Buying a home.
First home or the next one, the starting point is the same: understanding what the application actually supports before anything is submitted.
Mortgages
Mortgages in Atlantic Canada.
Understand the file, compare the lender directions actually available to it, and move with a clear next step.
Mortgage brokering through 
Where mortgages start
Different situations. One clear next step.
These are the contexts a mortgage conversation usually starts from. Which of them leads where depends on the file, the property and the lender.
Your term is ending.
A maturing mortgage is a decision point, not a form to sign. Staying with the current lender and moving to a different one are both real options.
Changing a mortgage already in place.
Refinancing changes the amount, the structure or the purpose of an existing mortgage. Whether it makes sense depends entirely on the file.
Other mortgage situations
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A new home in a new place.
Arriving in a new country and buying a home at the same time means learning an unfamiliar lending system while everything else is also unfamiliar.
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A property that earns.
Residential income property is read differently from a home you live in, and the file carries more moving parts than one address.
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A home being built.
Financing a build follows the construction itself rather than arriving at one closing date, so the timing sits at the centre of the conversation.
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A second place.
A recreational property is assessed on its own terms — where it is, how it is reached, and how it is actually used through the year.
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Land before a home.
A parcel with nothing built on it is a different kind of file from a finished property, and it is worth understanding that before you commit.
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Property that works.
Financing a commercial property follows the property and the use it is put to, rather than the policy that governs a home you live in.
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Later in the picture.
Some homeowners want to understand what a long-held property can do for them without selling it, and what that would mean over time.
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Balances held against each other.
An offset structure treats everyday balances and the mortgage as related quantities rather than keeping them in separate places.
Mortgage balance Linked savings balance
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A structure, not a product.
A readvanceable mortgage is a structure certain long-term strategies depend on, including the Smith Manoeuvre™.
Mortgage portion Linked credit portion One property
Before considering it:
- Borrowing to invest magnifies both gains and losses.
- It requires a readvanceable mortgage and a long-term commitment (15+ years).
- It is not suitable for everyone, and suitability is assessed individually.
- Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is not guaranteed.
Smith Manoeuvre™ is a trademark used under licence through SMCG.
Why a broker
Traditional Bank vs. Mortgage Broker
Both are real routes to a mortgage. The difference is how wide the comparison is before you commit to one.
Traditional bank
You are working with an advisor from that bank. The mortgage directions they can offer come from that institution.
Your file
One institution
That institution’s available mortgage directions
That may well be the right solution — but on its own it does not tell you how that mortgage compares with other lender directions available to your file.
Mortgage broker
Your broker is not limited to one bank’s product shelf. One prepared mortgage file can be used to compare multiple lender directions available through the brokerage.
One prepared file
Available lender field
Depending on your file, those directions may include:
- Banks
- Credit unions
- Monoline lenders
- Alternative lenders
- Private lenders
Not every category is available on every file. Availability depends on the file, lender criteria, geography, the property and brokerage access.
Compare
One selected submission
The job is to compare those available directions with your goals in mind, then help you choose where the file should go.
And this is what gets compared.
- Cost Rate, fees and penalty structure.
- Flexibility Term, prepayment and portability.
- Structure Mortgage structure and lender requirements.
- Fit Qualification, service and process fit.
A mortgage decision includes more than a headline rate. Rate sits inside cost, one of these four — the lowest displayed rate and the strongest overall mortgage are not automatically the same mortgage.
A broader comparison before you choose.
Instead of choosing from one institution’s product shelf, you can compare multiple available lender directions before deciding where your file should go.
When you deal with one institution alone, you are comparing within that institution. A broker widens the comparison before you choose. The broader the relevant comparison, the better informed the decision can be.
Mortgage brokering through Vine Mortgage.
Clearstone Financial is not a lender, and neither is Vine Mortgage. The brokerage prepares and submits the file; a separate lending institution assesses it and decides.
Why Clearstone
The file is prepared by people you can name.
Two named people stay accountable for the relationship and the file.
Nicholas Gaudet
Founder & CEO
Nicholas oversees the whole Clearstone financial picture. A mortgage sits inside that picture rather than beside it, and he stays accountable for the relationship as the file moves.
Anmol Multani
Director, Mortgage Operations
Anmol leads Mortgage Operations: intake, file preparation, the fulfilment workflow, and coordinating the file’s progress with lenders and with you.
Specialist functions support file preparation and fulfilment. None of them makes the lender’s decision.
How the file moves
Eight stages. Three sets of hands.
A mortgage is not one decision made once. This is the order the work happens in, and who is responsible at each point.
Brokerage side
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Understand the objective
Start from what you are trying to accomplish, and by when. The direction follows the objective, not a product.
You and Clearstone
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Build the application
Collect the application and the evidence behind it. Documents substantiate what the application represents; they are not a guarantee.
You and Clearstone
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Review and prepare the file
Broker-side review for completeness and consistency, so known issues surface here rather than after a lender has seen them.
Clearstone and Vine Mortgage
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Review available directions
With the file understood, discuss the lender directions actually feasible for it, and what each one trades away.
Clearstone and Vine Mortgage, with you
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Choose a direction
You settle on the direction to pursue, with the trade-offs understood before anything leaves the office.
Weighed against each other — then you choose one.
You decide
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Submit to a lender
The prepared file goes to the chosen lender. From here the lender assesses it and makes its own credit decision.
Submitted by the brokerage — the lender decides
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Coordinate conditions
A commitment usually carries conditions. We coordinate them; the lender and insurer decide whether they are met.
Clearstone coordinates — the lender and insurer decide
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Coordinate through closing
You, the lender and the legal professionals complete the final steps, working to one date and one set of documents.
Lawyer or notary closes — the lender advances funds
Who is responsible for what
- You
- Accurate information, consent, documents, decisions, signatures and any funds required.
- Clearstone and Vine Mortgage
- Intake, organization, broker-side review and preparation, discussing directions within authority, submission, communication and condition coordination.
- The lender
- Underwriting, the credit decision, the commitment, its own conditions, whether those conditions are satisfied, and authorising the funds.
- The mortgage insurer, where applicable
- Insurer eligibility, the insurer decision and insurer conditions.
- The appraiser or other verifier
- An independent assessment within its own mandate.
- Your lawyer or notary
- Legal advice where applicable, title and security, registration, trust and funds, and the legal closing.
Where a mortgage can sit
Three lender pathways. Different trade-offs.
Not every mortgage is assessed the same way. These are the three broad pathways, and the question each one actually turns on.
Compare Prime, Alternative and Private
Prime
Traditional lending
- Typical fit
- Well-documented, policy-conforming files
- Assessed on
- Standard policy and verified documentation
- Cost and fees
- Generally lower-cost territory, subject to the file and the lender
- Time horizon
- A standard term
The key question Does the file fit conventional policy?
Alternative
Outside standard policy
- Typical fit
- Files outside standard prime policy — not outside lending
- Assessed on
- Different criteria, with flexibility prime cannot offer
- Cost and fees
- Higher pricing and/or fees may apply
- Time horizon
- Often shorter-term, depending on the file and the product
The key question What needs flexibility, and what is the longer-term plan?
Private
Short-term and equity-supported
- Typical fit
- Selected short-term or equity-supported circumstances
- Assessed on
- Property and equity, ability to service, suitability
- Cost and fees
- Higher cost, and additional fees may apply
- Time horizon
- Short-term by design
The key question What is the realistic exit plan?
Which pathway suits a file is a question about the file, not a ranking. None of these is a better or worse kind of borrower.
After funding
Your mortgage stays in view.
Funding isn’t the end of the Clearstone relationship. The mortgage can stay under review for the whole of its term — your estimated equity position, and whether changing conditions create something worth looking at again.
A complimentary financial review.
Every Clearstone mortgage client is offered one — a look at how the mortgage sits alongside the rest of your picture.
It is optional. It is not a condition of getting a mortgage, of keeping one, or of using any other Clearstone service.
Decide
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Lower the borrowing cost.
A change in rates or mortgage options may create an opportunity worth considering. Whether it is worth acting on depends on the file — a lower advertised rate does not by itself produce a saving.
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Keep the payment. Reduce the amortization.
If borrowing costs can be reduced, maintaining the same payment may allow more of each payment to reduce principal and shorten the remaining amortization.
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Leave the mortgage where it is.
A lower advertised rate does not automatically mean changing mortgages makes sense. Penalties, fees, qualification, remaining term, mortgage structure and other considerations can make staying put the better decision.
How ongoing mortgage reviews work
Measure
Estimated property value
Estimated equity position
Re-measured at each review
Mortgage position
Review
A review rhythm that fits your mortgage.
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Semi-annual
- Annual
Equity and interest-rate reviews may be available at one of these intervals, set to suit how closely you want to follow the mortgage.
Estimated property values used in Clearstone equity reports may be informed by aggregated third-party market data, together with the mortgage information available at the time of the review, to give an ongoing estimate of your home-equity position.
Get started
Start with the full picture.
Tell us what you are trying to accomplish and which of these situations you are actually in. We will start from there.