How it works
Four steps, one person, zero cost to you. From a relaxed first call to broker complete three weeks before closing, here is exactly what happens and when.
The short answer
Working with Nick Bachusky, a licensed Mortgage Agent in Ottawa, follows four steps: a relaxed first call to understand your goals, a screen share where I compare options from dozens of lenders and tell you plainly what I would do, an approval stage where I chase the lender twice a day and update you daily, and a finish line of broker complete three weeks before closing.
Start to keys
Mortgages feel complicated because most people only see the paperwork, never the plan. This is the plan. The same one, every client, every file.
The first conversation
A relaxed video or phone call, usually 20 to 30 minutes. I listen first: your goals, your timeline, and what you are actually comfortable spending each month, which is not always what a lender will approve you for.
Every call ends with a recap email, so nothing lives in your memory or mine. You leave knowing your realistic range and the exact short list of documents to gather.
The comparison
I shop your file across dozens of lenders: banks, credit unions, and mortgage only lenders. Then I walk you through the real numbers on a screen share, side by side, in plain words.
The comparison covers total cost of borrowing, not just the headline rate. Penalty clauses and prepayment room get read before you sign, because a rate is not just a rate, the penalty matters. I tell you plainly what I would do. You decide.
The busy part, handled
You upload your documents once through a secure portal. From there the chasing is my job: I follow up with the lender at least twice a day and you hear where your file stands every day it is active.
No message sits longer than about 30 minutes during business hours. Conditions get cleared as they come up, and if the lender asks for one more thing, I tell you the same day instead of the week after.
The finish line, early
My working goal on every purchase: completely finished three weeks before closing, so you are focused on the house, not the financing.
The final stretch is boring on purpose. Instructions go to your lawyer, you know your exact payment, and moving day is about keys and boxes rather than paperwork. After closing I stay one message away for renewals, questions, and everything after.
Where the plan bends is the product, never the process. A first home in Ottawa, a renewal that deserves a second look, or a refinance to pull equity all move through these same four steps.
Closing week should be about keys and boxes, not financing.
Nick Bachusky · Mortgage Agent Level 1 · Referral Mortgages Inc. · FSRA #13316
The part a flowchart cannot show
The steps are the skeleton. What clients actually remember is the service wrapped around them, and that comes down to one line I run my whole practice on:
"Every client should feel like my only client."
A reply in about 30 minutes
No message sits longer than roughly half an hour during business hours. I call it AI without AI: the speed of a bot, from an actual human.
You deal with Nick, full stop
No call centre, no assistant, no handoffs. The person who quotes your mortgage is the person who answers your WhatsApp at every step.
Straight answers, even hard ones
If waiting is smarter than acting, I say so. Recommendations come framed as what I would do, and the decision always stays yours.
One application, many lenders
One conversation and one credit check, then I shop your file across banks, credit unions, and mortgage-only lenders so you are not filling out form after form.
Do not take my word for it. Read what past clients say about the process in the Google reviews, or get to know the person behind it on the about Nick page.
The money question
When your mortgage funds, I am paid a finder's fee by the lender, the same way it works with most mortgage agents across Canada. Your rate is not marked up to cover it.
That structure is also why the advice stays honest. I am not tied to one shelf of products the way a branch adviser is, so the recommendation can follow your file rather than a sales target. When two lenders tie on rate, I lean toward the one with the fairer penalty and better prepayment room, which is exactly the fine print explained on the Ottawa mortgage penalties page.
Want to see where the market sits before that first call? Start with today's Ottawa mortgage rates, then try the numbers in the payment calculator, or browse the mortgage blog for plain language answers.
More ways Nick can help
One agent for the whole picture. Whatever stage you are at, here is where to go next.
4.9 stars from 61 Google reviews left by clients I have worked with across Ottawa.
Get in touch
Getting a mortgage does not need to be stressful. Leave your details and I reply within about 30 minutes during business hours.
Before the first call
No. For a standard residential mortgage you do not pay a fee for my service, and any rare exception on a private or specialised file is put in writing before you commit.
It depends on your timeline and how quickly your documents come in, but the working goal never changes: broker complete three weeks before closing, so you are focused on the house, not the financing. If you are early in your search, a pre approval usually comes together within days of your documents arriving.
Only if you want to. Everything runs by phone, video call, screen share, and WhatsApp, and documents upload through a secure portal. I work with clients across Ottawa, from Orléans to Kanata to Barrhaven, without anyone driving across town. My office is at 1320 Carling Avenue if you prefer to sit down face to face.
The usual set: proof of income such as pay stubs, a letter of employment or recent tax documents if you are self employed, photo ID, and proof of your down payment. I send you a short, specific list on the first call so you gather everything once instead of drip feeding paperwork for weeks.
No message sits longer than about 30 minutes during business hours. On an active file I follow up with the lender at least twice a day and update you every single day, even when the update is that nothing changed. I call it AI without AI. You deal with me directly, never a call centre.
That is the best time to talk. A relaxed first call costs nothing and tells you what you can comfortably spend before you fall in love with a house. No pressure and no obligation. Plenty of clients chat with me months before they ever write an offer.
Have a question that is not about the process itself? Browse my answers to common Ottawa mortgage questions.
Twenty relaxed minutes, a recap email, and a clear picture of what you can comfortably do. No pressure, no obligation.
4.9 stars across 60 Google reviews · Replies within about 30 minutes in business hours · Office on Carling Avenue, Ottawa.
Nick Bachusky · Mortgage Agent Level 1 · Referral Mortgages Inc. · FSRA #13316. Timelines described on this page are working goals, not guarantees, and every file moves at the pace of its lender and documents.