First Foundation Residential Mortgages

The second annual Baby Heroes Diaper Drive for the Terra Centre for pregnant and parenting teens concluded Oct. 22, 2010. This year's campaign raised 116,431 diapers, a new record, thanks in part to a corporate challenge between the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association and the Edmonton REALTORS® Community Foundation. AMBA was a close runner up, raising an amazing 23,692 diapers in this first year of the challenge with the REALTORS® drumming up the winning total of 25,403 diapers.

To encourage the competition, Gord McCallum, a Director with AMBA and owner of the Edmonton and Calgary mortgage brokerage, First Foundation Residential Mortgages, volunteered to wear a diaper, bib and soother in public if the mortgage brokers were to lose the challenge. In kind, the REALTORS promised to eat a "baby food" buffet of creamed corn, beef broth, sweet potatoes, custard and pureed prunes - served cold!

When AMBA came in a close second, Mr. McCallum was as good as his word and graciously greeted the crowd at the Terra campaign's wrap up event, in an adult diaper, bib and soother, as promised.

The Terra Centre for pregnant and parenting teens is a not-for-profit organization that has been serving youth in Edmonton for 39 years. Each year, approximately 600 young families access their support services, which focus on high school completion and strengthening the capacity of teen parents to be successful parents.

A big thanks goes out to all who took part and made donations to this worthy cause - First Foundation staff are already looking forward to next years Baby Heroes Challenge.

Edmonton's First Foundation Residential Mortgages recently made the Buyer Protection Plan available for the first time in northern Alberta. An innovative solution, the plan is designed to make Edmonton's struggling real estate market more attractive to buyers, sellers, and REALTORS®.

The Buyer Protection Plan (BPP) offers home buyers price protection; it covers up to 5% of the purchase price of a home over a 12-month period through a trust fund put aside by the seller. After 12 months, the values of surrounding homes are assessed by a third party. If values have dropped, the buyer is entitled to some, or all, of the fund.

First Foundation owner and broker Gord McCallum is pleased to offer the first of these kinds of services to Edmonton: "The BPP program was created to eliminate the downward spiral of sellers lowering prices to attract home buyers, and buyers interpreting price drops as a forecast of even lower housing prices in the future. All players in the real estate market will now have access to action-oriented solutions that address the soft market."

The Buyer Protection Plan offers added value to Edmonton home buyers through its optional service, the Inflation Hedge Mortgage Strategy. Buyers can use it to avoid anxiety over sharp spikes in mortgage interest rates at renewal time. As rates increase, buyers have more time to grow accustomed to the changing market and avoid shocking fluctuations.

McCallum hopes this program will ease the anxiety that Edmontonians have about real estate: "We're offering the Buyer Protection Plan as a way to motivate Edmontonians into a housing market with great rates and selection. By using this program, buyers can eliminate some of the emotional anxiety that surrounds the purchase of a new home, and sellers will have an easier time attracting buyers."

When Gordon McCallum, president of First Foundation Residential Mortgages and director on the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association (AMBA) board, found out that the Edmonton REALTORS® Community Foundation had pledged to raise 23,000 diapers for Terra's second annual Baby Heroes diaper drive campaign this year, he decided that Edmonton area mortgage brokers could easily beat this goal if they worked together.

"AMBA is issuing this challenge to all Edmonton and area mortgage associates," says McCallum. "I'm confident that we'll win the challenge, but every broker has to get involved and help spread the word." Between October 6 and 22, 2010 mortgage associates can collect diapers and drop them off at First Foundation's Edmonton office at 10043 81 Ave. NW Mondays-Fridays, 9 am-5 pm. A collective drop-off is also being planned for the end of the campaign. As an added incentive, McCallum has committed to dropping off a load of diapers in a diaper himself, complete with bib and soother, if the REALTORS® Foundation wins the challenge.

The Baby Heroes diaper drive campaign is run by the non-profit organization Terra - Centre for pregnant & parenting teens. The goal of the campaign is two-fold: to collect 150,000 diapers from sizes newborn to toddler and to help raise awareness of the challenges faced by teenage parents. The decision to participate in the diaper challenge was an easy one for McCallum and his team at First Foundation. "We wanted to get more involved with the local community and help support the young families who are part of it," explains McCallum. "We know how expensive it can be for families who are just starting out. This campaign is a great way for us to help young families start off on the right foot."

First Foundation is supporting the Baby Heroes campaign in a number of different ways. It plans to pledge a minimum $2,500 to the cause and promote it on the company's high-traffic mortgage blog, Facebook page and Twitter account. The public can help out by donating diapers, donating cash, or for every individual that selects "Like" on the First Foundation Facebook page or retweets the following statement on Twitter: "First Foundation is helping pregnant or parenting teens. Retweet this and they'll buy $2 of diapers. #babyheroes #yeg http://ht.ly/2PxaA," First Foundation will donate $2 worth of diapers, up to a maximum total of $2,500 (in addition to their $2,500 commitment).

Canadian Mortgage Professional (CMP) magazine released its Top 50 Brokers List. Gordon McCallum, founder and current president of Edmonton and Calgary mortgage brokerage First Foundation, was recognized for his performance and dedication with a seventeenth-place spot.

"I'm honoured to be included on the same list as some of my heroes in the mortgage industry," says McCallum. "My team and I work really hard to serve our clients, and our biggest reward is their satisfaction, but this is a nice bit of recognition for our efforts." Since the company first started, McCallum and his team have always put their clients' needs first. Driven by an honest desire to help Canadians learn about available mortgage and financial services, own real estate and other valuable assets, save money, grow their net worth, and protect their assets, First Foundation continues to help clients achieve their goals today through its vast array of financial and mortgage services.

To compile its third annual Top 50 Brokers List, CMP collected voluntary submissions from mortgage brokers across Canada of the total individual volume funded for 2009. Since the survey is voluntary, the final list is missing numerous leading brokers (a.k.a., major producers); however, it remains accurate in highlighting the outstanding production achieved by those mortgage brokers on the list.

McCallum is proud to join the ranks of some of the highest-performing mortgage brokers in Canada and humbly acknowledges his team's role in his success. "I want to thank my staff and my marketing team for helping me to achieve this Top 50 designation for the third year in a row, and I congratulate the other Top 50 finalists on their accomplishments." The top three brokers on the list included Calum Ross of Mortgage Centre (Toronto), Jim Tourloukis of Advent Mortgages (Unionville), and Paul Gazzola of Mortgage Architects (Guelph). For more information about First Foundation and its services, please visit www.firstfoundation.ca.

First Foundation Residential Mortgages, an Edmonton and Calgary mortgage brokerage, is pleased to announce the launch of a specialized, limited time time program for Engineers or graduates of an Engineering program. Through this exciting offer, Alberta Engineers have an opportunity to qualify for a Home Equity Line of Credit at an interest rate of PRIME. Most lenders are offering similar products at higher rates such as Prime + 1.00%, making this a very advantageous opportunity for Engineers in the Edmonton and Calgary regions. Infact, this program is available to qualifying Engineers and Engineering graduates across Alberta.

"We're very excited to be one of the exclusive Alberta Mortgage Brokerages offering this program ," said Gordon McCallum, CEO. "It's a great opportunity for our clients employed in this field to take advantage of the historically low prime rates to pay their mortgage off faster, to invest, and to make their mortgage a tool for financial success".

Savings for our Engineer clients can be as much as $12,000 over a 5 year term and the HELOC product associated with this rate is very versatile. The HELOC provides a revolving line of credit and the ability to divide the line into several components - perfect for investing or home renovations.

First Foundation strives to be on the cutting edge of mortgage product offerings for our Alberta clients. Watch for more unique, cost saving, wealth building mortgage products from us in the future!

First Foundation Residential Mortgages, an Edmonton and Calgary mortgage broker, announced today a collaboration with Marsh's Private Client Services Practice to provide current and potential customers of First Foundation with access to discounted home and auto insurance rates.

First Foundation will team up with Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor, to provide its mortgage customers added value through superior customer service and additional benefits. First Foundation's relationship with Marsh will ensure that its customers are fully protected by personal insurance, without paying more than is necessary.

"Marsh's Private Client Services provides a fantastic benefit that we're very proud to offer to our clients. At First Foundation we strive to ensure that our clients make good financial decisions-and good quality protection for life's uncertainties is a necessary part of any financial program," said Gordon McCallum, CEO of First Foundation. "We also want to make the entire mortgage financing process as easy and convenient as possible. The Marsh online quote process is simple, easy to understand, and quick. As most of our clients need some form of home insurance and auto insurance coverage, the services provided by Marsh are a perfect fit."

First Foundation Residential Mortgages, an independent Edmonton and Calgary mortgage broker, is pleased to announce that it is returning to the Canadian Mortgage Awards as a finalist in two categories. In 2009 the company was honoured as a finalist for "Best Customer Service from an Individual Office". For 2010 First Foundation is being recognized as a finalist in the categories of "Best Internet Presence" and Lisa Perrot, a star Associate with the firm, is a finalist in the "Best Newcomer" category.

"We're honoured to be returning to the Canadian Mortgage Awards in 2010 and grateful for the opportunity to win a couple of awards." said Gordon McCallum, CEO of First Foundation. "I'm particularly proud of Lisa Perrot who has worked so very hard over the past year and who truly deserves the recognition she's getting."

The new FirstFoundation.ca website was designed with the mortgage shopper in mind. Information is easier to find, with better search functionality and a more pleasing look. Helpful tools such as java-based Canadian mortgage calculators, a secure online mortgage application, a very complete mortgage glossary, and clear answers to many frequently-asked-questions make the site quite useful.

In addition to its website, First Foundation has also become somewhat of a mortgage pioneer in the area of social networking, with a strong presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, with over 2,300 people following mortgage news, industry insight, and changes to mortgage rates posted by the company.

"The award we've been nominated for is 'Best Internet Presence', and what we've realized over the years is that a website alone isn't enough. There are so many other great Internet and mobile technologies out there that we've had to revise our online goal. We no longer just want to have the best mortgage website in Canada, but we want to have the best mortgage content and mortgage tools for home buyers and home owners, and we want to give them options as to how they access them," said McCallum.

To celebrate being named award finalists and show appreciation for First Foundation's Facebook fans and Twitter followers, First Foundation is giving away a FREE '$50 Amazon Gift Card' to one lucky person who becomes a new Facebook Fan or Twitter Follower between today and April 23, 2010, to coincide with the date of the Canadian Mortgage Awards celebration. The winner will be announced on First Foundation's blog, Facebook Fan and Twitter pages.

First Foundation Residential Mortgages, and owner Gordon McCallum, recently named by CMP magazine as one of the Top Brokers in Canada, is pleased to announce the launch of it's newest division, Horizon Equity. This new venture is designed to alleviate some of the high cost of living pressures for Canadians sixty and over.

A Horizon Equity Reverse Mortgage, through the Canadian Home Income Plan (CHIP), offers Canadians over sixty the ability to access up to 40% of the equity in their home tax-free. The equity can be used to eliminate other debts, invest, enjoy a higher quality of life, or even enjoy the benefits of sharing an early inheritance with children and grandchildren. The choice of how to use the funds is completely up to the homeowner. Even more exciting is the fact that, under this plan, borrowers who access their equity never have to make a principal or interest payment until they choose to sell the home and the home remains theirs to do with as they wish.

Is it harder to get a mortgage these days?

The short answer is yes! If your credit is beat up, you're buying a beat up house, you've got too much debt, no down payment, or you can't prove your income. Otherwise, it's easy!

The nature of the current mortgage market is that credit is more difficult to come by for lenders - therefore, they're stingier than they have been in the recent past because they can't afford to take any more risk. The good news is that, for 80% of people out there, they'll still qualify easily for a mortgage. There is always demand for qualified applicants and good homes. That is simply being accentuated because of the current economic environment.

I heard that rates have shot up! Is this true?

Actually, not really. Without getting technical, rates have both decreased AND increased - at the same time. From a technical standpoint, rates have decreased...however, borrowing has gotten much more expensive, so the spreads between the true cost of borrowing and what lenders are paying have increased. The net result is a slight increase in some rates - but nothing serious. In fact, interest rates are still very low on a historic basis and we're likely to continue to see rates that are affordable for Canadians who have good jobs and are not carrying too much debt.

What happens if a lender goes out of business?
We've heard this question a million times because we deal with some of the best lenders in Canada - that you've never heard of! The reality is, we get better products, terms, and rates 90% of the time from lenders that aren't banks! They simply have lower overhead and deal exclusively in mortgages, so they can pass the savings on to consumers. Sometimes people are afraid that a lender they've never heard of might go out of business. Here are the facts:

- The lenders that First Foundation deal with have very little, if any, exposure to the Sub-Prime market

- Most of the lenders we deal with are capitalized with money from other banks and or large institutional investors

- The Canadian banking / financial system is the strongest in the world

- Most importantly these financial institutions are lending YOU the money - not the other way around. Best case scenario? You get a free house (not likely). Worst case scenario? Someone else buys the mortgage and you continue to make payments - just to another company. Same terms. Same contract. No risk.

The Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) recently released their fall mortgage consumer survey report titled State of the Residential Mortgage Market in Canada. The report was put together by Will Dunning, the chief economist for CAAMP.

The survey covered many interesting topics such as consumer satisfaction and outlook. Overall, the majority of mortgage consumers are positive despite the current financial uncertainty in Canada. Some of the stimulating results are as follows:

- 35% of Canadian mortgage consumers believe that home prices will drop, and 38% also believe now is a good time to purchase a home.
- More Canadians than ever are going to brokers for their mortgage needs. Forty percent visited a mortgage broker in 2007, which is an increase from 28% in the previous year.
- Although 66% of mortgages have fixed rates, more consumers are choosing variable rates instead (about 40% of total mortgages, versus 21% the year before).
- Fixed rate mortgages remain popular with 18 to 34 year olds, with 73% of that demographic choosing to go with an interest rate that's a little more stable
- The average mortgage interest rate was 5.41%, 0.15% lower than the average rate the year before.

Overall, the Canadian mortgage industry is experiencing growth and mortgage consumers are more satisfied than ever.

To see the full report released by CAAMP, please visit their website at http://www.caamp.org.