Mortgage 101 – Building Your Path to Homeownership

Clinton Wilkins and his team take to the streets to answer real questions from listeners about homeownership, saving for a down payment, and navigating the ever-changing mortgage landscape.

Clinton Wilkins
Welcome back to Mortgage 101. After a politically charged start to the year, we decided to lighten things up by taking to the streets and chatting directly with our listeners. In July, we joined the Pride celebrations with a special on-the-street episode. To keep things fun and to keep the fun going, I brought Blair Patterson from my team to react to some of your best questions.

Todd Veinotte
So we’re doing something a little different, and with the help of our production team, of course, we got to give them kudos 100% on the street and ask them some questions. Let everybody know what we’re doing here.

Clinton Wilkins
We had our production team down on production team down on the waterfront this week, asking, I’ll say, some of our fans, but people knew about our show. They wanted to have questions answered on the radio and here on our podcast. So we’re gonna play our question, we’re gonna answer it live on the air, and we’re talking all this month about pride and homeownership. So Blair and I can tag team. Here are some of these questions, and we’ll go from there. So why don’t we fire up the first question?

Streeter
I would ask them, what I need to start doing now in my mid 20s to prepare me for buying a home, let’s say in 10 years, any accounts I should be signing up for with my bank, any tax credits, any areas I should be looking in to, you know, in the province, any types of homes that are better for me as a first time buyer. I just want to know where I should start.

Clinton Wilkins
That sounds like one of these questions we’d hear on the radio. There are a lot of points there, but I’m going to start really quickly, and I’m going to throw it over to Blair. You know, types of accounts sign up for an RRS, especially if you’re at work, and they offer an autopay payment, so get it set up. Make it automatic. Do it. Do it. Do it. The other thing is the first home savings account, a really great option to be able to save on your own. And if you utilize both these accounts to their max, you’ll be in a great spot in 10 years to be able to buy a home, and you may even have enough for 20% down. But the one thing that I will say time is money here. So in 10 years, this property might be worth a lot more. 10 years is a really long run time. So I think you really need to think about how you can make this happen in one year. Three years, five years, seven years, seven years, 10 years is a long, long time. Blair, what do you think?

Blair Patterson
Yeah, here in Nova Scotia, we have down payment assistance, and you may not actually have to wait that full 10 years to enter the housing market. So that’s something to consider when it comes to the right type of house. I always tell my clients, your first house isn’t your last house. So buy a condo, buy a semi-detached, get in the market, build up that equity and get that inflation lift.

Clinton Wilkins
I love it. And you know, I think in terms of interest rates, you’re dating the rate, you’re marrying the home. But as we know, marriages aren’t forever, so get into your starter home, and it’s a great way to get into the property ladder. Okay, why don’t we hit us with our second.

Streeter
If I could ask a mortgage expert one question, it would be them wondering what the price of a mortgage is. Because I’m not gonna lie. I don’t know a thing about mortgages, and I don’t even know how much I’d be paying for one if I had one.

Clinton Wilkins
Oh, my God, I love this one.

Blair Patterson
That’s a comprehensive question. I guess the price of a mortgage you’d want to make sure your payment kind of lines up with your income, and typically that means not more than 39% of your income is going towards your housing. So when it comes to, like, the price or payment, it’s all kind of geared towards your income and affordability.

Clinton Wilkins
Yeah, and I think the rate’s important, but Blair, you kind of hit it on the head. Rate is not everything. The payment is very, very important. So know what you can afford. But again, it’s really going to come down to your income.

Todd Veinotte
And of course, you talk about the dream of home ownership, and there’s nothing wrong with somebody starting the conversation, right? Somebody may think I couldn’t qualify for a mortgage, or I don’t have enough money, or perhaps they do, or perhaps there are things that you can you can help them with, right?

Blair Patterson
I find the people who come into the office, and they’re like, Oh, I feel so unprepared. I’m not ready. Those are the ones that are like, the most prepared, what’s the best credit? And you just have to reach out and have that conversation.

Clinton Wilkins
I mean, before we even started our show, I was talking to our production team, and they’re getting into checking their credit, which I love. And one of our folks said, You know, what do you think my credit score is? I said, I have no idea, but I bet you it’s in the 700s, and he’s like, 790 and gave me a big high five. Well, these are great things that we need to do to be prepared to make a big purchase, like buying a home.

Clinton Wilkins
Most of the questions we received from the public were around uncertainty in the market, but we also came across a few… unexpected and intriguing ones.

Streeter
Yeah, I think, like, I guess, I would ask just like, what the best moves are as a new homeowner, things that I could do to improve my situation, maybe getting the best value for my home, maybe keeping my home as something for my grandchildren or. Other family members and be able to pass that down, because that’s something I may not necessarily think of initially, but down the line, see the value of that.

Blair Patterson
One thing you’re going to want to consider is the cost of the upkeep of the home. So, along with you know, saving for retirement, you’re going to want to save part of your income for a new roof, for landscaping, things to keep the house marketable, and that will, you know, help you in the future. And if you do want to pass on that home or build future wealth, you know, keeping up with that upkeep on your home is very, very important.

Clinton Wilkins
I think the one thing that really rings true to me when I talk to new homeowners is keep a good relationship with your mortgage broker, because we’re gonna have one and done. And I think that’s a lot different from a realtor, like when you’re buying a home, you’re doing the transaction. Once you own the home, you don’t really talk to the realtor again unless you’re doing another transaction. But let me tell you, these mortgages are coming up for renewal a lot faster than you think. They come up for renewal, and a lot of customers. We talk about the midterm, and we do midterm refinances. We do midterm transfers. You know, they renovate their home, they pull equity out, they get divorced, they’re buying another property. We’re sometimes talking to our customers. We reach out to them at least once a year to do an annual review, but sometimes we’re talking to customers multiple times throughout the year, depending on their situation. Have a good relationship with a mortgage professional that you’re going to trust and stay in that relationship with them for 25 years. Will they always be the lowest and the cheapest rate? The cheapest isn’t always best, right? But having a relationship with someone, I think, is more important than five or 10 basis points in terms of a rate. Absolutely do business with people that you’re going to trust, and with people that are going to have your back and be in a relationship with them for a long time.

Todd Veinotte
Good stuff. Any other questions? Guys? Two more questions.

Clinton Wilkins
Two more. Okay, hit me with your next one.

Streeter
Okay, if you’re looking to renew your mortgage in the next year or so, would you go variable mortgage, or would you go for a fixed-rate mortgage, and why?

Clinton Wilkins
I love it. Spicy, spicy, spicy. I love it. Let me tell you, historically, consumers want to do a five-year fixed. Right now, I would say the least, consumers are doing a five-year fixed. Clients today want a variable rate, or they want a three-year fixed. Obviously, different people have different risk appetites. For me, my personal mortgage isn’t a variable. So if anybody’s curious, I’m riding that wave. And guess what? My rate today on my variables, in my variable mortgage is lower than any fixed rate you can get. So guess what? I made a good decision. Did I have to weather the storm? Of course, but it wasn’t a very long storm. Guys, what was it? 18 months? For 24 months, with the rates being high and fixed, rates have really plateaued, but I think overall rates will come down. So I think it’s a risk tolerance between a variable and a three-year fixed. If you really, really, really want fixed, let’s do a three-year.

Todd Veinotte
Blair, how about you? Have you had many of your clients asking about jumping from a variable to a fixed?

Blair Patterson
Yeah. When it comes to rates, essentially, we get people calling in all the time, rate shopping, and those people who were calling in 12 months ago saying, What’s your lowest rate? Well, they’re stuck now in that fixed rate. You know, 4.8, maybe 5% some of them are at 6% let’s be honest. Yeah, rather than getting the right advice from a mortgage broker, and that is to take a variable rate, and it still has room to come down, I believe. And with a variable rate, you can lock into a fixed rate at any time. You’re not at the mercy of the Bank of Canada. So why wouldn’t you want the option of possibly floating that down, and if things you know get too risky, you can lock in?

Clinton Wilkins
I think it’s all the upside on the variable personally, because right now, the variable rates and the fixed rates and the fixed rates are pretty much the same.

Todd Veinotte
There are some people, though, who just psychologically don’t have the appetite for the variable, and that’s fine.

Clinton Wilkins
And I think they don’t have a team like us to be able to give them the feedback, like we’re sending emails, SMS, and I’m doing a live stream. I’m on CityNews. Every time the Bank of Canada meets, not everybody is willing to accept and like, absorb that information and know that someone is managing, you know, their portfolio, managing their mortgage, managing their relationship. So I think that’s important.

Clinton WIlkins
Thank you for listening to the best of Mortgage 101 special. 2025 has been a year like no other, from political drama with tariffs, a federal election. To all of our iconic guests, our team is passionate about helping customers find their dream home and making their mortgage work for them in every situation. Watching the path of home financing become clear inspires us to deliver the best of the best. We’ll be back very soon for Financial Literacy Month. This has been Mortgage 101, your guide to home ownership.