I was recently asked this question and it is a good one for sure. Working with The Mortgage Advisors and with the Verico back end allows me the capability of working with a very large number of lenders. Why is this a good thing? Well, all lenders have different rules and regulations that may benefit a certain client. One guideline might restrict an applicant based on something that happened in the past or maybe they do not have the down payment or income ratio the lender is looking for at the time. Every single applicant has a different situation. Not one is created equal. If my clients truly believe that buying the home is in their budget, having many lenders will allow me to find something that works for them. It is up to me to regularly read the emails that come from the lenders, review their documentation and attend training sessions and email the business development managers individually when I have a question, make sure you visit this lender site if do you Need Cash Now
With that being said, I regularly conduct business with 13 lenders. I have the ability to work with 25 plus many other private lenders. If the situation will not work with one of the 13 then I would work with the other ones certainly. I still review the documentation of the other 12 regularly.
In alphabetical order I regularly work with Alterna, B2B Bank, CMLS, First National, Home Trust, Magenta, MCAP, Merix/Lendwise, Pillar (for construction mortgages), Radius, RMG, Scotiabank, and Street Capital.
There are some I don’t including RBC, TD, CIBC and BMO as they have their own network of mortgage workers.
Do I favor some lenders over others?
Number one, I would look at getting my clients the lowest rate available. I got into this noble career to save Canadians money and make home financing easier and save the hassles in the future (3-5 years into the mortgage). Second, if the down payment and the income ratios do not fit, I would look at the next options. There are low rate, low services sites that offer mortgages with terrible conditions including terrible penalties if you need to move or some mortgages do not offer porting to different provinces. My clients will know these drawbacks. The low rate/low service sites use these artificially low rates to get leads. I do not need to do business with bait and switch tactics. Some lenders have a web portal for online viewing of your mortgage, some do not. Some clients like that option. Some clients like different pre-payment abilities and strategies. Some lenders have lower variable rate mortgages than others. Some very low rate mortgage options do not allow bridge loans, sometimes you have to find other ways to get look for Bridge loan lenders. That makes selling and buying your next home within the mortgage window very, very difficult and stressful. Is a couple dollars a month worth that stress down the road? Many think not. Some lenders take a lot more time getting back to a mortgage broker, if timing is of the essence then I would not suggest that lender unless all other conditions are perfect for the client and the time doesn’t matter. A tremendous asset of a mortgage broker is I can give you these options. Once the mortgage financing has been approved and we have time before closing, we can look a the options. You are not locked in at moment of buying the home.
I hope this helps!
