April 22, 2025 • 35 mins
WATCH
▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube
***
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
In this episode, Mike is joined by Jimmy Elamad. Jimmy is a Partner and Mortgage Agent at Y Mortgage from Toronto, Ontario, who became a broker in 2022 after spending 18 years at TD Bank. At Y Mortgage, Jimmy is not just a leader, he’s a passionate advocate for fostering a familial atmosphere. Beyond that, he dedicates himself to coaching and developing his colleagues, guiding them towards success in the lending domain. Jimmy, a devoted family man, cherishes his free moments spent with his two children, actively supporting them in living their best lives.
Jimmy is here to discuss:
→ Starting his career at the bank and the reality of going from banker to broker, building a book of business, and creating a community as a broker.
→ The challenges of switching to commission-based income, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, and advice for his younger self.
→ The impact of tariffs and the Canadian federal election, real estate market trends and blanket appraisals impacting condos, and 2025 interest rate predictions.
Y Mortgage Website: www.ymtg.ca
Jimmy Elamad's Instagram: @jimmy_yourmortgagemap
Jimmy Elamad's LinkedIn: @JimmyElamad
***
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW
🎙️ Old School, New World Podcast: Old School, New World: The Life of An Entrepreneur
📺 Old School, New World YouTube: @OldSchoolNewWorld
📸 Old School, New World Instagram: @OldSchoolNewWorld
***
CONNECT WITH MIKE
📸 Mike Dias' Instagram: @migueldias26
👥 Mike Dias' Facebook: @Mike.Dias.9231
***
CONNECT WITH DNA LENDING GROUP
🔗 DNA Lending Group Website: www.dnalendinggroup.com
📸 DNA Lending Group Instagram: @DNALendingGroup
📋 DNA Lending Group LinkedIn: @DNALendingGroup
👥 DNA Lending Group Facebook: @DNALendingGroup
⏰ DNA Lending Group TikTok: @DNALendingGroup
***
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome toepisode number nine of Old School
New World, The Life of anEntrepreneur.
I'm your host, Mike Diaz.
And today we are honored to have
Jimmy Alamad, who is a partner atY Mortgage, at Mortgage Alliance,
a previous banker, 18 years withTD Bank as a mortgage specialist,
and has been a mortgage broker forthe last... three years.
(00:31):
So we'll chat a little bit aboutthat experiences he's had to
share.
And you might find helpful as you
go through your journey and yourcareer in whatever it is you might
be doing.
We'll also probably touch on
politics, family.
And of course, you know, we both
are mortgage brokers.
We'll talk about the market and
what's going on there for sure.
Jimmy, welcome.
And it's great to have you withus.
(00:52):
Yeah.
Talk to me here, me here, Mike.
I know it's been a long timecoming.
I'm glad that it's actuallyepisode nine.
That's my favorite number.
So divine timing, maybe?
Yes, maybe, maybe, maybe.
So yeah, we're going to touch on a
lot of things today.
There's a lot of hot topics right
now, you know, in regards towhat's going on in the world, real
estate market, politics, you know,everything.
Yeah, you know, it's good timingin terms of having, you said
(01:13):
divine timing, you know, I'm a bigbeliever of that.
Before we dive into differentthings, let's get to know you a
little bit better.
I know, of course, I talked a
little bit about your career path.
I always ask my guests and I
didn't tell you I was going to askyou this question.
Please share with us, Jimmy, whatis your superpower?
My superpower?I don't think I have any.
My kids might think I do.
I love putting people on your
(01:35):
spot.
My superpower would probably be
the amount of patience I have withmy kids.
When they're trying to learnsomething new, mostly athletic,
try to do something and they wantto play hockey or swimming,
whatever the case is, I'm all inwith them.
I don't know if it's a superpower,but I turn into like their coach
automatically.
Right, right.
You know, nothing else matters tome except for, you know, them
understanding to have success,whether it's sports or whatever
(01:55):
the case is, you've got to be allin for that for the most part.
I don't know if that's asuperpower, but...
I'm not patient with them when itcomes down to heating or doing
homework or whatnot, I'm notpatient with them when it comes
down to heating or doing homeworkor whatnot, but when it comes down
to something like athletic,because they're so young, they're
starting to learn and understandwhat competition is and what I'm
winning and losing and, you know,hard work pays off.
I kind of just dive right in.
I think that's, you know,
(02:16):
probably... I guess it even close,probably.
Yeah, listen, I can't fly yet.
I can't fly yet.
I'm working on my flying ability.
Listen, everyone has their own.
That's why there's so many outthere.
But thanks for sharing that.
It just gives us a little bit of
fun just to get to know you alittle bit.
And the reason I put folks on thespot, maybe if they're guests and
(02:36):
they listen, they may know thequestions coming.
But it's just something to helpour audience understand a little
more about who Jimmy is and how hethinks.
So before we dive into family,let's talk about your career.
You and I sort of knew each othera long time.
ago, a little quick story.
He knew a cousin that I had that's
passed and we only realized thisrecently.
He was a banker for 18 years atMorgan Special.
Did you start as a MorganSpecialist?
Yeah, I started off as a teller atYork Dermot, a TV bank, maybe 19,
(02:57):
20 years old when I started.
Progressed through the bank as a
teller and then I went to afinancial advisor and so on and so
forth.
And then I was like, okay, we'd
almost... becoming a young adult,and I was like, what am I going to
do?Do I want to stay at the branch?
And I like the idea of goingcommission -based.
I jumped into the role of mortgagespecialist.
And, you know, I was young.
(03:18):
I was very young when I got in
that role.
So I didn't even own a home.
I was still living at my parents'house.
Didn't really have muchexperience, but I had some really
great mentors at the bank.
It's all about, you know, having
that mentorship and, you know,looking up to somebody that, you
know, has been in the same shoesin a way.
I just kind of stuck with it.
It was a tough time.
I jumped into the, you know, roughmarket, kind of similar to where
(03:39):
we are right now.
You know, it's hard to get it, you
know, to the commission sales andreal estate or mortgage.
It's a tough time right now.
Similar to that when I started.
Stuck with it.
I learned a lot at the bank.
I did very well.
I was one of the top guys for many
years there.
Felt it was time to expand my role
as a mortgage specialist.
I want to kind of grow a team and
build a real business as opposedto you stay at the bank for that
(04:00):
much longer.
I want to be able to provide a
little bit more options for myclients.
That was me.
The reason why I didn't leave, I
had a great time there.
TV showed me a lot, but it was
time to go.
Yeah, no fair.
And that sort of whole experience,you mentioned commission.
Like, you know, you're going tocommission base.
Probably a lot of our youngviewers, whether they're a banker
now or whether they're maybe T4 inemployment, meaning, you know,
(04:20):
they get paid every two weeks.
Commission, of course, is very
different.
Talk about that maybe a little bit
about your experience when youwere a teller, of course, and
working on a financial advisor andthen made the pivot.
Was there fear around that?Talk to me about your experience
going from... T4 income to whatyou got to eat, what you catch
type of thing.
So talk about that.
Yeah, thing.
So talk about that.
Yeah, so it was definitely achallenge.
(04:40):
I think I got a little bit ofpushback from my conservative
parents.
Everyone probably said, you know,
here's the bank.
They've got a good pension.
Don't worry about this.
Stay there.
You know, be a branch manager,which is a great job and
everything.
I didn't necessarily want somebody
to tell me how much I was worth.
You know, like, here, your salary
is X amount of money.
And if you do a good job, you get
a bonus of X amount of money.
Right, right.
Whereas, you know, at the time, Iwas young.
(05:01):
I was living with my parents.
I didn't have very many expenses.
So I could take that risk.
Right.
I was confident in my abilities aswell.
It was either that or I was goingto leave the bank, I think, at the
time, anyhow.
And yeah, it was tough.
It was challenging.
But I was ready.
I was eager.
I was hungry.
You know, I still have thathunger.
It's more still to help myclients, you know, because I built
a big database.
Thankfully, they rely on me for
(05:22):
advice and support.
So at that time, I didn't really
have much, but I had to just learnquick, learn on the fly.
And obviously, the commissioncomponent was important to me, but
it was important because I knewthat the sky was the limit.
Don't get me wrong, Mike.
I didn't make any money.
The first couple of years of thisbusiness was like, you know, take
condos with my parents' house.
Yeah, and that's not a big
surprise.
You know, a lot of young people...
(05:44):
older people, you know, whoever'scoming into our industry or any
commission sales industry for thatmatter.
Sometimes you think, oh, I'm goingto make money right away.
And that's just not always thecase when that happens, right?
No.
Yeah.
I always tell the story.
Working at York Del Mall for as
long as I have, I pretty much grewup there.
I remember getting my firstcommission check as a mortgage
specialist at the time.
I was like, wow, I got all this
(06:05):
money.
I was like, how am I going to do
this?So I literally went back to my
home or less and spent it all atHugo Boss.
I'll get up all the cure.
And I didn't get paid for another
two months after that.
You think it's going to come?
in ways but it did come in waysit's just like you know a couple
months later right so and i kindof learned at that point where you
(06:25):
know when you do get you know adecent commission check whatever
the case is you kind of kind oflet's hold on to it you know a
little bit because you know yournext meal is going to come in a
way right so i learned that quickand you know it was a good lesson
for me right so i got it i thatpoint where you know when you do
get you know a decent commissioncheck whatever the case is you
kind of kind of let's hold on toit you know a little bit because
(06:48):
you know your next meal is goingto come in a way right so i
learned that quick and you know itwas a good lesson for me right so
i got it And it was gone realquick.
quick.
Okay.
So H has a little bit to do thatwith you when you're talking
about, you know, still beinghungry and the maturity about
money management.
Sometimes you're saying the
commission came in and you spentit, but you've actually learned.
I didn't have really much else tospend it on at the time.
on at the time.
I was in my mid -20s where I was
either going to do a club on aFriday or Saturday night, and I
wanted to have nice schools forit.
I didn't have a car payment,really.
Again, no rent.
Yeah, we have a little bit of
similarity there because I startedas a teller as well, TD at 18,
with their training program andwhat have you.
So I understand where you'recoming from.
(07:09):
Because sometimes the idea of...
You know, having not as many
responsibilities because, youknow, living at home and I had the
same parents, you know, myparents, you know, some of the
cleaners and, you know, they'vehad a successful business, but
they used to take me around.
And my mom said to me, oh, if you
ever become a branch manager, youknow, I'd be so happy.
And, you know, almost like shemanifested it.
Yeah, right.
And that was just a great job as
well.
Right.
(07:29):
No, 100%.
And my parents, I'm still like,
yours are immigrants that came toCanada.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I think that would be the case,
right?Different things that they thought
was high level, right?And taking a commission role is a
risk, right?So it doesn't matter what you're
doing.
right.
And that was just a great job aswell.
Right.
matter what you're doing.
Right.
And that's why they were saying,
are you sure?Yeah.
Are you sure you want to go intothis?
Yeah.
You're doing well at the bank.
(07:50):
Yeah.
You know what?
It was just.
You know, I kind of wanted to
focus on what I enjoyed at thebank and that was lending.
The lending side.
I love the real estate side of
things.
The investment side never appealed
to you very much?It did for a bit until the market
crashed in 2008.
The financial crisis after.
And I remember a financial plannerthat I worked with at the branch,
she was literally like in tears orcrying one day because she was
just getting hammered by clientsand whatnot.
I was like, Yeah.
Are by clients and whatnot.
I was like, you know what?I'm not going to take anybody's
(08:12):
money for investments because Ican't control the market.
I'm not going to give peoplemoney.
I think people enjoy me givingthem money, and that's kind of
what I do.
I sell money.
That's kind of what I do, really.
I sell money or I lend money.
The investments did for a bit fora short period of time.
Again, it was all time to break.
I think Let's fast forward 18
successful years on that side ofthe business.
Sort of was the pushing point.
(08:32):
You've been a broker three years?
Three years now.
So I left me about three years
ago.
It was a tough decision.
It was probably about two years inthe making.
Okay.
I don't know.
I felt like I did everything Icould do at TD.
You know, like I was number one atTD.
I've been on all the trips.
You know, I got a TD ring.
I did everything I could do there.
And when the market started to
turn after COVID, you know, whenit started to go up, I was only
(08:54):
able to offer my clients oneproduct.
So I think...
That was really the turning point.
Even though in the back of mymind, I said, I'm never going to
retire at TD.
Not that I couldn't because I
could have.
It's a great place to work.
It was always in the back of mymind.
And when the market turned, it waslike time.
And you know what?Not only the market turned, my
superiors, my sales manager andher manager and my associate
(09:15):
assistant, they kind of all leftand moved on to different.
Not so much in the brokerindustry.
Yeah.
Different.
Yeah.
Like my sales manager, she
retired.
My assistant moved on to a
different career path.
I don't know.
I think it was AVP.
She moved on to, you know, left
the bank.
And when they left, I kind of
just, I was like, I think it'stime.
Right.
Is there ever time?
(09:36):
I don't know.
But at that time, I felt it was
time.
And the market was.
Well, the best time is always thattime.
the best time is always that time.
You know, there's that idea of,
oh, I could do it later.
I could have done it before.
It's meant for you.
It's going to happen.
to happen.
When you're in your comfort zone,
it's always going to be achallenge.
And I was super comfortable,fortunately, very successful at
the bank as well.
(09:56):
It took me two years.
Well, listen, I think, especiallywith my wife and my, you know,
like it was a big family decisionas well.
Right, of course.
It wasn't just a, you know.
You weren't single anymore andliving at home.
I at home.
Exactly.
So it was a big change.
And so far, it's been very well,
for sure.
Yeah, it was a big challenge.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then, so talk to me then aboutwhen you're making the move and
(10:18):
you've decided, like, what did youknow about the move?
Yeah, I didn't know much.
I just knew from.
knew from.
I read or heard about from other
mortgage brokers where the caseis.
I was super, I don't know what theword is, let's say, call it cocky
when I left the bank because I wasat the top of the mountain there.
And when I came to the brokerspace, I was a little fish.
Okay.
Right.
So a little bit of intimidationmaybe from the...
Well, when I got in there, I feltlike when I left the bank, I was
like, I'm just going to go inthere and stay on the 401.
(10:40):
I'm going to be flying.
Yeah.
I was at the bank, but really Iwas at that case.
So it took some time to get goingand understand the broker space
because it's a different world.
It sure is.
Different systems, differentpolicies, different lenders,
different people.
Right.
And what do you think about interms of being different?
what do you think about in termsof being different?
Is there a cultural difference?Because, you know, the bank being
the bank is very corporate.
Did you find any difference in
(11:00):
culture?Yes, absolutely.
You know, the bank culture wasgood.
For the most part, there's aculture in a branch and a sales
team.
You have your own culture of the
sales team.
So different cultures in different
places.
And the broker space was really
coming in.
I had to really kind of create my
own.
you know culture right you know
you're still trying to do thatevery day that was a big shift for
sure culture is a big word becauseit takes time to create it You
(11:20):
know, we've got to build it.
And there's so many different
people.
So it was just one person.
It's two, three, five, ten.
Everybody in that room or that
team got to create the culture.
It's not just one person alone,
right?So we're still trying to build
that as well with a team.
It was a challenge for sure.
Okay.
You know, I was saying, you know,
you talked about being comfortableand then, you know, it took you
two years.
I think it's important for our
(11:41):
listeners and our viewers,especially the young ones or
anyone for that matter.
It's important to you to get
comfortable with beinguncomfortable.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I found.
you probably have as well.
The minute you step out of your
comfort zone and becomeuncomfortable, growth happens
there.
Whether it's for your professional
life, Yeah.
it's for your professional life,
your personal life, typically goodthings come from that.
You're living proof, you know,like to be an 18 year banker, a
mortgage specialist for themajority of that, you know, it
(12:03):
takes a lot to make the move.
Yeah.
A little saying that I go by verysimilar to what you just said was
I was never going to let feardecide my fate.
Good.
Right.
And it was scary to leave the bankfor sure.
You know, but I wasn't going tolet that fear, decide where Jimmy
was going to end up in five years,10 years, 20 years down the road,
right?I love that.
And I'll tell you why I love that.
Pivot a little bit to sort of
(12:24):
mental health and well -being.
I've discovered that typically
those who are suffering fromdepression tend to live in the
past.
So that's where depression is.
Those who have anxiety, sufferfrom that, tend to be fearful of
the future.
Right.
And so if you can eliminate thoseareas, then you live in the
present.
Then you tend to that depression
that you had gets better.
Your way of thinking changes.
Not to say that, you know, youcan't think about the fear, but
(12:45):
don't allow it to control yourpain, as you said.
Yeah.
So that was something that really
stuck with me in that wholetransition period, you know,
because I was super comfortable.
I was super comfortable.
Did you have some people chattingwith you?
I'm thinking about, you know,young bankers, too, or specialists
that are thinking of wanting tomake a move.
Was there someone that?tapped you on the shoulder or was
it just something you um well yeahi kind of got sold as well kind of
(13:06):
way when i left the bank mydecision was i was going to leave
the bank right again i was very ikind of got sold as well kind of
way when i left the bank mydecision was i was going to leave
the bank right again i was verycocky in a way when I left the
bank because I was, you know, ontop of the mountain.
Right.
So I thought it was just going to
(13:27):
stay on the 401.
Like, fine, you know, like fast
lane, but.
You ended up on the 407, even
better.
I'm on a 407.
Because I remember when I startedin the business, again, very
similar to you, I started thinkingabout a broker two years prior to
being a broker.
You know, I had this one
gentleman, Chris, saw, I guess, abit of talent and knew, so maybe I
was undervaluing what I could doat the bank and he introduced me
to some folks that were in thebroker's field.
(13:48):
When I was in the bank for 17years.
I didn't know anything about thespace.
And I've been a broker 14, so Ileft in 2011.
And awareness to our industry hasgrown quite a bit.
You know, Jimmy leaving in 2021,2022.
So there was even more awarenessthen.
Someone say, hey, you know, Jimmy,you know.
Yeah, well, I had some friendsthat were, friends that were, you
know, mortgage brokers.
They were always telling me.
And they were bankers as well.
So there was, yeah, come on, come
on, come on, come on.
Let's go.
You know, again, you'recomfortable.
When I finally made the move, itwas right here.
I felt it.
Right.
Mentally, I felt it.
Again, like I was at TD for a long
(14:10):
time, so it was home to me asfamily.
So it was never easy.
But now, you know...
Being in the role that I have beenthree years now, yeah, felt in the
role that I have been three yearsnow, I've met some great friends.
I've got some great partners.
You know, obviously Mike is one of
them.
You know, I met you on the side of
things, right?So now I'm starting to create my
own culture again here and my ownteam, my own partnerships and
(14:31):
whatnot.
Like, you know, we're not even on
the same team, but we are a teamstill.
I don't compete with Mike Diaz.
You still do mortgages and we got
literally down the street fromeach other.
But, you know, I like that.
I like the fact that we can share
wins and losses together and helpeach other.
And not that I didn't get to thebank, but it's a little bit
different.
I think everybody... wants to see
a mortgage broker succeed.
Yeah, our industry, you know, I
(14:52):
don't think people know it enough.
I think there's a lot of beautiful
people in our industry, whichevernetwork you might be with.
The thing I think is the mostimportant to remember, one of the
most rewarding things you can dofor yourself or your peers is lift
up your peers.
Even if there's no benefit for you
from it, we're very supportive.
There is a great community within
the brokers.
(15:12):
It's not known enough in terms of
how great it is.
So when you made your move, how
have you created your leads foryour business?
Mortgage specialists, you know,they get a lot of their leads
maybe from the bank itself, ormaybe they did maybe at first, but
maybe it's going away.
Did that cross your mind?
Being in such a huge corporateworld and being in a bank for as
long as I had, a huge corporateworld and being in a bank for as
long as I had, of course I gotsome business from it.
Internally, people that I workedwith in the past, whether we were
(15:33):
tellers before, now they need amortgage or parents need a
mortgage or so on and so forth.
So yeah, you're always going to
have that, but they're myconnections.
They came to me anyways, right?I still find that same with
clients.
You know, I still do a TV daily,
but now I have more options forthem.
And that's what my clients arehappy about, you know, for the
most part.
So my database was obviously, you
know, my toolbox in a way, right?I contact my clients, provide them
(15:54):
knowledge, provide them insight onwhat's going on in the market, new
options.
truthful.
I'm not a pushy sales guy.
I've never been that way.
I'm not trying to sell yousomething.
I'm just trying to give you adviceand you make the right decision.
You say, hey, Jimmy, I'm up forrenewal and XYZ bank.
This is what I got.
Can you beat it?
If I could beat it even byslightly, I'm going to tell you
guys.
Right.
Just remember where you're at.
(16:15):
Right.
You know?Yeah, I mean, that's a great thing
to bring up because I've saidbefore, and I'll say it again, the
minute you try to chase money,money will always outrun you.
You can't catch it.
So to do what's in best interest
of your clients and friends.
I watched them all contact me.
all contact me.
Call me, ask me for advice.
Right.
I'll guide you in the right way.
That was part of my career in TDas well.
Like I was a teller, that I was afinancial advisor.
I did investments.
I did RSPs.
Right.
I did everything.
Bank accounts, you know.
So it was very important for me to
(16:36):
have my clients come and ask mefor anything.
Ask me about RSPs.
Ask me about this.
I wanted to have a little bit ofknowledge and everything.
That way I knew I was their go-to.
Anything bank -related, I wantedthem to come to me.
And they did.
And they still could do so.
And that's just relationship.
Right.
advisor.
I If I'm hearing you right, then
it's, you know, you've positionedyourself as, you know, an advisor
(16:56):
and someone who gives counsel andadvice as opposed to something a
bit different, maybe that othersmight.
That's how you've built on andcontinue to build on your
business.
Yeah, exactly.
That's exactly.
Amazing.
Amazing.
So before we turn the page on
that, so if you were to talk toyour younger self, you've probably
heard this kind of questionbefore, for sure.
What would you say to youryounger?
Probably more handsome.
I'm just kidding.
You know, men in general, andwomen as well, do age like a fine
(17:17):
wine.
It's always better.
But what would you tell youryounger self if you were giving
advice to him?You know, enjoy what you do.
I love my job.
I enjoy what I do.
So for me, it's not worth.
During that transition, maybe, you
know, in a specific time, you'renot going to be too prepared.
We're over -prepared.
You're always going to leave
something out.
You're always going to say
shoulda, woulda, coulda, I think.
And don't let fear decide your
fame.
That's not what I did.
Would I change anything?You know, it's hard to say looking
(17:38):
back now, would I change anything?Not really.
Like, you know, you're alwaysgoing to say, I should have got
this, I should have did this, Ishould have did that.
But the work you put in, in yourlife, regardless of what you do,
whether it's athletics or schoolor whatever the case is, you put
the work in, good things will comeback.
Yeah.
You know, and then that's well
said.
And, you know, because I think
about that question for myself aswell.
And like you said, you know, it'sgoing to happen the way it should.
(18:01):
But if we're going to pass alongany kind of little tidbits, you
know, don't be scared.
Don't be scared is number one.
Fear is not your friend for sure.
If you're in the bank.
how long you're going to staythere.
So for one of the things I wouldtell my younger self, you know, I
spent 17 years, seven with TD, 10with Scotia.
I would say, you know, I think thecorporate environment is good.
You learned a lot.
(18:21):
Most part, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, you know, again, they buildthat culture and there's a lot of
people from different worlds.
A hundred percent.
And I think you can learn a lot.
And I think you can learn a lot.
You're like, listen, you canlearn, I've said this before,
learn from bad leaders, goodleaders, and the corporate
environment as one of the bigbanks does.
But, you know, I wouldn't need tostay.
This is, again, me talking to myyounger self.
I would probably.
(18:42):
Knoxville State is five years.
You know, six years maybe, butfive, I think, would be my cap.
My son, Nathan, You know, he wantsto get into the broker industry.
His mom and I both agree that Ithink starting at the bank will
show him a little bit ofdiscipline, right?
Just so you know how to do thingsthe right way.
Right, right.
You know, you can get trained
properly.
That's a great idea.
I think for Nathan, absolutely youshould.
Yeah, so that's just the idea.
You know, if you're a banker or
you're in the mortgage space,think about that.
(19:02):
How long you've been there andmaybe what you want for yourself
because, you know, set the rightgoal for yourself.
You know, think about that.
And then, you know.
Reach out to Jimmy, reach out tous.
I'd love to give you moreinformation on that aspect of
things.
So let's turn the page on that.
And let's talk a little bit aboutthe wild, you know, getting a
little more into the nitty grittyabout the wild, wild west, about
the mortgage business and what'sgoing on.
Maybe we'll start with, you know,the impact of tariffs, what you're
(19:24):
seeing with your client base andwhat are people, you know, when
they are reaching out to you andasking you different questions,
what are they thinking about?Yeah.
What's on their mind?I think it's all about confidence
right now.
There's no confidence right now in
the market.
There's no confidence in anything.
You know, we're currently in anelection period in Canada.
So obviously with the tariffs onand again, off again, you know,
who's impacting, who's notimpacting.
There's so much uncertainty.
So it's impacting consumers'
confidence.
Rates are literally up and down,
up and down, up and down.
(19:45):
Like you'd think Canada's dropped
the rates so much since the peakthat people would be out in droves
buying.
refinancing, just crazy.
It really hasn't picked up.
Not at all.
Yeah, there's people have beencrying about it.
Luckily, you know, we've been inthe business for quite some time.
You know, we do have a goodportion of our database, you know,
that is still active and moving orselling or refinancing the cases.
But obviously, look at the forsale signs.
(20:05):
There's a lot of them.
Look at the market.
And then there are some for salesigns, there are some for sale
signs, but there's also soldsigns.
So there's some activity.
There's always movement.
There's always going to bemovement.
Always got to move and sell andrefinance.
And, you know, but I look at it,there's opportunity right now.
I think there's a lot ofopportunity right now to maybe buy
your forever home that, you know,you're not going to compete
against 14 other offers.
(20:26):
Right.
We did in the past, you know,right.
So I think there's an opportunitythere.
I think, you know, with the stockmarket, even if you want to, you
know, investments like the daysthat are dipping low, those are
the days you've got to buy.
Yeah, no, for sure.
Right.
Sure.
And again, it's a yo -yo.
It's up and down, up and down.
So I do think there's opportunity.
However, there's a lot of
uncertainty as well.
(20:46):
Right.
So with that being said, you know,we'll see more things.
I think we need some stability inour economy first in regards to,
you know, political.
Once we get a permanent prime
minister, we know we have one,but, you know, it's just kind of
an interim, right?So once we get a prime minister,
hopefully that will steer us outof this mess for the most part.
(21:07):
past, us out of this mess for themost part.
I will say, will say, you know, onthat political front, we were
talking about, you know, theelection coming out.
My own personal opinion, so payfor what it's worth.
I do think we need a change ofgovernment.
I'm not saying I'm going to votefor.
But, you know, Mark Carney, youknow, he's really a globalist.
(21:28):
He's been all around the world andhe has a lot of friends all around
the world.
And I mean by globalists, now he
suddenly, you know, became theprime minister through the process
that they had.
But I don't know if that's what we
need exactly because, you know,the liberals have ruled the roost
for a long time.
Maybe we just need something
different.
Sometimes, different.
Sometimes, yeah, sometimes it'simportant to have a little bit of
change, a little bit of freshblood, absolutely.
Yeah, I know, for sure.
Back to sort of the market, are
(21:50):
some of your clients that arereaching out or looking, you know,
pre -approvals that you're doing,are they looking for certain types
of dwellings?Like, what do you find out?
out?You know, definitely the rental
property purchases have dried up.
Like, I'm not getting a lot of
investors.
Okay.
You know, few and far between.
And what type of investment
properties are they buying?Is it, what type of investment
properties are they buying?Is it, you know, your typical,
like, fee tax, triplex?You know, a landlord, per se.
(22:10):
That's their business, more orless.
That's part of their business.
That's how they generate income
and source.
You know, want to buy rental
properties.
But before, when the market was
hot and the rates were obviouslylower and there's less uncertainty
in the world and the market,everybody was buying.
record properties.
Right now, I find that it's not as
busy on that front on eithermortgages that I am doing or
purchases.
The majority of them are for end
users.
(22:30):
People that are buying for a
family home or a new home orwhatever the case is, they're
buying into living.
Not buying it as an investment.
That's what I'm finding right now.
Obviously, renewals, refinance.
Those are massive, massive,especially over the next 18 months
or even more.
And then what about condo market?
Have you had clients buyingcondos?
That's a tough one right nowbecause there's so much inventory.
a tough one right now becausethere's so much inventory.
So there is a lot of great buysout there.
But no, definitely the condomarket.
(22:50):
Again, we live in the GTA.
We live in Toronto.
It's tough to get into a single-family home.
For a starter, they're moving tocondos for sure.
Absolutely.
So there is.
I am doing some condo purchasesfor sure.
not as much as before.
So let me ask you about this.
let me ask you about this.
Have you come across any new
construction ones that bought twoor three years ago?
I'm doing a couple right now.
Have you found issues with values?
Because you know what's happened?They were buying at 1 ,200, 1 ,300
square foot.
(23:10):
So when you're buying in 2021,
2022, they thought, oh, it's justgoing to keep on going up.
And so they were buying at acertain per square foot cost.
And then lo and behold, they go todo an appraisal today.
What's happening is, oh, youbought at 1 ,200, 1 ,200, 1 ,300
square foot.
Now it's only 950 square foot.
square foot.
Have you seen any?
Yeah, values definitely have beenimpacted, especially when we
bought at the peak on paper, onspec.
That was happening in the market.
I found that the builders were
selling at a projected price forwhat they were built.
(23:31):
Of course.
Right?
So that's impacting it.
Because they thought it was just,
you know, nothing's ever, youknow.
Well, that's it.
Because it was constantly going
up.
It was like, wait, you know,
things are going to drop, right?Yeah, yeah.
Rates were, you know, sub 2%.
Foreign buyers were allowed to
purchase as well.
Right, right.
And, you know, know, the one thingthat Trudeau did probably a year
(23:52):
ago now, no, the students comingin.
So he took away the students.
Yeah.
They were coming back.
They limited the amount that were
coming in.
That was impacting on some of
that.
Have you had a live?
example of you got a person boughtfor a and now i gotta praise that
b unfortunately yeah is it thelarge spreads you're fine yeah the
large spreads are i think mostlyon the condo market you know if
you bought something like i saidyeah i think the low rise like
(24:13):
detac townhomes new construction ithink you're still fine depending
on air okay for sure the value hasbeen impacted a little bit again
it all depends on what you boughtcorrect the ones that are coming
up now so we're into 2025 the onesthat were bought in like 2020 2021
the large spreads are i thinkmostly on the condo market you
know if you bought something likei said yeah i think low rise like
detac townhomes new construction ithink you're still fine depending
on air okay for sure the value hasbeen impacted a little bit again
(24:35):
it all depends on what you boughtcorrect the ones that are coming
up now so we're into 2025 the onesthat were bought in like 2020 2021
maybe 2022 depending on howquickly those projects again you
know there's still a lot morecoming online next year for
example uh there's one here nottoo far from where we're doing our
episode that'll be done sometimein 2026 but so what the value is
like what have you seen let'slet's focus primarily on the condo
market because that's what we'retalking about so yeah i think
(24:57):
depending on when you purchase thecondo like the thing with condos
is from the day you purchase it tothe day it's actually built could
be eight years you know youpurchase the condo like the thing
with condos is from the day youpurchase it to the day it's
actually built could be eightyears you know case for sure right
so if you bought it you know likesay eight years ago we're still
okay you're closing now like youknow i just did a bunch of deals
(25:19):
at time and space downtown torontookay those values were good even
though they bought it years agothe values were still even coming
in higher than their purchaseprice oh but then buy something
like nobu for example which wasthe first condo that i wrote sold
for a thousand dollars a squarefoot right i did a couple deals
there the values were like alittle bit lower you know some of
them were either lower right onpar and there was other properties
(25:40):
that i've done you know that thevalues are You know, we're talking
like $100 ,000 worth ofdepreciation.
So I had someone reach out to me.
So I had someone reach out to me.
They bought a new constructionHonda and Whitby for $760 ,000.
It was appraised at $608 ,000.
It's a big difference.
We tried to figure out somesolutions.
And thankfully, he was in aposition where he could close.
There's a lot of buyers out therethat are really in a tough spot.
And going through all of this, aclient got an email from the site
developer because every newconstruction project, and you
might be familiar with this forsure, has financial institutions
that are associated with theproject from the beginning.
And they do that as, you know,they're like, yeah.
So thank you very much.
So my thunder.
So got in and said, hey, RBC forthis particular project has a
blanket appraisal on the wholebuilding.
They're doing the values on thepurchase price.
That was a bit of news to me.
(26:03):
I didn't know.
It sounds like you, so I wouldlove to hear more about how to
explain it.
Because that's a benefit.
Because now my client, who I'vereferred off to someone that I
trust in like at RBC, he'd do thistransaction because as mortgage
brokers, we don't have access toRBC.
And thankfully, he doesn't have toshell out $140 ,000 because
there's this blanket appraisal onthe property.
I suspect currently Ron mightignore a little more.
Maybe the developer has a reallygood relationship with the Royal
(26:25):
Bank, and they're doing it toprotect.
Because like you said, long -term,I think real estate will always be
okay.
But talk to us about this.
This seems to me.
to me.
Appraisals, which I'm veryfamiliar with at the bank.
So essentially what it is, they dothe appraisal on spec.
They hold their database, forexample.
while you have been on site, well,this case was Royal Bank.
They would have done their blanketappraisal when they launched the
project.
And they valued each unit at X
amount.
And typically those blanket
appraisals, again, every bank'sdifferent.
So typically those blanketappraisals, if they're up to date,
you know, the value should bethere.
(26:46):
Okay.
Even though it's not really the
true value.
Right.
Really, in my opinion, I think alot of banks are at risk here.
I agree.
Because today's market value was
$300 ,000, for example.
Right.
And we've obviously done a blanketappraisal of 2021.
Right.
They're saying it's worth $450
,000.
Right.
Right.
That's a big spread, right?
So who's at risk here?It's for sure the bank taking on
the risk.
But not only that, think about it
this way, Mike.
The client is now leveraged.
Because the client wants to sell.
(27:07):
They're not going to be off their
mortgage.
not going to be off their
mortgage.
Right.
And I agree with you.
You know, they say maybe you kick
the can down the road a bit in acase like this.
Correct.
Like, I mean, and my client, you
know, he was buying as a rentalproperty.
So he already had it duringoccupancy was had it rented, but
doesn't make it okay.
(27:27):
But to your point, you know, if he
decides to sell and we've had thisconversation a year from now, 24
months now.
It might not be enough, but maybe
the silver lining, if you had topay out $140 ,000 today, if this
didn't have a blanket, maybe twoyears from now, if that's what he
wants to sell, he'll only have topay out $70 ,000.
(27:48):
So maybe half.
Now, I'm not saying the value
would be all there.
It may help mitigate.
maybe help mitigate.
For this specific scenario, it
worked out for the client.
Correct, correct.
It's worth exploring.
If you have clients or you're in
this situation, I think it's worthexploring if this is an option to
protect you.
Even again, like I said, to kick
that can down the road a bit, if Ihave to have a loss, and this is
(28:12):
what we're talking about, a lossin the real estate market, I'd
rather, you know, mitigate orlessen that loss.
And maybe this is a way of doingthat.
So I didn't know about that.
Yeah, again, every bank, the way
they do the break, do the break,the prison will be different.
I think... as you update theappraisals throughout the
duration, like maybe the value islower, and maybe the bank doesn't
(28:33):
evaluate it lower, but it's hardto say.
Yeah, you know, it's funny becauseif somebody's moving into a condo
and they're putting us 20 % down,you know, CMHC or one of the
insurers we had, Sagan or CarnegieMellon, seems to be approving
those values too, so maybe it'sthe same type of...
Blanket.
You can't get an insured mortgage
(28:53):
on a rental.
No, of course.
Of course.
And it's just only in specific
circumstances.
Yeah.
If it's the insurer or what?Yeah, yeah, yeah.
To your point, clients.
absorb some of that risk, but
they're absorbing it and theymight have to pay it down the
line.
So it's an interesting time.
And that's, you know, a sign ofthe times of what's happening with
the market.
But I will say, you know, you have
(29:13):
a lot of, I believe, realtorswithin your circle.
Their opinions on the market, whatare you saying about it?
Yeah, Yeah, I think a lot ofrealtors, again, there is
opportunity, right?So there is opportunity.
They are working hard.
Homes are selling.
So, you know, this is where youput your work in right now.
It's like working out in thewinter and then go in.
So I think you got to put yourwork in now and come full circle.
Yeah, So I think Yeah, I thinkit's important for folks to
remember, and I've said thisbefore, I believe part of a
(29:34):
problem in our industry, there'stoo many paper pushers and order
takers.
We must do our clients a favor and
provide counsel and advice.
As I will tell you, clients and
consumers out there are craving,craving counsel and advice because
to Jimmy's point.
the uncertainty that's existing in
the market.
Sensitive to the time, because I
know you have to be the secretstory guide today for your
daughter.
Yeah, I got to do that stuff.
Read two books for my daughter atschool.
(29:56):
So that's amazing.
So as we rise up, let me give you
a prediction.
Don't worry, I won't hold you
under the fire.
Between today is April 22nd.
This is recorded on April 11th.
Between April 11th and the end of
the year, what's your forecast oninterest rates in particular?
And I will sort of give you my twocents as well.
What do you see?I think Bank of Canada will
continue to drop my rate by theend of the year, Bank of Canada
(30:18):
will continue to drop my rate bythe end of the year, at least half
a percent.
By the end of the year, one of the
last reporting we had, inflationdid pick up a little bit.
I personally don't want rates togo too far down.
I think a good balance is good.
So I do see maybe about a half.
percent by the end of the year, atleast in a moment.
Obviously, what's going on intariffs and whatnot, if it really
(30:38):
impacts our industries and theauto industry, you know, steel and
people are starting to lose jobs,you know, then obviously, you
know, completely change.
They'll look on rates in general.
But I do think by the end of theyear, I think rates should all be
in the threes.
I think fixed rates, variable
rates, I think those should be inthe threes.
Who knows?Maybe anywhere from 1 to 3 .9,
(30:59):
depending on the term.
But I think they'll be in the
threes.
I think having a three in front of
your rate by the end of the yearis good.
Right.
We're almost there right now, the
variable.
Fair, no, fair.
One more drop.
I think the majority of the people
that are variables will be in thethrees.
Yeah, if you're in a prime minus,Yeah, if you're in a prime minus,
anywhere between prime minus 75 toprime minus 95, and there are
products out there, next weekthere's an announcement.
(31:20):
If there's a decrease, you'll bein the threes.
You know, my look on rates andwhere I think they're going to be.
And again, we're not holding eachother over the fire.
I think the prime lending ratewill be down anywhere between half
a percent, as Jimmy says, to about1%.
That's my range where I think it'sgoing to drop.
You're going to see that by theend of the year.
To this point, a lot of thetariffs and different things.
economic growth, unemployment.
(31:40):
We had the first loss of jobs
since 2022 in the job numbers.
And so that's the first time in a
very, very long time.
So that impacts the Bank of Canada
driving rates down.
So that's sort of my thought.
In closing, I think you're goingto revert back because people have
short memories.
The last four years, fixed rates
have been lower than variable.
(32:02):
But remember, historically
speaking, variables have alwaysbeen lower than fixed.
So you're going to see that forsure.
So I think to your point,variables will be mid threes, high
threes.
I think you won't see a huge
amount of movement on fixed, maybea little more down.
But I still think, yes, I think iswhat I'm saying.
So you took up a lot of time,Jimmy.
Thank you so much.
I want to extend our gratitude to
Jimmy Elemat, who is a dear friendof ours.
(32:23):
Thank you for being a guest.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, we're going to continueto grow old school, new world and
life and opportunity because thepurpose of what we do is to help
other young entrepreneurs who arelooking to get advice, guidance
and hear different informationfrom different people.
Thank you again, folks.
Really appreciate everyone for
tuning in.
Don't forget.
If you haven't done this yet,please remember to subscribe and
like so you can continue to followalong.
Help us build what we are doinghere at Old School New World.
We appreciate you.
Thank you so much.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome toepisode number nine of Old School
New World, The Life of anEntrepreneur.
I'm your host, Mike Diaz.
And today we are honored to have
Jimmy Alamad, who is a partner atY Mortgage, at Mortgage Alliance,
a previous banker, 18 years withTD Bank as a mortgage specialist,
and has been a mortgage broker forthe last... three years.
(00:31):
So we'll chat a little bit aboutthat experiences he's had to
share.
And you might find helpful as you
go through your journey and yourcareer in whatever it is you might
be doing.
We'll also probably touch on
politics, family.
And of course, you know, we both
are mortgage brokers.
We'll talk about the market and
what's going on there for sure.
Jimmy, welcome.
And it's great to have you withus.
(00:52):
Yeah.
Talk to me here, me here, Mike.
I know it's been a long timecoming.
I'm glad that it's actuallyepisode nine.
That's my favorite number.
So divine timing, maybe?
Yes, maybe, maybe, maybe.
So yeah, we're going to touch on a
lot of things today.
There's a lot of hot topics right
now, you know, in regards towhat's going on in the world, real
estate market, politics, you know,everything.
Yeah, you know, it's good timingin terms of having, you said
(01:13):
divine timing, you know, I'm a bigbeliever of that.
Before we dive into differentthings, let's get to know you a
little bit better.
I know, of course, I talked a
little bit about your career path.
I always ask my guests and I
didn't tell you I was going to askyou this question.
Please share with us, Jimmy, whatis your superpower?
My superpower?I don't think I have any.
My kids might think I do.
I love putting people on your
(01:35):
spot.
My superpower would probably be
the amount of patience I have withmy kids.
When they're trying to learnsomething new, mostly athletic,
try to do something and they wantto play hockey or swimming,
whatever the case is, I'm all inwith them.
I don't know if it's a superpower,but I turn into like their coach
automatically.
Right, right.
You know, nothing else matters tome except for, you know, them
understanding to have success,whether it's sports or whatever
(01:55):
the case is, you've got to be allin for that for the most part.
I don't know if that's asuperpower, but...
I'm not patient with them when itcomes down to heating or doing
homework or whatnot, I'm notpatient with them when it comes
down to heating or doing homeworkor whatnot, but when it comes down
to something like athletic,because they're so young, they're
starting to learn and understandwhat competition is and what I'm
winning and losing and, you know,hard work pays off.
I kind of just dive right in.
I think that's, you know,
(02:16):
probably... I guess it even close,probably.
Yeah, listen, I can't fly yet.
I can't fly yet.
I'm working on my flying ability.
Listen, everyone has their own.
That's why there's so many outthere.
But thanks for sharing that.
It just gives us a little bit of
fun just to get to know you alittle bit.
And the reason I put folks on thespot, maybe if they're guests and
(02:36):
they listen, they may know thequestions coming.
But it's just something to helpour audience understand a little
more about who Jimmy is and how hethinks.
So before we dive into family,let's talk about your career.
You and I sort of knew each othera long time.
ago, a little quick story.
He knew a cousin that I had that's
passed and we only realized thisrecently.
He was a banker for 18 years atMorgan Special.
Did you start as a MorganSpecialist?
Yeah, I started off as a teller atYork Dermot, a TV bank, maybe 19,
(02:57):
20 years old when I started.
Progressed through the bank as a
teller and then I went to afinancial advisor and so on and so
forth.
And then I was like, okay, we'd
almost... becoming a young adult,and I was like, what am I going to
do?Do I want to stay at the branch?
And I like the idea of goingcommission -based.
I jumped into the role of mortgagespecialist.
And, you know, I was young.
(03:18):
I was very young when I got in
that role.
So I didn't even own a home.
I was still living at my parents'house.
Didn't really have muchexperience, but I had some really
great mentors at the bank.
It's all about, you know, having
that mentorship and, you know,looking up to somebody that, you
know, has been in the same shoesin a way.
I just kind of stuck with it.
It was a tough time.
I jumped into the, you know, roughmarket, kind of similar to where
(03:39):
we are right now.
You know, it's hard to get it, you
know, to the commission sales andreal estate or mortgage.
It's a tough time right now.
Similar to that when I started.
Stuck with it.
I learned a lot at the bank.
I did very well.
I was one of the top guys for many
years there.
Felt it was time to expand my role
as a mortgage specialist.
I want to kind of grow a team and
build a real business as opposedto you stay at the bank for that
(04:00):
much longer.
I want to be able to provide a
little bit more options for myclients.
That was me.
The reason why I didn't leave, I
had a great time there.
TV showed me a lot, but it was
time to go.
Yeah, no fair.
And that sort of whole experience,you mentioned commission.
Like, you know, you're going tocommission base.
Probably a lot of our youngviewers, whether they're a banker
now or whether they're maybe T4 inemployment, meaning, you know,
(04:20):
they get paid every two weeks.
Commission, of course, is very
different.
Talk about that maybe a little bit
about your experience when youwere a teller, of course, and
working on a financial advisor andthen made the pivot.
Was there fear around that?Talk to me about your experience
going from... T4 income to whatyou got to eat, what you catch
type of thing.
So talk about that.
Yeah, thing.
So talk about that.
Yeah, so it was definitely achallenge.
(04:40):
I think I got a little bit ofpushback from my conservative
parents.
Everyone probably said, you know,
here's the bank.
They've got a good pension.
Don't worry about this.
Stay there.
You know, be a branch manager,which is a great job and
everything.
I didn't necessarily want somebody
to tell me how much I was worth.
You know, like, here, your salary
is X amount of money.
And if you do a good job, you get
a bonus of X amount of money.
Right, right.
Whereas, you know, at the time, Iwas young.
(05:01):
I was living with my parents.
I didn't have very many expenses.
So I could take that risk.
Right.
I was confident in my abilities aswell.
It was either that or I was goingto leave the bank, I think, at the
time, anyhow.
And yeah, it was tough.
It was challenging.
But I was ready.
I was eager.
I was hungry.
You know, I still have thathunger.
It's more still to help myclients, you know, because I built
a big database.
Thankfully, they rely on me for
(05:22):
advice and support.
So at that time, I didn't really
have much, but I had to just learnquick, learn on the fly.
And obviously, the commissioncomponent was important to me, but
it was important because I knewthat the sky was the limit.
Don't get me wrong, Mike.
I didn't make any money.
The first couple of years of thisbusiness was like, you know, take
condos with my parents' house.
Yeah, and that's not a big
surprise.
You know, a lot of young people...
(05:44):
older people, you know, whoever'scoming into our industry or any
commission sales industry for thatmatter.
Sometimes you think, oh, I'm goingto make money right away.
And that's just not always thecase when that happens, right?
No.
Yeah.
I always tell the story.
Working at York Del Mall for as
long as I have, I pretty much grewup there.
I remember getting my firstcommission check as a mortgage
specialist at the time.
I was like, wow, I got all this
(06:05):
money.
I was like, how am I going to do
this?So I literally went back to my
home or less and spent it all atHugo Boss.
I'll get up all the cure.
And I didn't get paid for another
two months after that.
You think it's going to come?
in ways but it did come in waysit's just like you know a couple
months later right so and i kindof learned at that point where you
(06:25):
know when you do get you know adecent commission check whatever
the case is you kind of kind oflet's hold on to it you know a
little bit because you know yournext meal is going to come in a
way right so i learned that quickand you know it was a good lesson
for me right so i got it i thatpoint where you know when you do
get you know a decent commissioncheck whatever the case is you
kind of kind of let's hold on toit you know a little bit because
(06:48):
you know your next meal is goingto come in a way right so i
learned that quick and you know itwas a good lesson for me right so
i got it And it was gone realquick.
quick.
Okay.
So H has a little bit to do thatwith you when you're talking
about, you know, still beinghungry and the maturity about
money management.
Sometimes you're saying the
commission came in and you spentit, but you've actually learned.
I didn't have really much else tospend it on at the time.
on at the time.
I was in my mid -20s where I was
either going to do a club on aFriday or Saturday night, and I
wanted to have nice schools forit.
I didn't have a car payment,really.
Again, no rent.
Yeah, we have a little bit of
similarity there because I startedas a teller as well, TD at 18,
with their training program andwhat have you.
So I understand where you'recoming from.
(07:09):
Because sometimes the idea of...
You know, having not as many
responsibilities because, youknow, living at home and I had the
same parents, you know, myparents, you know, some of the
cleaners and, you know, they'vehad a successful business, but
they used to take me around.
And my mom said to me, oh, if you
ever become a branch manager, youknow, I'd be so happy.
And, you know, almost like shemanifested it.
Yeah, right.
And that was just a great job as
well.
Right.
(07:29):
No, 100%.
And my parents, I'm still like,
yours are immigrants that came toCanada.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I think that would be the case,
right?Different things that they thought
was high level, right?And taking a commission role is a
risk, right?So it doesn't matter what you're
doing.
right.
And that was just a great job aswell.
Right.
matter what you're doing.
Right.
And that's why they were saying,
are you sure?Yeah.
Are you sure you want to go intothis?
Yeah.
You're doing well at the bank.
(07:50):
Yeah.
You know what?
It was just.
You know, I kind of wanted to
focus on what I enjoyed at thebank and that was lending.
The lending side.
I love the real estate side of
things.
The investment side never appealed
to you very much?It did for a bit until the market
crashed in 2008.
The financial crisis after.
And I remember a financial plannerthat I worked with at the branch,
she was literally like in tears orcrying one day because she was
just getting hammered by clientsand whatnot.
I was like, Yeah.
Are by clients and whatnot.
I was like, you know what?I'm not going to take anybody's
(08:12):
money for investments because Ican't control the market.
I'm not going to give peoplemoney.
I think people enjoy me givingthem money, and that's kind of
what I do.
I sell money.
That's kind of what I do, really.
I sell money or I lend money.
The investments did for a bit fora short period of time.
Again, it was all time to break.
I think Let's fast forward 18
successful years on that side ofthe business.
Sort of was the pushing point.
(08:32):
You've been a broker three years?
Three years now.
So I left me about three years
ago.
It was a tough decision.
It was probably about two years inthe making.
Okay.
I don't know.
I felt like I did everything Icould do at TD.
You know, like I was number one atTD.
I've been on all the trips.
You know, I got a TD ring.
I did everything I could do there.
And when the market started to
turn after COVID, you know, whenit started to go up, I was only
(08:54):
able to offer my clients oneproduct.
So I think...
That was really the turning point.
Even though in the back of mymind, I said, I'm never going to
retire at TD.
Not that I couldn't because I
could have.
It's a great place to work.
It was always in the back of mymind.
And when the market turned, it waslike time.
And you know what?Not only the market turned, my
superiors, my sales manager andher manager and my associate
(09:15):
assistant, they kind of all leftand moved on to different.
Not so much in the brokerindustry.
Yeah.
Different.
Yeah.
Like my sales manager, she
retired.
My assistant moved on to a
different career path.
I don't know.
I think it was AVP.
She moved on to, you know, left
the bank.
And when they left, I kind of
just, I was like, I think it'stime.
Right.
Is there ever time?
(09:36):
I don't know.
But at that time, I felt it was
time.
And the market was.
Well, the best time is always thattime.
the best time is always that time.
You know, there's that idea of,
oh, I could do it later.
I could have done it before.
It's meant for you.
It's going to happen.
to happen.
When you're in your comfort zone,
it's always going to be achallenge.
And I was super comfortable,fortunately, very successful at
the bank as well.
(09:56):
It took me two years.
Well, listen, I think, especiallywith my wife and my, you know,
like it was a big family decisionas well.
Right, of course.
It wasn't just a, you know.
You weren't single anymore andliving at home.
I at home.
Exactly.
So it was a big change.
And so far, it's been very well,
for sure.
Yeah, it was a big challenge.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then, so talk to me then aboutwhen you're making the move and
(10:18):
you've decided, like, what did youknow about the move?
Yeah, I didn't know much.
I just knew from.
knew from.
I read or heard about from other
mortgage brokers where the caseis.
I was super, I don't know what theword is, let's say, call it cocky
when I left the bank because I wasat the top of the mountain there.
And when I came to the brokerspace, I was a little fish.
Okay.
Right.
So a little bit of intimidationmaybe from the...
Well, when I got in there, I feltlike when I left the bank, I was
like, I'm just going to go inthere and stay on the 401.
(10:40):
I'm going to be flying.
Yeah.
I was at the bank, but really Iwas at that case.
So it took some time to get goingand understand the broker space
because it's a different world.
It sure is.
Different systems, differentpolicies, different lenders,
different people.
Right.
And what do you think about interms of being different?
what do you think about in termsof being different?
Is there a cultural difference?Because, you know, the bank being
the bank is very corporate.
Did you find any difference in
(11:00):
culture?Yes, absolutely.
You know, the bank culture wasgood.
For the most part, there's aculture in a branch and a sales
team.
You have your own culture of the
sales team.
So different cultures in different
places.
And the broker space was really
coming in.
I had to really kind of create my
own.
you know culture right you know
you're still trying to do thatevery day that was a big shift for
sure culture is a big word becauseit takes time to create it You
(11:20):
know, we've got to build it.
And there's so many different
people.
So it was just one person.
It's two, three, five, ten.
Everybody in that room or that
team got to create the culture.
It's not just one person alone,
right?So we're still trying to build
that as well with a team.
It was a challenge for sure.
Okay.
You know, I was saying, you know,
you talked about being comfortableand then, you know, it took you
two years.
I think it's important for our
(11:41):
listeners and our viewers,especially the young ones or
anyone for that matter.
It's important to you to get
comfortable with beinguncomfortable.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I found.
you probably have as well.
The minute you step out of your
comfort zone and becomeuncomfortable, growth happens
there.
Whether it's for your professional
life, Yeah.
it's for your professional life,
your personal life, typically goodthings come from that.
You're living proof, you know,like to be an 18 year banker, a
mortgage specialist for themajority of that, you know, it
(12:03):
takes a lot to make the move.
Yeah.
A little saying that I go by verysimilar to what you just said was
I was never going to let feardecide my fate.
Good.
Right.
And it was scary to leave the bankfor sure.
You know, but I wasn't going tolet that fear, decide where Jimmy
was going to end up in five years,10 years, 20 years down the road,
right?I love that.
And I'll tell you why I love that.
Pivot a little bit to sort of
(12:24):
mental health and well -being.
I've discovered that typically
those who are suffering fromdepression tend to live in the
past.
So that's where depression is.
Those who have anxiety, sufferfrom that, tend to be fearful of
the future.
Right.
And so if you can eliminate thoseareas, then you live in the
present.
Then you tend to that depression
that you had gets better.
Your way of thinking changes.
Not to say that, you know, youcan't think about the fear, but
(12:45):
don't allow it to control yourpain, as you said.
Yeah.
So that was something that really
stuck with me in that wholetransition period, you know,
because I was super comfortable.
I was super comfortable.
Did you have some people chattingwith you?
I'm thinking about, you know,young bankers, too, or specialists
that are thinking of wanting tomake a move.
Was there someone that?tapped you on the shoulder or was
it just something you um well yeahi kind of got sold as well kind of
(13:06):
way when i left the bank mydecision was i was going to leave
the bank right again i was very ikind of got sold as well kind of
way when i left the bank mydecision was i was going to leave
the bank right again i was verycocky in a way when I left the
bank because I was, you know, ontop of the mountain.
Right.
So I thought it was just going to
(13:27):
stay on the 401.
Like, fine, you know, like fast
lane, but.
You ended up on the 407, even
better.
I'm on a 407.
Because I remember when I startedin the business, again, very
similar to you, I started thinkingabout a broker two years prior to
being a broker.
You know, I had this one
gentleman, Chris, saw, I guess, abit of talent and knew, so maybe I
was undervaluing what I could doat the bank and he introduced me
to some folks that were in thebroker's field.
(13:48):
When I was in the bank for 17years.
I didn't know anything about thespace.
And I've been a broker 14, so Ileft in 2011.
And awareness to our industry hasgrown quite a bit.
You know, Jimmy leaving in 2021,2022.
So there was even more awarenessthen.
Someone say, hey, you know, Jimmy,you know.
Yeah, well, I had some friendsthat were, friends that were, you
know, mortgage brokers.
They were always telling me.
And they were bankers as well.
So there was, yeah, come on, come
on, come on, come on.
Let's go.
You know, again, you'recomfortable.
When I finally made the move, itwas right here.
I felt it.
Right.
Mentally, I felt it.
Again, like I was at TD for a long
(14:10):
time, so it was home to me asfamily.
So it was never easy.
But now, you know...
Being in the role that I have beenthree years now, yeah, felt in the
role that I have been three yearsnow, I've met some great friends.
I've got some great partners.
You know, obviously Mike is one of
them.
You know, I met you on the side of
things, right?So now I'm starting to create my
own culture again here and my ownteam, my own partnerships and
(14:31):
whatnot.
Like, you know, we're not even on
the same team, but we are a teamstill.
I don't compete with Mike Diaz.
You still do mortgages and we got
literally down the street fromeach other.
But, you know, I like that.
I like the fact that we can share
wins and losses together and helpeach other.
And not that I didn't get to thebank, but it's a little bit
different.
I think everybody... wants to see
a mortgage broker succeed.
Yeah, our industry, you know, I
(14:52):
don't think people know it enough.
I think there's a lot of beautiful
people in our industry, whichevernetwork you might be with.
The thing I think is the mostimportant to remember, one of the
most rewarding things you can dofor yourself or your peers is lift
up your peers.
Even if there's no benefit for you
from it, we're very supportive.
There is a great community within
the brokers.
(15:12):
It's not known enough in terms of
how great it is.
So when you made your move, how
have you created your leads foryour business?
Mortgage specialists, you know,they get a lot of their leads
maybe from the bank itself, ormaybe they did maybe at first, but
maybe it's going away.
Did that cross your mind?
Being in such a huge corporateworld and being in a bank for as
long as I had, a huge corporateworld and being in a bank for as
long as I had, of course I gotsome business from it.
Internally, people that I workedwith in the past, whether we were
(15:33):
tellers before, now they need amortgage or parents need a
mortgage or so on and so forth.
So yeah, you're always going to
have that, but they're myconnections.
They came to me anyways, right?I still find that same with
clients.
You know, I still do a TV daily,
but now I have more options forthem.
And that's what my clients arehappy about, you know, for the
most part.
So my database was obviously, you
know, my toolbox in a way, right?I contact my clients, provide them
(15:54):
knowledge, provide them insight onwhat's going on in the market, new
options.
truthful.
I'm not a pushy sales guy.
I've never been that way.
I'm not trying to sell yousomething.
I'm just trying to give you adviceand you make the right decision.
You say, hey, Jimmy, I'm up forrenewal and XYZ bank.
This is what I got.
Can you beat it?
If I could beat it even byslightly, I'm going to tell you
guys.
Right.
Just remember where you're at.
(16:15):
Right.
You know?Yeah, I mean, that's a great thing
to bring up because I've saidbefore, and I'll say it again, the
minute you try to chase money,money will always outrun you.
You can't catch it.
So to do what's in best interest
of your clients and friends.
I watched them all contact me.
all contact me.
Call me, ask me for advice.
Right.
I'll guide you in the right way.
That was part of my career in TDas well.
Like I was a teller, that I was afinancial advisor.
I did investments.
I did RSPs.
Right.
I did everything.
Bank accounts, you know.
So it was very important for me to
(16:36):
have my clients come and ask mefor anything.
Ask me about RSPs.
Ask me about this.
I wanted to have a little bit ofknowledge and everything.
That way I knew I was their go-to.
Anything bank -related, I wantedthem to come to me.
And they did.
And they still could do so.
And that's just relationship.
Right.
advisor.
I If I'm hearing you right, then
it's, you know, you've positionedyourself as, you know, an advisor
(16:56):
and someone who gives counsel andadvice as opposed to something a
bit different, maybe that othersmight.
That's how you've built on andcontinue to build on your
business.
Yeah, exactly.
That's exactly.
Amazing.
Amazing.
So before we turn the page on
that, so if you were to talk toyour younger self, you've probably
heard this kind of questionbefore, for sure.
What would you say to youryounger?
Probably more handsome.
I'm just kidding.
You know, men in general, andwomen as well, do age like a fine
(17:17):
wine.
It's always better.
But what would you tell youryounger self if you were giving
advice to him?You know, enjoy what you do.
I love my job.
I enjoy what I do.
So for me, it's not worth.
During that transition, maybe, you
know, in a specific time, you'renot going to be too prepared.
We're over -prepared.
You're always going to leave
something out.
You're always going to say
shoulda, woulda, coulda, I think.
And don't let fear decide your
fame.
That's not what I did.
Would I change anything?You know, it's hard to say looking
(17:38):
back now, would I change anything?Not really.
Like, you know, you're alwaysgoing to say, I should have got
this, I should have did this, Ishould have did that.
But the work you put in, in yourlife, regardless of what you do,
whether it's athletics or schoolor whatever the case is, you put
the work in, good things will comeback.
Yeah.
You know, and then that's well
said.
And, you know, because I think
about that question for myself aswell.
And like you said, you know, it'sgoing to happen the way it should.
(18:01):
But if we're going to pass alongany kind of little tidbits, you
know, don't be scared.
Don't be scared is number one.
Fear is not your friend for sure.
If you're in the bank.
how long you're going to staythere.
So for one of the things I wouldtell my younger self, you know, I
spent 17 years, seven with TD, 10with Scotia.
I would say, you know, I think thecorporate environment is good.
You learned a lot.
(18:21):
Most part, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, you know, again, they buildthat culture and there's a lot of
people from different worlds.
A hundred percent.
And I think you can learn a lot.
And I think you can learn a lot.
You're like, listen, you canlearn, I've said this before,
learn from bad leaders, goodleaders, and the corporate
environment as one of the bigbanks does.
But, you know, I wouldn't need tostay.
This is, again, me talking to myyounger self.
I would probably.
(18:42):
Knoxville State is five years.
You know, six years maybe, butfive, I think, would be my cap.
My son, Nathan, You know, he wantsto get into the broker industry.
His mom and I both agree that Ithink starting at the bank will
show him a little bit ofdiscipline, right?
Just so you know how to do thingsthe right way.
Right, right.
You know, you can get trained
properly.
That's a great idea.
I think for Nathan, absolutely youshould.
Yeah, so that's just the idea.
You know, if you're a banker or
you're in the mortgage space,think about that.
(19:02):
How long you've been there andmaybe what you want for yourself
because, you know, set the rightgoal for yourself.
You know, think about that.
And then, you know.
Reach out to Jimmy, reach out tous.
I'd love to give you moreinformation on that aspect of
things.
So let's turn the page on that.
And let's talk a little bit aboutthe wild, you know, getting a
little more into the nitty grittyabout the wild, wild west, about
the mortgage business and what'sgoing on.
Maybe we'll start with, you know,the impact of tariffs, what you're
(19:24):
seeing with your client base andwhat are people, you know, when
they are reaching out to you andasking you different questions,
what are they thinking about?Yeah.
What's on their mind?I think it's all about confidence
right now.
There's no confidence right now in
the market.
There's no confidence in anything.
You know, we're currently in anelection period in Canada.
So obviously with the tariffs onand again, off again, you know,
who's impacting, who's notimpacting.
There's so much uncertainty.
So it's impacting consumers'
confidence.
Rates are literally up and down,
up and down, up and down.
(19:45):
Like you'd think Canada's dropped
the rates so much since the peakthat people would be out in droves
buying.
refinancing, just crazy.
It really hasn't picked up.
Not at all.
Yeah, there's people have beencrying about it.
Luckily, you know, we've been inthe business for quite some time.
You know, we do have a goodportion of our database, you know,
that is still active and moving orselling or refinancing the cases.
But obviously, look at the forsale signs.
(20:05):
There's a lot of them.
Look at the market.
And then there are some for salesigns, there are some for sale
signs, but there's also soldsigns.
So there's some activity.
There's always movement.
There's always going to bemovement.
Always got to move and sell andrefinance.
And, you know, but I look at it,there's opportunity right now.
I think there's a lot ofopportunity right now to maybe buy
your forever home that, you know,you're not going to compete
against 14 other offers.
(20:26):
Right.
We did in the past, you know,right.
So I think there's an opportunitythere.
I think, you know, with the stockmarket, even if you want to, you
know, investments like the daysthat are dipping low, those are
the days you've got to buy.
Yeah, no, for sure.
Right.
Sure.
And again, it's a yo -yo.
It's up and down, up and down.
So I do think there's opportunity.
However, there's a lot of
uncertainty as well.
(20:46):
Right.
So with that being said, you know,we'll see more things.
I think we need some stability inour economy first in regards to,
you know, political.
Once we get a permanent prime
minister, we know we have one,but, you know, it's just kind of
an interim, right?So once we get a prime minister,
hopefully that will steer us outof this mess for the most part.
(21:07):
past, us out of this mess for themost part.
I will say, will say, you know, onthat political front, we were
talking about, you know, theelection coming out.
My own personal opinion, so payfor what it's worth.
I do think we need a change ofgovernment.
I'm not saying I'm going to votefor.
But, you know, Mark Carney, youknow, he's really a globalist.
(21:28):
He's been all around the world andhe has a lot of friends all around
the world.
And I mean by globalists, now he
suddenly, you know, became theprime minister through the process
that they had.
But I don't know if that's what we
need exactly because, you know,the liberals have ruled the roost
for a long time.
Maybe we just need something
different.
Sometimes, different.
Sometimes, yeah, sometimes it'simportant to have a little bit of
change, a little bit of freshblood, absolutely.
Yeah, I know, for sure.
Back to sort of the market, are
(21:50):
some of your clients that arereaching out or looking, you know,
pre -approvals that you're doing,are they looking for certain types
of dwellings?Like, what do you find out?
out?You know, definitely the rental
property purchases have dried up.
Like, I'm not getting a lot of
investors.
Okay.
You know, few and far between.
And what type of investment
properties are they buying?Is it, what type of investment
properties are they buying?Is it, you know, your typical,
like, fee tax, triplex?You know, a landlord, per se.
(22:10):
That's their business, more orless.
That's part of their business.
That's how they generate income
and source.
You know, want to buy rental
properties.
But before, when the market was
hot and the rates were obviouslylower and there's less uncertainty
in the world and the market,everybody was buying.
record properties.
Right now, I find that it's not as
busy on that front on eithermortgages that I am doing or
purchases.
The majority of them are for end
users.
(22:30):
People that are buying for a
family home or a new home orwhatever the case is, they're
buying into living.
Not buying it as an investment.
That's what I'm finding right now.
Obviously, renewals, refinance.
Those are massive, massive,especially over the next 18 months
or even more.
And then what about condo market?
Have you had clients buyingcondos?
That's a tough one right nowbecause there's so much inventory.
a tough one right now becausethere's so much inventory.
So there is a lot of great buysout there.
But no, definitely the condomarket.
(22:50):
Again, we live in the GTA.
We live in Toronto.
It's tough to get into a single-family home.
For a starter, they're moving tocondos for sure.
Absolutely.
So there is.
I am doing some condo purchasesfor sure.
not as much as before.
So let me ask you about this.
let me ask you about this.
Have you come across any new
construction ones that bought twoor three years ago?
I'm doing a couple right now.
Have you found issues with values?
Because you know what's happened?They were buying at 1 ,200, 1 ,300
square foot.
(23:10):
So when you're buying in 2021,
2022, they thought, oh, it's justgoing to keep on going up.
And so they were buying at acertain per square foot cost.
And then lo and behold, they go todo an appraisal today.
What's happening is, oh, youbought at 1 ,200, 1 ,200, 1 ,300
square foot.
Now it's only 950 square foot.
square foot.
Have you seen any?
Yeah, values definitely have beenimpacted, especially when we
bought at the peak on paper, onspec.
That was happening in the market.
I found that the builders were
selling at a projected price forwhat they were built.
(23:31):
Of course.
Right?
So that's impacting it.
Because they thought it was just,
you know, nothing's ever, youknow.
Well, that's it.
Because it was constantly going
up.
It was like, wait, you know,
things are going to drop, right?Yeah, yeah.
Rates were, you know, sub 2%.
Foreign buyers were allowed to
purchase as well.
Right, right.
And, you know, know, the one thingthat Trudeau did probably a year
(23:52):
ago now, no, the students comingin.
So he took away the students.
Yeah.
They were coming back.
They limited the amount that were
coming in.
That was impacting on some of
that.
Have you had a live?
example of you got a person boughtfor a and now i gotta praise that
b unfortunately yeah is it thelarge spreads you're fine yeah the
large spreads are i think mostlyon the condo market you know if
you bought something like i saidyeah i think the low rise like
(24:13):
detac townhomes new construction ithink you're still fine depending
on air okay for sure the value hasbeen impacted a little bit again
it all depends on what you boughtcorrect the ones that are coming
up now so we're into 2025 the onesthat were bought in like 2020 2021
the large spreads are i thinkmostly on the condo market you
know if you bought something likei said yeah i think low rise like
detac townhomes new construction ithink you're still fine depending
on air okay for sure the value hasbeen impacted a little bit again
(24:35):
it all depends on what you boughtcorrect the ones that are coming
up now so we're into 2025 the onesthat were bought in like 2020 2021
maybe 2022 depending on howquickly those projects again you
know there's still a lot morecoming online next year for
example uh there's one here nottoo far from where we're doing our
episode that'll be done sometimein 2026 but so what the value is
like what have you seen let'slet's focus primarily on the condo
market because that's what we'retalking about so yeah i think
(24:57):
depending on when you purchase thecondo like the thing with condos
is from the day you purchase it tothe day it's actually built could
be eight years you know youpurchase the condo like the thing
with condos is from the day youpurchase it to the day it's
actually built could be eightyears you know case for sure right
so if you bought it you know likesay eight years ago we're still
okay you're closing now like youknow i just did a bunch of deals
(25:19):
at time and space downtown torontookay those values were good even
though they bought it years agothe values were still even coming
in higher than their purchaseprice oh but then buy something
like nobu for example which wasthe first condo that i wrote sold
for a thousand dollars a squarefoot right i did a couple deals
there the values were like alittle bit lower you know some of
them were either lower right onpar and there was other properties
(25:40):
that i've done you know that thevalues are You know, we're talking
like $100 ,000 worth ofdepreciation.
So I had someone reach out to me.
So I had someone reach out to me.
They bought a new constructionHonda and Whitby for $760 ,000.
It was appraised at $608 ,000.
It's a big difference.
We tried to figure out somesolutions.
And thankfully, he was in aposition where he could close.
There's a lot of buyers out therethat are really in a tough spot.
And going through all of this, aclient got an email from the site
developer because every newconstruction project, and you
might be familiar with this forsure, has financial institutions
that are associated with theproject from the beginning.
And they do that as, you know,they're like, yeah.
So thank you very much.
So my thunder.
So got in and said, hey, RBC forthis particular project has a
blanket appraisal on the wholebuilding.
They're doing the values on thepurchase price.
That was a bit of news to me.
(26:03):
I didn't know.
It sounds like you, so I wouldlove to hear more about how to
explain it.
Because that's a benefit.
Because now my client, who I'vereferred off to someone that I
trust in like at RBC, he'd do thistransaction because as mortgage
brokers, we don't have access toRBC.
And thankfully, he doesn't have toshell out $140 ,000 because
there's this blanket appraisal onthe property.
I suspect currently Ron mightignore a little more.
Maybe the developer has a reallygood relationship with the Royal
(26:25):
Bank, and they're doing it toprotect.
Because like you said, long -term,I think real estate will always be
okay.
But talk to us about this.
This seems to me.
to me.
Appraisals, which I'm veryfamiliar with at the bank.
So essentially what it is, they dothe appraisal on spec.
They hold their database, forexample.
while you have been on site, well,this case was Royal Bank.
They would have done their blanketappraisal when they launched the
project.
And they valued each unit at X
amount.
And typically those blanket
appraisals, again, every bank'sdifferent.
So typically those blanketappraisals, if they're up to date,
you know, the value should bethere.
(26:46):
Okay.
Even though it's not really the
true value.
Right.
Really, in my opinion, I think alot of banks are at risk here.
I agree.
Because today's market value was
$300 ,000, for example.
Right.
And we've obviously done a blanketappraisal of 2021.
Right.
They're saying it's worth $450
,000.
Right.
Right.
That's a big spread, right?
So who's at risk here?It's for sure the bank taking on
the risk.
But not only that, think about it
this way, Mike.
The client is now leveraged.
Because the client wants to sell.
(27:07):
They're not going to be off their
mortgage.
not going to be off their
mortgage.
Right.
And I agree with you.
You know, they say maybe you kick
the can down the road a bit in acase like this.
Correct.
Like, I mean, and my client, you
know, he was buying as a rentalproperty.
So he already had it duringoccupancy was had it rented, but
doesn't make it okay.
(27:27):
But to your point, you know, if he
decides to sell and we've had thisconversation a year from now, 24
months now.
It might not be enough, but maybe
the silver lining, if you had topay out $140 ,000 today, if this
didn't have a blanket, maybe twoyears from now, if that's what he
wants to sell, he'll only have topay out $70 ,000.
(27:48):
So maybe half.
Now, I'm not saying the value
would be all there.
It may help mitigate.
maybe help mitigate.
For this specific scenario, it
worked out for the client.
Correct, correct.
It's worth exploring.
If you have clients or you're in
this situation, I think it's worthexploring if this is an option to
protect you.
Even again, like I said, to kick
that can down the road a bit, if Ihave to have a loss, and this is
(28:12):
what we're talking about, a lossin the real estate market, I'd
rather, you know, mitigate orlessen that loss.
And maybe this is a way of doingthat.
So I didn't know about that.
Yeah, again, every bank, the way
they do the break, do the break,the prison will be different.
I think... as you update theappraisals throughout the
duration, like maybe the value islower, and maybe the bank doesn't
(28:33):
evaluate it lower, but it's hardto say.
Yeah, you know, it's funny becauseif somebody's moving into a condo
and they're putting us 20 % down,you know, CMHC or one of the
insurers we had, Sagan or CarnegieMellon, seems to be approving
those values too, so maybe it'sthe same type of...
Blanket.
You can't get an insured mortgage
(28:53):
on a rental.
No, of course.
Of course.
And it's just only in specific
circumstances.
Yeah.
If it's the insurer or what?Yeah, yeah, yeah.
To your point, clients.
absorb some of that risk, but
they're absorbing it and theymight have to pay it down the
line.
So it's an interesting time.
And that's, you know, a sign ofthe times of what's happening with
the market.
But I will say, you know, you have
(29:13):
a lot of, I believe, realtorswithin your circle.
Their opinions on the market, whatare you saying about it?
Yeah, Yeah, I think a lot ofrealtors, again, there is
opportunity, right?So there is opportunity.
They are working hard.
Homes are selling.
So, you know, this is where youput your work in right now.
It's like working out in thewinter and then go in.
So I think you got to put yourwork in now and come full circle.
Yeah, So I think Yeah, I thinkit's important for folks to
remember, and I've said thisbefore, I believe part of a
(29:34):
problem in our industry, there'stoo many paper pushers and order
takers.
We must do our clients a favor and
provide counsel and advice.
As I will tell you, clients and
consumers out there are craving,craving counsel and advice because
to Jimmy's point.
the uncertainty that's existing in
the market.
Sensitive to the time, because I
know you have to be the secretstory guide today for your
daughter.
Yeah, I got to do that stuff.
Read two books for my daughter atschool.
(29:56):
So that's amazing.
So as we rise up, let me give you
a prediction.
Don't worry, I won't hold you
under the fire.
Between today is April 22nd.
This is recorded on April 11th.
Between April 11th and the end of
the year, what's your forecast oninterest rates in particular?
And I will sort of give you my twocents as well.
What do you see?I think Bank of Canada will
continue to drop my rate by theend of the year, Bank of Canada
(30:18):
will continue to drop my rate bythe end of the year, at least half
a percent.
By the end of the year, one of the
last reporting we had, inflationdid pick up a little bit.
I personally don't want rates togo too far down.
I think a good balance is good.
So I do see maybe about a half.
percent by the end of the year, atleast in a moment.
Obviously, what's going on intariffs and whatnot, if it really
(30:38):
impacts our industries and theauto industry, you know, steel and
people are starting to lose jobs,you know, then obviously, you
know, completely change.
They'll look on rates in general.
But I do think by the end of theyear, I think rates should all be
in the threes.
I think fixed rates, variable
rates, I think those should be inthe threes.
Who knows?Maybe anywhere from 1 to 3 .9,
(30:59):
depending on the term.
But I think they'll be in the
threes.
I think having a three in front of
your rate by the end of the yearis good.
Right.
We're almost there right now, the
variable.
Fair, no, fair.
One more drop.
I think the majority of the people
that are variables will be in thethrees.
Yeah, if you're in a prime minus,Yeah, if you're in a prime minus,
anywhere between prime minus 75 toprime minus 95, and there are
products out there, next weekthere's an announcement.
(31:20):
If there's a decrease, you'll bein the threes.
You know, my look on rates andwhere I think they're going to be.
And again, we're not holding eachother over the fire.
I think the prime lending ratewill be down anywhere between half
a percent, as Jimmy says, to about1%.
That's my range where I think it'sgoing to drop.
You're going to see that by theend of the year.
To this point, a lot of thetariffs and different things.
economic growth, unemployment.
(31:40):
We had the first loss of jobs
since 2022 in the job numbers.
And so that's the first time in a
very, very long time.
So that impacts the Bank of Canada
driving rates down.
So that's sort of my thought.
In closing, I think you're goingto revert back because people have
short memories.
The last four years, fixed rates
have been lower than variable.
(32:02):
But remember, historically
speaking, variables have alwaysbeen lower than fixed.
So you're going to see that forsure.
So I think to your point,variables will be mid threes, high
threes.
I think you won't see a huge
amount of movement on fixed, maybea little more down.
But I still think, yes, I think iswhat I'm saying.
So you took up a lot of time,Jimmy.
Thank you so much.
I want to extend our gratitude to
Jimmy Elemat, who is a dear friendof ours.
(32:23):
Thank you for being a guest.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, we're going to continueto grow old school, new world and
life and opportunity because thepurpose of what we do is to help
other young entrepreneurs who arelooking to get advice, guidance
and hear different informationfrom different people.
Thank you again, folks.
Really appreciate everyone for
tuning in.
Don't forget.
If you haven't done this yet,please remember to subscribe and
like so you can continue to followalong.
Help us build what we are doinghere at Old School New World.
We appreciate you.
Thank you so much.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.