The “Big Five” Canadian banks include Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust), Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). Are there other viable options?
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The best GIC rates in Canada
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5 things your mortgage broker isn’t telling you
– moneysense.ca
1. Commission is my friend. As a borrower, you don’t typically compensate your broker. It’s lenders who shell out commissions and finders fees. A conflict of interest? Could be, especially if one lender pays more than another and that monetary temptation results in a worse deal for you, says John Andrew, a professor of real estate at Queen’s University. “If there’s even a 0.1% difference in the interest rate you get, that can have huge implications for the total cost of your mortgage.”
2. Um, I don’t actually negotiate with 40 lenders. Despite what some brokers claim, it’s usually more like three or four, says Rob McLister of CanadianMortgageTrends.com. And for good reason: there are learning curves, volume minimums, and some lenders simply don’t pay as much in commission. In fact, a number of the big banks use their own salespeople and closed down broker channels years ago. “So if they’re not going to get paid, the average broker is going to think, ‘Why spend the time on them?’”
3…
2. Um, I don’t actually negotiate with 40 lenders. Despite what some brokers claim, it’s usually more like three or four, says Rob McLister of CanadianMortgageTrends.com. And for good reason: there are learning curves, volume minimums, and some lenders simply don’t pay as much in commission. In fact, a number of the big banks use their own salespeople and closed down broker channels years ago. “So if they’re not going to get paid, the average broker is going to think, ‘Why spend the time on them?’”
3…
