Women Like Me Stories & Business

Breaking Down Mortgage Complexities with Expert Cheryl Cook

• Julie Fairhurst • Episode 105

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Understanding the complexities of homeownership is essential, especially in today’s challenging market. Cheryl Cook shares her insights on mortgages, helping listeners navigate credit issues, market expectations, and the importance of pre-approvals while encouraging a proactive approach to enter the real estate space. 

• Addressing the challenges facing first-time homebuyers 
• Emphasizing the value of starting with starter homes 
• Exploring pathways for clients with credit issues 
• Understanding age-restricted property concerns 
• Highlighting the critical role of mortgage pre-approvals 
• Encouraging buyers to work with real estate agents for support 

Take the leap into homeownership with the right knowledge and guidance!

CHERYL COOK

Cheryl.cook@rbc.com

Https://mortgage.RBC.com/cheryl.cook

HTTPS://www.facebook.com/RBCCherylCook

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Who is Julie Fairhurst?
Julie Fairhurst – Speaker, Author, and Founder of Women Like Me

Julie Fairhurst is a champion for women’s empowerment and the founder of the Women Like Me Book Program. Since 2019, she has published 30 books and 300+ true-life stories—at no cost to the writers—giving women a platform to heal, inspire, and reclaim their power. Dedicated to breaking generational trauma one story at a time, Julie’s mission is to uplift women emotionally and financially, helping them create better lives for themselves and their families.


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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Women Like Me Stories in Business. I am Julie Fairhurst, your host, and I'm so excited. Today we are going to be speaking with Cheryl Cook and she well, I'm going to let her tell you a little bit about what she does, and then I've got all sorts of great things we're going to dive into to discuss, so you're going to want to watch this right to the end. Thank you so much again for being here. I just wanted to let you know that we have over 30 books available and over 300 true life stories, so please look us up you can find us on Amazon or all through social media and support our women authors. Okay, that was my plug. So thank you so much, cheryl, for being here. I'm very excited to have you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Well, thank you for having me. So just a little bit about me to start off. Cheryl Cook, like Julie said, I'm a mortgage specialist in the Abbotsford area in the Fraser Valley. My primary lender that I work with is RBC, but I have 22 other lenders that I work with and RBC is across the whole country, so I can do mortgages anywhere across the country, unlike some brokers that are provincially licensed, I can help clients anywhere across Canada.

Speaker 1:

So is that because you're licensed with? Are you so? Is that because you're licensed with RBC?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so they're my primary lender. Yeah, so, yes, so I can do mortgages wherever RBC is across the country. Rbc does have an American arm as well, but we have a different team in the States, so we would have referred off to our partners down there, because mortgages are very different in the US than in Canada. So we focus on our country.

Speaker 1:

Yes, wow, well, I didn't realize that you could do all the way across Canada.

Speaker 2:

So that's that the world's your oyster, at least in Canada, that's fantastic Clients often move between BC and Alberta or other provinces and a lot of retirees will move out of province because BC is so expensive to live in, at least the lower mainland and the Fraser Valley. So we have a lot of people in retirement that move to the East Coast or they move to be closer to family at that time or whatnot. So I can still help my clients as they move their family.

Speaker 1:

That's nice, that's that's. That's actually really nice. So, yeah, we're so in the business of um, uh, cause I was in real estate but I, of course, retired. But in the business of real estate and mortgage brokering we're not like dentists or you know where people will. We should be like that, but we typically and I think it's partially our own fault we don't keep in contact, and so when they decide they need to buy or sell real estate or they're looking at getting a new mortgage, a lot of times the mortgage broker or the realtor has lost contact with them. So they're just out there floundering around trying to find whoever they can. Lost contact with them, so they're just out there floundering around trying to find whoever they can. So I think it's wonderful that you can still help people that moved out of province. I think that's fabulous.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's lifetime. Lifetime clients yes, time service.

Speaker 2:

Yes, what you mean. It's hard to keep in contact because I deal with probably 100 clients in a year that I complete business for. So it's a big number and over 15 years you can do the math. I've had a lot of clientele over 15 years in business, or I want to upgrade my home or I want to downsize. Then I feel very honored that they contacted me again because, yeah, it is hard to keep in touch with that many clients. Yeah, but when you have that relationship it means a lot that oh, 100%, Cheryl, I pat you on the back, I applaud you.

Speaker 1:

That's the way to do it and, yeah, and it's just looking after your clients. I think that's great. So, up here in Canada, and especially in the Vancouver area Vancouver and Toronto, but we're in the lower mainland of Vancouver it's expensive. Yes, Like, what are you finding with? You know, are first time buyers even able to get into the market anymore? Or are they like I had a lot, like I've lost track because of course, I'm not doing it anymore. But what's going on? What's happening with all these poor people, especially first time home?

Speaker 2:

buyers? Great question, so it was 2021. I would say it's a whole different ballgame. Back during the COVID craziness of what I call it, we weren't seeing anything in the valley go for under 500,000, even apartments. So that craziness has subsided. Property values have come down somewhat and we are seeing clients that are able to purchase in the $300,000 range, which is much more doable. Yeah, so it is happening. It's just may look different than it did in the past.

Speaker 2:

Right, a lot of first time homebuyers in my parents' generation. They were buying detached single family homes when they were newlyweds and starting families. And now it's just you have to think differently. So I often tell first time homebuyers you may want the single family detached home, but you may need to start with a condo and move up to a townhouse in X number of years and then move into a detached, so it's not going to happen immediately. So starting with that starter home and that's the key is just getting into the market. As long as you're in now, as markets go up and the price rises, now you have equity in the property that now, when you go to sell that home, you've now got a bigger down payment for your next purchase.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, I remember now I don't remember how long ago it could have been 20 years ago. I remember now I don't remember how long ago it could have been 20 years ago, but I read a study when I was active and I read a study and that study said that you know, and I can't remember the exact numbers. So everybody, please, you know excuse me, for you know I'm not going to quote the exact numbers but it was something like 56% of buyers were living in single family homes. And then they said we're going to and I don't remember what year 2020, 2030, something like that and the statistic for Canada was that only 18% of people were going to be going into single family homes and it was going to be a reverse of more people living in strata properties. And it makes complete sense now when we see our pricing.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and just the amount of land that's available. So if cities are needing more tax dollars, they're needing to grow because of population increases. There's only so much land, so if you can't move out, you need to move up. So if you look at the valley, the Abbotsford, Chilliwack Mission areas, you'll see a lot of the developments are condos, townhouses or even row homes, but very few are single family developments. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

No, it's, yeah, it's yeah. We are changing and in our area we only have so much landmass because we have mountains, we have borders and we have a beautiful ocean.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

So it does really limit us a bit as to how far you know, how far we can we can build, for sure, for sure. What do you do, cheryl, if somebody comes to you and their credit is less than perfect, because we all have been there from time to time in our lives, what do you do with those folks?

Speaker 2:

How do you help them? Great question. So it will depend on their current situation. If they're a first-time homebuyer or they have less than a 20% down payment, there's less we can do immediately for them, because when you have less than 20% you require that default insurance. So in Canada there's only three default insurers and they have to approve your mortgage as well as your lender, so it's a little bit stricter guidelines. It's harder to get you in right away. So in those cases it would be really educating on how to bring up your credit score to put you in a better position for those ones. Now for clients that have at least 20% down, there's a lot of lending options. So where RBC is looking for a credit score of 650 and higher, and that doesn't have to be both clients, If it's a joint application, one person can have lower and one person can be higher and make up for the other.

Speaker 2:

So it's not an all or nothing thing. But a lot of other lenders don't mind if someone has a 600 or 550 score. It'll just mean to get in the market. They may take a little bit higher rate and that's just because they're considered higher risk to the lender because of that credit score. So we would set them up with a one year mortgage term and that way they have a year to increase their credit and then they can have average pricing again without a premium placed on it.

Speaker 1:

So they just need to get into the market whatever, whatever that takes.

Speaker 2:

You got it. I had clients back during COVID craziness, I call it when rates were, you know, one, one and a half two percent very low back in 2021. And I had clients that wanted to jump into the market into a single family home. They already home owned, so they were upgrading, but, yes, they had some credit issues. So it was a discussion of do you want to wait a year or two till your credit has improved or do you want to go with one of those lenders who's comfortable with a lower credit score but it's going to be a little bit higher interest? So I'm going to say their interest rate offered to them to take a mortgage at that time was about 3.49%, which seemed big when we were seeing rates of one to 2%. But a year after rates had skyrocketed in the next 18 months, they went up four times, yeah, so the rate didn't look so bad anymore that they were at a 3.49. So sometimes things, sometimes you have to have temporary higher rates or or whatnot, to just get in, and then you reach in a year.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, exactly, and yeah, and you're right, I've always believed that anything under five percent is a good deal, absolutely Anything under five percent. Anything under 5% is a good deal, absolutely Everything under 5%. So don't panic. If you're you know if you're getting 3.4, but you know your credit'sa little bit iffy, but yet you're getting in. That's the key, because I think what's happening, and who knows if it's going to change, but our value keeps going up, higher, that it just keeps people, you know people. I had people years ago that sold and thought, oh, I'm just going to rent for a while and see what happened, I'm like be careful. And then I know of two ladies in particular that I'm thinking of. They called me. We couldn't get them back in. Yes, could not get them back in, even the places I sold for them. A year and a half later they couldn't afford their own old property.

Speaker 2:

It can be a running game. I have a cautionary tale. I often tell clients and default insurance we talked briefly about there's a cost to it, so it's not an upfront cost. It is built into the mortgage but it is a cost clients need to be aware of that they're paying. So we had clients that wanted to get in the market but they weren't happy about the cost of default insurance. So they were adamant we're going to save up enough of a down payment to not require default insurance. Well, 10 years later they still hadn't home owned, because it becomes a race as housing prices keep going up. Well, now your down payment, you requires bigger and bigger and bigger. So if they had just got in with their 5% down, they would have had equity in a home for 10 years at that point. So I'm sure they were kicking themselves and that's a tough lesson to learn.

Speaker 2:

I think we all have lessons from real estate. I mean I've bought hoses right where it feels like the peak, and then it comes down after. But I just remember that, yes, real estate. I mean I've bought houses right where it feels like the peak and then it comes down after. But I just remember that, yes, real estate is going to have ups and downs, but over the lifespan it keeps going up. So even as slight market corrections what we'll call it it's still going to go up in value. So you don't look at the short term. Real estate is really a long term investment. Always look at the 10 year plus. What's that going to do over time for you?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. You're so right, that's so true. And just, you know, if the market's tanking or the rates are going crazy, if you're in a home already, who cares? Just ride. Now, you're fine, you know. At least you're, at least you're building equity, it's I know we've got. We were very lucky. Our daughter, our youngest, and her husband were able to purchase a property recently, and it was a struggle to get them in there, but but but we did it, and so thank goodness they were able to do that Because again, since they bought, things have have increased in value. What do you do if somebody comes to you and says I was bankrupt?

Speaker 2:

oh, good question, so similar. With a poor credit score it might take longer to bring it up than just um some indiscretions or late payments. We often look at um the the bankruptcy being discharged for at least two years. So bankruptcy can take about seven years and then we have to know it's complete, done, discharged for at least a two-year period. Clients need to have at least two active credit facilities that they've managed well over those two years since the discharge. So whether they get themselves a store credit card is what we'll call it like a Costco mass filter card or a Walmart credit card, something like that they're typically really easy to get approvals on Small limit. They could have $1,000 credit limit on it, but it's just a way that they can show that they're making payments regularly and being smart with their borrowing and then borrowing down the road, right right.

Speaker 1:

So the other thing I wanted to ask you about and I don't know if you have much experience in this but age-restricted properties in this, but age-restricted properties. Now I know our government has changed things recently in British Columbia, where I don't think any age-restricted properties are allowed now unless it's a 55 plus. I think I'm a bit out of the loop, but there's lenders out there that won't lend age-restricted properties.

Speaker 2:

There are lenders that will consider them higher risk only because you have less of the population that can purchase them. Busy markets like Abbotsford, chilliwack, mission there's enough of a population there that there's still a huge population of 55 plus that are conformed to buy that. So I've had issues with lending on them. They're more talking about in smaller towns where, yes, maybe limited buyers, that's where lenders look at as higher risk. Yeah, yeah, in the lower mainland, fraser Valley, it's not a problem at all.

Speaker 1:

What about the insurers? Because my understanding is that CMHC this was my understanding will not ensure age-restricted properties, because they felt that they were discrimination. Yeah, yeah, but they'll do it for 55+, but not many 55-plussers although these days maybe they do, but not many 55 plus years, although these days maybe they do, but but yeah, they, they. I think it's wrong. I don't understand what, what the issue is, but I mean if legally they can have an age restricted property. So I don't know in other areas of Canada now, but I know, of course, our, the government here in British Columbia, has said, you know, which was really kind of hard, Like you go, try to sell something, so you go to a 19 age, Like what's the difference between somebody who's 18 and 19? Or I remember seeing one 35 years old you have to be at least 35 to live there.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, that's a nominal thing, right, like yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Or you can have I don't know. Anyway, yeah, just it used to. Just really it was tough to try to sell them because you got to try to maneuver around their rules and the banking regulations around all of that.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so yeah, that's been updated quite a bit. With the 55 plus that we're still seeing, we do have to build a business case of why it makes sense. So we have to advise the lender. So I'm just always up front, I never try to hide it. This is a 55 plus complex. This is the population in the area. These are the amount of buyers that are represented on this type of property. They're more concerned about the valuation is what lenders are most concerned with with those ones. So they just want to know that they hold the resale value. So if they happened and they needed to sell it tomorrow, that it would move. Yeah, no lender wants to foreclose on a place, though.

Speaker 2:

I'm always there with clients. Yeah, they give you every opportunity to make right if you're having struggles. So I know at RBC, for instance, they have a whole team that's called a credit restructure team so you can reach out to them anytime if a client has lost a job or they're going through a financial hardship and they can restructure the mortgage. So they'll have access to longer amortizations where they can stretch it and bring payments down. Or sometimes they'll give them temporary relief where they'll push back their payments for X amount of months. So they really want to work with you to make it happen.

Speaker 2:

But in the end, if you're struggling with your mortgage payments, you always have the option to to sell your home, and that can be hard. If it's something you put money and effort and time into, or built a family, it's still better to sell than to lose it to a lender. Yes, but yeah, they give you lots of time. I know a foreclosure in my area in East Abbotsford right now. They hadn't paid their mortgage in about 550 days. So that's a long time. It's not like the bank is saying, oh, you haven't paid in 90 days, we're going to repo your house. No lenders, they want every opportunity for the client to make it right and get them back on their feet. That's ultimately the goal. We want to keep them in their homes and then get them back on their feet. But sometimes it's not a reality because of whatever has happened.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Cheryl, why did you go into, why did you become a mortgage broker? What made you? What made you do that and how long have you been a mortgage broker? Now, I forget. I'm not sure if you mentioned that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I've been with RBC for 15 years oh wow, and the mortgage role entirely the whole time. I was a financial advisor for many years. So as a financial advisor I did a lot of the refinances to mortgages, equity takeouts, that sort of thing. So less of the purchases and the switch ins of mortgages, but very familiar with the systems and how to process a credit application and all of that. And as a financial advisor I did the background of investments. So I did registered and unregistered investments, the accounts, all of that.

Speaker 2:

So it was a really good role to be able to learn a bit of everything. And that's where a lot of clients start is in the staff member. So I start is in the office to learn a bit of everything and then you find what you really liked. And the credit was my niche. I loved it. I did credit apps every day and loved being able to help clients tangibly. Investments are very helpful for clients. You are building up retirement or helping them save for life goals. But I feel like it's never done. You're always meeting annually to review, see if it's the right thing, Whereas a mortgage you can see okay, we've started on an application, done a pre-approval, You've gone home shopping. We've done a full application now that you've found a place and, at the end of the day, clients get keys in their hand and they have a tangible asset they've bought, and I just loved that experience. That's beautiful.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, I've been specializing in mortgages for five years now and 15 years with Well, I think having that I've dealt with a lot of mortgage brokers and, and I think having that background, cheryl is so helpful because you're able to look at the whole picture of what's going on with your clients financial situation and then you're able to give concrete advice as to what they may or may not, what direction they should or shouldn't go or what options are available to them, when, if somebody else hasn't had that experience, they have to reach out to others to try to find that out If they even know they should try to find that out.

Speaker 1:

Yes, they might not even. I mean it's that you don't know what you don't know.

Speaker 2:

Yes, absolutely. And a lot of clients will reach out. Maybe they've had their mortgage for a few years and maybe they're doing very well in their home and now they've come across some funds or they have extra cash on hand and they often say, hey, should I be paying down my mortgage? And I'll say, let's look at the whole picture. That's a wonderful thing. So we always call it looking at both sides of the balance sheet what do you have on borrowing, what do you have in saving and where's the best place to put the funds that you have? And it's often not a one or the other thing. A lot of clients, it's a balance. So, yes, put more on your mortgage in this way. Yes, let's also make sure we're saving for your life goals. So I think a balanced approach is really effective.

Speaker 2:

Some clients are what we call debt averse. They just really hate having borrowing. Then absolutely, if it's making you nervous and you're keeping up at night because you hate this amount of borrowing you have, then actively pay down that mortgage or that debt or credit that you have. But if you see the benefit of what are you earning on interest versus the cost of the mortgage and that's often what we look at, especially when rates were really low. If you have a mortgage rate of 2% and your investment book is doing 6%, well, maybe it's a better investment to be putting more money into your investments and getting that 6% average return that you're doing. But on the other side, when rates shot up and they were at six and a half percent, well now it's maybe a good time to be paying down the debts that have gone up in that interest rate. So it depends on the time as much as the client, so we have to personalize it to them.

Speaker 1:

Just as you were saying that, another question popped in my mind if the, if I have a higher rate on my mortgage, but the rates are going like down, down? I remember this was some years ago, way before COVID, but I remember I had 1.9 percent for years oh my goodness I was, and my first mortgage was a little over eight. So 1.9 was pretty fun, um, but um. But what if I'm sitting with a certain rate, like maybe I don't know 5%, and all of a sudden they've dropped to 2.5. Should I be changing what?

Speaker 2:

should I be looking?

Speaker 1:

at Whether I should be, you know, paying that out and going to the next one. How does that work?

Speaker 2:

Great question. So the biggest question is if you're in the middle of a term, what's your prepayment charge? If you're in a variable mortgage, it's always three months of interest. So it's relatively small amount to get out of that mortgage term and take a new, one lower rate. But if you're in a fixed rate it can be what's called an interest rate differential. But if you're in a fixed rate it can be what's called an interest rate differential.

Speaker 2:

So it says your rate was 6%, rates are now 4% and it penalizes you on that gap of the interest. So it can be quite high. So it's very easy for us to run the numbers if you reach out to your mortgage specialist or an advisor in the branch that you deal with and they'll just look at okay, what's the prepayment charge and what's the new interest rate. So we compare how much are you saving on interest versus what's the prepayment charge? And if the prepayment charge is higher than the amount of interest you're going to save, then it makes sense to just stick with it. But if you're going to save considerably on interest and it's going to make up for that penalty, then break it and grab a new term.

Speaker 1:

So can the penalty be put back into the mortgage? Like do I have to pay that penalty in cash or can I just throw that? Throw that I don't know like a 20 grand penalty. I'll just say can I throw that back onto the mortgage or do I actually have to pay for that out of my pocket?

Speaker 2:

Great question. So it'll depend on the style of mortgage you have. So if it's a conventional mortgage that just pays down over time, you can't just add back into it without an application. So you can what's called a refinance. Let's say I have a $10,000 penalty, I want to roll that back into the mortgage and you can apply to do that. But it is a full application. So credit bureau would be pulled your credit scores, we would take your income documents again and prove that you can handle that higher mortgage amount again.

Speaker 2:

And the other option is if you have a home equity line of credit. So it's a very common product in Canada where you have a mortgage and a credit line. As your mortgage goes down, the credit line goes up. So you maintain that borrowing power, that product. You can always restructure it because you're already approved and it folds at that amount. So if you applied for a $500,000 home line plan and your mortgage is currently two, well, you have access to $300,000. So you can reallocate at any time and grab a new mortgage segment. We call it. We just set it up differently.

Speaker 1:

I didn't know that. That's quite. That's spectacular, because I think what happens to a lot of people is they get panicked about the penalty, yes and then they don't know what to do. Yes.

Speaker 2:

If clients have that product, it's wonderful because they can change it as it suits them. So you can have it for 30 years if you live in your it for 30 years. If you're living in your home for 30 years and the amount you are approved for doesn't go away, so you always have it. So if you pay your mortgage off in 25 years, you still have that credit available to you. So if life changes and all of a sudden your kids have grown up and they want to go to university, well great, you can draw money in and pay for them to go to university. Or your car dies and you need a new vehicle, you can look at what does it cost to set up a new mortgage segment under that plan? What are mortgage rates at versus what is the dealership offering me on a vehicle loan?

Speaker 1:

And so, and you're not, and you're not paying any kind of penalty for that. You got it, you've already got it approved.

Speaker 2:

Equity, that's already there.

Speaker 1:

I hope you get a thousand phone calls today. It's about tell me, tell me, tell me what kind of mortgage I have.

Speaker 2:

It's wonderful. Now I will say the hitch is it's harder product to qualify for. Qualifying rate is higher, so not everyone can qualify for it, or at least off the bat. So clients, they first just qualify for a default insured or conventional mortgage. But when they come back in to renew, in that three to five year time span their equity in their home would have gone up. They may be earning higher income and now you can say hey, while you're renewing your mortgage, have you thought about applying for that home line plan so you have access to a home equity line of credit? So clients can do it then, but they can do it anytime. I know RBC, if you have a conventional mortgage, will cover all the costs of switching it to the home line plan when you're ready and when you qualify, so it doesn't cost you anything.

Speaker 1:

But now you just have access to more funds should you need it. That's great. I didn't know that, so you've taught me something today. That's great, absolutely great to know. I have another question what do you think the biggest mistake is that people make when they're out there buying real estate, getting mortgages? What do you think the biggest mistake is that people make when they're out there buying real estate, getting mortgages? What do you see is a common mistake that people make?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I would say hesitating. So, especially in markets, when you hit spring market, everyone's out shopping and you find a place that you really love and you want to sit on it for a week. Well, in real estate you often don't have a week, especially in the lower mainland and the Fraser Valley. So a lot of times there'll be open houses on the weekend, saturday, sunday, literally offers are taken on Monday and if you don't have an offer in place you might lose out on that property. So timing is huge. It does depend on what the market's doing if it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, because there's definitely going to be times when you can wait. That property's not moving. It's been on the market for four months or whatever timeframe. So and it depends on this type of property, right, higher value properties there's less buyers that can afford them, so they tend to sit on the market longer than lower end properties. A lot of people are at that lower end price. They just want to get in, so they're looking at the lowest cost to get to get in, so those ones tend to go faster. But yeah, it's bad because the first time homebuyers are often buying those lower cost properties and they often need more time to make decisions because it's their first time doing it. But they just don't have that time.

Speaker 2:

If you fall in love with a place, you'd be ready to put an offer in. Biggest thing is to not go shopping unless you know what you can afford. Clients sometimes shout to me and they'll say I have an accepted offer on a place and I'll say I just met you, we don't have approval set up, I don't even know your income situation or anything. And I'll have clients that walk into my office on a Monday and subject approvals on Friday and you're like Kate, we got four days to get this done. Here's what I need right away. And so I would just say be prepared when you go out shopping.

Speaker 2:

So the first thing is a pre-approval. A pre-approval is different than a pre-qualification. I don't know if you've heard the difference. So pre-qualifying is often a broker or specialist just running numbers. So a client saying, hey, I earn this amount and would run numbers based on oh, yeah, based on that income, you can likely afford this size of mortgage, this price. But really we've checked nothing. All we've done is saying yes, based on the numbers. This is what it looks like.

Speaker 2:

The difference for pre-approval is for pre-approval. We take all your income documents. We pull your credit score to know what other credit is out there, because other things like vehicle loans, credit lines they play a part in how much you qualify for. So there's two different debt ratios. We look at in Canada. There's what's called total debts and that's everything you lend. So credit cards, credit lines, loans, overdrafts on accounts, the mortgage of course, and it's like a pie. So say, you could qualify for $3,000 a month in payments, but all of a sudden you have $1,000 a month car loan. Well, think of that just cutting your mortgage qualification to $2,000 a month. So those things can definitely impact. So setting up a pre-approval allows us to run the numbers fully, to verify your income matches what you say and to look at your credit score, because lenders will lend more if you have a good credit score too than a lower credit score, because you're going to have less risk.

Speaker 2:

So many factors, possibilities, yeah, so that's a big thing is actually start with the pre-approval and then it tells you too, maybe you're not ready, maybe your credit score is hurt and you do need to wait, or there's something on your credit you weren't aware of. I had clients that set up a pre-approval recently and husband didn't even know that an old credit card. There was an annual fee and he hadn't paid it. He didn't even know about the annual fee. Sometimes cards change their pricing and it might've been a free card and then all of a sudden they get a bill, have an old address or email that it's going to be sent to.

Speaker 2:

So we didn't even know that this card hadn't been paid, that he hadn't been using and it had gone to collections and been written off. So it was killing his credit. So I was able to give him the information for TransUnion, which is the credit bureau agency that we use. I said give them a call, be able to walk through how to get it removed If it's an error, how to go back to that credit card company and say, hey, I wasn't even aware there was this charge. I'd be happy to pay it if you wipe away the lates for the last six months or eight months or whatever's showing on the credit bureau.

Speaker 1:

So starting with a pre-approval is imperative, because it just makes sure you're ready to buy there's nothing worse, I think, for especially first-time buyers, to be out there without that pre-approval or approval. Um, but for sure, the the more formal approval and fall in love. Yeah, find out they can't.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and the other advice I always give buyers is use a real estate agent. I don't know how many times clients will be like, oh, I'm looking at properties online. I'll say great, who are you working with? I'm like, oh, I'm not working with anyone, why not? So some people aren't aware that real estate agents are not paid by the buyers. So the buyers pay zero cost to use one, and yet it protects them.

Speaker 2:

If anything went sideways in a deal, anything had an issue between the sellers and the buyers, that's where the real estate agent comes in. And if there was money that needed to pass hands for any reason, you're under the real estate agent's insurance, so they have coverage for those types of scenarios. If you buy on your own, without the representation of a realtor, and all of a sudden something goes wrong and now all of a sudden you owe five, 10, $15,000 because you forgot to disclose that the roof was going or that something was an error and the buyers or the sellers realized that, or whatever the issue was, so very important to you as a realtor. They're your expert, they know the market, they know pricing Then they'll negotiate on your behalf and it doesn't cost you a thing as a buyer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, I have to tell you a very quick story. I sold a house many years ago in the Cloverdale area of the lower mainland and well, I'm sorry, I didn't sell it, I listed it. So I went and I listed it and he had been on the market before and had trouble and and so I did my due diligence and I came back to see him and said Did you know that this property was a grow up? And I said, not only a grow up once, but you bought a house. Property was a grow up. And I said, not only a grow up once, but you bought a house that was a grow up twice. And he said I didn't know. How did you find out?

Speaker 1:

I said, well, I went to the city and I checked, like that's part of our due diligence. I said, well, you didn't use a realtor. He said no, I used my lawyer. Then he said, no, I use my lawyer. Then he said can I sue my lawyer? And I'm like I have no idea whether you can sue your lawyer, but we have a big problem here. Long story short, I did get it sold but it's a whole other ball of wax. But that's the kind of. I'm not saying that if you use a realtor or you use a mortgage broker, you know that you're never going to experience any issues, because everybody's human and errors happen from time to time. But you're way less likely to end up in that kind of a situation Way less likely, my goodness, and that's a huge one.

Speaker 2:

I don't know if people listening are aware. So past grow ups are very hard to lend on. There's lenders like RBC who won't touch them. It's a no-go. Rbc does have certain situations that they'll lend on a past grow-up, but it usually means it's very low loan-to-value. So you're putting in mostly cash and just taking out a small borrowing against it and typically requires some government stepping in and some verification that there's no issues on the property, no environmental impacts. So there's a cost to be able to do these to make sure that we're comfortable with lending on that.

Speaker 2:

There is other lenders that will do pass-through ups. Again, they also want low loan, low loan to value, I would say around 50%. They want you to put half in and not many people have 50% of a purchase price to put in. So it's really hard to get buyers who can fit with what the lender wants to see on a grow up. So, looking at people that have cash to buy it, which is a very small amount of the demographic area because of housing prices. So you're just really, when you buy one, you're just really limiting your resale value. It's not going to go up in price like other properties.

Speaker 1:

No, and everybody that looks at them, every buyer, has the mentality of I'm going to get myself a deal, yes, get myself a deal, and you it is. You are so right. It is very difficult to get your value out and 50% of the people won't even once you've disclosed that as an agent, won't even, won't even come and look yeah, so it's. It's a tough one, it seems, and sometimes you I've got realtor friends who've bought extra ups but they're going to be there for on the longterm. Yeah, you know they've all everything's been taken care of and stuff, but they're going to be there for the longterm. The kind of the rule at the moment and unless it's changed and that I'm not aware of is once a grow up, always a grow up. Doesn't matter that it's been rectified, it doesn't matter that you've got the new occupancy certificate and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yes, a lot of times clients will say, yes, this was a drop, but it's all been remediated, all of that. And I say, but for the, the issue for lenders is not just the health and safety of the property, it's also the type of people that were around that property. So if that was type of people that were around that property, yep, so if that was a property, who knows? If someone was hanging out of that property, that was there. A not a reputable citizen will say and maybe they've been at prison for five, 10 years and now they come out and they're unaware that the people that they hung out with at that property have moved on. Well, so you could get people that want to come around that property from past. That puts it at risk. So, yes, it's in a concern issue, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Well, Cheryl, you are just like a wealth of information. I hope we get a lot of viewers because they're going to learn so much from this conversation that we've had. I would like to just sort of turn the tables here for a minute. I have five fun questions that I would like to ask. Are you okay? Okay, so I want to know what is your favorite book that you've read that inspires you in business or in life.

Speaker 2:

Oh, great question. So it's not a business book but it's a book I read years ago by CS Lewis. He's a huge author and it's called Mere Christianity. And I just remember one section in that book and they were saying you know, we often look at people and we judge them based on what they do, their actions today. But the book pretty much just says you don't know where they've come from, pretty much just says you don't know where they've come from, so they may have had a very hard life and they may have improved substantially from the life they came up in. And so it's pretty much saying to be non-judgmental. And that's the way I really run my life.

Speaker 2:

I do a lot of refinances for clients where we're looking at trying to save them money because they've got in a tight spot, looking at trying to save them money because they've got in a tight spot. And when a client reaches out and says, hey, I have 100,000 in consumer debt or I have this or I'm struggling with this, no judgments ever. And often clients will open up to me about how they ended up in that spot. They don't have to, they don't have to explain themselves or anything. It's not a by any means. I will help them, regardless of how or why they got in the situation they did.

Speaker 2:

But some of the clients I've helped you you listen to their stories. I know one, for instance, has a grandchild that's been very sick in children's hospital. So they had spent considerable money helping their daughter and son-in-law and their grandkids while they're going through this period of life, while the grandson is very sick. So a ton of money poured into helping their family to make sure that family can survive. While they're off, they're caring for a child, so it's just heartbreaking. So you do what you can to help. Um, so yeah, just just knowing that, that we don't know where people come from and we know what they've been through, and so you just look at them and say, hey, how can I help? That's the number one thing I ask clients when I meet them is how can I help you, and that's my job is. However, you got to where you are today. That's my goal is to help you.

Speaker 1:

I just just love that and I mean I love books and you know I'm doing the book thing these days and I just love that you got that life lesson and that you took it to heart out of out of a book. So thank you for sharing that. Okay, I have another question. If you can have dinner with any woman in history, who would it be and why?

Speaker 2:

oh, that's a great question.

Speaker 1:

Um, hey, putting me on the spot, here I am why I can go to a next one and we'll come back to that one. Then your brain can work on it, okay, so what is your favorite way to unwind after a busy day?

Speaker 2:

oh, great question. I'm a big tea drinker. I'll drink a mocha or french vanilla any day, but he is my go-to. I have it every day. Um, so there's different teas for waking up in the morning and having some caffeinated teas, and there's some calming teas that I'll have in the evening. So I love putting warm socks on. I hate being cold, so I love the feeling of warm, fuzzy socks, having a warm glass of tea and then sitting down in the living room.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, oh, nice, okay, what is your favorite? Or do you have a favorite motivational quote that keeps you going?

Speaker 2:

Yes, what's the one? I think One that I learned recently isn't necessarily motivating. That's one that a friend of mine from the BC Women's Business Network had given me a sticker recently with this quote on it, and it says it's pretty much, in a world that can be rough or a world that can be unkind, be kind, choosing, kindness, right. I don't think you'll ever go wrong in life if you put that as your goal every day.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I love that.

Speaker 2:

How can I be kind? Because I don't think anything bad can come of that.

Speaker 1:

No, not at all. And the last one, before we go back, is if you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, you could hop on a plane and away you go. Is if you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, you could hop on a plane and away you go. Where would you go? Oh?

Speaker 2:

I would probably go back to one of my favorite places on earth, which is Greece. I there are a couple times and I love it. I love the beaches, I love swimming in the water. It's just gorgeous. The food in Greece is my favorite. I'm a big Greek food fan, like moussaka and calamari and sabanakopita, and I just love their culture. They always have siestas in the afternoon and I just love that. You can relax in the afternoon, you know, wake up, do a bunch in your day and then just have a nice lunch and relax for a few hours before you go back out for the day. So their culture is a lot less busy, hurried, crazy like North America. They they relax and they enjoy life and they're family focused as well. You'll see often where grandparents are living with the families, so they very much are this larger family unit. They're not as individualistic as North American culture. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Oh, love that. Okay, we're going to go back to the toughie. Yes, if you could have dinner with any woman in history so any woman on the earth, or the past earth not the past earth or they passed on from the earth who would it be and why?

Speaker 2:

One that is popping in my head right now is Corrie Ten Boom, and I always really admire her books. Yes, there's something about listening to someone's story when they've been through hardship and they've been through the worst of it, and then they keep their spirit alive, right? Because I think we can all go through hard times and all choose to be inspiring to others and choose to lift our head up high and to keep going right. I think, yeah, you can. Life is never going to be perfect. Every day we'll have goods and bads, and I work with a realtor in the mission area and his slogan or motto every time I see him I'll say how's the day? And he says best day ever. And he lives his life that way because he's choosing that this is going to be his best day yet.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I love that, oh, I just love it.

Speaker 2:

Whatever is handed to you in life, you can always choose to keep going right. Yes, of course.

Speaker 1:

Of course, sometimes it's not easy, but that's the truth. Absolutely Well, cheryl, my goodness, what a fabulous conversation and thank you for answering those little questions so we can get to know you a little bit better. So we're going to close now. Is there anything that you would like to say to our audience? I will just mention before you do that, cheryl, that we are going to have all of Cheryl's contact information in the details description. So if you want to reach out to her, if you need some advice, you want to get a mortgage, anything at all to do with real estate mortgages, you can certainly reach out to Cheryl and she'd be more than happy to help you.

Speaker 2:

And remember.

Speaker 1:

Cheryl can help you across Canada, which I think is like super amazing, absolutely amazing, ok, cheryl. So any last words for our listeners or our people watching us on YouTube.

Speaker 2:

Yes. So my biggest encouragement for people out there is you can hormone whether you're 19 or you're 90. We don't discriminate based on age. You can as a single individual or you can purchase with others, but there is opportunities. So I would say don't discredit yourself.

Speaker 2:

I have a lot of clients that will be like I don't own home. Own that can't be a reality for me. Well, it can't be reality for you if you believe it can't, but it's down and say, hey, if you have the goal of homeownership, let's make a plan to get you there, because there's always a way to make it happen. And so just be one of those people who is a makeaway person. That's when you know you have a problem or a challenge ahead of you. Don't see it as an obstacle, but see it as an opportunity. Okay so this is in front of me, but how am I going to get around it or over it or through it? Yeah, so there's always a way to make it happen. Yeah, ask for what you want and things will come if you just work to work.

Speaker 1:

And I would just like to add on to what you said is that if you've heard no, it doesn't always really mean no. Just again, quick example I had a young year, a young lady, years ago, whose best friend went in to become a mortgage broker. And this is nothing against the new mortgage brokers we all, and realtors, we all have to start somewhere. But she was told, nope, you're not able to do it. And I said well, did she go to her manager and check? Because it doesn't make sense? Yes, she did so. We flipped her manager and check because it doesn't make sense. Yes, she did so. We flipped her to another broker and it was done so. So never take the first no. Yeah, I see somebody who's more you know and again, I'm not trying to knock the new people, but somebody with a little bit more knowledge and experience. If you've've been told no and find out, is it really no, is this really a problem? Because sometimes it's not.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes, it's not. That's a good one, and there's a lot of lenders who lend on different properties as well. We do bought manufactured home financing at RBC and a lot of other lenders don't.

Speaker 1:

No, it's hard to get it. Good for you guys.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I remember one client very specifically. He reached out and he said I've dealt with three different brokers who tell me this can't happen and he'd fallen in love with the property and it was a manufactured home on owned land, so it wasn't part of a manufactured home park or anything. I said that's not a problem at all, we can register on that. And we were able to get financing for him within two weeks.

Speaker 1:

So that is so. I have two sons that are still realtors. They're still, you know, working away since I retired, but one of my sons specializes in selling manufactured homes. I'm going to make sure he has your name and number because, you're right, it is very difficult to get, and that's another thing. You know, don't like, oh, you think, oh, I'll just walk into my bank and get, get a mortgage for my manufactured home. It doesn't work that way. They don't all do them.

Speaker 2:

Some lenders won't touch them, and even the default insurers. Out of the three, only one, cms, only one that will touch manufacturers. So, yes, only more limited on your opportunities. Yes, some, some brokers too. Um, they'll look at manufactured home deals and say this is a small deal. It's not worth my time, effort because it takes more work. Um, but I never look at that. I've done mortgages as small as $50,000 and I've done multi-million dollar mortgages and we're going to help them, absolutely, that's.

Speaker 1:

That's. Yeah, that is so important because there's different levels of income out there and everybody deserves to have a home. Doesn't matter, you know, if we can help them get into it or not me anymore, but you and my sons. So, okay, cheryl. Well, thank you so much. This was a spectacular conversation, everybody. All of details for Cheryl are going to be in the detailed section, so please reach out to her. If you have any questions, uh, and or you just want to get a fresh set of eyes looking on what you're up to, then that's what she's there for. So thank you again, cheryl, I appreciate it, and thank you everyone for being here for another episode of Conversations with Women Like Me. Bye-bye.

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