Please, just show me you care

WHO DESERVES A MORTGAGE?

MAY 2010 - The dream of owning your own home seems to be a basic right that is well within the reach of most Canadians. If you do everything right, save for your down payment, balance income and consumer debt you should be positioned to find a home consistent with your station in life.

For the week or so prior to the removal of the “financing condition” a mortgage broker gets to know their clients pretty well.   Let’s face it; there are no secrets in your relationship with your mortgage broker.   He knows exactly how much money you make.   He sees your spending habits, if your credit cards are high, or if you just forgot to make that payment last July when things were tight.   He knows if you’re a saver……… or if you live pay check to pay check.   Your Realtor has the easy job, Right Jacqui?  They show you the pretty-shiny houses, the “dream”.  But your mortgage broker is the one who deals in the reality of what you can afford.

In April I had a couple who had immigrated to Canada a few years ago come to me for a mortgage.    Unlike us “born here Canadians” in their eyes little or nothing is wrong with our economy, our job opportunities or the price of Calgary homes.  This is the place that if they did everything right………. dreams would come true and a better life would be easily within their grasp.   And this couple had done everything right.   4 years ago they came to Canada, moved in with relatives to save money and bettered themselves by enrolling in school.   No student loans for this couple, they worked basically full time while going to school.   After all graduating with a $50,000 student loan debt is only for real Canadians.   They knew they had to establish their credit; each got only one credit card with a small $500 limit.   They used these cards only occasionally, as they were leery of the trap of easy consumer debt.   They knew they needed at least 5% for a down payment, but they actually accumulated enough to put down 10%.  When they came to me they didn’t ask the typical question, ‘what’s the maximum mortgage I can get?’  They already had an idea of what they were comfortable with in terms of a monthly payment and wanted to stay within that range.

Great file right?   Would you lend them the money, I certainly would.   But initially the banks had issues with this client.   Why you ask?   Well they would have been a bit more comfortable if these people had actively sought more credit.    Why didn’t they have a car loan?   Why didn’t they have 2 or 3 credit cards with higher limits?    And then there was the employment.   Graduating in a poor economy, the wife, a nurse had only been able to find part time employment.  So what did she do? She worked 25 hours a week classified as “part time” at one facility and picked up as many hours as she could on a casual/ temp basis at other care facilities.    Although she was working between 50 to 60 hours a week the banks just didn’t like that part time classification.

I rarely lose sleep over a file but this one I just couldn’t get out of my head.  Friday was the financing condition date, and still no lenders had signed off on the file.  We got an extension on the condition until Monday but things did not look great.  For the entire weekend, all I could think about was this couple and their dream being crushed.   I wasn’t ready to give up, and neither was the client.  The banks felt those small limit credit cards did not prove the clients were credit worthy.   So what did we do?  Over the week end we compiled a 12 month payment history on all their bills including Roger’s cell phone, Telus, life and car insurance.  On Monday morning we compiled more detail on the actual part time hours worked by the wife including a more detailed reference from her employers stating how the casual employment was typical of the industry and current economy.

The story does have a happy ending - on May 28^th this couple took possession of their first home.    I am always happy to earn a commission but I am more pleased that this couple’s hard work paid off.   Common sense lending is a term lost after the sub prime crisis, I am just glad this one file didn’t slip through the cracks because it failed to meet standard lender guidelines.  Who deserves a mortgage?  This couple did and I was happy to be part of it.

Greg Gullekson, Mortgage Broker
Dominion Lending Centres Westcor
403.244.9133
www.greggullekson.ca

How does your REALTOR show they care about you?

 

May 2010 – A Boeing 737-800 can weigh about 150,000 lbs (68,000 kg) at take off.   So when it rolls down the runway at about 290 km/h, a certain reality runs through my head.  Will I safely reach my destination and will I ever see my luggage again?  I trust that’s the case, but I never know until the plane actually lands and I’m standing at the carousel with my  Samsonite in hand.  A recent ad for WestJet caters to the need most people have and that is, ‘please, just show you care about me’.  A couple of likeable employees tell us, “It’s our commitment to you.  We call it the WestJet Care-antee.”  Do we believe it? We might but until we experience it personally, it really just boils down to clever advertising.

One of the reoccurring topics that I hear as a REALTOR® is the basic need all clients have during any real estate transaction and that is, ‘please, just show that you care about me.’   Although we’re not trying to launch a 150,000 lb metal box off the ground, we are doing something that is very monumental.  We are facilitating and assisting in the largest purchase that most people will ever make.  It’s huge!  If selling, people are not looking for someone that will simply put a house on MLS and hope for the best.  If buying, they don’t want someone that will drive them to 5 houses and then pressure them to buy something that day.  They want someone that cares, that takes the time to make things right at the beginning and seamless at the end.  They want someone that will be responsive, that will call back or email if a question is asked.  They want someone to negotiate a deal like they were dealing with their own personal money.

I spend a lot of time in a vehicle with clients when I’m showing them houses.  They tell me things about their lives that perhaps they’ve told no one else.  I’ve heard about illnesses, divorces, family losses, new babies on the way, new jobs, bad jobs, new relationships.  I know why they’re buying, where they’ve lived and where they plan to retire.  I come to know them not just as a client but as a friend.  I look forward to them safely reaching their destination, a home that they’ll walk into and love.   A few years ago I met a couple at one of my open houses that had recently come to Canada from Istanbul.  They were looking for a very specific type of house so after some discussion they decided to use me as their REALTOR®.   We spent many hours together looking at houses.  I came to learn about their culture and how they came to Canada.  I came to appreciate their strong work ethic, their focus and more importantly the kind people that they were.  When his work situation changed they decided they could no longer buy a home and had to relocate to another city.   I was disappointed but to this day, I remember more about the friendship I developed with them and less about the sale that got away.  

    

I have a few clients that are trying to sell in other locations throughout Canada before they move to Calgary.  I usually ask them if they can send me their current listing and if I can offer any advice on it.   I’ve noticed some listings are excellent showing the obvious professionalism of the REALTOR® while others sadly just do not measure up.  I never understand how photos can be put onto a listing when they are dark, blurry and crooked or the description has multiple spelling and grammatical errors.  I look at a Wal-Mart flyer selling a $9.99 smoke detector and the photo and description is absolutely always perfect.  How could I not buy that smoke detector? Shouldn’t a listing for $500,000 house be exceptionally better than that?  I sure think so.

What commitment from a REALTOR® do you want when you buy or sell a home?  Only you can answer that, but I’d suggest you see if a ‘Care-antee’ exists first.     

Jacqui Williamson, REALTOR, Certified Condo Specialist
Century 21 Bamber Realty Ltd.
403.245.0773
www.jacquiwilliamson.com