 0.3% in Montreal and Hamilton, 0.6% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 0.8% in Calgary and 1.7% in Halifax. For Quebec City it was the fifth consecutive monthly decline, for Montreal the third (the fourth for the Montreal condo market). The October rise in Edmonton ended a run of four straight months with no increase. The decline in Hamilton ended a run of five straight rises.

Teranet – National Bank National Composite House Price Index™

In October the composite index was up 5.6% from a year earlier, the same 12-month rise as in September and the strongest since May 2012. In Vancouver (+9.8%) and in Toronto and Hamilton (+9.3%), the 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average. In Victoria (+6.4%) it was closer to the average. Prices were up only 1.4% from a year earlier in Edmonton and were flat in Winnipeg and Ottawa-Gatineau. Prices were down from 12 months earlier in Montreal (−0.6%), in Calgary (-1.0%), in Halifax (-1.1%) and in Quebec City (−3.2%). It was the first month since October 2009 that prices were up from a year earlier in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed.

Mortgage Underwriting Tips - 5 Steps to Ramp up Your Closing Rates

Some brokers see lead gen and sales as the thing that can make or break their business. While it is true that without customers you have no business, the real aspect of your job that can make or break your success is in fact mortgage underwriting.

Not only does poor underwriting lead to more time and resources wasted on bad deals but it also leads to low closure rates which can damage relationships with larger institutional lenders like banks.

FIs monitor closure rates closely because the operational cost of their massive underwriting department working on deals that don’t close is incredibly high. FIs have even taken great measures in implementing tools and technology to verify even more information at the application stage for this reason.

Ramping up your closure rates make you more efficient, productive, and profitable, able to offer a better service and this all leads to stronger relationships. Improving closure rates means enhancing your underwriting process to ensure that more questions and verifications occur at the application stage.

Improving closure rates means looking at the common reasons deals fail and knowing how to verify the information points to identify issues with deals before you submit them.

Does this mean that every time something comes up your deal is over? No. What it does mean is that if something does come up you can ask your client about it and be better positioned to gather more documents and to be able to fight for the deals worth fighting for.

Submitting a deal where the lender uncovers things that you didn’t tell them because you didn’t know (or did) is entirely different from submitting an application with an explanation and supporting documents with respect to issues that you have uncovered and disclosed with the application.

Some examples:

1.      Other people coming up on title – verifying who the legal homeowner is on refi’s especially will eliminate this issue.

2.      Undisclosed mortgages – verifying registered encumbrances on title.

3.      Misstated mortgage balances – if the mortgage balance registered is twice as high as what the client said, and it was registered last year, this is an opportunity to find out from your client why they think their home is worth so much more.

4.      Discrepancies in property description – sometimes people misstate the size, numbers of rooms and condition (e.g. finished basement) and other features of the property. Checking into this first stops appraisal or AVM surprises if your bank like many other banks is using AVMs

5.      Discrepancies in sales history – a property that has changed hands too many times in a short period of time could present an issue.

6.      Discrepancies in value – people often don’t know what their home is actually worth.

These steps are important not because your clients are devious or want to get one over on you. These steps are important because many clients don’t even know what their home is worth or what they owe on their mortgage. The great thing about verifying this information first is that it could go the other way too.

Perhaps you realize there is way more equity or the client owes less on their mortgage. Now you can upsell the client and possibly submit an even bigger deal that makes even more sense for the client and lender.

We hope that this blog has been helpful to give you basic know-how and ideas of what kind of information you can look into to ramp up your closing rates.

Purview For Mortgage Brokers has the tools that make verifying information easy. Strengthen your closure rates and your relationships - call us today at 1.855.787.8439.

Training Time: Performing a Property Search and the AVM Component the PFMB Report

When you perform a property search inside Purview for Mortgage Brokers and generate your Property Report, one very useful aspect of the report is the Automated Valuation Model (AVM).

This is where Purview generates a value estimate based on data stored in the Ontario Government’s land registry database – comparing sales and generating an estimate in seconds.

In this issue of training time we are including a short video that shows you how to identify and review the AVM section of your property report.

Purview For Mortgage Brokers has the tools that make researching a property easy and effective. Not using Purview For Mortgage Brokers Yet? Contact us today at 1.855.787.8439.

Getting Back to Basics: Automated Valuation Model 101

The Automated Valuation Model is something that every mortgage agent and broker would be well served to understand and make a part of their workflow.

Lenders, from private lenders all the way to institutional lenders, have been using the Automated Valuation Model for years and you may remember CAAMP touching on them when completing your mortgage agent or brokers studies.

The Automated Valuation Model is an automated program that can produce an estimate of a property’s value. The value is statistically derived using mathematical modeling and in the case of Teranet comes from public record data found in the POLARIS database. The AVM compares the subject property to that of comparable sales data of similar properties to produce the value estimate.

There are many different types of AVMs that gather information from different sources and formulate estimates using different formulas.

These include:

·         The House Price Index Model which uses data from house price indices

·         The Tax Assessed Value Model which uses tax assessment data

·         The Hedonic Model which uses similar property sales to generate its value estimate

Because AVMs involve a value estimate, some make the assumption that the purpose of an AVM is to replace the need for an appraisal and its accuracy.

AVMs are extremely accurate because the numbers don’t lie and their values are generated based on data with no human element. With that said, they are not an appraisal and are often used at different stages in the underwriting and funding processes.

Many lenders, mortgage agents and brokers alike will use AVMs at the application stage to validate the value stated on the application and determine if it is worth proceeding with the approval and funding process. Many times an AVM will come before an appraisal is ordered. In instances where equity permits, sometimes there is enough equity for the AVM to be relied upon on its own.  Based on the accuracy of AVMs, there is also wide spread usage amongst mortgage insurance providers to evaluate their ability to insure new deals

Appraisals have a human element which means that the appraiser will use their chosen comparables, and render their professional opinion on interior and exterior conditioning. Appraisers can also uncover properties under construction and even properties that have undisclosed tenants.

Since comparables are chosen by the appraiser, it makes good sense to review an appraisal against an AVM because an AVM will consider all comparable sales – not 2 or 3 as is the case with an appraisal.

AVMs have not historically been available to brokers but in recent years this has changed. Mortgage agents and brokers can now obtain and review an AVM before they even submit a deal to a lender.

Using both and AVM and an appraisal at different stages in the process can be quite valuable, and save you time and money on broken deals. Purview For Mortgage Brokers’ AVM provides accurate data you can rely on. Contact us today at 1.855.787.8439.

Protecting Your Lenders: Non-Disturbance Agreements 1-2-3

Have you ever worked on a deal where a party has come up on title as having a life interest in a property? This doesn’t happen often but when it does it can stop a deal dead in its tracks prompting us to write a blog on the topic.

Sometimes a non-disturbance agreement can be in place in the case of tenants, which may or may not be registered on title, or a life interest in the property which may be registered on title, which is often the case with family members.

Why do the presence of either squash many deals? Because the existence of same means that the person during the time or under the terms specified cannot be removed from the property even in the case of a foreclosure.

A non-disturbance agreement is an agreement with a tenant and a landlord or homeowner’s lender that the tenant will remain in possession of the property being leased even if foreclosure takes place and in the case of foreclosure may legally begin making payments directly to the lender. At first glance, you may wonder why would any lender would agree to one of these? Often in the case of private mortgages where there is good equity, these agreements take place because they actually give the lender the ability to capitalize on income from the property when a default in the mortgage takes place. Also, in the case of foreclosure, when a buyer is pursuing an income property, with the numbers in line, many don’t mind buying a property that already has a good tenant in it.

On the other hand, the presence of a non-disturbance agreement is bad news for an unsuspecting second mortgage lender, especially one who is unaware that there are tenants in the property. Not only can they see the first lender snatch income from the property until challenged, they can end up with limited recourse in the event of a default.

A life interest on the other hand is actually registered on title and lasts for the lifetime of the person benefiting from that right. We see this often in the case of seniors who continue to live in a home while having transferred it to the name of a beneficiary to streamline probate in the event that they pass away. The life interest ends when the beneficiary dies.

Not every lender wants to be a part of a transaction that involves tenants or someone with a lifetime right to occupy a property. Knowing that a property is a rental property or not owner-occupied is a form of fraud and if uncovered by a lender could lead to the end of your relationship. Life interests will certainly come up if one exists during the closing process once the lawyer begins performing their due diligence. Deals that get this far along in the process and fail to close can leave a lender wondering about your underwriting capability.

It is always important to clearly ask your clients if a property has tenants, if there are any non-disturbance agreements in place. It is also prudent to ask the client how the property was acquired. If it was passed down by a loved one this can be a sign that you may need to do extra due diligence to confirm that a life interest hasn’t been registered.

Being as prepared as possible only helps to streamline the process. Don’t get stuck with unknowns, or assume that those unknowns will remain so - they likely will not. Get as much information as possible and provide it upfront. Visit Purview For Mortgage Brokers today at www.purviewforbrokers.ca.  

HPI Monthly Report: Home Prices up 0.6% in September

In September the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 0.6% from the previous month, a ninth consecutive monthly increase. This rise was well above the 17-year September average of 0.2%. However, prices were up on the month in only six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 1.9% in Halifax, 1.6% in Vancouver, 1.3% in Hamilton, 0.8% in Victoria, 0.7% in Calgary and 0.6% in Toronto. Prices in Edmonton were flat. Prices were down 1.9% in Quebec City, 1.4% in Winnipeg, 0.5% in Ottawa-Gatineau and 0.4% in Montreal. The composite index was at an all-time high in September for a seventh consecutive month, though only the Victoria, Vancouver, Hamilton and Toronto component indexes matched it in this regard. The resale market in those centres is a seller’s market by the Canadian Real Estate Association criterion of sales relative to new listings. For the last three of these four markets it was the fifth consecutive monthly rise. For Edmonton and Quebec City, it was a fourth straight month with no rise in prices. The Vancouver index, at 201.2 in September, is the first to top 200, meaning that prices in that market are slightly more than twice as high as in June 2005.

In September the composite index was up 5.6% from a year earlier, the largest 12-month rise since May 2012. The 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average in Hamilton (10.6%), Vancouver (10.4%) and Toronto (8.6%). It was close to the average in Victoria (5.9%). Prices were barely up from a year earlier in Edmonton (0.8%), Calgary (0.3%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.2%). Prices were flat in Montreal, and down from a year earlier in Quebec City (−2.9%), Winnipeg (−2.3%) and Halifax (−0.2%).

Reading Your Land Title Search – The Type of Registered Owner is Very Important

Mortgage brokers and agents reference the Parcel Register* so many different ways. It is sometimes referenced as a land title search, other times as a title search. Really a Parcel Register* is a component of title searches historically performed by conveyancers and lawyers.

In recent years much of the information contained in a land title search has been made readily available by Teranet through many different avenues with industry specific formatting that helps a wide range of real estate and land professionals complete necessary due diligence.

Teranet data is derived from POLARIS, the Province of Ontario’s land information database which is the most current source of land titles available in Ontario.

Prior to Purview For Mortgage Brokers, many mortgage brokers and agents would turn to Teranet Express and request a Parcel Register* which is used to verify home ownership information, property sales history and financial registrations like mortgages.

When Purview For Mortgage Brokers was launched a couple of years ago, much of the information contained in the Parcel Register* was pulled into a Property Report that can be generated in Purview for Mortgage Brokers and amongst other things enables mortgage agents and brokers to verify who the legal homeowner of a property is.

Verifying property ownership information is extremely important because it not only cuts down on the time spent working on deals where there are undisclosed parties on title but it also helps to uncover mortgage fraud.

In the case of property ownership information, this legal property owner appears at both the top of the Parcel Register* and at the top of the Property Report generated in Purview For Mortgage Brokers.

The couple of minutes you spend running the necessary searches and reports to validate information in your application not only goes a long way to save you time and hassle but also helps you to strengthen relationships with lenders.

Tools like Purview For Mortgage Brokers are also available to lenders through a similar product, Purview for Lenders, which derives its data from the same source. Finding out that there is a problem with your deal before your lender does enables you to ask your client important questions and strengthens closing rates because you will be bringing forward your deal with the answers to questions that will come up once the underwriter on the lender side begins performing their due diligence.

Purview For Mortgage Brokers is a valuable resource for various reasons - one of the most important being the prevention of real estate fraud. Visit us online today for more information: www.brokers.purview.ca. 

* An official product of the Ontario government pursuant to provincial land registration statutes.

Training Time: 4 Ways to Uncover Fraud Using Purview For Mortgage Brokers

When using Purview For Mortgage Brokers, the ability to enter a home’s address and have a Property Report generated may feel incredibly simple and easy. This simple report though can be deployed on the front end of a business to identify opportunities, at the application/underwriting stage to learn and even verify a wide range of different data and in the loss/risk management side of the business. This training blog will focus on some key areas of the Property Report that you can pay attention to, to uncover fraud.

1.       Verifying that your client is the homeowner

When representing a client who is refinancing a property, it is always prudent to validate who the homeowner is. You can find this information right at the top of the report in the very first section. Is the property owned by a corporation, is there an owner like a lawyer who is a party to the transaction? These are important questions that the report can easily answer.

2.       Visual property identification

You can review street and aerial imagery to perform a virtual drive-by to ensure that the property looks as described – this can also be found in the first section of the report.

Review the property’s sales history

The second part of the report includes the property’s sales history information which is a valuable tool to identify things like quick flips and large variances in claimed value against what a property recently sold for. Is there a party to the transaction that is listed as a past owner? Is the sale of the property arms-length? Again, important questions that need to be answered.

3.       Avoid fraud by property value

The AVM component in the next section of the report is an excellent way to spot fraud by property value. At a glance, you can validate if the value stated in your application is in line with property sales data.

    4.       Review the property’s financial history

While the equity estimate section is intended to help you estimate equity at a glance, it provides valuable insight into the financial position of the property including registered mortgages, the dates registered and amounts registered. This can help you to suss out fishy transactions or things that your lender may question you on.

Make no mistake: your lender is probably generating a similar report using a system like Purview for Lenders and you will be more efficient and effective in your roll by being one step ahead of the game, not only looking at the report but really assessing the information with fraud awareness and prevention in mind.

By accessing the Property Report available through Purview For Mortgage Brokers, you can easily become better informed and better prepared. Call us today at 1.855.787.8439.

Mortgage Fraud in Canada: Have Electronic Mortgage Documents Resulted in More Fraud?

This past month it became legal to for you to sign the following legal agreements electronically: Agreements of Purchase and Sale, Deeds, Transfers of Land and mortgage documents. This is because of a recent amendment to the Electronic Commerce Act. This amendment will make the buying and selling of land that much easier, leaving some to wonder if electronic signing of documents will lead to more mortgage fraud in Canada.

One key to mitigating mortgage fraud in Canada after this change is to ensure that, at the beginning of the process, you obtain identification from the applicant and verify it. Once this has occurred you may establish a comfort level to sign the balance of the mortgage documents electronically.

In the case of mortgage brokering, the signing of electronic mortgage documents will mean that you don’t have to make clients come into the office at every stage in the mortgage financing process. You will be able to email clients electronic mortgage documents where they can electronically sign and deliver back to you.

This change in the law is going to take some brokers that much closer to having a completely digital/paperless process.

·        Paperless: Application stage – application is entered into Filogix, credit report is requested digitally. Many brokers at this point will also pull a report and request a property report that verifies home ownership information, sales history, registered mortgages and an AVM that confirms the value range for the subject property.

·        Paperless: Lender receives deal from the broker, and while assessing the deal for approval, requests an AVM to validate value. Once everything checks out, the approval will be sent back to the broker.

·        Document Signing - Will now be paperless: this was the one administration heavy part of the mortgage closing process that now will also be digitalized.

To be prepared to make the switch to negotiating more of your documents electronically you will need to look at different tools that enable electronic signing such as DocuSign. You will also need a plan to deal with how documents will be stored.

Creating client folders is always a good idea because it gives you an organized place to store applications, AVMs, approvals, signed mortgage documents and supporting documents by the client.

Overall, this change in the law has proven to be a welcome one for the real estate and mortgage industry. As long as real estate sale representatives and mortgage agents and brokers do their due diligence to validate the identities of their customers, electronic document signing brings positive change.

For more information please visit Purview For Mortgage Brokers today at www.purviewforbrokers.ca

HPI Monthly Report: Home Prices up 1% in August

In August the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 1.0% from the previous month, an eighth consecutive monthly increase. The rise exceeded the 11-year August average of 0.9%. Prices were up on the month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 3.9% in Calgary, 2.4% in Hamilton, 1.6% in Toronto, 0.6% in Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau and Winnipeg. Prices were down on the month in Victoria (-0.3%), Halifax ( 0.4%), Edmonton and Montreal (−0.5%) and Quebec City (−1.1%). The composite index was at an all-time high in August for a sixth consecutive month, though only the Vancouver, Hamilton and Toronto component indexes were at an historical high in August. The resale market in those three centres is a seller’s market according to the Canadian Real Estate Association criterion of sales relative to new listings.

Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index™

In August the composite index was up 5.4% from a year earlier, the highest 12-month increase since November 2014. The 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average in Vancouver (9.7%), Hamilton (8.8%) and Toronto (8.7%). It was below the average in Victoria (3.2%), Edmonton (0.8%) and Calgary (0.7%). Prices were down from a year earlier in Winnipeg and Ottawa-Gatineau (-0.4%), Montreal (-0,5%), Quebec City (-0.7%) and Halifax ( 1.4%).

For the full report including historical data, please visit: www.housepriceindex.ca.

Mortgage Broker News: Is an Automated Valuation Model Even Accurate?

We thought the topic of the accuracy of an automated valuation model (AVM) was worthy of coverage for this week’s blog as it is a discussion that comes up from time-to-time when agents and brokers are deciding which tools they are going to deploy in the process of underwriting their deals.

Often brokers and agents compare the use of AVMs against the use 

of appraisals which is actually like comparing apples and oranges. However, as much as the approach is different, the end result is similar –both try to determine an accurate market value of the property in question - they often complement one another and can 

be used to validate the other. In many cases, lenders and brokers alike use an AVM often as a precursor to deciding if ordering an appraisal even makes sense. 

AVM Accuracy

• Purview AVM data in Ontario is sourced from The Province of Ontario's Land Registry Information System (POLARIS) which contains the most current and accurate land information available.

• Our AVM produces a statistically derived estimate of value based on analysis of public record data,   property location, market conditions and real estate characteristics at a specific point in time.  

• Our AVM uses actual sales data in our calculations.  We do not used assessed, appraised or list prices which can be over or under-inflated compared to actual market driven sale prices.

• AVMs are objective. AVMs are quite accurate as the data doesn’t lie – data is data and sales are sales. Appraisals can actually vary in accuracy because they depend on a human’s opinion/feeling/view on what they see. One appraiser may view condition differently from another.

• AVM reports are generated in real time. Property information within the report is available within 10 days of submission to the Land Registry Office.

The role of valuations in the lending process

• Valuations play a significant role in the lending process by assisting financial institutions throughout the life of a mortgage and have been implemented across major lending institutions. 

• Based on the accuracy of AVMs, there is widespread usage amongst mortgage insurance providers to evaluate their ability to insure new deals.

Lenders have, for many years, relied on AVMs as a front line component of the underwriting process. Lenders save considerably by determining if a property value is in range before wasting underwriting resources and submitting deals to insurers who end up disagreeing with value. This is one reason a deal may be submitted to a lender and come back when there is a disagreement over value – even before the deal is submitted to the insurer or before an appraisal is ordered - because when you submit your deal many lenders will run an automated valuation model to validate the value stated in your application.

Depending on the AVM provider, the data used will come from different sources. We consider our product, Purview For Mortgage Brokers, which is a web based application using the same tools that many lenders who use Purview For Lenders deploy, to be premium. 

For more about Purview’s AVM and where our information comes from, please visit www.purviewforbrokers.ca today. 

Essential Training, Professional Development and the Mortgage Broker Course

So you completed the mortgage agent course and you have worked in the business, now what? What is the next step in the evolution of your career? Some might say to take it to the next level and get your full mortgage broker license. Some agents take the mortgage broker course with the goal to open their own brokerages while others take it to enhance their credibility by having the title ‘Mortgage Broker’.

So, thinking about becoming a mortgage broker? Your next step is to register in a mortgage broker course. We highly recommend CAAMP for their mortgage broker course which can finished relatively quickly.

Here is the process:

1.    First complete the first part of the mortgage broker course (Phase 1) online. You have 6 months to complete it but you can also complete it as quickly as you want to. If you put your nose to the grind it could be completed in mere weeks! You must complete Phase 1 in order to move on to Phase 2.

2.    The next phase in the CAAMP mortgage broker course is the in class portion. This is a 5 day class and you must have a perfect attendance record. At the end of the 5 days of classes you will complete an in class exam and Bob’s your uncle.

3.    Finally, once you have completed your accreditations you will need to visit the FSCO website to determine how you will go about applying for your mortgage broker license. This process will vary depending on whether you are registering your own business or if you work on behalf of a brokerage. If working for a brokerage, your broker may need to make the application on your behalf through Licensing Link.

Ready to take the plunge? Here are all the links you need:

·         CAAMP mortgage broker course outline: http://www.caamp.org/meloncms/media/Broker%20Program%20Brochure%20FINAL.pdf

·         Policies and FAQs provided by CAAMP: http://www.caamp.org/meloncms/media/Bkr%20Education%20Program%20-%20FAQ_2.pdf

·         Want to register for the CAAMP mortgage broker course? Here is the link: http://www.mortgagecampus.org/Licensing.aspx

Here are FSCO’s requirements for becoming a mortgage broker in Ontario:

·         Minimum Age – you must be 18 years of age or older

·         Location – you must be a resident of Canada and have a mailing address in Ontario that can receive registered mail (it cannot be a post office box)

·         Work history – You must be authorized by a mortgage brokerage to deal or trade mortgages on its behalf and must work for only one mortgage brokerage, have successfully completed an approved education program for mortgage agents and have been licensed as a mortgage agent for at least 24 months, during the 36 month period before applying for the mortgage broker licence

·         Education – You must have successfully completed the approved educational course and exam for mortgage brokers, up to three years before applying for a mortgage broker licence.  

Want to register to become a mortgage broker with FSCO? Here is the link: https://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/mortgage/Pages/mbgettinglicd.aspx

The total cost of taking the full mortgage broker program is only $345, which is not much considering the enhanced credibility and career potential that the title holds.

We hope that you have found this information helpful. Are you a Purview For Mortgage Brokers agent or broker? If not, find out more about our revolutionary mortgage underwriting and property valuation tool by visiting www.purviewforbrokers.ca

Mortgages Made Easy – Underwriting in 1-2-3

“Mortgages made easy” is a common buzz/marketing term that agents and brokers leverage when marketing to consumers to explain why using a broker/agent to get a mortgage makes the process easy. We could say the same to you on the underwriting side. Leveraging the latest tools and technology results in mortgages made easy!

Here are some mortgages made easy underwriting tips from the Purview team at Teranet! Whether you are a broker who simply brokers to larger institutional lenders, you represent more private lenders or you lend your own money, you can benefit from these tips. The very nucleus of solid mortgage underwriting boils down to verifying the information provided by the client – information that we group into 3 categories.

1.    Know the client – Knowing the client means checking identification, matching it against other documents, reviewing the credit report, as well as checking to ensure that the client (in the case of a refinance) is the legal homeowner of their property. So often clients forget that other people are on title, not to get one over on you but because they simply did not remember. In the case of divorcing spouses, sometimes a transfer of title has happened without the existing first mortgagor’s knowledge. Is the lawyer supposed to notify any mortgage lenders when adding/removing from title? Absolutely. Does it happen all the time? No. Sometimes a fax with notification is sent but an administrative issue sees it end up not where it needs to be, and so without a response, notification is enough and the transfer takes place. Independently verifying who is on title and knowing your client are two critical components of the mortgage underwriting process.

2.    Know the property – Another key aspect of the independent verification process is knowing the property. When surprises come up once a deal has been sent to a lender, it can strain relationships and damage your credibility – especially when it happens all the time. When we say know the property we mean know the sales and financial history. This can not only identify potential fraud but can identify issues with the property type, value and equity.

3.    Know the area – Finally, and this is especially key when arranging private mortgages and lending your own money, you need to know the area. Receiving deals from all over makes it impossible for you to know each and every area, but again you can leverage technology to learn very quickly about an area – both what is located around the property being financed and also the sales histories of other properties in the area.

Leveraging our Purview For Mortgage Brokers – Mortgages Made Easy, Underwriting in 1-2-3 is one way to take advantage of all the tips above using one easy tool.

For more information, please contact us today at 1.855.787.8439.

Attn: Mortgage Agents – Hot New Mortgage Product Perk “Mortgage Vacation”

TD Canada Trust teaches us a valuable lesson about how to brand a hot new mortgage product around its privileges - this can make all the difference when it comes to offering consumers a simple and clear message about why a particular mortgage makes sense.

TD Canada Trust introduces the Mortgage Vacation. What exactly is a mortgage vacation? Well it essentially allows you to make a lump sum payment, or pay more towards your mortgage payment to be able to skip up to 4 mortgage payments.

This is an incredibly useful new mortgage product because it allows people that are facing time off work, a baby on the way, continuing education, etc.,  to have a brief reprieve from their mortgage payments.

I mean, who doesn’t want to be able to take a vacation from their mortgage payments, right?

As you well know, many of the mortgage products you have offer perks like acceleration amortizations, prepayment privileges and even cash back programs. Get creative and brand your products so that they have a quick and catchy name that means something to your audience.

Also, reach out to your lenders. Many banks like TD Canada Trust are rolling out new and innovative products. Jump on to their product branding. You don’t have to wait for a BDM to make a visit out to your office – don’t wait for them to reach out to you, reach out to them!

Our challenge to you. Send an email to each BDM at each lender asking them what new products they have rolled out in 2015!

Don’t just target lenders whom you already deal with! Reach out to all the major banks and MICs to see if there is something you have missed that you can take advantage of. Do they have any materials that you can leverage? Then incorporate these products and materials into your marketing.

This TD Canada Trust Mortgage Vacation product is an excellent example! We are into the second month of summer vacation season and what a great way to draw a connection to this Mortgage Vacation product. Think seasonally. When looking at all the great products you have to offer, which tie in nicely with the season?

Recipe to mortgage agent broker success:

·         1 cup of sales

·         1 cup of underwriting/due diligence

·         1 cup of relationship building

·         3 cups of marketing

You see it’s not just about the products you offer but about how you market them! Make use of every tool available.

Want to find out more about what some of these tools are? Contact Purview For Mortgage Brokers today by calling 1.855.787.8439.

Canadian Mortgage Trends – Biggest Challenge Facing the Mortgage Industry

In a rather obscure comparison, we could equate the old children’s song, The Skeleton Dance, to the Canadian mortgage trends of 2015 quite nicely – the oil bone’s connected to the dollar bone, the dollar bone’s connected to the interest bone, the interest bone’s connected to the lending bone…. Ok, so that was a little humour but in all seriousness, some Canadian mortgage trends that began in 2014 and have carried into 2015 have had direct impacts to the mortgage industry – both positive and negative.

Towards the end of last year we saw oil prices drop. This led to a crisis in Alberta where the oil and real estate industry is concerned. The direct result: lenders began to tighten up their lending practices in Alberta as one Albertan mortgage brokerage reported to the Mortgage Brokers News: http://www.mortgagebrokernews.ca/news/broker-frustrated-by-tightened-lending-191719.aspx.

In addition, the low oil prices led to a reduction in the Canadian dollar which has both helped and hurt the Canadian economy in different ways. On the plus side, it makes the business sector more attractive to other countries who want to spend and do business here. In an article in the Financial Post earlier this year, Rhys Mendes, an economist at the Bank of Canada, spoke about the significant decline in the price of oil as being negative for the Canadian economy and indicated that the decline could reduce aggregate income. Even though the GDP saw growth in the 4^th quarter of 2014, the real income of Canadians contracted because the world price of the important export product declined.

The Bank of Canada put out a fantastic article on the topic of oil and the economy which is worth a read: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2015/01/drilling-down-understanding-oil-prices/. This brings us to the next point….

The drop in oil prices also led to a drop in the Canadian interest rate – another double-edged sword. One would hope that a lower interest rate would lead to more competition and even lenders loosening their purse strings but with trends on the borrower side indicating that Canadians have more debt than ever and declining income, it may mean more harm in the long run.

The Canadian Government has done about all it can to protect Canadians from another recession and housing crisis. CMHC guidelines have been tightened up reducing max amortizations from upwards of 40 years down to 25 and the amount one can borrow against their home has also been lowered – yet Canadians just seem to want to keep racking up the debt.

News publications, Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada and others continue to warn that Canada’s historically high levels of household debt are dangerous for the Canadian economy http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canadian-household-debt-burden-hits-record-high/article23417022/. Even Prime Minister Harper has warned that Canadians must get a handle on their debt.

All of the developments the Canadian market trends show us can help us predict what is to come next and adjust strategies accordingly. Paying attention to world markets, what the economists have to say, house price indexes like the Teranet National Bank House Price Index, and BOC announcements make you more informed as a mortgage broker and in the end more competitive when planning new products, services and marketing strategies.

This blog was produced by the Purview team at Teranet. Have you checked out Purview For Mortgage Brokers yet? If not learn more by visiting www.purviewforbrokers.ca

HPI Monthly Report: Home Prices up 1.2% in July

In July the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 1.2% from the previous month, a seventh consecutive monthly increase. The rise exceeded the 14-year July average of 1.0%. Prices were up on the month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 2.7% in Hamilton, 2.4% in Toronto, 2.3% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 1.7% in Victoria, 1.6% in Vancouver and 0.3% in Montreal. Prices were down on the month in Winnipeg (−0.5%), Quebec City (−0.6%), Edmonton (−0.7%), Halifax (−1.0%) and Calgary (−1.9%). The composite index was at another all-time high in July, though only the Vancouver, Hamilton and Toronto component indexes matched it in this regard. The resale market in those three centres is a seller’s market according to the Canadian Real Estate Association criterion of sales relative to new listings. In recent months sales have been rising strongly in all the markets surveyed except Halifax and Winnipeg, though in Calgary and Edmonton sales are still below their year-ago level.

In July the composite index was up 5.1% from a year earlier, the same as in June. The 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average in Vancouver (9.9%), Toronto (8.4%) and Hamilton (6.7%). It was below the average in Victoria (3.9%), Edmonton (1.9%), Winnipeg (0.9%), Quebec City (0.6%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.5%). Prices were down from a year earlier in in Montreal and Halifax (−0.6%) and in Calgary (−2.3%). With an index at 196.94 as of July, Vancouver just outpaced Winnipeg (195.89) as the metropolitan area where house prices increased the most since June 2005.

For the full report including historical data, please visit: www.housepriceindex.ca

Mortgage Lead Generation – Going Digital the Cheapest Way to Generate Leads!

Traditionally, big mortgage agents and brokers have leveraged conventional marketing such as radio and television to expand their portfolios while smaller brokers and agents have turned to less expensive means like snail mail, birthday greetings and generating referrals through other business as well as happy clients.

Digital marketing though has changed the face of mortgage lead generation because it has really leveled the playing field. While digital marketing such as Google PPC can prove very expensive and is dominated by the bigger players, social media marketing is something that is available to all, regardless of budget.

Since social media involves reaching out to referral sources and enables past happy clients to influence others in their networks, mortgage lead generation through social media can prove to be one form of digital marketing that carries the lowest cost of acquisition.

Every agent and broker should have an established presence on social media. Yes, yes, we know – it takes time, but you don’t have to be everywhere. Brokers and agents with less time can work on building one solid presence at a time. Every follower you gain opens you up to valuable second and third connections. Every contribution and post leads to enhanced credibility and exposure. Every shared blog link leads to traffic to your website.

Leveraging digital marketing for social media and deploying the latest and greatest tools and technology in your daily workflow makes you current and a broker of 2015.

Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas:

·         Research what platforms you share on well. Who is your target, is your target there, and is there an abundant base? For example – LinkedIn is a more professional platform where brokers and agents can reach out to other industry professionals to generate referral business, whereas on Facebook the sky is the limit where the consumer audience is concerned.

·         Think about what you are going to share. Optimized full blog posts will always have the most SEO value. Taking an online course in SEO to understand how blog sharing works will be the best time spent value-wise. This is the best way to get the most mileage out of your content.

·         Offer value. This one is huge. Using your digital marketing for the sole purpose of self-promotion is not adding value. The mere act of sharing is promoting yourself so focus on releasing content that adds true value to your readers – content that they want to read or that they may even share. Content that spurs another blogger or news site to syndicate or mention your content.

·         Be professional. Make sure your profile is the best representation of who you are! Avoid photos that are personal in nature and ensure that your value proposition is well edited and doesn’t contain spelling or grammar issues.

Hopefully these tips on mortgage lead generation through digital marketing are helpful in your quest for marketing for less.

Purview For Mortgage Brokers has the tools to bring you up to date with the latest trends. Contact us today for more information: 1.855.787.8439.