We purchased our first home in June of this year. Initially the service that we received from our…read moremortgage broker was fantastic and we felt very comfortable with our decision to have Donna as our mortgage broker. We explained to her that this was our first time purchasing a home and that we were looking for someone to hold our hand along the way, as it was something that we have never done before. We even recommended her to two of our friends who used her to purchase their condos.
About a month out I began noticing some red flags. A family member was gifting us a sum of money and Donna had recommended that they transfer the money to us in multiple small amounts under $200 over a few weeks time so that the lender didn't question the funds. This was HORRIBLE advice that I am extremely happy we didn't follow as my transactions (anything over $1,000) were questioned to as far back as January 2017. Instead, my aunt provided us with a letter explaining the circumstances in which the funds were being provided.
During the process, Donna had told us to budget $1,500 for closing costs with our lawyer. We asked countless times whether there were any other costs that we should budget for in relation to the purchase of a home, every time her response was no. We really put our trust in her as an expert, as mentioned previously we were looking for someone to hand hold us through the process. It was a BIG surprise for us on our closing day when the lawyer told us that our final bill would be roughly $3,500. The difference was not his fees but various fees that we should have been informed about by Donna (ie: tax on CMHC, FCT insurance, repayment of property taxes to previous owners). Our lawyer was extremely surprised that she did not mention these fees to us.
One week prior to getting our keys, after providing all of our statements and transferring our down payment to the account that we were having the payment come out of, we were told the documents we provided were not good enough and were confusing to follow (ie: pulling RRSPs out as a first time home buyer). It got so down to the wire that we risked not being approved for our mortgage. We had to re-pull all of our statements which created an even bigger mess as the funds had now been transferred into our chequing account and nothing matched the original statements anymore. It was very difficult to obtain the statements as they were not accepting the ones that we downloaded from our e-banking. Most banks don't have the ability to pull statements in the branches either, they must be mailed to you. I ended up looking like a crazy person, crying to the bank manager, pleading with him to help me get a statement in time so that I didn't lose my mortgage. Two days before our closing date, we finally got notice that the new statements we were able to provide were acceptable.
Our first mortgage payment was supposed to come out at the end of the month. Mid-month over $300 was taken from my account from the lender - I had no idea that this payment was coming out and was put into an NSF situation. I emailed Donna to ask her about it and she was on vacation with no contact for assistance which she was gone. It is the summer and my issue isn't that she took vacation, it's just surprising that with an large organization that someone isn't available to assist in her absence. It's been a week since she has been back and I have yet to hear from her about how the mid-month transaction affects my payment schedule, as our property taxes (which is what I assume the payment was for) and mortgage payment are supposed to be rolled into one.
I had really hoped that my experience was just a one off where the ball was dropped. I recently asked one of my friends who also used Donna (on my recommendation) how her experience was. Sadly, it was even worse than mine! Apparently Donna made an $8,000 error in telling her how much her down payment should be to offset her debt ratio. When she went to her lawyer on her closing day, she had a cheque for $20,000 rather than $28,000. $8,000 isn't exactly easy to come up with at the drop of a hat - she had to delay her move in day by two weeks (if I remember correctly) and incurred astronomical costs from the builder to do so. Her mom had to provide her with the additional $8,000 and now owns 1% of her home. My other friend, who I recommended use Donna, has not closed her condo yet. I am hoping her experience is much smoother but have recommended that she change brokers to avoid any mishaps.
If you plan to use Capital Mortgages, be sure to do your home work, that is my biggest regret. I had thought we had asked all of the right questions but I would recommended looking into the questions yourself as well, especially as a first time home owner. Personally, my plan is to renegotiate my mortgage with another lender the minute that I can do so without paying a penalty.
