Home equity is calculated by subtracting the outstanding balances of your existing mortgage(s) registered against your home from the current market value of your home.
With refinancing programs providing as high as 95% lending value against home equity, debt consolidation through mortgage refinancing is not only a viable option to consider, but the best option in most cases.
And if you’ve managed to maintain a solid credit rating despite having an excess of short term debt, the home equity loan options will increase with many programs providing highly competitive interest rates.

Even if your credit has been damaged by your overall debt position, there are still likely going to be options to consider for consolidating debt that are superior to anything else you may come across.
High ratio mortgages will likely require mortgage insurance which will be an added cost to you, but when you compare it to the high interest cost debt you may be getting rid of, the cost is extremely minor.
There are programs that will promote debt reduction through consumer proposals or even bankruptcy, but those strategies will destroy your credit and leave you in a poor borrowing position for years to come.
If you have the means to repay your debts over time, then the most effective strategy available on the market today is debt consolidation through mortgage refinancing.
Sometime home buyers don’t even realize this is an option to them due to the fact that they are not aware of how much their home may have gone up in value since it was purchased. Combine that with the amount the mortgage has been paid down, and the resulting home equity available to secure incremental financing can be significant.
To get the most value out of this approach, its better to consolidate your debt sooner than later due to the fact that your credit is more likely to erode the longer a difficult to manage debt situation exists. And every time your credit is reduced, the more it will be that your refinancing options are going to be more expensive.
While some homeowners are concerned about paying the refinanced debt back over a longer period of time, the reality is that most mortgage programs can allow for lump sum payments during the loan term, still allowing the borrower to retire the debt sooner if that opportunity presents itself.
The key with any debt consolidation is to work with an experienced mortgage broker that can help you select a program and terms that best fits your situation.
If you’d like to try and use your home equity for debt consolidation or just want to know more about the process and your options, then I suggest you give me a call and we can work through everything together.
Click Here To Speak Directly With Debt Consolidation Specialist Joe Walsh
In the province of Ontario and throughout the rest of Canada, we are fortunate to have a large selection of commercial mortgage lenders.
While there are not as many commercial lending sources and programs as the residential market, there still are several sources to consider.

The biggest challenge in securing commercial mortgage financing is meeting the requirements of any particular lending source at any given point in time. There are many more things that go into the consideration of a commercial morgage application versus a residential application and the resulting assessment and analysis of the information can also become more subjective.
Commercial lenders tend to be regional in nature and even those that support a national organization still will maintain a regional portfolio and regional guidelines for lending. The primary reasoning for this is that the lender security is the underlying value of the real estate which is driven by the local market forces where the property is located. There can be extreme difference in both valuation and market activity for the same type of commercial property in different areas of the country, or even within a large province like Ontario.
Similar to the residential market, there are both institutional lenders and private lenders active in commercial property financing. This is a very competitive market space as both owner occupied and tenanted commercial buildings requiring financing are considered prime mortgage assets by.
From a borrower point of view, another significant challenge with commercial financing is leverage. The average loan to value property ratio is between 60% to 65%. More recently, some of the larger banks have increased their lending parameters to go up as high as 75% loan to value. And still other commercial mortgage programs that are focused on owner occupied financing, boast lending ratios up to 100% of the property value which is still a pretty rare occurrence amongst active commercial mortgage lenders.
Because of the application complexity and the ever changing lender requirements or at least their changing application of lending criteria, commercial mortgage financing is definitely an area where a mortgage expert provides great value.
A mortgage specialist well versed in commercial mortgage lending can not only provide you with greater access to source of financing, but also help you navigate through the complexities of proper mortgage application and closing procedures.
If your looking for a commercial mortgage, or have any mortgage related questions, I highly recommend that you give me a call so that I can quickly assess your options and help you secure the financing you’re looking for from a commercial mortgage lender.
Click Here To Contact Commercial Mortgage Specialist Joe Walsh

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JOHN A. KNOX RAJESH KOTHARI RAMANAN KRISHNAMURTHY JUDY KUKSIS INDRAN KULASINGHAM EZRA JACKMAN SURAJ JAGMOHAN CHERRY-ANN JAMA EVELYN JOHN ERROL JOHNSON LYNDA JONES DAVID JOSEPH JAVEED IQBAL JIHAD (JOE) HALABI STEPHNE HALLIBURN DAWN ERIN HARMAN CHRISTINA HARVEY ROBERT THOMAS HOLLAND LANCE HUMPHRIES LOLITA GALANG CHERYL GENESS SUZY T GERZSENYI LINDA A GIANNONE TONY (ANTONIO GISONNI) GISONNI WALLIS GOFFE DIANE GOGAR KARUNATHASAN (KARUNA) GOPALAPILLAI STEPHANIE JOANNE GRIFFITH GARLAND M GRIFFITHS HUMERA FAROOQ EGBERT ANDEL FELIX CHARLES FERREIRA JEAN FLEMING NORIN FRANCIS ANNE MARIE EDWARDS NNAMDI EGUH LAURETTA ERNST ROMMEL CAISIP ESPIRITU DEBORAH L DA SILVA SAMANTHA DANN NADA DAOU COLLEEN ISOBEL DASH CHRISTOPHER DASHPER RANIER DE LAMBERT NANCY DELOS SANTOS CHRISTA DEVERS-WILLIAMS MARIA DIAGOUPIS GOUVEIA DIANNE TRACY DONNELLY JOHN D. DONOVAN DANNY DUMERVIL-KELLMAN NICOLE CABRAL IRIS H CARTY AZIEGBEMHIN AREKHANDIA CHARLES SANDEEP CHHABRIYA JAMES A. W. CLARK PETRONA TAMARA COBHAM ELIZABETH COLLINS TIMOTHY EDWARD (TIM) COLLINS TOM COMBER SHERRY CORBITT EARL CRICHTON BRADLEY BALMER GREG BANWARIE MUNIRUDDIN BASHIRUDDIN ROMAN BAZIKIAN MAHESH BEDI VECUS J (JAMES) BENNETT GERALD BENOIT JEFFETH A BIRCH CHRISTOPHER BLACKMAN CARL BLAGROVE ANDREA ELIZABETH BOYLE COLLIN BROWN KIMBERLY BRUCE FAHEEM BUKHARI ANDRE ADAMS JESSICA AGOSTINO ALI ALARAKHIA KAY ALAWI ALYSON ALFRED JACQUELINE AMRES SUTHAGINI (GINI) ANNARASA SARAH APPLETON GEORGE ANTONIO AREVALO RUKHSANA ASHFAQUE ANWAR AZIMIAN HAMID AZIZI STEVE WYZYNSKI
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First, to clarify, the most common form of mortgage refinancing involves paying out an existing mortgage with the funds provided by a newly created mortgage now registered against the same property.
The new mortgage can be for a greater amount than the previous mortgage. The additional funds can be used for almost any purpose. Just remember that there will need to be sufficient equity in the property to allow for an approval of the higher mortgage amount.
For Immediate Mortgage Refinancing Assistance, Click Here.
At the time of writing in January of 2010, mortgage rates are at or near record lows with the potential for rate increases from this point forward more likely than further interest rate drops. So one of the main reasons for mortgage refinancing is to secure a lower interest rate that will allow you to reduce your interest costs over time. The decision to do so is driven by the economic benefit of paying less interest.
Another main reason for mortgage refinance is to consolidate debt. In this situation, the new mortgage will be approved for a larger amount than the old mortgage being paid out and the additional funds acquired will be used to pay down other debts that the borrower holds.
The key benefits of this refinancing action is that the weighted average interest rate of the collective debt will be reduced and debt repayment will be spread out over a longer period of time.
Mortgage refinance related to consolidating debts is a powerful method to eliminate costly short term consumer financing that can drain available cash flow and destroy personal credit.

While debt consolidation is by far the biggest reason for securing additional funds through refinancing, there are many other uses of funds that can motivate a home owner to refinance their mortgage.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but other uses of additional funds are for such activities as investing in a stock portfolio, financing the acquisition of investment property, financing your educational costs or those of a family member, home renovations, mortgage consolidation of two or more mortgages registered against the same property, and so on.
As the equity in your home grows, so does your potential access to funds for a wide variety of purposes.
To make sure that you’re getting the best value out of your mortgage for the least amount of cost, I recommend that you give me a call at least once a year so that we can review your mortgage against the market to see if there are any opportunities to lower your cost of borrowing and/or improve your repayment terms. And if you’ve got other financing requirements that could benefit from a Canadian mortgage refinancing, we can certainly discuss those as well.
Click Here To Speak With Joe Walsh, Mortgage Refinancing Specialist
Construction financing for house and home construction loans are the most common form of construction finance in Ontario. With the large numbers of new houses that get built each year, it only stands to reason that there would be considerably more construction mortgages for residential construction than for anything else.
The actual borrowers for home construction projects can range from the builder, the new home buyer, and existing property owners.
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The builder can purchase residential lots and acquire a construction loan against their equity in the property. A builder construction mortgage is really no different from other types of construction loans, other than, based on a previous track record, a builder may be able to acquire high leverage ratios and better terms from lender they are giving repeat business to.
A builder may secure construction financing on speculation of selling the house in the future as well or after a buyer contract has been secured whereby a prospective home owner enters into a contract to purchase the house at the completion of construction. The buyer down payment and purchase contract can provide the builder with additional leverage for securing construction loans with more optimal terms.
New home buyers can also acquire a home building mortgage.
In this scenario, while there is likely going to be a third party builder involved, the ownership of the actual property and the responsibility of securing and managing the construction financing capital is that of the home buyer.

This may perhaps be the most risky form of a home building loan in that the new home owner has to either do the construction project management themselves or pay someone else to do it.
In most cases, the new home purchasers will fill this role in order to minimize costs.
Project management can be very challenging for any type of construction and even more so for individuals who likely have never done it before. So its always a good idea for these types of borrowers to have a contingency allowance available for costs that are missed or unexpected as well as a detailed construction budget and construction timeline.
The third type of borrower is one who owns a house and is looking to expand or renovate and requires a house construction loan to fund the project. The scope of these types of projects don’t tend to be as large as the first two scenarios (although they can be) so the related project management and construction loan requirements are also likely to be less extensive as well.
For home renovation loans, the dollar amount may be low enough for the financing to be done via an existing home line of credit eliminating the need for a new construction loan to be put in place.
Depending on your lending profile and the specifics of your construction project, there may be several home construction loan options to consider.
These options can range from low cost institutional lending sources to slightly more closely and potentially higher leverage private lenders.
Because there can be several construction loan sources to choose from, its important that you spend you time only considering the most relevant sources so that you can get your project started on time and have comfort in knowing you’re going to be dealing with a lender that is easy to work with.
To get the best construction mortgage advise as to how to approach lenders, how to secure Ontario home construction loans, and manage the overall cash flow of the project, I would recommend that you give me a call and I’ll quickly assess your situation for free and provide you with relevant options for you to consider.
Click Here To Speak With Home Building Loan Specialist Joe Walsh
There are a large number of construction mortgage lenders in the province that provide construction financing resources to builders, property buyers, and property owners.
Each mortgage lender will tend to have a unique construction finance focus whether it be residential homes under $500,000 in value, commercial buildings under $1,000,000, mutli unit complexes, and so on.

The market for Ontario construction mortgage lenders is further split up into institutional lenders (banks, credit unions, trust companies) and private lenders. Institutional lenders are typically lower leverage and lower costs. To utilize an institutional source of construction finance, the borrower will typically have high amounts of equity in the project. When higher leverage is required, the private market has a number of lenders with their own financing models that can be utilized.
Availability and diversity of construction lenders is directly related to population concentration whereby the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has significantly more construction lenders than the outlying areas.
Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that private lenders tend to work on more of a regional basis, maintaining coverage of relatively small geographic areas. The rationale for this approach by privates is because many of them want to personally visit the properties and be close enough to inspect the construction progress themselves.
And regardless where you are located in Ontario, private lender tends to be more regional than provincial in nature, so the more remote your location, the less private lending sources that will be available.
Two of the key areas a construction lenders will evaluate prior to providing a mortgage commitment is 1) does the construction project have a take out financing strategy to pay out the construction loan at the end of the project, and 2) what is the resale market for the completed construction project.
In regards to the first question, a long term take out mortgage doesn’t necessarily need to be arranged prior to starting construction, but from the construction lenders point of view, there has to be strong evidence in the market that options for a take out mortgage are available for the specific project and location.
With respect to the second question, the potential resale value of the construction project helps establish the real underlying value of the real estate security to the construction mortgage lender. If there is a very thin or even non existent real estate market for the project, it will be much more difficult to secure construction financing, and any construction loan that is provided will come with more aggressive and restrictive terms including higher rates and tighter advance requirements.
While there are many lenders available, there can be large differences in that way they manage their businesses and the patience levels they may have with project delays or any construction related issue that could arise which impacts the lending facility.
Therefore, its very important to work with an Ontario construction mortgage lender that’s not only interested in providing funding, but also one that has a solid reputation for working effectively with borrowers to get projects completed.
The best way to assure that 1) your focused on the right construction financing program for you construction project, and 2) working with a construction lender that’s going to be prepared to work with you should anything unforeseen occur is to utilize the services of a mortgage broker that specializes in construction mortgage financing projects.
Your best first step is to give me a call so that I can quickly assess your situation and provide you realistic options to consider. From there, I will help you determine what course of action makes the most sense and manage the administration process to get everything in place.
Click Here To Speak Directly With Joe Walsh, Construction Mortgage Specialist.
The high ratio mortgage is a mortgage product that applies to mortgage applicants looking to finance more than 75% of the value of their home. These high ratio products can range from 75% to 95% of the actual purchase price or the fair market appraisal value determined for your home, whichever of the two is
In order to secure a high ratio or high leverage mortgage, the borrower must qualify and pay for home mortgage insurance.
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In Canada, there are three providers of home mortgage insurance. The first and most commonly known insurer is the Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation or CMHC. This is a crown corporation of the Canadian Federal Government. The second source for mortgage insurance in Canada comes from private insurer, Genworth.
The reason for the need for insurance is due to the higher risk of potential loss to the lender. At higher loan to property value ratios, the probability of lender losses are higher and must be covered off by insurance before a lender will provide a mortgage.
Once in place, the insurance covers off any potential loss than may be incurred by a lender in the event of a foreclosure action brought on by a borrower in default.
The insurance is paid for by the borrower as well and effectively becomes a cost of borrowing in addition to the stated interest rate on the mortgage.
Once again, for mortgage amounts less than or equal to 80% of the property value, no insurance is required. At the time of writing, the preimums associated with different mortgage ratios were as follows.
For mortgages between 80% and 85%, the required insurance premium is one percent of the mortgage value.
For mortgages between 85% and 90%, the required insurance premium is is one and three quarters of a percent of the mortgage value.
For mortgages between 90% and 95%, the required insurance premium is two percent of the mortgage value.
The Canada mortgage insurance program is an excellent solution for helping a larger percentage of Canadians own a home.
At the same time, the insurance companies will use qualified appraisers who may provide a more conservative estimates of value. So even if the insurance covers up to 95% of the real estate value, if the appraised value comes back substantially less than you expected, you still may not be able to secure a large enough mortgage to meet your requirements.
If you are in need of a high ratio mortgage, I recommend that you give me a call so that I can quickly outline your options and help you chose a mortgage product that’s right for you.
Click Here To Speak Directly To Mortgage Specialist Joe Walsh.
Ok, so you’ve got a mortgage approval in place or you’re just going through the process of applying and you’re starting to think about interest rates, interest terms, repayment options, and so on.
While there is no right or wrong answer to what you should choose, there are some things you should consider before selecting any specific option.

Interest rates will move up and down over time as they have for decades. So from a home mortgage holder point of view, you have to basically consider two things: 1) Do I think interest rates are at or near a low point, and 2) what are my plans for retiring the mortgage in the future?
Starting with the first question, as interest rates reach record low levels, its reasonable to assume that this will not continue over time. Taking into account the current recessionary forces at work here at the end of 2009, one can make the argument that interest rates have been held artificially low to stimulate the economy and when the economy starts to turn around, interest rates are likely to rise. So, as a mortgage holder or potential mortgage holder, you have to decide if its now the right time to select a long term interest rate that will benefit you over many years or if you should select a variable rate to stay open to the potential that interest rates will drop further.
At the end of 2009, long term interest rates are at or near record lows and as a result, many people are locking in their rate well into the future.
To answer the second question, are you looking at paying off your mortgage over the longest potential time possible or do you think you will be retiring it in the next couple of years? For long term payback plans, long term interest rates allow you to fix your payment for years to come. If you think you may be selling your home in the near term, or you are confident you’ll generate additional cash flow in the next 6 months to 2 years, then a variable rate mortgage that’s always open to repayment should be considered.
At the same time, one of the best things about the mortgage market has been the development of mortgage products that allow you to have your cake and eat it too. With many mortgage programs available today, you can select a closed mortgage with a long term fixed rate of interest and still repay up to 20% of the mortgage each year without penalty.
Back to the variable interest rate discussion, remember that with a variable rate, your effective interest rate will be adjusted every time there is a movement in market rates up or down. To protect yourself against large movements while still taking advantage of a variable rate, you can select a capped rate variable mortgage whereby the lender will establish an amount your variable rate is allowed to move. You can also get a variable mortgage rate that includes a conversion feature to a fixed rate mortgage of at least three years (typically) without any penalty.
As you can see, there are numerous features to consider when finalizing the interest options on your mortgage. The ability to customize your mortgage to truly fit your current circumstances and future plans is totally attainable with the right advice and guidance from a mortgage professional.
If you have any questions, I always recommend that you give me a call so that we can go over them together and help you make a decision you’re going to be comfortable with.
Click Here To Speak Directly with Mortgage Specialist Joe Walsh
A construction financing budget needs to provide a considerable amount of detail if its going to help you secure a construction loan for your project. Failure to provide a proper budget and cash flow can get your application for financing declined.
Here are some things to consider when going through the budgeting exercise.

First, make sure that your efforts to prepare a detailed spending budget is for your benefit more so than a lender’s. By taking this approach, you will also be creating something of value for a source of financing. Too often, borrowers will create a budget and disbursement schedule for the lender without making sure that it actually makes sense, destroying some of their credibility in the process.
Second, detail out all costs by construction phase. For each expenditure, identify when the cost will be incurred and when the related payment will have to be made. Construction lenders will make disbursements after completion of each phase of construction. You may need to consult your construction mortgage specialist to make sure you have your project broken down in the phases acceptable to the lender you’re applying to.
Third, build in a contingency plan of at least 10% of the total project costs. Unexpected costs occur more often than not and recognition of this will make your budget and cash flow more credible in the eyes of the lender. Remember that this whole process is for your benefit as well, so try to be as realistic as possible. Convincing yourself that everything will cost less or that you’re going to be able to negotiate down your costs from trades people and suppliers will put your project in a less favorable light due to the higher risks of potential budget overruns.
Fourth, review your budget and cash flow with your mortgage broker prior to presenting it to a lender. This is a good opportunity to identify any weak or missing areas that can be improved prior to lender review.
Fifth, be realistic in terms of both your estimates of cost and timing. Lenders like to see a certain amount of realism in the project as they are presented far too often with ultra aggressive construction plans that tend end up having problems which could otherwise have been avoided through better planning.
Remember that your construction financing budget is not only a report that the lender reviews to see if all the costs are included and that the projected financing funds are sufficient. Its also a reflection on how well the project has been thought out and organized to the point of the financing application. A lack of detail or omission of key costs elements or a lack of any contingency can cause a lender to decline the application as they don’t want to get involved in projects that are not well set up for success from the start.
If you need any help developing your construction finance budget, give me a call and we’ll work through the details together.
Click Here To Get In Touch With Construction Loan Specialist Joe Walsh
Even after construction financing has been secured for your residential construction project, cash flow problems can develop due to assumptions the borrower makes around what expenditures the approved construction loan is going to cover.
Construction financed funds can’t be advanced for any type of expenditure that is not installed into the house at the time of a scheduled draw.

Remember that each completed stage of the project also needs to increase the market value of the house to maintain the necessary level of real estate security required for the future draws not yet disbursed.
So the amount of available cash you have to work with outside of the your construction loan needs to be managed closely so that you don’t end up in a cash flow pinch in the middle of your project.
One way to approach this issue is to detail out your cash flow for the entire project, and then identify the items that need to be paid for with your own cash versus what can be covered off by your construction loan. By going through this exercise, you will have a much better sense of the related timing of different expenses and the source of funds that will have to be used to cover them off.
One of the common mistakes many construction borrowers make is spending too much of their available cash on things like deposits to trades people and suppliers. While the deposits are going to be required, make sure you negotiate them down as much as possible so as not to unnecessarily use up cash that could have utilized on those items not covered by construction financing.
If you’re not sure whether or not a particular expense will be covered, call your construction mortgage broker and review your cash flow breakdown and timing to make sure there everything is staged properly. If there are issues, better to know them ahead of time so that adjustments can be made to your trade and supplier negotiations.
The key is to conserve your available cash as much as possible and even create a cash flow buffer or contingency to allow for costs that may arise that are unplanned and outside of the scope of your original budget.
The best first step with construction financing is to give me a call so that I can provide you with a free assessment of your construction mortgage options.
And if you’re in the middle of a project and have some unexpected cash flow issues, I would still recommend that you call me so that we figure out a solution together.
Click Here To Contact Joe Walsh, Construction Financing Specialist
Here’s the scenario.
You’ve got a construction project that’s been a bit slow to come together and you’re on the verge of incurring costs for delays if you don’t get started right now. Your construction loan has just been secured, removing your last obstacle for getting started.
But you still haven’t located long term financing to take out the construction loan at the end of the project.

So, what should you do?
Before answering that, lets explore what can happen at the end of your project if the a long term mortgage that pays out the construction loan has not been arranged. If the delay is relatively short, you’re going to have to continue to pay the higher cost of interest from the construction loan. Depending on the terms and conditions of the construction mortgage agreement, there may even be penalties the lender can charge you if the delay exceeds certain time lines or pre established dates.
And if there is significant delays, you can even run the risk of the lender taking legal action against the property to get their money back which could result in you not only losing the property, but some or all of your equity as well.
So starting the project without the “Take Out Financing” in place is a definite risk that you need to consider. And thinking that there won’t be a problem securing long term financing in time is the very basis of the “Construction Loan Take Out Trap”.
Before making the decision to proceed with construction, consider the following suggestions:
First, can you delay the project to either locate and secure long term financing or at least get an assessment of the potential for securing a take out mortgage in the time period you have to work with for the terms you’re seeking? If there are delay related costs, what are they, and can they be managed in your budget?
Second, if you can’t delay any further, make the process of getting long term property financing arranged an immediate priority. Once the project gets started, this activity can be put on hold or significantly delayed due to the time demands that can come from project management. Don’t wait until later in the project to get back to looking for financing as you may run out of time and incur some or all the financial penalties we’ve discussed.
Third, if you’re not already working with a construction financing specialist, get a hold of one right away and have them start working on your take out strategy so there will be less risk of any issues at the completion of construction.
To make sure you avoid the construction loan trap altogether, I would suggest that you give me a call to get a free assessment of your options. I’ll help you make the best decision and get everything arranged.
Here To Speak With Construction Financing Specialist, Joe Walsh
In Ontario, we are fortunate to have a wealth of lending sources for Ontario Construction Loans.
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Especially in Southern Ontario, there is a good mix of institutional lenders and private lenders providing construction financing for a broad range of projects.
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While there are a good number of options in other areas of Ontario, once you get out of the southwest region the number of available programs to consider does go down.
This is largely due to the fact that a significant amount of construction mortgages are provided by private lenders who tend to operate on a regional basis for the most part. As you move away from southern Ontario, the pure number of lenders, and the geographic areas they cover, goes down.
In general terms, Ontario construction loans provided by banks and other institutional lenders tend to support lower leverage applications and lower over all risk projects. As project risk and leverage requirements rise, private lender options tend to be more relevant.
Construction lenders can also specialize in certain types of construction projects such as single unit residential versus multi unit commercial. Again, because of the population size of Ontario and diversity of construction projects undertaken at any time, there are a significant number of lenders available to service the market.
Regardless of where you’re located in Ontario, its always best to start evaluating financing options early on in the process so that you get the best deal possible and also end up with a lender that has a good reputation for working with you on any issues, should any arise during the construction process.
The best way to zero in on the most relevant sources and to make sure the financing aspect of your project goes smoothly from beginning to end is to work with a construction financing specialist.
Personally, I’ve worked on construction financing projects in Ontario for over 30 years now with my client and I have some great lender resources I can draw from.
After working on hundreds of Ontario Construction Loans, I have developed a wealth of knowledge and experience that my clients directly benefit from whether it be locating a lender and securing funds, assisting with the management of construction draws, or creating a seamless take out mortgage strategy.
If you’re looking for a construction loan at the present time, or just have related questions, give me a call and I’ll give you a free assessment of your situation and help you decide the best course of action to take.
Click Here To Speak Directly With Construction Financing Specialist Joe Walsh.
I would say that all construction mortgage lenders get concerned when there are delays in construction once the funds for building have been approved; some more so than others.
One of the keys to keeping your project financing in order is to keep the project on track and progressing according to the time lines provided when the application for a construction loan was made.
While many projects end up scrambling for construction financing once everything else is in place, the opposite is also true where financing has been approved, but delays occur because the drawings are not complete, or permits have not yet been issued, or a construction contract has yet to be finalized, etc.

When there are delays in starting or completing a certain stage of work, the construction mortgage lender can become more than a bit nervous and in some cases may decide to withhold, suspend, or even cancel their commitment to fund.
Depending on the terms and conditions of the mortgage agreement you sign, the lender will likely have clearly spelled out rights related to timing of project commencement and completion. If the project is in violation of performance related conditions, the lender will have certain rights they can exercise, which could include not advancing any funds or any further funds against the project.
This is just another reason why project management is so important to a construction project.
When problems do arise, the lender should always be kept in the loop in terms of what the issue is, how its going to be resolved, and when. Dead air between the borrower and lender is not going to healthy when you get into a delay situation. At the same time, over communicating can also raise unnecessary red flags about the project.
The key is to make sure that you are working with a lender that will work with you and be reasonable if any issues arise that do cause delays.
This is also another reason to make sure you’re working with a well qualified construction financing specialist who will not only match you up with a relevant lender, but also help you administer the mortgage advances and help advocate for you when there are issues that impact the progress of the project.
There can be a certain amount of skill and even diplomacy required at times to keep the lender happy and the money on hand to complete the project when the delays have been addressed. This is where your mortgage broker can make a big difference to the success of your project, well after the financing was approved.
The best first step is to give me a call and I’ll quickly perform a free assessment of your construction financing options that we can go over together.
Or if you have a project with financing issues, I would still suggest you give me a call and lets see if we can get it sorted out for you and get your project back on track. I work with several construction mortgage lenders and I maintain a solid working relationship with each of them in order to provide more value to the overall process.
Click Here To Speak Directly To Construction Mortgage Specialist Joe Walsh
A Canadian Mortgage Refinancing typically occurs in one of the following circumstances: debt consolidation opportunities and periods of interest rate decline.
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The primary goal in both cases is to lower the cost of borrowing and to also potentially improve monthly cash flow.
To get immediate assistance with your mortgage refinancing needs, click here to speak to mortgage refinancing specialist, Joe Walsh.
There can be instances when, based on timing, both debt consolidation and total debt reduction can both be achieved together, although this has more to do with chance than any planning or strategy you try to follow.
While there are more situations where mortgage refinancing can occur, the two mentioned above are the most common and will be the focus of this discussion.
In the case of debt consolidation, the mortgage or mortgages registered on a property are combined with a specified amount of outstanding debt (typically unsecured debt from credit cards and term loans) to form a new mortgage that will be registered against the property.
The new mortgage will be completely rewritten and will have its own terms and conditions relevant to the lender and the time it was put into place.
The amount of refinancing that is possible will depend on the amount of equity that exists in the target property, the strength of borrower credit, and the strength of borrower repayment, similar to what you would expect in an application for mortgage for a new home purchase.
When all or part of the refinancing motivation is to take advantage of lower interest rates in the market place, the opportunity and benefit of refinancing your mortgage is based on the projected cost savings of the action minus the related costs of breaking or paying out the existing mortgage.
The costs associated with breaking an existing mortgage can include lawyer fees for removing the old mortgage registration and adding the new one, appraisal fees for a third party to provide an up to date market assessment of the property, and prepayment penalties written into the terms and conditions of the mortgage.
The most significant of the potential costs is the prepayment penalty. If you are are trying to refinance a mortgage that has a fixed interest term, then there will be a penalty associated with not keeping the mortgage until the end of the term. If you have an open or floating interest rate, you can refinance the mortgage without any form of repayment penalty.
There are numerous mortgage programs available for the purposes of refinancing either for debt consolidation or just interest rate reduction. Each mortgage program will have different pros and cons to consider and some will be more relevant to your situation than others.
The best way to assure your mortgage refinancing efforts land the best potential deal is to give me a call so that I can quickly assess your situation and review the best available options relevant to your situation with you.
Click Here To Contact Joe Walsh, Your Canadian Mortgage Refinancing Expert
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