Why Use a Mortgage Broker
Your bank can only offer you your bank.
That is the whole difference, and everything below follows from it. A branch sells one product shelf. We shop more than fifty lenders and build the structure around what you are actually trying to do. Sometimes the answer is still a bank. You just want to know that before you sign, not after.
Why use a mortgage broker: what it actually gets you
Advice with nothing behind it
We are not tied to any one lender. No internal sales target decides what we recommend to you, because there is not one.
One application, many lenders
Over fifty lenders: the major banks, credit unions, monolines and alternative lenders. One application covers all of them.
Your time back
You fill in one set of forms. We do the shopping, the negotiating and the chasing, which is the part that eats your evenings.
The files nobody else wants
Self-employed income, a separation in progress, a newcomer file, a portfolio. Knowing how to structure these is most of the job.
Why people leave their bank and do not go back
At the bank
- One set of products, and they are all theirs.
- The person across the desk is paid against internal sales targets.
- Little flexibility on credit exceptions, self-employed income or complex structuring.
- Often a different person every time you call or renew.
- The renewal letter is the rate they would like you to pay.
- No reason to talk you out of a product that pays them.
With us
- More than fifty lenders across the Canadian market.
- Independent, paid by the lender you choose, loyal to your outcome.
- Specialists in the hard files: divorce, self-employed, newcomer, investment.
- The same two brokers at your renewal, your next purchase and your refinance.
- Your renewal review starts six months out, across our full lender network.
- If staying put is the right answer, that is what we will tell you.
Independent, and built that way on purpose
We are licensed under BRX Mortgage, a national brokerage built for senior brokers running their own practices. It gives us the full Canadian lender market, the technology to move a file quickly, and no quotas or product pressure of any kind.
In practice that means no internal targets shaping the advice, no captive lender list, and no junior agent your file gets passed to. The broker you talk to is the broker who structures the file, speaks to the lender, and calls you at renewal.
BRX Mortgage Inc., FSRA brokerage licence 13463. Head office in Oakville, Ontario.
Common questions
Does using a broker cost me money?
In almost every case, no. On standard residential files the lender pays us, not you, and the rate you are quoted is the same rate you would get walking in yourself. Where a fee does apply, usually on private or heavily bruised-credit files, we tell you the number before you fill anything in. You will never find a fee buried in your paperwork at closing.
Will checking my credit with multiple lenders hurt my score?
No. We pull your credit once, and that single report goes to whichever lenders we approach. Multiple pulls in a short window for the same purpose are also treated as one event by the credit bureaus. Shopping your mortgage through one broker is the version of rate shopping that does not cost you anything.
Can you still help if I already have a pre-approval from my bank?
Yes, and it is a good moment to call. A bank pre-approval tells you what one lender will do. It does not tell you whether the amortization, the prepayment terms, or the penalty structure are right for what you are actually planning. Bring it to us and we will tell you honestly if it is already a good deal.
Why would I not just go to my own bank?
Because your bank can only offer you your bank. It is one product shelf, priced by a branch with its own targets, and the person you speak to may be different every time. We are not against banks, and sometimes a bank is exactly where you should be. The difference is that we can see all of them at once and tell you which one.
Thirty minutes, no pressure, and no rate-shopping. We listen, we ask questions, and we tell you whether the mortgage you are considering is actually a win for you.
Book a call
Who you actually work with
The honest version of the broker question is that it depends on your situation. Both of us will tell you when a bank is the better answer for you.
Kelly Foote
Mortgage Broker · FSRA #M21002713
Certified Divorce Specialist · Certified Canadian Reverse Mortgage Consultant
Niagara born and built, and the systems side of how a file actually gets run.
Lisa Reynolds
Mortgage Broker · FSRA #M15000477
Certified Canadian Reverse Mortgage Consultant
30+ years in the industry, and the lender strategy behind the harder files.
Fusion Mortgage Group is a team of licensed mortgage brokers with BRX Mortgage Inc., Mortgage Brokerage #13463.
Ready to make your move?
Whether you're buying your first home, renewing your mortgage, or going through a separation, we're here to help. Book a discovery call or send us a message below.