Canadian Mortgage Trends had a post about what they would look for in a mortgage broker; excellent resource! I have been looking for a mortgage broker here in BC over the past month or so. I had found 2 great brokers in Ontario who had preapproved us, but wanted someone closer to home that knows the BC market. I started with someone at Dominion Lending Centres because they recently had one an award as mortgage broker of the year.
The person I talked to initially seemed very competent but lost my confidence on a few simple accounts over a few weeks: she didn't phone me to tell me that, based on our numbers, she thought could qualify for a mortgage; she didn't return my calls (after 6 days I called her and she didn't apologize); and finally, she had me doing her job. For this last point she had me calling appraisers to find out how they would appraise a refinance 30 days after purchase.
Yesterday I decided I needed someone better and called a woman from Mortgage Centre in Vancouver who has a great web presence. I had bookmarked her blog simply because of the volume of good information it contained on investment property mortgages. She was very personable, returned my call immediately, talked with me about all my options, and had an online mortgage application that was very to use. She crunched the numbers and emailed me with an answer last night at 11 so I knew as soon as I woke up that our numbers looked good.
Real estate investors talk about the importance of team, and I am always stunned how much of a difference an excellent team member can make compared to someone who isn't. A good team member can find deals or products that exceed expectations, and, as we get closer to a purchase, allow us to meet our goals for this purchase.
