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The exceptional staff at mortgagestogo.ca
are always ready to lend a helping hand.
Pictured are the staff at the Sunridge Power
Centre in northeast Calgary.
Trying to find the right mortgage
can be difficult in the
best of circumstances —
and next to impossible if you’ve got
less-than-perfect credit.
But this is what Alberta’s mortgagestogo.ca
does best.
Founder and president Paul Izzard
has a lifetime of experience in mortgages
and real estate.
He founded mortgagestogo.ca in
2004 on the principles of “guidance,
respect, integrity and performance,”
with the idea of providing a trustworthy,
knowledgable source of guidance
to mortgage-seekers.
The specialty brokerage, which is a
member of the Alberta Mortgage Brokers
Association and the Better Business
Bureau, prides itself on being able
to get clients the best possible deal.
In fact, there is a standing offer of
$500 to anyone who can get a rate they
can’t beat.
Izzard takes pride in the quality of
his staff, noting they’re all licensed by
the Real Estate Council of Alberta and
go through extensive on-the-job training
for at least a year before they’re
allowed to work unsupervised.
“No other mortgage broker in Canada
can make this claim,” says Izzard.
The reason mortgagestogo.ca is
able to get the best rates, Izzard says, is
because it’s not bound to any one provider’s
options the way bank employees
are.
Instead, its agents can shop around,
finding the best fit for clients.
One important thing to consider, he
says, is what the client wants out of
their home.
“With some mortgages, you can’t
get out of them. Period,” he says.
“If you want to do some refinancing
down the road to get some money out
of your house, you can’t do it unless
you sell your home.
“With some others, you can get out
of them, but the penalty could be as
high as $40,000 or $50,000.”
He says a lot of home buyers get
“ambushed” with these situations after
they’ve purchased a home, because
they dealt with an inexperienced
agent.
“Unless you’re trained — and we
see this all too often — it’s easy to
put a client into the wrong product,”
Izzard says.
“We always try to establish, ‘Are
you going to be in this house for five
years? Are you sure this is what you
want?’ ”
mortgagestogo.ca now has two
offices in Calgary, as well as locations
in Edmonton, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.
It will also open locations soon
in Red Deer and Vancouver.
It’s gaining a loyal following and
plans to double its workforce by year’s
end.
mortgagestogo.ca specializes in
finding fair mortgages for people facing
credit and income challenges,
bankruptcy and foreclosures, which
Izzard says can be quite rewarding.
With enough equity in a home, he
says his company can guarantee a
home equity loan, regardless of credit,
age or income.
“We have a registered trademark:
‘Doing the impossible ... every day,’ ”
he says.
“We’ve built the business and our
reputation on helping clients that other
brokers and banks have declined.
We’re making people’s dreams come
true routinely.”