CMP 15.07

MORTGAGEBROKERNEWS.CA ISSUE 15.07 | $12.95

2020 50 of the next big names in the Canadian mortgage industry A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS

Why a happy staff equals a prosperous brokerage

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MORE COMPETITION, MORE CHOICE What changes in mortgage insurance and credit report access mean for brokers

ARE EVICTION BANS THE ANSWER? How policies in Alberta and Ontario could affect commercial deals

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We’re heading your way!

(Now serving more lending areas within Ontario.)

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ISSUE 15.07

CONTENTS

20 SPECIAL REPORT

2020

From enterprising brokerage owners to up-and-coming underwriters, these 50 young professionals are making their mark on the mortgage industry

Why can’t your lenders be as creative as your architect?

With over $3 billion under administration and ready for immediate deployment, Romspen is a boutique non-bank mortgage lender specializing in commercial real estate in Canada and the US. For your financing of $10 million to $400 million we bring speed, agility, and a commitment to complex execution you will not find in larger institutions.

Blake Cassidy or Pierre Leonard | 800 494 0389 | www.romspen.com

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ISSUE 15.07

CONNECT WITH US Got a story or suggestion, or just want to find out some more information?

CONTENTS

08

twitter.com/CMPmagazine facebook.com/MortgageProfessionalCA

UPFRONT 04 Editorial

UPFRONT

12

COMMERCIAL UPDATE

Are eviction bans the best solution for commercial landlords’ and tenants’ economic woes?

UPFRONT

42

Why Equifax’s upcoming changes are a win for consumers – and brokers

06 Statistics

If the latest projections hold true, economic recovery is still a long way off

10 Alternative lending update How will CMHC’s raising of the minimum credit score for insured mortgages affect the market?

14 Opinion

What private lenders can do to prepare for potential defaults

PEOPLE 48 Other life

NEWS ANALYSIS

In the driver’s seat with broker and Camaro collector Anne Brill

Recent changes to mortgage insurance and credit report access have led to a surge in competition across the industry PEOPLE

PEOPLE

INDUSTRY ICON

For veteran broker Enza Venuto, personal satisfaction has proved to be an ample benchmark for professional success

16 2

THE TRUE MEASURE OF SUCCESS

By taking care of his staff, Derek Loose has built a brokerage that takes care of its clients

44

FEATURES

CHANGE YOUR LIFE WITH DELIBERATE ELIMINATION How to boost productivity by paring down to the essentials

MORTGAGEBROKERNEWS.CA CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

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UPFRONT

EDITORIAL

www.mortgagebrokernews.ca ISSUE 15.07

Consumer protection is always a good thing

T

he mortgage industry has been abuzz about the upcoming changes to how brokers and lenders access credit reports from Equifax. Starting September 14, brokers and lenders will have to become credentialed members of Equifax if they want to make inquiries of, and receive credit files from, the company. During a recent information session on the changes hosted

by Equifax and Filogix, it was clear that brokers still have numerous concerns that Equifax will need to address before September rolls around. But few questioned the need for the change – because it was long overdue.

Equifax identified a gap in the mortgage adjudication process that needs to be closed: Some brokers have been pulling credit files and sharing them with multiple lenders without posting the requisite inquiries to those consumers’ files.

Some were even sharing files with non-Equifax members or non-credentialed members of Equifax.

If Equifax’s changes to credit report access make Canadians more secure, it’s worth the short-term pain and confusion some brokers might be feeling now The only people who benefit from such behaviour are those few lazy, sloppy brokers. Their clients, unaware of what’s taking place behind their backs, certainly don’t benefit from having some of their most sensitive data accessed by people who have no reason to see it. At a time of massive data breaches – something Equifax is no stranger to – and diminishing trust in financial institutions, consumers need to have their financial data protected at every possible juncture.

If Equifax’s changes to credit report access make Canadians more secure, it’s worth the short-term pain and confusion some brokers might be feeling now. It’s a far better scenario than having a prospective borrower’s financial information make the rounds and fall into the wrong hands while the broker who shared it is allowed to repeat the error again and again.

CMP hopes brokers anxious about the changes will be able to see this win for borrowers as a win for themselves. Change is always unnerving, but there’s plenty of time for brokers who aren’t already up to speed to get themselves there before September 14. If confused clients can swallow their pride and call brokers directly with their questions about mortgage deferrals, brokers can probably find the time to pick up the phone and get answers from Equifax.

The team at Canadian Mortgage Professional

EDITORIAL Managing Editor Clayton Jarvis

SALES & MARKETING Vice-President, Sales John Mackenzie

Writers Ellen Burkhardt Ephraim Vecina Kasi Johnston

National Account Manager Corey Bahadur

Copy Editor Clare Alexander

Global Head of Communications Adrijana Monevska

Sales Executive Alan Stewart

CONTRIBUTORS

Project Coordinator Jessica Duce

Michael McWilliams Tamara Watson Aytekin Tank

CORPORATE

ART & PRODUCTION Designer Joenel Salvador Production Manager Alicia Chin Production Coordinator Kim Kandravy Advertising Coordinator Ella Dayandante

President & CEO Tim Duce Office/Traffic Manager Marni Parker Events and Conference Manager Chris Davis Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil Global CEO Mike Shipley Global COO George Walmsley

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES

clayton.jarvis@keymedia.com

SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES

tel: 416 644 8740 • fax: 416 203 8940 subscriptions@kmimedia.ca

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES

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KMI Publishing 20 Duncan Street, Suite 300, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8 tel: +1 416 644 8740 www.keymedia.com Offices in Toronto, Sydney, Denver, Auckland, London, Manila, Singapore, Seoul

Canadian Mortgage Professional is part of an international family of B2B publications, websites and events for the real estate and mortgage industries MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL AUSTRALIA rebecca.pike@keymedia.com T +61 2 8437 4787

MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL AMERICA katie.wolpa@keymedia.com T +1 720 316 7423

Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as the magazine can accept no responsibility for loss

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UPFRONT

STATISTICS

New signs of stress

THE COVID-19 CREDIT CRUNCH Canada could be heading toward a wave of insolvencies, TransUnion warned in May, after analyzing personal, credit card, home and auto loan data. Notably, between the four potential scenarios facing Canadian borrowers – base, mild, medium and severe – TransUnion had previously projected that Canada was on track for the medium scenario, but the organization now believes the severe scenario is the most probable.

Recent data and projections have made it clear that neither the economy nor the housing market are out of the woods yet ONLY A month ago, signals of impending economic recovery weren’t hard to find. But now, with unemployment in Canada still above 12% and the US stumbling its way into a second wave of coronavirus infections, the possibility of COVID-19 proving itself more resilient than the economy is all too real.

What happens in the next few months, as mortgage deferrals come to an end and

$1.68 trillion

federal and provincial aid for small businesses dries up, will be critical in determining what Canada’s recovery looks like. When Canadians are left to fend for themselves again, there are plenty of signs – from significant projected house price declines in the country’s largest cities to new modelling that foretells a dangerous number of mortgage delinquencies – that they may not be up to the task.

743,000

Mortgage debt owed by Canadians in May

90%

Deferrals reported by 13 major lenders as of June 24

450,000

Success rate of deferral applications

Applications for credit card deferrals as of June 24 Source: Canadian Bankers Association

HOW LOW CAN HOUSE PRICES GO?

UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS A PROBLEM After spiking in May, unemployment has levelled off somewhat.

But the job market has a long way to go before it recovers the stability seen before COVID-19, which the Conference Board of Canada doesn’t expect to happen until 2021.

NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

This year could see the largest recession-driven house price drop in history, according to recent projections from National Bank of Canada. The bank is forecasting a 9.8% fall in prices nationwide, with significantly larger declines in Canada’s two largest cities.

DECLINE IN CANADIAN REAL ESTATE PRICES Actual

14%

12%

12%

10%

10%

8%

8%

6%

6%

4%

4%

2%

2% 0%

5.5%

5.6%

7.8%

13.0%

13.7%

12.3%

January

February

March

April

May

June

0%

1981

1991 2008 National

2020-2021 National

2020-2021 Toronto

2020-2021 Vancouver

2020-2021 Calgary

2020-2021 Montreal Source: National Bank of Canada

Source: Statistics Canada

6

Projected

14%

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CANADIAN DEBT: BEST- AND WORST-CASE FORECASTS OF CHANGE BY Q3 2020

50%

Auto finance

40%

20%

Home Personal Credit loans loans cards

DELINQUENCY RATES Auto finance

20%

15%

SEVERE SCENARIO

Home Personal Credit loans loans cards

AVERAGE BALANCE SEVERE SCENARIO

MILD SCENARIO

ORIGINATION VOLUME

200%

Auto finance

200%

180% 160%

30% 10%

20%

20%

12%

12%

1%

5%

3%

0%

9%

140%

10%

6%

0%

-10%

4%

120% 100%

-1%

1%

-16%

55%

-10% 40%

-11%

-50%

-15%

MILD SCENARIO

-43%

MILD SCENARIO

-30% -35%

57%

60%

-7%

-40%

79%

80%

-5%

-20%

SEVERE SCENARIO

Home Personal Credit loans loans cards

-20%

38%

20% 0%

11%

8%

7% Source: TransUnion

HELOCs PUSHED TO THE BRINK

MOST ONTARIANS WILLING TO WAIT

During an economic crunch like this, home equity lines of credit can be a lifesaver for homeowners. But recent figures from the Bank of Canada reveal that many homeowners had already reached their HELOC limits prior to COVID-19. By the fourth quarter of 2019, 30% of homeowners had used half or more of their available HELOC funds.

An overwhelming majority of prospective buyers told the Ontario Real Estate Association in May that they’re putting their home-buying plans on hold at least until COVID-19 passes – but the number of multiple offers taking place in markets across the province suggests some of them may have had a change of heart.

WHEN DO ONTARIANS PLAN TO PURCHASE A HOME?

PROPORTION OF AVAILABLE HELOC FUNDS USED, Q4 2019 17% 5% 4% 4%

45%

4% 4% 5%

5%

7%

0-10% 10-20% 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% 90-100% Source: Bank of Canada

Not sure at this time

As soon as the pandemic is over

In the next few months, even if the pandemic is ongoing

74% 21%

0%

5%

100% Source: Ontario Real Estate Association/Nanos

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

Competition heats up From the insurance divide to a rivalry between back-end platforms, summer has brought increased competition – and choice – to the mortgage industry

MORE COMPETITION is a welcome sight in any marketplace. New players, or fresh initiatives by old ones, force companies to up their game or risk falling a step behind while their competitors are taking massive leaps forward. Consumers, though, are the real beneficiaries when competition intensifies.

Having more choice improves their chances of finding the right solution while also potentially lowering their anxiety levels and increasing their sense of ownership over their financial decisions.

To the benefit of brokers, lenders and homebuyers, the Canadian mortgage landscape has become a little more competitive this summer, with two events taking centre stage.

management framework, its dynamic underwriting policies and processes, and its ongoing monitoring of conditions and market developments allow it to prudently adjudicate and manage its mortgage insurance exposure, including its exposure to this segment of borrowers with lower credit scores or higher debt service ratios,” Genworth Canada president and CEO Stuart Levings said in a statement.

Canada Guaranty issued a similar statement, maintaining that “our underwriting policies are consistently updated to reflect evolving economic environments and emerging mortgage default patterns. This philosophy has resulted in the lowest loss ratio in the industry.”

The company went on to question the logic

“[Competition] definitely helps the consumer, and it helps the broker because there’s more choice” Jimmy Hansra, Centum FairTrust On July 1, CMHC’s new underwriting rules came into effect, stipulating that borrowers must have a Beacon score of 680 and more favourable debt service ratios in order to receive a CMHC-insured mortgage. But CMHC’s competitors in the mortgage insurance space, Genworth Canada and Canada Guaranty, have refused to follow the Crown corporation’s lead.

“Genworth Canada believes that its risk

8

of CMHC’s lowering of debt service ratios, arguing they are not “a significant predictor of mortgage defaults.”

According to Jimmy Hansra, broker-owner of Centum FairTrust, CMHC’s tighter guidelines might end up working in its competitors’ favour by driving first-time buyers their way.

“It’s great for borrowers. It’s great for brokers, too,” Hansra says. “CMHC has programs that

Genworth doesn’t have, and Genworth has specific mortgage programs that CMHC doesn’t have. Canada Guaranty is a nice little niche mix in there, too. When you have good people like that out in the market, it definitely helps the consumer, and it helps the broker because there’s more choice. You always want your clients and your lenders to have more choice.”

Competition also has increased around credit reports. Earlier this year, Equifax announced that it would be working closely with Filogix to implement new requirements for lenders and brokers who want to request and receive a borrower’s credit report. Originally slated for a July 1 rollout that has since been pushed back to September 14, the EquifaxFilogix dynamic duo was met by a similar partnership between Newton Connectivity Systems and TransUnion. In late June, the two companies announced they would be offering free credit reports for the remainder of 2020 to Canadian brokers who leverage

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WHAT’S CHANGING WITH EQUIFAX? The changes to Equifax’s rules around requesting and accessing credit reports will go into effect on September 14. When that happens: All lenders must have an identifying member number with Equifax to continue to receive credit reports from brokers Brokers can only share Equifax information with credentialed lenders Brokers must sign Equifax’s amended contracts to be able to obtain credit reports through connector platforms

Newton’s Velocity platform.

“In the mortgage brokerage channel, there’s always been one player, and that’s Equifax,” says Newton president and CEO Geoff Willis,

to know that they have more than one choice.”

Willis believes the Newton/TransUnion promo will create a more robust service offering and a more innovative market that will benefit

“We want to change the dynamic. We want to get people to know that they have more than one choice” Geoff Willis, Newton Connectivity Systems who expects the company’s offer to save brokers a total of approximately $2 million. “We want to change the dynamic. We want to see more competition. I don’t think it’s really ever a good idea to have one choice. I think also, because we’ve seen some failures on the part of outages by both Equifax and Filogix, you feel very vulnerable when you have a ‘single point of failure’ in an industry. We want to get people

both brokers and lenders. In addition to the promotion, he and his team are pushing lenders that still don’t use TransUnion data to accommodate the firm’s reporting.

Willis says Newton chose to partner with TransUnion because of its reputation as an industry up-and-comer. The promotion is an effort to change the behaviour of brokers, who Willis says often pick the report before they

Brokers who have questions or uncertainty around the changes should reach out to Equifax or Filogix immediately. According to Filogix’s Ryan Spence, the paperwork involved could take some time to clear, so waiting for clarity and then expecting a rapid response might not be the wise move.

Brokers can contact Filogix Expert support (800-732-5638), Filogix Express support (866-277-9773) or Equifax Global Business Services (877-227-8800) for more information.

pick a lender. He’s confident that a free report from TransUnion will get brokers to flip that order, especially as they prepare for Equifax’s rule changes.

Filogix’s Ryan Spence agrees that anything that provides brokers with an increased ability to do business their own way is a step in the right direction.

“More choice is better,” he says, adding that Newton and Filogix, rather than viewing each other as rivals, share much of the same infrastructure. “We’re less concerned with who uses what at the other end. Our concern is if we have good connectivity to ensure that the transaction flows well and that, whoever you are in that system, you have a good, efficient transaction.”

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UPFRONT

ALTERNATIVE LENDING UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Ontario credit union partners with CMLS Financial

DUCA Financial Services Credit Union has selected CMLS Financial as its preferred mortgage partner. The deal will bring CMLS Financial’s proprietary technology and customer-forward service model to DUCA’s mortgage broker partners and nearly 80,000 members across the GTA and central Ontario. DUCA SVP Phil Taylor said the credit union chose to partner with CMLS based on its “impressive servicing track record, advanced technical ability, deep experience and strong brand reputation among its peers.”

Mortgage Automator integrates with Filogix

A new partnership between Filogix and private-lending-focused software provider Mortgage Automator is making it easier for private lenders to receive information securely, efficiently and compliantly. The integration of the two software platforms means that when a broker submits a deal using Filogix Expert or any of the Filogix Marketplace’s POS systems to a lender that uses Mortgage Automator, the deal specifics will be automatically created in the lender’s Automator account, boosting their operational efficiency. “This partnership is giving peace of mind to all parties,” said Mortgage Automator co-founder Joseph Fooks.

Non-bank lenders have been left out of federal assistance

COVID-19-related federal assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses has largely bypassed non-bank lenders, according to the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association, which is calling for

fewer restrictions on the government’s Business Credit Availability Program.

Currently, lenders in the program must have a minimum senior secured portfolio of $100 million and at least seven years of loan portfolio results, among other requirements. Canadian Finance and Leasing Association CEO Michael Rothe called on the Department of Finance to “remove the last hurdles for independent finance companies” to take part in the program.

Bridging Finance to sell 11% of loans to boost liquidity

One of Canada’s largest private lenders is planning to sell as much as 11% of its portfolio to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting funds will be a welcome respite for Bridging Finance, which froze redemptions in April. “We are selling some loans at par value to improve liquidity,” said Bridging Finance CEO David Sharpe. “We are doing it in a prudent fashion, as we need to keep cash on hand for the revolvers and for foreign-exchange effects, and once we are comfortable with our liquidity, we will lift the gating of the funds.”

Reverse mortgage activity likely to intensify later this year

Demand for reverse mortgages will likely accelerate in September or October when the big banks’ six-month payment deferral programs begin tapering off, according to Yvonne Ziomecki, EVP of marketing and sales at HomeEquity Bank, who believes much of this pent-up demand will come from older business owners or seniors who have previously bet on the stock market. “These people need to find a way to get through three to six months and then figure out if they’re going to be able to stay in business or get a job,” Ziomecki told Global News.

What effect will the new CMHC rules have?

Industry players warn that borrowers could suffer from CMHC’s move to raise the minimum credit score for insured mortgages When CMHC rolled out new underwriting guidelines on June 4, the move kicked off a storm of criticism, confusion and anxiety in the mortgage industry, particularly surrounding the increase in the minimum credit score (from 600 to 680) required for insured mortgages.

“The credit score is an imperfect measure,” says Dominion Lending Centres chief economist Dr. Sherry Cooper. “I know from personal experience that it has nothing to do with your income or wealth. If you have a lot of credit available to you on your cards, even if you don’t use it, it lowers your score.”

However, Matt Fabian, director of financial services research and consulting at TransUnion, has a more forgiving view of the changes.

“I don’t think it’s a significant or controversial shift,” he says, “because if you look at the total population of mortgages that we track, only about 8% are under 680. And a bunch of them, at the time they were originated, might have been above 680 and just dropped down.”

Even though the new minimum credit score has been raised more than 13%, Fabian doesn’t see it impacting that many potential buyers.

“It’s a significant shift, but I don’t think it represents a massive chunk of the mortgage population,” he says, estimating that “5% to 10% of total mortgage applicants” will be shut out of the market by the new standard. “It’s going to disqualify a certain segment, but

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depending on an individual lender’s risk appetite, they may not want them in their portfolio from a mortgage perspective anyway.”

It’s not only those with bad credit who will be squeezed further to the margins; Canadians with short credit histories will be hit hard.

Both groups have long been the bread and butter of alternative lenders willing to look beyond credit score.

“The credit score is an imperfect measure” “Everybody has a story,” Hansra says, pointing out that those new to the country and attempting to establish themselves will inevitably be subject to a high number of credit inquiries. “Your credit score’s going to go down because you have all of these credit inquiries, not necessarily because you have bad credit. All of a sudden, your score can drop from 800 to 660. You’re not seeking credit, you’re just trying to establish yourself in a new country.”

TransUnion research suggests that new Canadians tend to perform as well or better than established Canadians. “A lot of the big lenders have new-to-Canada programs,” Fabian says. “Some of the rules and products are adjusted to reflect that, so there are opportunities and options for this population.”

He adds that consumers with Beacon scores of below 680 can bring them up relatively easily by making payments and monitoring their credit for any forgotten, lingering debt.

“It’s not a huge leap for consumers to migrate forward,” he says. “In a given quarter, we see anywhere from 15% to 20% of consumers move up in risk tiers.”

Q&A

Kyle Green Owner DLC HOMELINE MORTGAGES

A tough spot for alternative borrowers How has your business been doing recently?

Years in the industry 13+ Fast fact Green has been working in the mortgage industry since he was just 19 years old

We have actually been up about 30% to 50% in volume. We cut expenses and have increased revenue, which has resulted in higher profitability for the company. Our team culture has been very strong through this, and my team has done a very good job of being selfless for the greater good of the company, which I am very thankful for.

What impact has the pandemic had on your operations, and on your alternative mortgages in particular?

We made a large push towards refinancing. When COVID-19 hit full steam in mid-March, we called the database and found about $15 million to $20 million in new refinance business, which has buoyed the business during a time when there were fewer sales.

Since mid-May, however, purchase volume picked right back up, and as our refinances were closing, new purchases started to flood the pipeline, keeping us very steady, which has been nice.

We found that the alternative space had a fair shift as loanto-values shrank for most lenders, especially private. We relied a bit more heavily on our stable of private investors, who didn’t necessarily cut back as much as the MICs did – although we did have a lot of private investors who also completely stepped on the brakes, too.

How have your alternative mortgage clients been faring in this environment?

Those who are not earning an income are jumping right from A to private lending, and there’s some sticker shock associated with that. High stress due to the loss of their income – and now the looming thought of also losing their homes – has been tough for a lot of these clients.

I find it important to get off of the rate and talk about the emotional impact of taking a small second mortgage just to relieve their stress and let them focus on pivoting their business or finding a new job or possibly career. Yes, 12% sounds astronomical, but when you position this as a safety blanket or a Band-Aid that can be ripped off – hopefully in one year by ensuring the clients’ credit is preserved during this time – it makes them feel a lot better that they aren’t going to get stuck paying 12% forever.

What do you think sets DLC Homeline Mortgages apart from other brokerages?

We really try to educate our brokers and our clients on what the benefits of refinancing are. Too often, we all get caught up in the interest cost but don’t look at the tertiary benefits. We created a spreadsheet that helps us run numbers on the cost versus benefit of refinancing and paying out high-interest debt, which really puts things into perspective for the client in an easy-to-digest way.

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UPFRONT

COMMERCIAL UPDATE

Will eviction bans really help?

Provincial policies are meant to prop up commercial tenants, but landlords are likely to struggle further

nor specific payment guidelines, leaving landlords and tenants to essentially fend for themselves in deciding the terms of rent repayment.

“It’s important to emphasize that both commercial landlords and their tenants are facing unprecedented circumstances,” said Tanya Fir, Alberta’s economic development, trade and tourism minister. “Landlords are also struggling. So we have to also help ensure that landlords don’t miss out on deferred rent by requiring that landlords and tenants work

“Commercial landlords and their tenants are facing unprecedented circumstances. Landlords are also struggling”

In late June, businesses in Ontario received a measure of relief when the provincial government approved a ban on commercial evictions until the end of August. The province’s ban reverses evictions and is applicable to businesses that qualify for federal and provincial rent assistance from May 1 until August 31.

“We know COVID-19 has had a significant impact on small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy,” said Steve Clark, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing. “This legislation will allow us

NEWS BRIEFS

to protect small businesses and help them get back on their feet so they can continue to create jobs and participate in the rebuilding of the provincial economy.”

The situation isn’t as clear-cut in Alberta, which has also introduced legislation that would ban commercial evictions until August 31 for tenants who have suffered revenue losses of more than 25%, have been forced to close or whose landlords did not apply for federal rental support. However, the Alberta policy has no provisions for rent reductions

RBC warns of imminent tenant exodus

The commercial real estate market will likely lose a significant portion of its tenant base as small businesses are forced to go online to survive COVID-19’s economic impact, according to a June analysis by RBC Economics. Dawn Desjardins, deputy chief economist at RBC, told the Financial Post that businesses must adapt to the reality of exclusively remote operations. RBC warned in its report that “to be unprepared for a very different kind of recovery could be just as costly as the unprecedented collapse.”

together to develop a rent payment plan for missed payments.”

However, John Duda, president of real estate management services at Colliers Canada, believes that eviction bans are unlikely to help in the long run.

“There aren’t a lot of new tenants out there, so landlords aren’t running out there trying to evict people,” Duda told Yahoo Finance. “It’s a last resort. It’s always the last resort. What we think this actually does do is the tenants who were doing badly before [COVID-19] and are simply doing way worse now, it means the inevitable is just going to get delayed. At the end of the day, the landlords want people to be paying rent.”

COVID-19 could force significant retail closures

Around 10% of retail tenants are expected to permanently close their businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Colliers International. Seventy-four per cent of retailers told the commercial real estate firm that they are exploring new sales tactics; 41% are considering online operations. “We expect the trend around permanent closures to increase, given the slow recovery in consumer demand and limitations created by physical distancing,” said Colliers Canada SVP Jane Domenico.

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Q&A

Bill Argeropoulos Principal and practice leader, research (Canada) AVISON YOUNG

Years in the industry 32 Fast fact Argeropoulos is a longstanding member of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association and the research advisory committee of the Real Property Association of Canada

The prospects for the office sector How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the office segment of the commercial real estate market?

One of the biggest revelations that has come from this is that we’ve all used technology to work from home – some have been able to do it better than others – but a lot of that was already happening gradually for some industries and occupations, and this just accelerated the process. The experience has been a real eye-opener for both employees and employers, and this is where the great debate is going to ensue: How much office space do we really need to function?

Everyone has an opinion – for every article that says the office is dead as a concept, there seems to be another that says firms will require more space to meet distancing requirements. At the end of the day, people are social creatures, and they crave some sort of face-to-face contact. The specifics of how we use office space may change, especially in the short term, but I think there will still be demand, and some firms will see opportunity.

What commercial market trends should brokers be on the lookout for in the coming weeks and months?

Sublease space is already on the rise as some firms have been directly impacted by the pandemic, but in tight markets like downtown Toronto and Vancouver, the addition of some sublease space to the market makes more deals possible. Some firms may take

Property owners demand better COVID-19 support

A newly formed advocacy group, the National Coalition of Commercial Property Owners, is calling for changes in how commercial landlords receive assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program makes it harder to collect rent and cover their obligations. The organization is instead advocating for direct financial support to small business owners, a system already in place in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Office space demand won’t just disappear

the opportunity to upgrade their premises, while others may see the chance to enter the market for the first time.

Another potential impact for the Canadian office sector in the longer term could be an increase in the use of decentralized office locations as a strategy.

Where, in the past, employees lived in the suburbs and came downtown to work, they may no longer be willing or able due to issues with public transit or other dense and crowded areas in downtowns. It’s possible that some firms may choose to establish additional suburban satellite locations to allow staff to drive to an office closer to home – which could spread office demand more evenly across metropolitan regions.

From your vantage point, how is the market managing in light of the many stressors brought on by COVID-19?

I think it’s still too early to tell how the market is coping because of an extended period where everything was ‘on hold’ and the different pace of reopening across the country. Everyone will be watching the markets that reopen first to see what happens – and everyone has to be ready to be nimble and flexible because previous processes and protocols may need to be adjusted as we go forward.

There is no precedent for how we are supposed to experience the next 100 days of this, so all we can do is watch the progress of others who are further along in the recovery.

Even though companies have been forced to embrace remote work to combat the spread of COVID-19, the pre-pandemic office paradigm is here to stay, according to Luciano D’Iorio of Cushman & Wakefield, who believes that employers who want to attract a steady stream of millennial and Gen Z workers will still need to provide office space, even if it’s on a part-time basis. “I think, in the long run, there’s going to be a mix of people who want to work from home and groups who want to work in the office,” he said.

Resumption of rent collection might be delayed

Commercial rent collection won’t immediately resume at its previous pace, even after businesses have reopened, according to Colliers Canada.

The commercial real estate firm said in June that it “anticipates a lag of six weeks between reopening dates and an uptick in collections due to businesses and consumers taking time to assess the situation as conditions start to return to normal,” adding that “rent collection deteriorated by 1% in March, 10% in April and 13% in May from February’s baseline.”

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14/07/2020 4:14:39 AM

UPFRONT

OPINION

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email mortgagebrokernews@kmimedia.ca

Preparing for the storm A wave of mortgage defaults and declining home prices is on the horizon – and private lenders need to act now to protect their portfolios, write Michael McWilliams and Tamara Watson IF MORTGAGE loans are ships at sea, they are locked on a course that’s taking them directly into a storm. Reports released since COVID-19 hit the Canadian economy tell us that this storm – a nauseating combination of rising mortgage defaults and crashing real estate prices – is coming.

This knowledge leaves mortgage lenders with three questions: What should they do to prepare? How should they navigate the situation? And will their investments survive?

Early warnings of mortgage defaults arrived shortly after COVID-19. In April, a Dart & Maru/Blue survey found that one in 10 Canadian mortgage holders believed they would soon default. A majority of Canadians also believed that housing prices would depreciate in the months to come.

In May, CMHC CEO Evan Siddall warned the country that a growing debt “deferral cliff ” is looming in the fall, when borrowers will have to start paying their mortgages again after a six-month respite. When the deferred debt comes due, as much as 20% of mortgages could be in arrears. Soon after, the Bank of Canada echoed Siddall’s warning in a financial system review released on May 26.

The risk of default is compounded by falling real estate prices. According to the experts, Canadian housing prices are set to fall by between 9% and 18%. A full return to pre-COVID-19 levels is not expected before the end of 2022.

Thanks to two decades of low unemployment and rising real estate values, many

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private lenders have never experienced a default. If they have, the borrower has typically been able to remedy the default or refinance the mortgage loan before enforcement became necessary.

Mortgage lenders can take practical steps to protect their loan investments before they are lost at sea. While no amount of planning can guarantee that a determined borrower

sufficiently ensures repayment of the loan.

Factors will include an assessment of the current value of the property, the position the mortgage is in, whether the property generates income, whether an assignment of rents was provided and whether any personal guarantees were given. A lender that is not in first position should consider how much equity might be available if the property is sold and what it will do if there is a shortfall.

Second and subsequent mortgagees might also wish to consider whether they have or can get enough capital to pay out prior mortgage lenders to get control of the mortgage enforcement process.

Third, work with knowledgeable legal counsel to develop a mortgage enforcement strategy. Several remedies are available; there’s no simple answer to the question of which one will be most effective. In every case, the lender must weigh the merits of all available remedies with the help of experienced legal counsel.

As housing prices fall, distressed borrowers will have limited ability to refinance a mortgage in default. Some highly

“Mortgage lenders can improve the odds of reaching safe harbour with strategic preparation and sound advice” will not bring endless motions or break the locks to re-enter the property, lenders can mitigate much of the risk related to mortgage enforcement through preparation.

First, assess the likelihood that the borrower will default on the loan. Gather all available information about the borrower from the mortgage application, publicly available documents and even from the borrower themselves. If a borrower has lost a job or had to shut down a business, the lender needs to know. For corporate borrowers, obtain an updated corporation profile report to see if the corporation has been dissolved. If it has, the land securing its mortgage loan may become vested in the Crown, and the lender will face a special set of challenges.

Second, determine whether the security

leveraged borrowers will choose to walk away from real estate investments once their equity dwindles down to nothing. Compared to recent decades, we can expect more contested proceedings and difficult choices about the best remedy.

The good news is that mortgage lenders can improve the odds of reaching safe harbour with strategic preparation and sound advice.

The storm is coming. The time to prepare is already here.

Michael McWilliams is a partner and head of the commercial litigation group at law firm Loopstra Nixon.

Tamara Watson is a student-at-law at Loopstra Nixon who will be called to the bar in 2020.

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14/07/2020 4:15:12 AM

PEOPLE

INDUSTRY ICON

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Enza Venuto has found enviable success in the mortgage industry by building her brokerage around the simple guiding principle of knowing when enough is enough

DESPITE STEERING one of Centum’s busiest mortgage brokerages through Canada’s most anxiety-ridden real estate market, Centum InTouch Mortgage Solutions owner Enza Venuto exudes a kind of motherly, pragmatic serenity that makes anyone she’s speaking to feel utterly protected.

So it’s little surprise that Venuto’s clients keep coming back – they know that when they step into the InTouch office, their needs become hers.

Venuto’s approach is best described as one based on satisfaction – her own. She realized early in her career that she does her best work when she’s happy with her level of success.

That might be anathema to many brokers: Why would you be happy with where you are today if you can close an extra deal tomorrow?

But for Venuto, that endless drive for more that so many brokers maintain even after establishing highly successful businesses is a sign that their lives might be lacking something more important than loan volume.

“You can have all the money in the world, you can have all the glamour in the world, but if you’re not happy, what’s the point?” she says.

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The golden handshake It would be unfair to expect a broker new to the game to share Venuto’s relatively Zen perspective. She herself came to the broker channel after a 25-year career in retail banking, where she concentrated on helping blue-collar clients pursue their dreams of homeownership.

a month would be enough. Anything more than that would be a bonus.

That’s the same outlook she’s asked her staff at InTouch to adopt: Decide what level of income you’ll be happy with and then work toward that. Don’t overreach, and don’t sacrifice your personal life for money.

“You can have all the money in the world, you can have all the glamour in the world, but if you’re not happy, what’s the point?”

When CIBC bid Venuto farewell in 2000, she had no intention of leaving those clients behind.

Within weeks of leaving the bank, she was working as a mortgage agent and laying the groundwork for her first brokerage.

It was in these early days that Venuto formed her surprisingly rare ‘enough is enough’ philosophy around earnings. As her family’s primary breadwinner, her goal was simply to maintain the same level of income she had enjoyed at CIBC. She calculated that four or five mortgages

Rather than limiting her agents’ growth, Venuto has found that asking them to work within reasonable parameters has allowed them to dedicate themselves entirely to the clients they have. As far as business models go, you could do a lot worse than one that has created scores of successful brokers and thousands of loyal clients.

“It’s all about what you want to achieve,” she says. “I wanted to be all about making a good living.”

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PROFILE Name: Enza Venuto Title: Owner/principal broker Company: Centum InTouch Mortgage Solutions Based in: Vaughan, Ontario Years in the industry: 45+ Fast fact: Has brokered more than $2.1 billion worth of mortgages

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14/07/2020 4:15:47 AM

PEOPLE

INDUSTRY ICON

Part of making a living that she was both happy with and proud of involved targeting business-for-self clients, still one of the most credit-challenged populations in Canada and still one of Venuto’s specialties. At CIBC, she saw firsthand how many independent business owners struggled to secure funding. Once her first brokerage, Centum Finding the Right Mortgage, was ready to roll, Venuto immediately began courting business-for-self clients, promoting herself as the broker to call when the banks say no.

In addition to the satisfaction that comes from pulling off difficult deals, Venuto knew that succeeding with BFS borrowers would result in steady business. “Those clients will keep you for life,” she says.

as a broker, Venuto still runs what is very much a family business. She works side by side with her sons, Claudio and Anthony, as part of a small team that allows her to get involved in every deal the brokerage does.

That contact is critically important for Venuto, and it’s a major reason why InTouch has remained modest in size. As a brokerage grows, the distance between its owner and its clients tends to expand. That wouldn’t do for Venuto, who works with one or both of her sons on every InTouch loan.

“I get to know what’s happening every moment – not just through the CRM,” she says. “That’s why I stayed small. It’s about the communication.”

Running a boutique brokerage has its

“I get to know what’s happening every moment – not just through the CRM. That’s why I stayed small. It’s about the communication” Business-for-self deals often aren’t the most attractive to new brokers. Getting to know the ins and outs of a BFS client’s story can seem painfully time-consuming for someone rushing to build up a client base, and it’s a tall order for anyone lacking the proper training. But it’s a clientele Venuto says mortgage professionals would be wise to cater to, as their loyalty and willingness to provide referrals helped her generate $10 million worth of business in her first year. To date, she has brokered more than $2 billion in mortgages.

Size doesn’t matter That total would be even higher if Venuto had felt a need to keep expanding, but her dedication to being the best has never required being the biggest. Twenty years into her career

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challenges, but a lack of business hasn’t been one of them. Venuto closes between 15 and 20 deals a month, most of which come from referrals or repeat clients. There’s no battle between quality and quantity at InTouch – Venuto learned long ago that you can’t have one without first delivering the other.

Building a brokerage around the concept of happiness might be a tough sell in today’s competitive, cynical, expand-or-expire business environment. But Venuto’s ongoing success makes a strong case that there is power in being content.

“I don’t study other models of business at all,” she says. “But I wouldn’t make any changes because I’ve always done the same thing. At the end of the day, it’s what works for me and what makes me happy.”

ENZA VENUTO’S INDUSTRY ACCOLADES

Named a Centum Diamond Agent and a Centum Emerald Office in 2018 and 2019

Named to CMP ’s Top 75 Brokers list for nine consecutive years

Three-time member of CMP ’s Women of Influence list and four-time member of CMP’s Hot List

Nominated four times for Broker of the Year (Fewer Than 25 Employees) at the Canadian Mortgage Awards

www.mortgagebrokernews.ca

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14/07/2020 4:15:49 AM

Brought to you by

AUGUST 27, 2020

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINALISTS The selection of individuals and organizations across 20 categories are a true representation of excellence in the mortgage industry for their outstanding achievements, innovation and leadership over the past year.

CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS Join hundreds of your industry peers as we celebrate your successes and reveal the big winners at the celebratory awards show on August 27.

For more information, visit:

canadianmortgageawards.com

Brought to you by

Publications

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Organizer

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14/07/2020 4:15:55 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS

2020 CMP highlights 50 of the Canadian mortgage industry’s most promising young professionals THERE ARE myriad things that make a mortgage professional extraordinary. Some are tangible: number of deals closed, volume of mortgages funded. Others are intangible: the advice and mentorship given to up-and-coming professionals, the depth of care put into each client and application, truly going above and beyond instead of just using the phrase as a catchy slogan.

This year has done no favours for mortgage professionals. As the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world and threw life as usual to the wayside, agents, brokers, business development managers and brokerage owners had to find a way to pivot to continue serving

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their clients. And many did – including several mortgage professionals who were less than two years into their careers. The 50 Rising Stars on the following pages – all age 35 or younger – not only adapted to the unknown; they took hold of it and made it work for them and their clients.

While each of these 50 young professionals had their own reasons for entering the industry – from being inspired by a family member to falling into the opportunity via an internship – all of them are in it now for at least one common reason: to better the lives of those they serve.

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RISING STARS INDEX NAME

COMPANY

PAGE

Matthew Ablakan

Millennial's Choice Mortgages

30

Johnson Andrews

VINE Group/Mortgage Alliance

24

Chris Bargis

Mortgage Edge

24

Prera Bhatia

DLC Elite Lending Corp.

32

Rodney Biggar

The Mortgage Centre – We Connect

35

Chris Candusso

Capital Lending Centre

41

William Chan

DLC Elite Lending Corp.

37

Xenos Chan

DLC First Pacific Mortgage

30

David Clarke

Clarke Mortgage Group TMG

23

Ryan Dennahower

Bespoke Mortgage Group

41

Herjit Driver

Driver Mortgages/ Mortgage Architects A Better Way

30

Maxium Dsouza

Clover Mortgage

23

Richard Earles

DLC Valley Financial Specialists

34

Catherine Ellis

Mortgages by Catherine/ Verico Xeva Mortgage

25

Warda Fatima

First National Excalibur

24

Daniel Finkelberg

DLC Clear Trust Mortgages

36

Stephanie Gagnon-Hume

KeyRate Corp.

29

Nicole George

APlus Mortgage Group/ Mortgage Alliance

33

Connor Green

Concierge Mortgage Group/ Mortgage Intelligence

Kyle Green

NAME

COMPANY

PAGE

Royalty Financial, powered by Muhammad Aamir Khalique DLC Producers West Financial

28

Stephanie Kowalew

Multi-Prêts Commercial

34

Chris Kyrou

Mountainview Mortgage

35

Janice Lee

DLC Clear Trust Mortgages

39

Ryan MacNeil

Graysbrook Capital

27

Alex Marshall

Magenta Capital Corporation

29

Jason McKague

Invis

22

Stefan McMillan

Centum Supreme Mortgage

23

George Neufeld

DLC Mortgage Excellence

35

Ben Oakes

DLC YBM Group

40

Paul Occhiuto

DLC Clear Trust Mortgages

41

Leslie Penney

East Coast Mortgage Brokers

38

Pratheesan Rathnapala

Equitable Bank

38

Andrew Real

Equitable Bank

32

Graham Reimer

DLC Mortgage Excellence

26

Anna Shcherbatykh

DLC Edge Financial

31

Ryan W. Smith

House & Home Mortgage Co.

22

Mich Sneddon

DLC Edge Financial

26

40

Taylor Stitski

YourMortgageYourWay.ca

33

Green Mortgage Team and Greenwealth Capital

39

Stephen Thomas

Mortgage Alliance

29

Sunny Grewal

Everything Mortgages

39

Vincent Tong

Signature Mortgages, a division of DLC Clear Trust Mortgages

28

Cyrus Habibi

Premiere Mortgage Centre

36

Scott Trainor

TMG Airport Drive

28

Cole Hennig

DLC Plan B Mortgage Services

36

Tyler Trompetter

W.R. Mortgage Architects

32

Jeff Ingram

Ingram Mortgage Team/ DLC Canadian Mortgage Experts

34

Corey Wicks

Verico Xeva Mortgage

26

Maya Kaaki

DLC The Mortgage Source

22

Okhtay Yousefzadeh

DLC Mortgage Evolution

38

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS MAYA KAAKI Mortgage agent DLC The Mortgage Source Location: Ottawa, ON Age: 24

Growing up, Maya Kaaki watched her father build a successful mortgage business from scratch. “Watching my dad work so hard and be so passionate about the industry was the biggest inspiration for me,” she says. “He was always adamant that my brother and I do something that we love and feel passionately about, and that’s how I found my way into the mortgage industry.”

Since she started as a mortgage agent in early 2019, Kaaki has been an integral part of DLC The Mortgage Source’s business, maximizing efficiency, modernizing systems and building new business relationships.

Her top priority has been learning and staying up to date with all of the changes that are happening in the industry so she can best help her clients and community. In her first year as an agent, Kaaki was recognized with the Rising Star Award for mortgage sales within her brokerage, as well as the New to DLC Award.

RYAN W. SMITH Broker, owner and operator House & Home Mortgage Co./ Verico Compass Mortgage Group Location: Kamloops, BC Age: 33

Having entered the mortgage industry five years ago after a career in retail sales, Ryan Smith says he’s grateful and privileged to have not only survived but thrived in the mortgage business. “During this short time, the mortgage industry has experienced huge change,” he says.

“Everything from the implementation of new qualifying rules to the ever-changing lender guidelines has kept us constantly on our toes. It’s these challenges that keep me interested in and excited about the business.”

Within six months of starting in the industry, Smith was named Rookie of the Year by his first brokerage; since then, his funding and originations have grown more than sixfold. He also incorporated his own company in 2019 under the umbrella of Verico Compass Mortgage Group.

In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, Smith is actively involved in a mastermind group with other local business owners in the Kamloops community who collaborate and support one another to develop and grow their businesses. He also enjoys mentoring other brokers and newcomers to the industry.

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JASON MCKAGUE Mortgage agent Invis Location: Barrie, ON Age: 34

After spending eight years at Manulife Bank, Jason McKague transitioned into mortgage brokering, seeking to help more people by representing more than just one lender. “This way, I’m able to offer more options for clients,” he says. “I love what I do. It is extremely rewarding to know that all of your time and effort is going into growing something special.”

In his last two years at Manulife, McKague was the bank’s top consultant across Canada and was moved to Barrie specifically to be the local mortgage representative. He believes the key to continued growth in the industry is patience and perseverance.

“The more deals you work on, you build up that experience and ability to adapt,” he says. “But you still always get, from time to time, a deal that seems to have a scenario you could never anticipate, so you have to continue to learn to have patience and perseverance.”

Outside of his day job, McKague is an active supporter of Easter Seals and Big Brothers Big Sisters and is a mentor for the local Job Finding Club for Immigrants.

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14/07/2020 4:39:33 AM

DAVID CLARKE Broker Clarke Mortgage Group TMG Location: Dartmouth, NS Age: 29

Inspired to join the industry by a friend’s father, who ran a successful brokerage in Nova Scotia, David Clarke prides himself on helping everyone he can and enjoys working in underserved rural markets. He’s built his business around both traditional lending and a strong base of private and commercial lenders so he can offer more options to his clients. A two-time member of this list, Clarke has also been nominated multiple times for Alternative Lending Broker of the Year and Private Lending Broker of the Year at the Canadian Mortgage Awards.

Reflecting on the past 12 months, Clarke says he’s learned that “you can’t replace the personal touch. As much as online services are convenient and necessary, I find it helps to pair that with in-person meetings or phone calls to build trust and long-term relationships with my clients.”

MAXIUM DSOUZA Broker Clover Mortgage Location: Mississauga, ON Age: 33

Maxium Dsouza’s mantra is “helping you to make an informed mortgage decision.”

From first-time homebuyers to real estate investors, Dsouza offers a free mortgage quote consultation and simplifies the process by presenting his clients with every viable option. Drawing on several years of experience in the industry, he focuses on helping people find mortgage solutions that meet their exact financial and personal needs. He also works hard to be a valuable resource for his clients by educating them and providing top-notch service throughout the life of their mortgage.

“It is important that we serve not only the client who closes a deal with us, but also those who are seeking advice,” Dsouza says. “It is imperative to offer a world-class customer experience to everyone, as this has been proven to be the way to build a strong positive reputation.”

STEFAN MCMILLAN Mortgage agent Centum Supreme Mortgage Location: Mississauga, ON Age: 28

After working as a broker assistant for three years, Stefan McMillan obtained his mortgage agent licence in 2017 and quickly worked to learn the basics of mortgage lending, realizing that “a competent mortgage agent must understand the various lender products to assist borrowers in a suitable mortgage situation.”

McMillan has been around the industry his whole life; his father is a mortgage broker, and working for him “set the blueprint for me to be able navigate most mortgage agents’ many hardships in the beginning of their careers,” McMillan says.

Looking ahead, McMillan says there are two changes he would like to see in the industry.

First, he believes mortgage professionals need a refined training program that focuses on one-on-one client interaction, developing relationships with lenders and the networking skills needed to build a database. He would also like the industry to find new ways to include more women, particularly women of colour, in order to foster a younger, more diverse and more open-minded mortgage community.

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS JOHNSON ANDREWS Mortgage agent VINE Group/Mortgage Alliance Location: Toronto, ON Age: 28

WARDA FATIMA Underwriter First National Excalibur Location: Toronto, ON Age: 27

When she was in her third year of university, Warda Fatima landed an internship with Home Trust in its EquityLine Visa department. “As a finance student, the mortgage industry felt like a great fit,” she says. After two summers with Home Trust, Fatima was offered a mortgage officer position; six months in, she began underwriting B loans. Over the last five years, she has worked for three different lenders and diversified her skill set by underwriting both A and B mortgages.

She joined First National’s Excalibur team in 2018.

“I was excited to be part of a new product for a reputable company and return to the alternative lending space,” Fatima says. “My role enables me to be creative by working with my broker partners to discuss potential solutions, brainstorm different options and think outside the box. I feel empowered to share new ideas and suggest new procedures, and I like helping my manager come up with useful training materials that can help future employees. It feels great to be able to help build the culture and leave my footprint.”

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Since joining the VINE Group at Mortgage Alliance in April 2019, Johnson Andrews has funded more than $10 million in volume, landing him in Mortgage Alliance’s Top 20% Masters Club for 2019. Prior to becoming a licensed agent, Andrews spent two years as an underwriter with VINE Group, helping agents fund more than $500 million in residential, commercial and private mortgages. He also helped VINE Group build its underwriting team from the ground up.

In his brief time in the industry, Andrews has forged a high level of trust with his colleagues, lender partners and clients. “I believe that mortgages are more than just a transaction, and I pride myself on cultivating open communication and uncovering tailored solutions to meet the financial objectives of every client,” he says. “Making sure the client can trust me, that I have their long-term interests in mind to help them become better off financially, and empowering them with information to help them understand the process have been key ingredients to my growth.”

CHRIS BARGIS Mortgage broker Mortgage Edge Location: Richmond Hill, ON Age: 29

As a broker, Chris Bargis strives to change traditional business practices through service, consumer education and by tapping into digital platforms, which have become a key tool in building his clientele. In three years, Bargis has gone from originating $6.8 million to $36.7 million in mortgage volume. “I attribute much of my success to the relationships I’ve managed to cultivate with my lender partners by taking the time to understand the metrics they use to measure success on all sides of the equation and developing my processes accordingly,” he says.

Going forward, Bargis hopes to see a more conscious effort from mortgage professionals to change the transactional nature of the business by emphasizing service and relationshipbuilding. “It is incumbent upon us to take the time to properly assess a client’s financial objectives and suitability by offering educational guidance to products with the best rate and terms,” he says. “True value lies in the advice, not just price, and ultimately you get what you pay for, as the old adage goes.”

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CATHERINE ELLIS CEO, mortgage professional Mortgages by Catherine/Verico Xeva Mortgage Location: Kelowna, BC Age: 29

Ever since she was young, Catherine Ellis has been passionate about financial literacy, helping others and running her own business. In 2010, she started a private lending company, which piqued her interest in the mortgage industry. In 2013, she received her broker certification and has since been working to become an agent of change within the industry by putting education and client experience first.

Throughout her career, Ellis has found innovative ways to connect with industry partners, clients and her community. She emphasizes personal growth and development, staying up to date on lender panels, educational sessions and conferences. This year, Ellis became a member of MPC’s BC chapter; she is also a member of MBABC, Women in the Mortgage Industry and 100 Brokers Who Care.

Looking ahead, Ellis says she’d like to see a greater sense of community, internal leadership, team-building and education in the broker channel. “My hopes are that we can all work together, lift each other up, better our systems, challenge ourselves and our peers, and continue to educate one another to be better as an industry,” she says.

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS MICH SNEDDON Mortgage agent DLC Edge Financial Location: Toronto, ON Age: 35

Mich Sneddon uses his love of numbers and his background as a chartered accountant “to help people with that knowledge of these figures, which is something that is important to me,” he says.

Four years into his career as a mortgage agent, Sneddon still considers himself a newcomer to the industry. He’s used his eight-plus years of expertise in online marketing systems to grow his business and generate online leads for other mortgage and real estate professionals. Together with business partner Jason Gray, he recently launched FSP Digital, a digital marketing agency.

To stay informed, Sneddon regularly attends online courses and listens to podcasts and audiobooks on marketing. Over the past year, he has focused on processes and systems, thinking about how to scale his business by automating as much as possible and creating processes to delegate what can’t be automated.

COREY WICKS Mortgage professional Verico Xeva Mortgage Location: Kelowna, BC Age: 34

After graduating from Simon Fraser University in 2010 with a degree in business administration and finance, Corey Wicks pursued a career in real estate, beginning with a Vancouver-area private commercial mortgage and equity company. After spending four years rapidly growing his industry knowledge, Wicks moved to Kelowna, BC, where he diversified his experience with commercial banking roles in both credit union and chartered bank environments.

Two years ago, Wicks became a licensed mortgage broker and joined the team at Xeva Mortgage.

“I truly love helping friends, family, colleagues and new referrals with their financing goals,” he says. “Having seen many clients struggle to enter the housing market this past year, I am encouraged by our industry’s continued lobbying efforts and hope to see improved affordability and access to financing for first-time buyers.”

Outside of Xeva, Wicks is an active member of 100 Brokers Who Care and several local organizations, including the Greater Westside Board of Trade, the Okanagan Agricultural Professional Group and the Okanagan Young Professionals Collective.

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GRAHAM REIMER Mortgage professional DLC Mortgage Excellence Location: Lethbridge, AB Age: 33

Graham Reimer began his career as a mortgage broker in 2007, just before the last recession hit. “It was in those first two years that I quickly realized that being a mortgage professional meant that a broker is the quarterback of the real estate transaction,” he says. “That responsibility and stress pushed me to thrive and want to be better every day.”

This realization also inspired Reimer to view his book of business as an opportunity to make a difference. He stopped setting volume goals and instead focused on the number of families he could impact each year. Last year, he worked with 165 families; his goal for 2020 is to help 200 families.

“Something I’m hoping to see change in the industry is unity,” Reimer says. “I would love to see the next 12 months transform the industry to be different than what is expected from a typical sales-driven industry. I would love to see us unify as mortgage brokers, regardless of the brand we represent, to support and share with one another and encourage best practices, education, support and more.”

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RYAN MACNEIL Director of alternative lending Graysbrook Capital Location: Halifax, NS Age: 35

After spending nearly a decade in corporate sales in the consumer goods industry, Ryan MacNeil followed his entrepreneurial instincts and passion for finance and joined Graysbrook Capital in 2017. Since then, his funded volume has grown consistently year over year, and he was recently promoted to director of alternative lending.

MacNeil regularly hosts industry-wide professional development days across the Atlantic provinces and partners with brokers to host referral-sourcing sessions. He credits his success to the support of several mortgage broker partners and senior leaders, as well as the mentorship of Graysbrook Capital’s founders, Owen and Derrick MacNeil.

“One of my key missions with Graysbrook is to educate brokers, and to educate clients on the importance of using a mortgage broker,” MacNeil says. “Now it’s more important than ever for brokers to understand and leverage alternative lending products. The landscape has dramatically changed over the last few months, likely permanently. Having these products available during times that are financially challenging for many will allow you to outpace the competition.”

Email lender notes, application, and credit bureaus to:

deals@vwrcapital.com D IMITRI K OSTUROS

Chief Operating Officer dimitri@vwrcapital.com

P AULA H UTTON

BDM - Prairies paula@vwrcapital.com

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS

VINCENT TONG MUHAMMAD AAMIR KHALIQUE Broker DLC Royalty Financial, powered by Producers West Financial Location: Surrey, BC Age: 33

After working as a manager at Enterprise Holdings, Aamir Khalique decided he wanted to apply his skills in a more independent career. While working with a broker to get a mortgage, he saw how big of an impact brokers can have on people’s lives. “I liked the idea of becoming a broker and helping people find solutions to their financial needs,” Khalique says. “I am very happy that I chose this career, as I have put smiles on many faces and, above all, have been able to spend a lot more time with my family.”

A broker for almost two years now, Khalique enjoys empowering his clients with vital decision-making information and offering transparent solutions. His affiliation with more than 60 different lenders enables him to secure the best possible mortgage for his clients, and he says he’s honoured that they continue to rely on him for all of their financing needs.

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Principal Signature Mortgages, a division of DLC Clear Trust Mortgages Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 29

As the newly appointed principal of Signature Mortgages, a division of DLC Clear Trust Mortgages, Vincent Tong is focused on further expanding his management skills and uplifting his team members amid the current economic uncertainty. A three-time member of this list, Tong knows that proper education and guidance are necessary when underwriting mortgages for clients, and he applies that knowledge when training brokers new to the industry.

Tong has consistently been a top performer at DLC Clear Trust Mortgages and has ranked in DLC’s monthly Top 50 for the past three years. “My goals are to maintain a high level of service for my existing clients while simultaneously ensuring the cumulative success of my team members in the years to come,” Tong says.

Citing his mother as his inspiration for joining the industry, Tong says she has offered invaluable insight and guidance throughout his career. “Without her mentorship, there is no doubt that I would not have seen this level of success so early into my career,” he says.

SCOTT TRAINOR Mortgage associate TMG Airport Drive Location: Saskatoon, SK Age: 31

In the nine years he’s spent as a mortgage associate in Saskatoon, Scott Trainor has made three appearances on this list and has been awarded TMG’s Summit 25 Award, which recognizes the top 25% of brokers in the company based on volume.

Trainor says the past year has revealed how ahead of the curve his office was in going completely paperless a few years ago; in recent months, as the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, he’s had multiple brokers ask him how to set up a virtual office.

Trainor says COVID-19 has also taught him the importance of constant communication with his team. “When the pandemic hit, we turned to group chats that go constantly,” he says. “I have never felt closer to my team, and I haven’t seen them face-to-face in months. The ability to constantly communicate and bounce problems or solutions off of each other has been the biggest change.”

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STEPHEN THOMAS Commercial mortgage agent Mortgage Alliance Location: Toronto, ON Age: 33

Stephen Thomas relies on his previous banking experience to execute commercial mortgage transactions with expert vision and skill. His big-picture thinking for investors and borrowers has resulted in consistently high approvals for growth capital, and his consulting services include professional business plans, pro formas and financial projections that result in “bank approvals that others simply can’t obtain without the dedication, knowledge and passion for the commercial brokering craft,” he says.

Thomas specializes in working with small to medium-sized businesses in the range of $1 million to $50 million, with a “sweet spot” in the $5 million to $10 million range. In addition to his work as a broker, Thomas sits on the board of directors for a national charity; participates in various speaking engagements, including presenting to business students on entrepreneurship and business; and supports anti-racism initiatives.

One thing Thomas would like to see in the mortgage industry is greater equality. “I would also like to see more diversity in the commercial broker space with more women and people of colour,” he says.

STEPHANIE GAGNON-HUME Bilingual mortgage agent KeyRate Corp.

Location: Ottawa, ON Age: 25

While shopping for her first home, Stephanie Gagnon-Hume was approached and hired by a Re/Max team to do their sales and marketing.

She knew she wanted to work in real estate, but she was more intrigued by the financial side of the process. “My current principal broker saw my potential and took me under his wing,” she says. “I subsequently became the head processor of KeyRate Corp. and have since provided our clients with tailor-made mortgages in a timely manner, regardless of their financial situation.”

Since becoming a licensed agent at the beginning of 2018, Gagnon-Hume has assisted in closing more than $200 million in mortgages, all while onboarding and training new agents and processors and making her clients’ experiences as seamless as possible. She’s currently working to obtain her broker licence.

“By staying current with all the changes that take place in the mortgage industry on a daily basis and being adaptable, I have personally been able to turn negative and complicated scenarios into a positive closing experience,” she says.

ALEX MARSHALL Director of operations Magenta Capital Corporation Location: Ottawa, ON Age: 28

As the director of operations at Magenta Capital Corporation, Alex Marshall has spent nearly five years building the lender’s operational and analytical capabilities.

Recently, his attention has been on digital transformation projects to meet the changing needs of brokers, borrowers and investors.

“I am hopeful that the industry understands that digital solutions are not meant to entirely replace physical ones – rather, digital solutions should mirror or complement physical ones to provide clients with a variety of pathways towards financing,” he says. “Ultimately, I hope to see an industry that becomes more focused than ever before on delivering value to its customers.”

A recent graduate of the MBA program at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, where he was the recipient of the Tom Burns MBA Prize in International Business, Marshall emphasizes the importance of looking outside of the industry for inspiration. “It is often the case where innovation in one industry can be translated to another,” he says, “but it’s impossible to apply these innovations if you simply aren’t aware of them.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS HERJIT DRIVER CEO, mortgage advisor Driver Mortgages/Mortgage Architects A Better Way Location: Surrey, BC Age: 35

XENOS CHAN Mortgage broker DLC First Pacific Mortgage Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 32

Before becoming a mortgage broker two years ago, Xenos Chan spent six-plus years working with one of largest international banks, where he specialized in all types of lending, financial planning, advisory services and commercial banking. Today, Chan credits his banking background with allowing him to provide solid advice that helps determine the right fit for his clients, and he prides himself on providing professional, ethical and honest advice with a high level of customer service.

Chan says the flexibility of the mortgage industry is what inspired him to become a broker. “I get to schedule my own daily working hours, so I’m available for my clients at their convenience,” he says.

“Additionally, instead of pushing my clients to consolidate all their banking needs, I do the legwork, negotiate on their behalf with lenders and find the best possible terms based on the best fit for their situation.

What truly drives me is accessing different products and lenders across Canada and finding the best one that fits my clients’ situation. This is the most important valueadded service for my clients compared to a traditional banking relationship.”

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Herjit Driver began her career in the mortgage industry in 2007 as an unlicensed assistant for a broker in Surrey. Drawing on her tenacity and resourcefulness, she began learning the ins and outs of the industry and, within a few years, had obtained her licence. From there, Driver began underwriting, training other brokers and working with a diverse range of clients.

In 2014, she started her own boutique brokerage, Driver Mortgages. She prides herself on building strong relationships with her clients, working hard to provide them with individualized solutions and constantly challenging herself to be a better broker, push boundaries and raise the standard for mortgage professionals.

Outside of her daily responsibilities, Driver belongs to a group of local entrepreneurs that hosts networking events and works to bring awareness to local businesses. She also works to educate the general public about financial literacy, with a focus on empowering women to take control of their finances. This led her to become a founding member of Leverage26, a local women’s financial literacy initiative.

MATTHEW ABLAKAN Broker of record Millennial’s Choice Mortgages Location: Vaughan, ON Age: 28

Matthew Ablakan is the founder and owner of Millennial’s Choice, a collection of real estate, mortgage, insurance and education companies.

Ablakan holds degrees in education and law and society, as well as real estate broker, mortgage broker and life insurance licences.

He focuses his efforts on educating Canadians through the Financial Freedom Club and is constantly coming up with creative ideas for shaping the real estate, mortgage and insurance industries.

“Education and financial literacy are important facets to the success of Millennial’s Choice, and with the growth of the company, I’m continuing to pursue my ongoing commitment to both,” he says.

Over the past year, Ablakan says he’s learned the importance of proper team-building. “In order to scale and grow, an organization needs to act more like a team – a team that feeds off of one another and supports one another,” he says. “It’s about having the right individuals in the right roles working together to achieve the same goals.”

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ANNA SHCHERBATYKH Mortgage broker DLC Edge Financial Location: Toronto, ON Age: 34

A self-described people person, Anna Shcherbatykh counts direct communication, skill with numbers, and assisting and educating people among her strengths. “Being a mortgage agent was the perfect career choice, as my inspiration stemmed from combining my passions and my strengths, resulting in a continuously growing business and a countless number of satisfied clients,” she says. “Throughout my years in the mortgage industry, I am constantly inspired by the success stories of my clients, of which I’m grateful to be a part.”

In the industry for more than seven years now, Shcherbatykh makes it a priority to continuously update her knowledge and skills and maintain one-on-one relationships with her clients. “In mortgages, knowledge is power, and being able to service my clients while understanding their needs has been a major factor in exceeding their expectations,” she says. That’s resulted in several awards, along with the opportunity to become a mentor and to speak at many real estate events and conferences.

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS PRERA BHATIA Human resources and payroll manager DLC Elite Lending Corp.

Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 26

Fresh out of university with her MBA, Prera Bhatia joined Elite Lending at its inception. “This has been an invaluable experience that has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of the mortgage industry, as well as the needs of the broker community and their clients,” she says.

When Bhatia joined Elite, the brokerage had just five employees; today, the team is more than 40 brokers strong. As part of the management team, Bhatia handles all of the company’s human resource and financial needs while supporting its brokers. Her efforts have helped Elite become a finalist for Brokerage of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards, as well as a CMP Top Brokerage in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and a Top Mortgage Workplace in 2019 and 2020.

In addition to her daily responsibilities, Bhatia leads her team on initiatives to help others in the industry, including educational webinars via the brokerage’s Elite Success Institute.

She also gives back to the industry by serving as one of the directors of Elite Lending’s philanthropy arm, Elite Cares.

ANDREW REAL Business development manager Equitable Bank Location: Toronto, ON Age: 32

Building on more than a decade of experience in the financial services industry, Andrew Real began his mortgage career as a business development associate. “I gained valuable knowledge and experience by working with mortgage brokers who are trying to find the best possible solutions for their clients,” he says.

“By providing sound product knowledge and ensuring the best possible customer service, I have been able to establish long-lasting relationships with brokers, which has proved invaluable in my role as a BDM with Equitable Bank.”

Witnessing firsthand how resilient the mortgage industry is has inspired Real to continue on his current career path. “With so much change over the past five years, it has been amazing to see how brokers are able to adapt to changes while continuing to exceed client expectations,” he says.

His colleagues say the same about Real, describing him as someone who does “his best to get the job done,” drawing on his strong sales experience to determine “what he can and cannot escalate without wasting any time.”

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TYLER TROMPETTER Mortgage professional W.R. Mortgage Architects Location: Surrey, BC Age: 33

Growing up with parents who were both self-employed, Tyler Trompetter learned from an early age what was possible with hard work and determination. “I would say my biggest inspiration for getting into the mortgage industry was witnessing the success my father, Alan, achieved as a mortgage broker himself,” Trompetter says.

“The blend of problem-solving, sales, real estate and working with people has turned out to be a great fit for me.”

After graduating from university in 2012, Trompetter got his first taste of the mortgage industry in a job with Home Trust.

Working his way up from mortgage officer to underwriter, Trompetter was named Best Newcomer, Lender Underwriter at the 2014 Canadian Mortgage Awards, which facilitated his promotion to business development manager at Home Trust.

Ultimately, Trompetter’s path led him to the broker side of the business in 2017.

By leveraging his lending experience, Trompetter has been able to hit the ground running and has received multiple awards from Mortgage Architects, including Associate of the Year in 2018 and President’s Club membership in 2019.

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14/07/2020 4:40:21 AM

TAYLOR STITSKI

NICOLE GEORGE

Mortgage agent YourMortgageYourWay.ca Location: Toronto, ON Age: 29

Mortgage broker, owner APlus Mortgage Group/ Mortgage Alliance Location: St. John’s, NL Age: 35

While travelling after university, Taylor Stitski came to realize that he wanted to pursue a career that would allow him to help others.

In 2013, he began working at Home Trust as a mortgage officer, interacting with brokers and indirectly helping their clients. Seeking more face-to-face interactions, Stitski applied to be a mortgage associate and began working with some of the top brokers in Ontario. After two years of mentorship and interacting with clients, Stitski decided to branch out and joined Northwood Mortgage as an agent. Six months later, his previous mentors contacted him with an offer to join them in a young, rapidly growing brokerage: YourMortgageYourWay.ca.

Stitski has now been with YourMortgageYourWay.ca for more than three years and has thrived there, receiving the President’s Gold Award for two consecutive years. “I have a great passion for what I do,” he says. “I’m always willing to help my clients and fellow mortgage agents and am highly motivated in achieving results.”

After finishing her business degree, Nicole George joined her father’s upstart mortgage company. Today, she is part owner of APlus Mortgage Group, a part of the Mortgage Alliance, and has increased her business year over year. A top-producing agent with Mortgage Alliance, George has received the Manulife Mortgage Protection Award and is ranked in the President’s Club.

Looking ahead, she says she hopes to see more collaboration between mortgage industry leaders and the government. “I feel that a lot of changes happen in this industry at the government level with little to no real input from our industry leaders – not from lack of trying,” she says. “I would like to see the people who make the decisions really listen to our industry and allow us to make this more collaborative to make sure the decisions being made will have the right impact in the market and for consumers.”

Outside of her brokerage, George volunteers weekly at her local Daffodil Place, helping cancer patients set up practical resources.

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS STEPHANIE KOWALEW Commercial mortgage broker Multi-Prêts Commercial Location: St. Laurent, QC Age: 28

JEFF INGRAM Co-founder Ingram Mortgage Team/DLC Canadian Mortgage Experts Location: Surrey, BC Age: 34

Now in his 11th year as a mortgage broker, Jeff Ingram has built Ingram Mortgage Team from the ground up with his father, Mark. “Creating a fun and meaningful place to work for our team of five is something I am very passionate about,” Ingram says. “I’m grateful to be surrounded by teammates who are really good at what they do, but more importantly, are great people as well.”

Passionate about helping people view their mortgage as an asset rather than a debt, Ingram says his favourite part of the job is connecting with people and sharing in their excitement about buying a new home. For the past five years, he’s also been part of a mastermind group of nine brokers from across the country, who meet three times a year with a coach to work on their businesses. Ingram acknowledges that his business “would not be where it is today without them.”

Outside of his brokerage, Ingram serves on the advisory board for Finmo Financial Technologies, helping to improve customers’ digital mortgage experience.

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With a passion for commercial financing solutions, Stephanie Kowalew specializes in construction, multi-residential, affordable housing and seniors’ residence financing as a broker with Multi-Prêts Commercial. Reviewing more than 300 commercial financing transactions annually, Kowalew has used her background in management to gain extensive knowledge that helps her find optimal, creative financing solutions for her clients.

Prior to becoming a commercial mortgage broker, Kowalew was head of the commercial underwriting division of Mortgage Alliance Commercial Canada and Multi-Prêts Commercial. She was a finalist for Commercial Mortgage Broker of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards and was nominated as a Rising Star at the 2018 CREW M Excellence Gala. In addition to her daily responsibilities, she serves as a teacher at the Collège de l’Immobilier du Québec.

“Throughout my career, I have learned the value of networking, being part of real estate associations, mentoring and constantly being in touch with other top commercial mortgage brokers,” she says.

RICHARD EARLES Mortgage broker, owner DLC Valley Financial Specialists Location: Langley, BC Age: 33

Richard Earles got his start in the mortgage industry in 2010. “I loved the freedom and ability to make my own hours,” he says. “My time is very precious nowadays, having a newborn baby, and being flexible in my working hours throughout the day is amazing.”

Earles eventually launched his own private lending companies while also maintaining his mortgage volume on the brokerage side.

Today, he’s an owner of DLC Valley Financial Specialists, which he runs alongside his business partner, Jennifer Woodley. Earles focuses on alternative and private lending, which he credits with helping him rank among the top 10% of brokers across the country.

Reflecting on the past 12 months, Earles says he’s learned just how important relationships are in this business. “There is nothing more important than building physical relationships with referral partners,” he says. “They can be the gravy train you never knew you had!”

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GEORGE NEUFELD Mortgage associate DLC Mortgage Excellence Location: Lethbridge, AB Age: 25

With a background in the construction industry, George Neufeld began his mortgage career in late 2018 and has enjoyed every second of it. “I love the industry and have never found so much fulfillment in serving clients,” he says.

“Going on my second year in the industry, I am looking forward to doubling my mortgage volume since the first year. I love serving every client with their mortgage needs, and the difficult deals give me an opportunity to excel.”

Neufeld’s hard work and desire to make every client’s dream of homeownership come true helped him win his company’s Rookie of the Year Award in his first year in the industry – a huge accomplishment for Neufeld, who dreamed of being a mortgage professional from a young age.

“As a pre-teen, one of my favourite pastimes was looking through the real estate ads and doing mortgage calculations,” he says. “That hobby developed into a dream of one day becoming a mortgage professional.

I can’t think of any other industry where I would want to excel.”

RODNEY BIGGAR Mortgage agent, franchise owner The Mortgage Centre – We Connect Location: Spruce Grove, AB Age: 35

Rodney Biggar began investing in real estate at a young age and today uses his personal background to develop a better experience for his clients. Reflecting on his early days as a mortgage specialist at BMO, Biggar says, “I made myself available 24/7, communicated clearly and worked tirelessly to get my clients quick responses.” After working alone for a few years, he recruited his wife to partner with him. Last year, the couple made the leap to the broker channel.

Earlier this year, Biggar opened the doors to The Mortgage Centre – We Connect, which gives him the opportunity to mentor and support new agents.

“Mentorship in the mortgage industry is essential; there’s so much to learn in this fast-paced environment,” he says. “I dedicate my time to helping, teaching and supporting new agents with the resources I have developed over the years.”

CHRIS KYROU Mortgage agent Mountainview Mortgage Location: Burlington, ON Age: 31

Chris Kyrou became a mortgage agent seven years ago with an intention to make a difference in the industry. “Before I started my career as a mortgage agent, I had friends and family led in the wrong direction while making mortgage decisions,” he says. “To prevent others from being taken advantage of, I became an agent and am dedicated to becoming a trusted and informed resource for my clients.”

One of Kyrou’s passions is working with clients who are on the verge of bankruptcy to help them restructure their debt and guide them in their financial recovery. He specializes in working with clients who are self-employed, in the healthcare industry, experiencing bad credit or buying a home for the first time. His efforts have netted him a Diamond Club Award, a President’s Club Award and awards for being in the top three and four in mortgage volume.

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RISING STARS DANIEL FINKELBERG Mortgage agent DLC Clear Trust Mortgages Location: North York, ON Age: 25

Daniel Finkelberg started his mortgage career three years ago when he began working at a major Canadian bank as a mobile mortgage specialist. When he surpassed the goals and expectations he had set for himself, he decided that mortgages were his preferred path.

After being nominated for Rookie of the Year and being part of the top 100 mobile mortgage specialists at the bank, Finkelberg joined Clear Trust Mortgages in 2019. There, he began building upon his existing clientele and further developing his career as a mortgage agent. Since joining the Clear Trust team, he has received several accolades from the company.

Finkelberg is actively working to build a team of young, like-minded individuals. “I am coaching them and tutoring them and, once they are licensed, my team and I help train them and familiarize them with the industry,” he says. “I’ve learned that there is a custom lending solution for everyone who is seeking financing. Adapting to the mindset that we can help everyone has really allowed me to open up to a much larger audience.”

CYRUS HABIBI Mortgage broker Premiere Mortgage Centre Location: Halifax, NS Age: 25

Beginning his career as a mortgage broker in 2017, Cyrus Habibi was mentored by his now-business partner, Jack Cameron, who imparted the knowledge he’d acquired over 15 years in the business. “That helped me take off in my career, and we continue to have a strong partnership and friendship,” Habibi says.

Reflecting on his first year in the business, Habibi says he spent a lot of time meeting with people in the real estate industry to figure out what they liked or didn’t like about the experiences they’d had with mortgage brokers and bankers. From these conversations, he tailored his business to be “very service-oriented and relationship-focused,” he says. “I really focused on building relationships early on with strong referral partners, and I run my business entirely off referrals.”

This model has led to two years of significant growth for Habibi; his current goal is to fund $35 million to $40 million in mortgages in 2020.

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COLE HENNIG Senior mortgage broker DLC Plan B Mortgage Services Location: Port Coquitlam, BC Age: 29

Cole Henning has been in the mortgage industry for six-plus years, all with Dominion Lending Centres. He began in the Visa department, obtained his licence and moved to the mortgage desk at Plan B. He’s currently making his fourth appearance on this list and was named Young Gun of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards.

“Being part of, and later leading, a department where many of our clients have run into real life issues and being able to find not only solutions for the ‘now,’ but a plan for them to rebuild and improve their financial situation, is very rewarding,” Hennig says. “I’ve been extremely blessed to have had some tremendous mentors.”

Looking ahead, Hennig hopes that lenders and institutions will be able to keep making changes and advancements with the same speed and efficiency they’ve been forced to over the past few months. “We’ve seen so many advancements with lender portals, e-signing and other technology breakthroughs, and they were able to move quickly,” he says. “Moving forward, I hope lenders are still able and willing to act quickly on fresh ideas.”

www.mortgagebrokernews.ca

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WILLIAM CHAN Operations director DLC Elite Lending Corp.

Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 32

William Chan began his career in the banking industry in 2010 with TD Canada Trust, where he worked in many different roles, including customer service representative, financial representative, underwriter and mortgage specialist. In 2016, he and his mentor started Elite Lending Corp. Thanks to their combined experience and effort, in just two years, Elite Lending Corp. was named a finalist for Best Newcomer Mortgage Brokerage and Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service at the 2018 Canadian Mortgage Awards, as well as a finalist for Brokerage of the Year (25 Employees or More) in 2019. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Elite Lending was one of CMP’s Top Brokerages, and it was named a Top Mortgage Workplace in 2018 and 2019. Last year, Chan received his first Diamond Award for being in the top 5% of DLC brokers.

In addition to his daily responsibilities, Chan has been the designated individual for Elite Lending since 2018, implementing weekly compliance checks and hosting numerous compliance documentation training sessions in order to establish a solid working relationship with different brokerages and provide a deeper understanding of documentation integrity to all Elite brokers. He is also one of the directors of Elite Cares, the company’s charitable giving arm.

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LESLIE PENNEY Owner and broker East Coast Mortgage Brokers Location: St. John’s, NL Age: 35

Upon graduating from university, Leslie Penney was looking for a position in the financial services industry that would allow him to help others while controlling his own destiny. When an opportunity arose to become an independent mortgage broker, he jumped at the chance. Today, after more than a decade in the industry, Penney is a co-owner of East Coast Mortgage Brokers, which has been a two-time finalist for Top Brokerage – Atlantic Canada at the Mortgage Awards of Excellence and a 2019 Consumer Choice Award winner for mortgages in the St. John’s market. Penney has also won numerous individual awards, including Verico’s Chairman Award and national top-producing MPP Sales Award.

“I am an energetic, hard-working and dedicated mortgage professional who seeks to connect with people and my community,” Penney says. “I’ve come to realize that it’s difficult to grow your business without the right support and great people around you. When you want to live a balanced life, you need to be able to rely on others to help you achieve your goals, while also ensuring they have a fulfilling role and are working toward their goals as well.”

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OKHTAY YOUSEFZADEH Mortgage specialist DLC Mortgage Evolution Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 33

After graduating with a bachelor of commerce degree from UBC’s Sauder School of Business, Okhtay Yousefzadeh decided to step into the mortgage broker world in early 2015. Yousefzadeh points to his commitment, willingness to learn and passion as key factors behind his success in the industry, which includes four consecutive years of receiving the DLC Diamond Award for being in the top 5% of DLC brokers across Canada.

Over the years, Yousefzadeh has learned that efficiency and organized presentation go a long way in this industry. “I aim to make the mortgage process as error-free and direct as possible to avoid wasting valuable time for all parties involved,” he says. “I believe that clean and complete presentations of application submissions not only result in trusting relationships with lender partners and their underwriting staff, but also a higher chance of an approval, as the lender understands the complete story at first glance.”

PRATHEESAN RATHNAPALA Internal business development representative Equitable Bank Location: Toronto, ON Age: 31

Pratheesan Rathnapala began his mortgage career in 2014 with Equitable Bank, where he set his sights on becoming a sales representative. He has since been promoted several times and has worked in all stages of the bank’s credit department.

“This has given me an advantage in doing my job effectively as an internal business development representative,” Rathnapala says, “and would not have been possible without the management team at Equitable Bank, who have the insight and knowledge to believe in their employees and encourage us to strive for career development within the organization. With their guidance and motivation, I was able to advance in my career.”

The past year has solidified Rathnapala’s belief that adaptation is key to career growth. “In order to be successful, we have to be willing to adapt,” he says.

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SUNNY GREWAL Mortgage agent Everything Mortgages Location: Toronto, ON Age: 27

KYLE GREEN Owner Green Mortgage Team and Greenwealth Capital Location: Vancouver, BC Age: 28

Working as a mortgage broker since 2006, Kyle Green has carved out a niche as an investment property specialist, and his years of experience working with investors and investment groups have made him a go-to resource for financing investment properties in Canada. To further aid investors, he has also designed his own cash flow analysis spreadsheet.

Green has been a top-producing franchise agent in British Columbia since 2011 and across Canada since 2017, finishing in the top 25 for volume funded every year for the last three years. He is particularly proud of the REAG Joint Venture Award he won in 2010 for a deal he closed on a $1.15 million property without using any of his own money.

Looking ahead to the next year and beyond, Green says he hopes to see better use of digital options. “I would like to see technology continue to remove the friction points of getting a mortgage, like smoother and better customer user interfaces, easier document collection, and better underwriting tools for brokers,” he says.

Inspired to join the mortgage industry by his father, a successful broker for more than 20 years, Sunny Grewal became a mortgage officer with Home Trust after university. A couple years later, he transitioned to Equitable Bank as a mortgage underwriter and, two years after that, decided to pursue his dream job: mortgage agent.

Although the first couple of months were tough, Grewal says he was able to get through it with the support of his brokerage, family, friends and lender partners. “The contacts and friends I have made in the industry are priceless,” he says. “My experiences give me an advantage over other mortgage agents and brokers, as I have the knowledge, skill set and relationships to help me close more deals.”

Something Grewal has learned recently is not to chase business. “It’s definitely your job to let people know what you do, but it’s not your job to tell them that they should use you,” he says. “Focus on yourself and what you do best, and keep doing it.”

JANICE LEE Principal broker, managing partner DLC Clear Trust Mortgages Location: Toronto, ON Age: 34

Janice Lee moved into the broker channel after spending 12 years working at a major bank and is currently the principal broker and managing partner for DLC Clear Trust Mortgages’ Toronto office. “I take pride in what I do, whether it’s growing and managing our team or helping my own clients with their financing,” Lee says. “My secret to success is that I genuinely love what I do. It’s become a part of my lifestyle, not just my job or career.”

For the past few years, Lee has juggled opening the DLC Clear Trust Mortgages office with helping her clients with their mortgage needs and being a new mom – not an easy undertaking, but “all worth it because I want to show my daughter that with hard work, anything is possible,” she says.

In that vein, Lee says that while there are already many strong women in the industry, she hopes to see even more in the near future. “I want to help empower other women – especially working moms – to be leaders in an industry that is mainly male-dominated,” she says.

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SPECIAL REPORT

RISING STARS

BEN OAKES Mortgage agent DLC YBM Group Location: Barrie, ON Age: 35

Since joining the mortgage industry as a residential mortgage agent, Ben Oakes quickly set records for both volume and revenue, funding more than $130 million in the last six years. Oakes has long had an affinity for real estate investing and is involved with underground commercial real estate investing forums in Ontario. Over the years, he has achieved some momentum in transitioning into a commercial mortgage agent, specializing in multi-family buildings.

For 2020, Oakes expects to fund about $10 million in commercial mortgages for real estate investors. “I’m always looking for new investing clients to help,” he says. “With the advent of the B-20 mortgage rules and stress test, real estate investors of all shapes and sizes needed to start the dreaded transition from being a beginner investor with multiple properties under your own name into a seasoned portfolio holder with multiple hold corps to manage the individual multi-family properties, owned by an operating corp, with which to remove income. I have become an expert in helping them make that transition and adjust the growth trajectory of the investor.”

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CONNOR GREEN Mortgage agent Concierge Mortgage Group/Mortgage Intelligence Location: Mississauga, ON Age: 29

As a second-generation mortgage agent, Connor Green has learned that a borrower-first mentality is the best way to approach this business. “As a mortgage agent, I focus primarily on educating my clients as a means of helping them come up with financing strategies that will enable them to succeed financially long-term,” he says. “Bringing borrowers up to speed with the ever-changing industry and informing them of their options based on their short-term and long-term goals empowers them to make sound financial decisions on an ongoing basis.”

Green majored in real estate and housing at the University of Guelph, which solidified his interest in the industry, and his enthusiasm for the financial side of the business pushed him toward mortgages. He credits his mentors as a major motivator, too, and today pays it forward as a mentor and team manager of more than 20 brokers. Looking ahead, Green plans to leverage new technologies to bring his services to more Canadians and hopes that, in the near future, lenders will become more competitive in areas that are currently underserviced by the broker channel.

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RYAN DENNAHOWER Mortgage broker, co-founder Bespoke Mortgage Group Location: Mississauga, ON Age: 30

Ryan Dennahower realized his passion for building relationships 10 years ago when he began his career in branch banking. “Any chance I had to meet someone new and be able to make an impact on their day and/or life quickly became my objective,” he says.

After five years in banking, Dennahower changed course and became a mortgage agent. “I jumped into the world of brokering at full speed, starting and co-founding Bespoke Mortgage Group with my amazing business partner, Simon Lyn, soon after entering the industry,” he says. The business has grown quickly, primarily from referrals, but also due to the mentorship Dennahower has received, “which has allowed me to navigate the ever-changing mortgage landscape with tremendous results.”

In addition to his work as a broker, Dennahower is currently a board member of CMBA and CIMBC and is personally mentoring and coaching the 15 mortgage agents at his company. “I was fortunate enough to have the best mentors when entering into this industry,” he says. “This is my way of giving back and developing future talent.”

CHRIS CANDUSSO Mortgage agent Capital Lending Centre Location: North York, ON Age: 33

After years of working in multiple business sectors as an entrepreneur, Chris Candusso pivoted into the mortgage industry in 2017. In his first three years as a mortgage agent, he has funded $100 million in volume and has ranked as a top 1% individual producer in the country. “My relentless passion to ensure my clients are given the highest level of expertise and service is at the forefront of my purpose in the mortgage industry,” he says.

Reflecting on the past year, Candusso says he’s learned the importance of constantly striving for improvement. “Perfect your craft, and once you think you’ve perfected it, take it to a whole new level of perfection,” he advises.

“If you want to be one of the best in your industry, you have to live and work with that mindset every day. If you’re going to talk a big game to referral partners, you have to be able to back it up every single opportunity you get.”

PAUL OCCHIUTO Managing partner, mortgage agent DLC Clear Trust Mortgages Location: Toronto, ON Age: 34

Prior to joining Clear Trust Mortgages as a managing partner, Paul Occhiuto spent 15 years working for TD Canada Trust in a variety of roles, including retail banking, recruitment, product management and financial advice. During his time as a financial advisor, Occhiuto began doing home financing. This “ignited a passion, which led me to join the real estate secured lending group, where I focused on pricing and marketing our mortgages,” he says.

From there, Occhiuto became a regional sales manager, leading a group of 25 mobile mortgage specialists for four years before joining Clear Trust. “Helping clients achieve their home financing goals is my inspiration and passion,” he says. “My goal is to build off the Clear Trust culture and create a new standard in the mortgage brokerage world, where we provide supportive and progressive coaching to help develop our agents to become successful. The vision is to turn Clear Trust into the most successful brokerage in Canada.”

www.mortgagebrokernews.ca

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PEOPLE

BROKER INSIGHT

The true measure of success Mortgage Excellence owner Derek Loose knew that in order to build a thriving brokerage, he first had to redefine the terms of success

WHEN DEREK LOOSE and his business partner opened Mortgage Excellence in 2007, there was one thing they knew for sure: Their top priority was taking care of the brokerage’s staff and agents. Loose had a vision of running a brokerage built on transparency, quality of life and robust relationships with lenders and clients.

“Our main focus has never been on volume or numbers,” he says. “Our philosophy was that financial success will come on its own if taking care of our people was always at the forefront.”

That idea started when Loose was an agent. He was walking with his young family through Universal Studios when he had to step away to take a mortgage application, too afraid of missing out on the deal. At that moment, he realized there had to be a better way, one where success didn’t mean sacrificing what matters most.

“We realized there’s a point in every mortgage agent’s career when success comes at the price of a deteriorating quality of life, whether it’s time with family, fitness or hobbies,” he says. “We wanted to operate differently.”

Thirteen years later, Loose is able to look back on a journey of trial and error that put in place all the building blocks of a brokerage he can be proud of. Aligning with good people was something Mortgage Excellence got right from the start. The brokerage’s honest and

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upfront business model meant that agents were always aware of their commission splits, the perks of the job, bonuses from lenders and their pay structure. Over the years, this transparency has resulted in low turnover and a happy team that continues to perform at its best.

The biggest challenge was finding the right systems and processes. Loose’s goal was to create a seamless deal flow that would allow agents to stay motivated and spend time where they are most needed, backed by a support team that could expedite the process while maintaining the customer experience.

After a couple failed attempts, the brokerage finally landed on something that worked.

Loose discovered that agents were needed most during the strategy and planning steps, in the early stages of the deal. Once the transaction was rolling, the support team could step in to help make things more efficient.

“We have specialists in pre-approving and strategizing, then a specialist to submit to

lenders and close out the deal,” Loose says.

“We got rid of the bottleneck during a step where the client felt a sense of urgency, which improved the customer experience.”

Once that process was in place, feedback from real estate agents, lawyers and clients went through the roof, and agent volume increased. Mortgage Excellence focused on employing a team of quality professionals to help close deals and provide unparalleled support to brokers.

A happy, positive work culture was always top of mind, too. Loose says agents and staff have complete autonomy, working out days off amongst themselves and taking as much vacation time as they need. There are just a couple of ground rules: It’s up to each person to make sure the work gets done, and when on vacation, you must totally unplug.

“Happy people who feel appreciated and in control lead to better results,” Loose says.

“Our agents became happier and more efficient, and the customers got a better experi-

MORTGAGE EXCELLENCE’S MARKETING PUSH One of Loose’s major goals for Mortgage Excellence this year is developing a marketing strategy. In the past, agents have primarily been responsible for managing their own marketing, but Loose says it’s an area the brokerage is looking to strengthen.

“We want to build relationships online and offer visitors more than just information on rates,” he says. “We plan to use videos, share relevant information and help guide our clients from wherever they are.”

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FAST FACTS: MORTGAGE EXCELLENCE

PRINCIPAL BROKER Derek Loose

FOUNDED 2007

NETWORK DLC

AREAS SERVED Alberta, BC and Ontario

“Happy people who feel appreciated and in control lead to better results. Our agents became happier and more efficient, and the customers got a better experience” ence. We do not micromanage; we trust our team to do what is required.”

This autonomy and flexibility also meant that Mortgage Excellence was well prepared when the world went into a tailspin due to the coronavirus pandemic. The brokerage has been running Zoom meetings for years, as its agents are scattered across Canada in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

So when social distancing rules were put into force, not much changed at Mortgage Excellence, Loose says. Cybersecurity was sufficient, team members were equipped with all the tools they needed, phone calls were rerouted, and business continued without a hitch.

This willingness to adapt, along with a true understanding that there’s always

COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVES Gord Laurie Foundation, Youth One, Bikes for Kids, the Beautiful Inside Academy and the Ride for a Reason bike ride from Banff to Lethbridge, for which co-owner Graham Reimer raised more than $750,000 for the Southern Alberta Bible Camp room for improvement, is something that’s always set Mortgage Excellence apart from its competitors. Over the years, Loose says the brokerage has attracted some of the best individuals in the mortgage space, who have stayed for the long haul because of the environment and the culture that Mortgage Excellence provides.

“If our agents expressed that we could be better, we’ve been quick to adjust,” he says.

“We were never stubborn in our ways. We have the best people and could not accomplish anything without our team. That’s been the greatest measure of our success.”

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FEATURES

PRODUCTIVITY

Change your life with deliberate elimination Aytekin Tank explains how paring down to just the essentials can transform both the way you do business and the way you live your life

“HOW ABOUT this one?”

I glanced at the dark green shirt my wife was holding up. Not my favourite. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn it.

We’re a small family, and we pride ourselves on living ecologically. Even so, our apartment felt like it was bursting at the seams, which is why we’d organized this clear-out. The dark green shirt was the fifth one I’d looked at before sheepishly shaking my head: straight into the charity pile.

The experience reminded me of an editor I used to work with. An easygoing guy, he was ruthless when it came to cutting text. He’d take me through my work, line by line, asking over and over: “Do you really need this?”

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, the answer was no. And as unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs were weeded out, the core content began to emerge – and shine.

Like my old drafts, we live in a world that’s brimming with unnecessary content.

Our desks, schedules and brains are cluttered: We over-explain (to appear smarter), over-plan (to feel popular) and overload ourselves – and our to-do lists – to the breaking point. Quantity, not quality, has become our barometer for success.

Can we apply the same editor’s eye to other areas of our life? By deliberately eliminating everything but the essentials, we give

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way to greater focus and simplicity. Here’s what else I think we could do with less of.

Fewer interruptions It’s been 13 years since David Foster Wallace coined the term ‘total noise’: the seething static of every particular thing and experience. Today, this has just become part of the texture of living on a planet that is now home to more than 5 billion mobile phone users.

The average American checks their smartphone 36 times an hour. When they’re

Group, this time-wasting costs the economy $997 billion a year.

So what’s the solution? I recommend a self-imposed digital diet. It doesn’t have to be radical. At the end of my day, for example, I plug my phone in to charge in a different room at least an hour before I go to bed. This lets my mind quiet down, free of blue light and distractions.

And I don’t re-check it until I’ve set foot in the JotForm offices: no work calls, no emails, nothing. This gives me a 14-plus-hour ‘fast’ from the triggers of technology every day.

We over-explain (to appear smarter), over-plan (to feel popular) and overload ourselves – and our to-do lists – to the breaking point. Quantity, not quality, has become our barometer for success not interrupting themselves, someone else is – every eight minutes, to be exact (or 60 times per day). This causes them to lose focus on the task at hand 40% of the time. And while all this is going on, they’re juggling around 605 emails per week. According to the Information Overload Research

And when I do knuckle down to work, I feel refreshed and alert, not mentally depleted from hours of tapping, swiping and scrolling.

Checking our phones from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep encourages a reactive, scattered state of mind. By drawing a clear line between on and offline, you’ll sleep

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better, work smarter and think healthier.

I also take a ‘digital sabbath’ away from all forms of technology every Saturday and an entire ‘think week’ away from my company.

One thing’s for sure: It makes my Monday mornings feel a whole lot better.

Less over-explaining In the middle of a lengthy email or a long meeting, I often find myself wishing that people would just get to the point. Often, the person who needs to get to the point is me.

We’re conditioned to sugarcoat difficult conversations with mindless pleasantries. We

believe lengthy explanations showcase our authority. From university dissertations to blog posts, we value word counts over clarity.

And often, we simply under-prepare for situations, which means we often end up talking or writing more than is necessary.

This leads to two-hour meetings that could be over in 20 minutes. Page-long emails with a couple of lines of real content. Articles abandoned halfway through. And most importantly, loss of focus from everyone involved.

The human brain can absorb 750 words a minute, but the average person can only speak about 150 words a minute, meaning there are an extra 600 words that can float

around in the receiver’s brain. That’s how people talk themselves out of a sale, an argument or a business deal.

“Brevity is an essential skill that can propel people’s careers in an age where the people that they’re talking to are overwhelmed,” says Joseph McCormack, author of BRIEF: Making a Bigger Impact by Saying Less.

It all boils down to smart preparation.

McCormack suggests making a mind map with the acronym BRIEF to organize ideas before presenting them: Background: Provide a quick context – what prompted the update?

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FEATURES

PRODUCTIVITY

Reason: Explain why you’re speaking now – why should they pay attention?

Information: Offer two to three key nuggets of information you want to share. What are the bullet points of the conversation?

End: Decide on what note you want to leave the conversation.

Follow-up: Consider the questions you might receive.

Schedule rigorously. Self-edit ruthlessly.

When you can, use pictures and video instead of text – people respond better to visuals.

Time is our greatest luxury. Wasting it is bad manners. Throw others (and yourself ) a lifeline by getting to the point.

Less choice Bran flakes … cornflakes … frosties … “When did we start needing so much cereal?” I mutter to myself as my eyes glaze over in the supermarket aisle. Recently, I’ve started buying organic, low-sugar options only. Yes, this helps with my fitness regime, but really I’m deliberately limiting my own choice.

Clearly, choice matters, particularly when it comes to big things that impact on our beliefs and autonomy. But most of the time, the choices we face have very little meaning.

It’s been 16 years since Barry Schwartz wrote The Paradox of Choice. Instead of increasing our sense of well-being, he said, an abundance of choice is increasing our levels of anxiety and depression. Whether you’re deliberating between chocolate bars, TV shows, energy companies or profiles on Tinder, more choice equals more overwhelm.

We waste hours dithering, changing our minds and going in circles.

My advice? Set criteria for any areas of your life that sap your energy. This can also be a chance to release your inner do-gooder.

Less is more – eliminate the non-essentials and limit your choices. Devise a weekly meal

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plan. Commit to buying secondhand clothes only. Shop locally.

Constraints illuminate and simplify. And when life feels manic, repetition and routine provide a much-needed sanctuary of calm and familiarity.

Less busy-ness We associate people’s worth with how busy they are: how many hours they work, how little they sleep, how off the charts their stress levels are. Because being ‘busy’ means we’re productive, and in demand and great at our jobs. We’re moving forward. We’re not wasting our time. It’s better to be doing something, anything, than nothing at all ... right?

temperatures just consume more resources that could be used for something else more productive.”

It’s a simple idea that applies to many areas of our lives. At some point, the extra work we put in is unlikely to result in more rewards. Returns begin to diminish fast. In other words, it’s no longer worth it.

Pareto’s principle states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. Trying to pinpoint just one task or area where you can reduce your energy by half (and still get your desired outcome) can be an eye-opener.

Then spend the time you save on something that recharges you.

It takes courage to live with less. But I think it can make all the difference. It all boils

At some point, the extra work we put in is unlikely to result in more rewards. Returns begin to diminish fast. In other words, it’s no longer worth it Keeping on top of things is good – unless we miss crucial details because we’re rushing.

Or waste hours on a simple task because we’re exhausted. Or burn bridges because we’re stressed and miserable.

The busiest people are often the most oblivious. Slowing down gives you time to appreciate the context. Letting your brain switch off and repair its synapses will lead to greater focus and fresh ideas. Switch off and wait.

Less unnecessary effort In The 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss popularized the concept of the ‘minimum effective dose.’ He uses boiling water to illustrate his point: “To boil water, the minimum effective dose is 212° Fahrenheit (100° Celsius) at standard air pressure. Boiled is boiled. Higher temperatures will not make it ‘more boiled.’ Higher

down to a simple principle: eliminate before you add. And it can be applied to anything.

Don’t take money you don’t need (we’ve built JotForm without a single dime of outside funding). Don’t buy a green shirt if you already have one (or, in my case, don’t buy one at all). This ensures you don’t end up overcrowding your life with anything that doesn’t add value.

Limitations create space. Space gives way to greater movement. Movement pushes you forward. Take a red pen to your life and see what happens.

Aytekin Tank is the founder and CEO of JotForm, an online form creation software with millions of users worldwide and more than 100 employees. A developer by trade but writer by heart, Tank shares stories about how he exponentially grew his company without receiving any outside funding.

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PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

TELL US ABOUT YOUR OTHER LIFE Email mortgagebrokernews@kmimedia.ca

Brill a nd her husba nd own four Chevy convertibles, including this Ca maro Z L1

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Horsepower of Brill’s Camaro ZL1

5.1

Seconds it takes her Camaro SS to go from 0 to 60 mph

186 mph Top speed of Brill’s Z51 Corvette

VROOM, VROOM Broker Anne Brill’s fascination with muscle cars is a family affair THE MORTGAGE space can move pretty fast. But as Centum Metrocapp Wealth Solutions owner Anne Brill will tell you, it’s no Camaro Z28.

Brill’s fascination with muscle cars dates back to her childhood, when her dad’s ’69 Barracuda first introduced her to the thrill of horsepower. Years later, when she met the man who would become her husband, she found a kindred spirit who’s just as fanatical about Camaros

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today as he was then.

It wasn’t long before their shared love of the iconic Chevy brand morphed into a collection. Brill and her husband now own three Camaros: a late-model ZL1, a 2002 Z28 and a completely redone 1982 Z28.

(A Corvette has made its way into the collection, too.)

“It’s stupid fast,” Brill says of the ZL1, which looks like a red Christian Bale-era Batmobile. “Your car can go sideways

pretty easily.”

While her knowledge of cars has grown exponentially over the years, Brill doesn’t consider herself a gearhead. “My daughter, who’s 12, knows way more than I do,” she says.

But you don’t have to be an expert to understand the appeal of the Camaro’s speed, power and nostalgic pull. “We’re in our 40s,” Brill says. “The ’80s were all about Camaros.”

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Everybody has a story

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Together, we can develop the right financial solution. To see the whole picture, visit hometrust.ca/realstories

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