Market notes

Straight answers.

No jargon and no rate hype — just the questions clients ask most, answered properly.

Costs · 3 min read

Do you have to pay a mortgage broker?

The question almost every client opens with — and the honest answer, including the one situation where you do pay.

Read it

Rates · 4 min

The lowest rate and the cheapest mortgage aren't the same thing

Why the advertised number is rarely where the money is won or lost — and what to look at instead.

Self-employed · 4 min

Self-employed? What lenders actually want to see

Your business is doing fine. Here's how to make the paperwork say so.

Declines · 4 min

Declined for a mortgage? What actually happens next

A decline is a starting position, not a verdict. The steps between no and yes.

Refinancing · 4 min

Refinancing to consolidate debt: when it helps

Rolling debt into your mortgage can be the most useful thing a mortgage ever does — or a way of hiding a problem for a few years.

Tax debt · 3 min

CRA debt and your mortgage: what's still possible

Why tax arrears make most lenders step back, and what a file needs to look like for the ones that don't.

Renewals · 3 min

Should you just sign the renewal letter?

Your lender is counting on you signing without looking. Sometimes that's fine. Often it isn't.

Multi-unit · 7 min

CMHC MLI Select explained: how the points work

MLI Select is CMHC's points-based insurance for multi-unit residential — and it qualifies you on the property and your equity rather than your personal income. What the three levers are, and how to tell whether it's worth pursuing.

Rather just ask me directly?

If your question is about your own situation, the answer isn't in an article. Send me the details and I'll tell you where you stand.

Start my approval plan