Peter Pepper, Royal LePage Frank Real Estate
200 Dundas St. East Whitby, ON, Canada

CONTACT ME and lets get started !!!

#BrandFinance's annual research into brand value. Royal LePage Canada's parent, #Brookfield moved up to number eight in Canada this year on continued strong gr...owth and immense respect world-wide. #RBC takes the top spot, followed by #TD and other leading financial institutions. This is the first time all five top spots have been banks. On business performance, #Forbes ranks Brookfield as the number one real estate company in the world: "Brookfield takes the top spot among real estate companies again this year by outshining the competition on nearly every metric."

10 Terms that First Time Home-buyers Need to Know It’s common for a first-time home-buyer to be overwhelmed when it comes to mortgage industry jargon, so this i...s to help make some of the jargon understandable. 1. Amortization Life of the mortgage The process of paying off a debt by making regular installment payments over a set period of time, at the end of which the loan balance is zero. Typical amortizations are 25 years or if you have over 20% down payment 30 years. 2. Appraisal An estimate of the current market value of a home. In this case, the lender will refuse to finance the purchase. Appraisals are designed to protect both the lender and buyer. The lender will not get stuck with a property that is less than the money lent, and the buyer will avoid paying too much for the property. 3. Closing Costs Costs you need to have available in addition to the purchase price of your home. Closing costs can include: legal fees, HST, Land Transfer Tax, etc and are payable on closing day. 4. Co-Signer A person that signs a credit application with another person, agreeing to be equally responsible for the repayment of the loan. 5. Down Payment The portion of the home price that is NOT financed by the mortgage loan. The buying typically pays the down payment from their own resources (or other eligible sources) to secure a mortgage. 6. Fixed and Variable Interest Rate a fixed mortgage interest rate is locked-in and will not increase for the term of the mortgage. A Variable Rate Mortgage is based on the Bank of Canada rate and can fluctuate based on market conditions. 7. High-ratio mortgage / Conventional Mortgage A conventional mortgage is when you have more than 20% down payment. In Canada, if you put less than 20% down payment, you must have Mortgage Default Insurance (see below). 8. Mortgage Default Insurance Is required for mortgage loans with less than a 20% down payment and is available from Canadian Mortgage & Housing Corp. (CMHC) or 2 other private companies. This insurance protects the lender in case you are unable to fulfill your financial obligations regarding the mortgage. 9. Pre-Approval A lender commits to lend to a potential borrower a fixed loan amount based on a completed loan application, credit reports, debt, savings and has been reviewed by an underwriter. This does not guaranty a loan until the property has passed inspections underwriting guidelines. 10. Term (Mortgage) Length of time that the contract with your mortgage including interest rate is fixed (typically 5 years). Bonus Term: Mortgage Broker A professional who works with many different lenders to find a mortgage that best suits the needs of the borrower. ;)

New First Time Homebuyer Program starts today! Fast Facts: -Max household income: $120,000 -Max Mortgage: 4x income -5% for resale, 10% for new build. ... -repayable on sale of home or prior(electable) -Govt takes gain/loss based on the amount owed. -Must close after Oct 31st. See more

9 Steps to Repair and Improve Your Credit Though credit scores aren’t always an indicator of financial health, they are used in a variety of ways that could ha...ve a major impact on your life. Interest rates (including mortgage rates) are almost always determined by your credit score. Some employers & landlords may require a credit check to see if you have past credit issues. Remember this is your credit report, not your I’m Fiscally Responsible report. Lenders want to know how you have historically handled credit in order to determine if you are a good credit risk. Higher risk = higher rates! The Rule of Two: You should always have 2 tradelines going. This can be a combination of 2 credit cards OR a credit card and a line of credit/ loan etc. Credit lines should have a minimum $2,000 limit Minimum of 2 years old So, if your credit score sucks, it could be costing you. The good news is, you don’t have to live with bad credit forever. There are plenty of things you can do to improve your credit score. Use the 9 tips below, to improve your credit score #1) Know Your Credit Score and Credit History Request a free copy of your credit report from both of Canada’s credit agencies (TransUnion and Equifax). You are legally entitled to one free credit report yearly from each credit agency. Check out my BLOG How to Get a FREE Copy of Your Credit Bureau #2) Review both TransUnion & Equifax Reports for Any Errors or Discrepancies. If you find any errors in your credit report, you should dispute them with Equifax or TransUnion and request to have them correct any errors. #3) Pay On Time, EVERY time! This might seem obvious, but you need to make your payments on time, every time! This is crucial to repairing and maintaining your credit rating. The largest percentage of your credit score is based on your payment history!! Even being a couple of days late will have a negative impact on your score. Staying current with your payments has a huge positive impact. If you can’t pay the balance off in full, pay the minimum amount on time! #4) Don’t Go Over Your Card’s Credit Limit Going over your credit limit, even once will have a huge negative impact on your credit score. You need to be aware of your credit limit and your current debt levels to avoid this. #5) Pay Off Any Overdue Accounts ASAP Paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report, so do your best to avoid going to collections. If you have any overdue accounts that have gone to collections, negotiate to pay them off ASAP. #6) Reduce Your Debt Easier said than done, but if you want to increase your credit rating, you need to reduce your debt. The closer you are to your credit limit, the lower your score. In a perfect world you only want to use about 30% of your available credit. If you have a lot of credit card debt you might consider a loan (with lower interest rates than the credit cards) to consolidate your debts. #7) Limit Your Inquiries for New Credit You lose points from excessive hard inquiries on your credit bureau. Any attempts to take on multiple loans/credit cards will look bad in your report. #8) Avoid Closing Credit Cards Account age is a factor that reflects positively on your credit score. Too many new accounts lowers your average account age and negatively impacts your credit score. For the same reason, you may want to keep an old account open, even if you are not actively using it. #9) Time is your Friend When rebuilding your credit, time will be your best friend. The impact of past credit problems lessens with time, so that a late payment from a year ago will have much less weight than a late payment today. Get current and stay current. #9.5) Protect Your Credit from Identity Theft As more of our personal information gets circulated via the internet, there’s more room for bad people to steal your personal details so that they can make fraudulent purchases in your name. This can be extremely damaging to your credit history. You can protect your credit history from this by paying for a service that can alert you to fraud. If you have any questions, contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker near you.

This rep whipped out the textbook she wrote to school a Trump official on the basics of consumer protection and dangers of payday loans

***LISTING ALERT!!!*** 923 Peggoty Circle, Oshawa- $618,800 Open House - July 27th & 28th 2-4pm ... Bright, Beautiful, Spacious 4 Bedroom Jeffery Built Family Home On Mature Tree Lined Street In Sought After North Oshawa Location!! Grand Foyer With Spiral Staircase, Main Floor Laundry With Access To Double Car Garage!! Formal Living & Dining Rooms, Separate Family Room With Fireplace. Bright, Eat-In Kitchen With Nook Overlooking Backyard. Large Master With Huge Walk In Closet & Ensuite With Soaker Tub & Seperate Shower. Finished Basement With Rec Room & 5th Bedroom, Cold Room & Loads Of Storage Space. Furnace & A/C 2015, Roof 2009, Eavestroughs 2016. Close To Schools, North Oshawa Shopping Centre, Transit & Minutes To Highway 401!! For More Information Or To Book A Viewing For This Great Home, Contact Roxanne Meek @ 905-767-7881 - [email protected] - www.SoldByRoxanne.com #justlisted #forsale #homeforsale #oshawahomeforsale #oshawa #openhouse #durhamregion #realestate #amazinglocation #familyhome

HUGE Mortgage News: The Stress Test Rate all borrowers must qualify for has fallen from 5.34% to 5.19%. What this means: Revisit your Mortgage Pre-qualification and ensure it is up to date!

The Canadian Bankers Association’s latest report on mortgage delinquency shows that Saskatchewan has the highest per capita of all the provinces. The national a...verage shows that .24% of home owners are having difficulty paying their mortgage. Saskatchewan is more than triple that at .80% with next in line Atlantic Canada at .51% and then Alberta at .46%. At first glance these numbers seem relatively small until you note the fine print that delinquency in this report only represents those homeowners that are more than 3 months behind. I thought that I would take the time to go over the mortgage ramifications of foreclosure, bankruptcy, consumer proposal and credit counseling. Foreclosure This is when the mortgage has gone unpaid to the point that the bank is forced to take back the security for the mortgage which is the home. First of all, the bank doesn’t want to have to do this. Non-payment of the mortgage for an extended period of time forces their hand. This process can take months to work through for the bank to take possession of the home to be able to sell it to recover their losses. The long-term effect on a client that goes through foreclosure is permanent. A record of the foreclosure is placed on each clients’ credit report. Unlike a bankruptcy or consumer proposal that are eventually removed, the foreclosure stays on their credit report for life. What that will mean is that when they want to eventually purchase a home again, they will more than likely require at least 20% down payment. Bankruptcy & Consumer Proposal Both bankruptcy and consumer proposal are administered through a licensed insolvency trustee. Typically, every creditor that you have debt with will participate in the process. This includes student loans and arrears with Canada Revenue Agency. If you have gone through either of these insolvency actions, the mortgage industry sees them as them as the same thing. What is most important after either of those is to get back up on the credit horse and walk before you run. Canadians that swear off debt of any kind after insolvency are better known as lifelong renters. Never having a credit card or loan again is certainly fine until you apply for a mortgage to buy a home. Banks and mortgage lenders want to see that you can walk with small amounts of credit before running with hundreds of thousands in a mortgage. Once discharged from either a bankruptcy or consumer proposal obtaining a credit card should be your very first step. The next thing to do is advise both Canadian credit reporting agencies that you were discharged. You may be required to send documents related to the insolvency. It is a good idea to keep all your paper work from this process in a safe place for at least 10 years. Credit Counseling Credit counselling could be a viable option for those that are keeping up with their debt payments but need help in making a household budget to get out of debt faster. For those that have fallen behind on their debts and 1 or more have gone into collection status, credit counselling may not be the answer. There are 2 distinct differences between working with a credit counselor and a licensed insolvency trustee. 1. Student loans and debts to Canada Revenue Agency cannot be addressed within credit counseling. 2. If the credit counseling requires debt negotiations and/or payment arrangements, some of your creditors may decline to participate. This leaves debts outside of the credit counseling arrangement that you must address on your own. It’s a little like having 2 flat tires on your car and only 1 spare. The spare may work well to fix one flat but your car still isn’t roadworthy.

DRAR would like to congratulate member Debbi Hotaling Guislain who was recently awarded the prestigious Royal LePage Manager of the Year Award for 2018! This na...tional award celebrates the one select Manager from across Canada who embodies the shared Royal LePage values, the brand, a supporter of the Shelter Foundation and local charitable efforts. Thank you Debbi for all of the volunteer work you have done with the Board and the positive attitude and light you shine in our community. Congratulations Debbi!

We are having a very stable Real Estate Market right now.

First Time Buyers ***** Buy With 5% down ******* Free list of homes $450,000 to $599,000 in Durham Region including Whitby, Ajax, Oshawa, and Pickering Click th...e link below: http://pawansharmateam.com/redir.asp See more

It’s important to understand the home buying process, so here’s a 7-step checklist. Step 1: Down Payment The hardest part to buying a home is saving the down pa...yment (a gift from the Bank of Mom & Dad also works). For purchases under $500,000 minimum down payment is 5%. Buying between $501-999,000 you need 5% on first $500,000-PLUS 10% down payment for anything over $500,000. Buying a home over $1 million you need 20% down payment. For any home purchases with less than 20% down payment, you are also required to purchase Mortgage Default Insurance. Step 2: Strategize, Define Your Budget and get Pre-Qualified Unless you can afford to buy a home, cash in hand, you are going to need a mortgage. You need to get pre-qualified, which should not be confused with the term pre-approved. The big difference is that no approval is ever given by a lender until they have an opportunity to examine the property that you wish to purchase. The bank may love you but they also must love the property you want to buy. Pre-qualifying will focus on gathering documentation to prove the information on your mortgage application including credit, debt load, income/employment, down payment etc. Mortgage brokers will make sure you get a great mortgage rate. Just as important as rates are the terms of your mortgage which should include: prepayment options (10-20%) penalties portability We also discuss what type of mortgage fits your current situation fixed vs variable? life of the mortgage (amortization) 25 or 30 years etc. payments monthly, semi monthly, accelerated bi-weekly Step 3: Set Your Budget Keep in mind that just because you’re pre-qualified for a certain amount of mortgage, doesn’t mean you can actually afford that amount. Prepare your own monthly budget to be sure. Typically, your total home payments (including mortgage, property taxes, strata fees & heat) should not exceed 32-39% of your gross (pre-tax) income. Step 4: Find the Right Property Time to Engage a Realtor Once you have been prequalified for a mortgage, based on your budget you need to find a realtor. Selecting the right real estate agent is a very important step in the home buying process. When you work with an agent, you can expect them to help you with many things, including: Finding a home Scheduling tours of homes Researching the market, neighbourhood and home itself Making and negotiating your offer to purchase, and counter-offers Providing expert advice on home buying Handling the offer, gathering documentation and closing paperwork I recommend interviewing at least three realtors. You will quickly decide who has your best interests in mind. Do you want to deal directly with a realtor who’s going to work with directly when you go home hunting, or do you want to deal with a BIG name realtor, who has buyers & sellers realtors working under them? There are advantages to each you need to decide what is the best fit for your situation. Get referrals for realtors from friends and family OR ask me, I have a group of realtors that I know and trust. Step 5: Mortgage Approval Once you have found the property you would like to call home, your mortgage broker will send your mortgage application and property information to the lender who is the best fit for your situation, based on your input. If the lender likes your financial situation and the property, they will issue a commitment letter outlining the terms of the mortgage. The lender will send you a list of documents, so they can verify and validate all the information you told them on the mortgage application. Step 6: Time for the Solicitor (Lawyer or Notary) Once the lender has reviewed and approved all your mortgage documentation and the property documentation, your file will be sent to your solicitor (in B.C. you can use a lawyer or notary). They will process all the necessary title changes and set up a time for you to meet, review mortgage documents and sign. Step 7: Get the Keys On the closing day the documentation for your home purchase will be filed at the land titles office by your solicitor. Typically, the possession date is 1 or 2 days later, giving time for the money (down payment & mortgage) to get to the home seller. On possession day you set up a time to meet with your realtor to get the keys. Congratulations you’re done you now own your home!! Mortgages are complicated, but they don’t have to be speak to a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage broker!

If you are looking to SELL your home and I will do a comprehensive report for you !!!

Give me a call and I will fill you in about my Comprehensive Services 905-626-5008

May was exciting! Average sale price increased and the number of sales increased. Want to be part of the Durham Region stats? Contact me and we can discuss!

As Realtors we really should be asking for their Association cards of representation or in the least check and see if they have the authenticator App in their phones if leary of the individual.

Mortgages are challenging time for clients, especially under all the new rules. Always a great feeling when clients have a positive experience.

Open House This Sunday May 12th 2-4 *** A Must See*** 51 Galea AjaxOpen House This Sunday May 12th 2-4 *** A Must See*** 51 Galea Ajax

How to improve your credit score When applying for any sort of loan, one of the most important metrics a lender is going to look at is your credit score. But wh...at really is a credit score, who keeps track of it, and most importantly, how can you improve yours? There are a few simple ways to keep your credit score in good shape. First off, prioritize paying your bills on time. Missing payments on your credit cards, lines of credit and so on, can have a very negative impact on your score. You can spend an entire lifetime building up for good credit. All it takes is one mistake to negatively impact you. Second, try to keep your credit cards at no more than 65% of their limit. This is the sweet spot that credit scorers are looking for. Thirdly, you should avoid the free credit score services out there because they’re just looking to sell you credit, or sell your information to someone who does. When you’re looking for credit, what they’re going to ask you is, ‘What are you looking for credit for?’ And you’re going to say, ‘Well, I’m looking to get a mortgage, or I’m looking to get a car loan.’ And then what they’re going to do is they’re going to sell your information to banks and mortgage brokers and people out there who are able to supply you with credit. Instead, what you should do is go directly to the credit scoring companies. They’re required by law to give you your credit information directly, without affecting your score. TransUnion offers an online form, found here. Equifax has multiple types of credit reports you can order here. You also want to try to limit the number of credit inquiries by different lenders. When you’re shopping around at different banks, the number of inquiries can add up as each bank makes an inquiry to see what they can offer you. But as a mortgage broker, we have access to multiple lenders all at once. You could effectively come see a mortgage broker, get one inquiry done, and that inquiry is good for 20 financial institutions, As opposed to having to go directly to every bank. If you have any questions, email me or give me a call!

The Pros and Cons of Co-Signing for a Mortgage If you keep up on the news you know that qualifying for a mortgage is getting tougher and tougher. Someone who wo...uld have sailed through the application process 10 years ago could find themselves declined for a mortgage today. Often I find applicants can afford the monthly payments but they can’t prove that their income is stable. If they waited another 6 months to a year, they could but they would miss out on a great opportunity to buy a home now. Buyers who have recently switched jobs, receive overtime or get a portion of their income from tips are the people who need co-signers to make the deal work. A strong co-signer can be more persuasive to a lender than offering to put more money down. I also have found that people with thin credit are being asked for co-signers. These are applicants who have one credit card but no car loans or other credit facilities showing on their credit bureau report. Often they are recent university graduates who recently started work. What does a co-signer do? Their job is to continue payments in the event that the main applicant(s) default on the mortgage. In essence, they are saying that if you skip out on the payments, they will take up the slack. As a result, lenders want to have co-signers on the application just as if they would be living in the home and making the mortgage payments. If they have mortgage payments of their own, they have to show that they can financially afford to pay both mortgages and any other monthly obligations that they may have like car payments. One thing that surprises primary applicants as well as their co-signers is the amount of information required from the co-signers. They will have to provide an employment letter, recent pay stub, a credit bureau report at a minimum. If they are self-employed company income documents will also be required. It’s always best for the primary applicant to have a conversation with the co-signer or co-signers to inform them of this in advance. The co-signers should also be aware that this will tie up their credit for the term of the mortgage. If they are planning on buying a vacation home or making a large purchase, they may be declined based on their financial obligation to your mortgage. There’s the ability to remove the co-signer from the mortgage after 12 months of successful on time mortgage payments. Co-signers don’t have to stay on the mortgage for the whole term. Make sure that you mention that you are interested in taking your co-signer off the mortgage in a year and your mortgage broker can pick a lender who will allow this. It’s really nice to be able to remove your co-signer and thank them for their help without tying up their credit capacity for 5 years.

This would be so helpful for first time home buyers !!!!!!!!

Now that the dust has settled on the 2019 Federal Budget, here is a Cheat Sheet that may help!

Federal Budget 2019: Change #1 Summary: Basically the govt will do a interest free vendor take back mortgage of up to 10% for first time home buyers making le...ss than $120K household. Details below! First Time Home Buyer Incentive: The government is earmarking $1.25 billion over three years for something it's calling a "shared equity mortgage." Functionally, it's more like an almost interest-free loan one where the repayment plan doesn't require any payback until years in the future. In order to qualify, an applicant must have a household income of less than $120,000 per year and be able to come up with a five per cent down payment the minimum requirement for an insured mortgage with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). If a would-be buyer meets the conditions described above, under the program the CMHC would kick in up to 10 per cent of the value of a newly built home, or five per cent of the value of a resale. The CMHC would contribute that much to the home purchase in exchange for a corresponding equity stake in the home. That has the effect of bringing down the size of the homeowner's mortgage but comes with a bill to be paid down the line. Precise details of how the program works won't come out until later in the fall, but today the government provided a rough breakdown of how it might work for a prospective buyer. If a first-time buyer wants to buy a home that costs $400,000, they'd have to come up with a $20,000 down payment. Normally, they'd have to take out a loan for $380,000 to cover the rest of the purchase price but under the new program (if it's a newly constructed home), CMHC could kick in $40,000 toward the purchase price, in exchange for a 10 per cent stake in the home. That brings the buyer's mortgage down to just $340,000 for the home, instead of $380,000. On a standard mortgage at 3.5 per cent interest, that translates into a monthly mortgage payment more than $200 lower than it would have been for the 25-year life of the loan. The catch is that the homeowner eventually has to pay back the CMHC's stake in the property but they don't have to do that until they sell (or sooner, but only if they want to). The budget is far from clear on how much the buyer would owe; is it the same dollar amount the CMHC provided up front, or does the bill go up based on how much the house has appreciated in value? Change #2: The government also is increasing the amount that a first-time buyer can withdraw from an RRSP, without penalty $35,000, up from the current level of $25,000 where it has been for the last decade. And Ottawa also will amend the RRSP withdrawal rules to help people who have been through family crises. I dont think I have ever seen first time homebuyers with $35K in RRSP more to follow, C/O CBC NEWS.

But it's new construction, why get an inspection. Photo by : Blake Spann at Inspekt

Would a Co-Signer Enable You to Qualify for a Mortgage? If someone were to co-sign your mortgage and become a co-borrower, it is the same as a spouse or anyone ...else who you are actually buying the home with. It’s basically adding the support of another person’s credit history and income to those initially on the application. The co-signer will be put on the title of the home and lenders will consider them equally responsible for the debt should the mortgage go into default. The Co-signer will have to provide all the same documentation as the primary applicant. Being a co-signer makes you legally responsible for the mortgage, exactly the same as the primary applicant. Co-signers need to know that being on someone else’s mortgage will impact their borrowing capacity while they are on title for that mortgage. More than one person can co-sign a mortgage and anyone can do so, although it’s typically it’s the parent(s) or a close relative of a borrower who steps up and is willing to put their neck, income and credit bureau on the line. The Responsibilities of Being a Co-signer If the person you co-sign for misses a payment, the lender or other creditor can come to you to get the money. The late payment would also show up on your credit report. Because co-signing a loan has the potential to affect both your credit and finances, it’s extremely important to make sure you’re comfortable with the person you’re co-signing for. You both need to know what you’re getting into. I recommend looking into Independent Legal Advice between all co-borrowers. Co-signing is NOT a life sentence Just because you need a co-signer to get a mortgage doesn’t mean that you will always need a co-signer. In fact, as soon as you feel that you’re strong enough to qualify without your co-signer you can ask your lender to reconsider your application and remove the co-signer from the title. It is a legal process so there will be a small cost associated with the process, but doing so will remove the co-signer from your loan (once you are able to qualify on your own), and release them from the responsibility of the mortgage. Removing a co-signer technically counts as changing the mortgage, so you need to check with your mortgage broker and lender to ensure that the lender you choose doesn’t count removing a co-signer as breaking your mortgage, because there could be large penalties associated with doing so. Co-signing is an option that could help a lot of people buy a home, especially first time home buyers who are typically starting their career and building their credit bureau. A final mortgage tip: a couple of alternatives to co-signing that could help someone out: -providing gift funds for a down payment -paying off someone else’s debt, giving them more funds to pay the mortgage. Thank you, Craig

I found this article very interesting , but I do not believe Durham Region will be affected as much by this correction .

OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND SAT.&SUN. 2-4 AT 1616 BURNSIDE DR. IN PICKERING FANTASTIC DUPLEX COME ON OUT AND VIEW THIS GEM !!!!!! MAR.9TH & 10TH