Expert Financing

BY REBECCA HARRAP


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Rebecca Harrap
I was born and raised in Cloverdale, BC. I studied finance at Simon Fraser University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in commerce/business administration. While studying, I worked at CIBC in various capacities, including small business and underwriting and when I graduated, I started working for MCAP mortgage corporation. I worked there for several years, and subsequently with another successful broker as an underwriter. 

During that time, I married my wonderful husband and we welcomed our first son in 2007 and our second in 2009. We live in South Langley on a small acreage. It's a beautiful place to live and we love everything about it. Our boys are now 9 and 11, are very busy, and keep us on our toes!

2009 was a big year, as it was when I first met and began working with Wendy. We have now been working together for almost 10 years, and have more than 50 years of combined mortgage experience.

We are both like-minded, driven and hard working women, who have both mastered the joy of raising a family and running a successful business.
Contact Rebecca

STEP ONE
Start the conversation. 

The best place to start is to connect with us directly. The mortgage process is personal, and it can be daunting. Our commitment to you is that we'll listen to all your needs, assess your financial situation, and provide you with a plan to move forward. 

STEP TWO
Choose the best option. 

Once we’ve had a look at your financial situation, we’ll consider a variety of mortgage options. We'll outline what documents are necessary to qualify you for a mortgage, negotiate with the lenders on your behalf, and arrange the mortgage that best suits your needs.


STEP THREE
Sit back and relax. 

Once we’ve arranged the mortgage product that best suits your needs, you’re not alone. We're your mortgage professional for life. If you’ve got questions in the years to come, we're always available to make sure that your mortgage is working for you, and not the other way around!


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We've developed excellent relationships with many lenders across the country. 
Let's figure out which one has the best product for you. 

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Mortgage Articles


By Expert Financing November 7, 2024
If you’ve missed a payment on your credit card or line of credit and you’re wondering how to handle things and if this will impact your creditworthiness down the road, this article is for you. But before we get started, if you have an overdue balance on any of your credit cards at this exact moment, go, make the minimum payment right now. Seriously, log in to your internet banking and make the minimum payment. The rest can wait. Here’s the good news, if you’ve just missed a payment by a couple of days, you have nothing to worry about. Credit reporting agencies only record when you’ve been 30, 60, and 90 days late on a payment. So, if you got busy and missed your minimum payment due date but made the payment as soon as you realized your error, as long as you haven’t been over 30 days late, it shouldn’t show up as a blemish on your credit report. However, there’s nothing wrong with making sure. You can always call your credit card company and let them know what happened. Let them know that you missed the payment but that you paid it as soon as you could. Keeping in contact with them is the key. By giving them a quick call, if you have a history of timely payments, they might even go ahead and refund the interest that accumulated on the missed payment. You never know unless you ask! Now, if you’re having some cash flow issues, and you’ve been 30, 60, or 90 days late on payments, and you haven’t made the minimum payment, your creditworthiness has probably taken a hit. The best thing you can do is make all the minimum payments on your accounts as soon as possible. Getting up to date as quickly as possible will mitigate the damage to your credit score. The worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand and ignore the problem, because it won’t go away. If you cannot make your payments, the best action plan is to contact your lender regularly until you can. They want to work with you! The last thing they want is radio silence on your end. If they haven’t heard from you after repeated missed payments, they might write off your balance as “bad debt” and assign it to a collection agency. Collections and bad debts look bad on your credit report. As far as qualifying for a mortgage goes, repeated missed payments will negatively impact your ability to get a mortgage. But once you’re back to making regular payments, the more time that goes by, the better your credit will get. It’s all about timing. Always try to be as current as possible with your payments. So If you plan to buy a property in the next couple of years, it’s never too early to work through your financing, especially if you’ve missed a payment or two in the last couple of years and you’re unsure of where you stand with your credit. Please connect directly; it would be a pleasure to walk through your mortgage application and credit report. Let’s look and see exactly where you stand and what steps you need to take to qualify for a mortgage.
By Expert Financing October 24, 2024
Porting your mortgage is when you transfer the remainder of your current mortgage term, outstanding principal balance, and interest rate to a new property if you’re selling your existing home and buying a new one. Now, despite what some big banks would lead you to believe, porting your mortgage is not an easy process. It’s not a magic process that guarantees you will qualify to purchase a new property using the mortgage you had on a previous property. In addition to re-qualifying for the mortgage you already have, the lender will also assess the property you’re looking to purchase. Many moving parts come into play. You’re more likely to have significant setbacks throughout the process than you are to execute a flawless port. Here are some of the reasons: You may not qualify for the mortgage Let’s say you’re moving to a new city to take a new job. If you’re relying on porting your mortgage to buy a new property, you’ll have to substantiate your new income. If you’re on probation or changed professions, there’s a chance the lender will decline your application. Porting a mortgage is a lot like qualifying for a new mortgage, just with more conditions. The property you are buying has to be approved So let’s say that your income isn’t an issue and that you qualify for the mortgage. The subject property you want to purchase has to be approved as well. Just because the lender accepted your last property as collateral for the mortgage doesn’t mean the lender will accept the new property. The lender will require an appraisal and scrutinize the condition of the property you’re looking to buy. Property values are rarely the same Chances are, if you’re selling a property and buying a new one, there’ll be some price difference. When looking to port a mortgage, if the new property’s value is higher than your previous property, requiring a higher mortgage amount, you’ll most likely have to take a blended rate on the new money, which could increase your payment. If the property value is considerably less, you might incur a penalty to reduce the total mortgage amount. You still need a downpayment Porting a mortgage isn’t just a simple case of swapping one property for another while keeping the same mortgage. You’re still required to come up with a downpayment on the new property. You’ll most likely have to pay a penalty Most lenders will charge the total discharge penalty when you sell your property and take it from the sale proceeds. The penalty is then refunded when you execute the port and purchase the new property. So if you are relying on the proceeds of sale to come up with your downpayment, you might have to make other arrangements. Timelines rarely work out When assessing the housing market, It’s usually a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, not both at the same time. So although you may be able to sell your property overnight, you might not be able to find a suitable property to buy. Alternatively, you may be able to find many suitable properties to purchase while your house sits on the market with no showings. And, chances are, when you end up selling your property and find a new property to buy, the closing dates rarely match up perfectly. Different lenders have different port periods Understanding that different lenders have different port periods is where the fine print in the mortgage documents comes into play. Did you know that depending on the lender, the time you have to port your mortgage can range from one day to six months? So if it’s one day, your lawyer will have to close both the sale of your property and the purchase of your new property on the same day, or the port won’t work. Or, with a more extended port period, you run the risk of selling your house with the intention of porting the mortgage, only to not be able to find a suitable property to buy. So while the idea of porting your mortgage can seem like a good idea, and it might even make sense if you have a low rate that you want to carry over to a property of similar value, it’s always a good idea to get professional mortgage advice and look at all your options. While porting your mortgage is a nice feature to have because it provides you with options, please understand that it is not a guarantee that you’ll be able to swap out properties and keep making the same payments. There’s a lot to know. If you’re looking to sell your existing property and buy a new one, please connect anytime. It would be a pleasure to walk you through the process and help you consider all your options, including a port if that makes the most sense!
By Expert Financing October 23, 2024
Bank of Canada reduces policy rate by 50 basis points to 3¾%. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario October 23, 2024 The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 3¾%, with the Bank Rate at 4% and the deposit rate at 3¾%. The Bank is continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization. The Bank continues to expect the global economy to expand at a rate of about 3% over the next two years. Growth in the United States is now expected to be stronger than previously forecast while the outlook for China remains subdued. Growth in the euro area has been soft but should recover modestly next year. Inflation in advanced economies has declined in recent months, and is now around central bank targets. Global financial conditions have eased since July, in part because of market expectations of lower policy interest rates. Global oil prices are about $10 lower than assumed in the July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). In Canada, the economy grew at around 2% in the first half of the year and we expect growth of 1¾% in the second half. Consumption has continued to grow but is declining on a per person basis. Exports have been boosted by the opening of the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline. The labour market remains soft—the unemployment rate was at 6.5% in September. Population growth has continued to expand the labour force while hiring has been modest. This has particularly affected young people and newcomers to Canada. Wage growth remains elevated relative to productivity growth. Overall, the economy continues to be in excess supply. GDP growth is forecast to strengthen gradually over the projection horizon, supported by lower interest rates. This forecast largely reflects the net effect of a gradual pick up in consumer spending per person and slower population growth. Residential investment growth is also projected to rise as strong demand for housing lifts sales and spending on renovations. Business investment is expected to strengthen as demand picks up, and exports should remain strong, supported by robust demand from the United States. Overall, the Bank forecasts GDP growth of 1.2% in 2024, 2.1% in 2025, and 2.3% in 2026. As the economy strengthens, excess supply is gradually absorbed. CPI inflation has declined significantly from 2.7% in June to 1.6% in September. Inflation in shelter costs remains elevated but has begun to ease. Excess supply elsewhere in the economy has reduced inflation in the prices of many goods and services. The drop in global oil prices has led to lower gasoline prices. These factors have all combined to bring inflation down. The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation are now below 2½%. With inflationary pressures no longer broad-based, business and consumer inflation expectations have largely normalized. The Bank expects inflation to remain close to the target over the projection horizon, with the upward and downward pressures on inflation roughly balancing out. The upward pressure from shelter and other services gradually diminishes, and the downward pressure on inflation recedes as excess supply in the economy is absorbed. With inflation now back around the 2% target, Governing Council decided to reduce the policy rate by 50 basis points to support economic growth and keep inflation close to the middle of the 1% to 3% range. If the economy evolves broadly in line with our latest forecast, we expect to reduce the policy rate further. However, the timing and pace of further reductions in the policy rate will be guided by incoming information and our assessment of its implications for the inflation outlook. We will take decisions one meeting at a time. The Bank is committed to maintaining price stability for Canadians by keeping inflation close to the 2% target. Information note The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is December 11, 2024. The Bank will publish its next full outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, in the MPR on January 29, 2025. Read the October 23rd, 2024 Monetary Report.
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Wendy and Rebecca provide unparalleled expertise and service to their clients, whether for large commercial lending, any size of residential mortgage, or private lending - fairly assisting both the mortgagor and mortgagee. Very quick response times and factual and reassuring communication takes the worry out of home buying and investing for their clients. As Wendy always says, "I never worry about fees; my concern is what's best for my clients." For well over a decade, they have provided the best possible solutions for all of my transactions and I recommend them in the strongest possible terms.

Glori Jeanne

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