Before you buy a home, put East Coast Mortgage Brokers to work for you
It’s cost-free and cost-effective
While Canada’s major banks are well known for their mortgage business, they are not the only sources of mortgage funding. There are many lenders in the market and many of them can offer flexible, cost-saving terms. As Claude Sullivan puts it, “these other lenders may not have the bricks and mortar and be quite as familiar as the banks - and that is where our mortgage brokering services come in.
“We work with homebuyers to locate the best mortgage product for them, individually. And that service comes at no cost to the borrower. As brokers in the mortgage business, we are paid by the lender for helping them locate new business.”
Claude Sullivan has a strong financial background, having worked with a major chartered bank for thirty plus years. Retiring from the bank, he launched St. John’s-based East Coast Mortgage Brokers three years ago.
Today, Sullivan has a team of eleven men and women with him who together represent 240 years in financial fields - people who are at the top of their game in providing essential information and mortgage shopping expertise to buyers before they sign on the dotted line.
Many Options in Borrowing
An essential component of the mortgage broker’s service is the fact that a borrowing client is matched with the lender whose policies and advantages best suit that client.
As Sullivan points out, “the person seeking a mortgage may be looking for liberal prepayment options, or may wish to pay off the mortgage more quickly than is usual ... the client may be planning to sell the house in two to three years ... there are perhaps as many preferences as there are mortgagees.” For that reason, a broker with East Coast Mortgage Brokers sits down with the client and learns as much relevant information as possible in order to go to the lender markets and come back with a ‘tailor-made’ mortgage solution
Brokers “Solely focused”
While the major banks may be ‘top-of-mind’ when it comes to securing a mortgage, Sullivan says that there are considerable advantages to be gained when the prospective homebuyer realizes that the mortgage broker is solely focused: “Banks, per se, are not specialists in mortgages - they have many programs and products. We are solely focused. East Coast Mortgage Brokers, is designed to take the time to meet with the client and both understand his/her wishes and provide advice. And then to go mortgage shopping.”
Sullivan underscores the point that there is no cost to the client to use the services of a mortgage broker, the broker securing his/he reimbursement from the lender. As well, the broker firm is impartial and independent. It holds no particular allegiance to any particular bank or lender. So when the broker “shops around” on behalf of a client, the broker will search from the traditional banks as well as mortgage lenders,until the right match between the lender and borrower is identified.
“We make it easy”
Any one of the team at East Coast Mortgage Brokers will show that using their services as you commence the search for a home is the best route to go. Sullivan puts it this way: “We make it easy. We break down the process - especially for the first-time buyer. We have an application form online (www.ecmb.ca) which, when completed, gives us the basic information. Then we meet to review your plans and goals and then, arrange your pre-approval.” It is a very advantageous step to shop for a mortgage suited to you as it is to shop for a home that fits. It is also an advantage to go to the home buying market with a prearranged mortgage.
Sullivan adds “shopping through a broker can result in considerable savings to the new homeowner / mortgage holder as compared with going to a bank and accepting what is generally presented to any applicant.”