The Second Opinion...or Second Quote

Your Doctor diagnoses you with an illness, your mechanic tells you that your car needs $XX worth of work done to it...what do you get, a second opinion. A contractor tells you it’s going to cost $XX to finish your basement, a landscaper tells you it’s going to cost $XX for that beautiful new backyard...what do you get, a second quote.

There are so many situations or transactions that happen throughout our lives where we don’t just take what the first person tells us, we seek out the validation from someone else to confirm what the first person has told us. Why should that be any different with your mortgage? We’re in a world where prices are going up every day so we should be doing whatever we can to save ourselves money if possible. Most people wouldn’t take the first quote for a home renovation and say “looks good to me”. Who would pay the sticker price for a new car? So why would people do that with their mortgage.

I’ve written about this in the past but it baffles me that Canadians are so tied to their banks, believing that their best interests are always the top priority. They’re a business and their business is to make money from their customers, period. If your mortgage rate is X%, then they make less money than if your rate was X + 0.25% so what do you think they would rather charge you? I’ve been around the Financial Services industry long enough to know that people typically hold their banks in very high regard and that bond is definitely difficult to break so I’m not about to try to do that. Instead, I encourage people to talk to their banks about their mortgage, they’re probably going to anyways...BUT, let me give you a second opinion with no obligation. Unlike your bank, my compensation is the same whether your rate is X% or X + 0.25% so my top priority is making sure you’re getting the best deal because that creates a happy customer, which is what my business is based on. By getting a second opinion, you will either find out that you can get a better deal elsewhere and save yourself $$$ or you’ll find out your bank is treating you the way they should. Either way you make sure you’re not paying any more than you need to for your mortgage and you’re being given all the right options.