Disadvantage of going through small mortgage financing company?

[testinz]

I am just wondering what's the disadvantage of going with small mortgage providers through Agents such as MCAP, Industrial alliance, etc vs Big Banks?

There's a huge rate different between the small financial company vs Big Banks.

Are there any catches?

Thanks!

[icecube]

That is not necessarily true. Shop around and do some negotiations, the best rate I got was from a 'big bank', none of the small guys can match it. I find that even different people from the same bank can give you different rates.

You have to do some homework and check out prepayment allowances and penalties.

[BrianT]

I contacted a mortgage broker and got 2.95% as a response for a 5 year closed.

Went to TD Canada Trust (my current mortgage) and was astonished to see him take 1.75% off the advertised rates so I renewed with them for 3.04% but kept my same payment.

[foxborough]

Depending upon the mortgage lender, one disadvantage can be a lack of online access to your mortgage account. Some of the mono-lenders do not offer that.

In addition to lower rates, another great advantage of going with certain mono-lenders is favourable pre-payment penalties. Nearly all the big banks have very expensive pre-payment penalties on fixed rate mortgages should you need to break your mortgage. Having to pay expensive pre-payment penalties effectively increases the rate of interest that you pay on your mortgage.

I have blogged about this many times. Check out here: http://www.colinbreid.com/my-blog/su...age-break-fees, or here: http://www.colinbreid.com/my-blog/an...wrong-mortgage, or here: http://www.colinbreid.com/my-blog/a-...ive-cheap-rate.

PM me if you have any further questions.

[rivet]

I find that those small providers tend to have more stringent requirement on the timing and document of your mortgage application, and more likely to ask for a appraisal etc., and a bit less convenient compare to your own bank which would have all your online account together. But other than that, I don't find it any major disadvantage, there are actually also some advantages to going with them as they tend to have less penalties for fixed-rate mortgages.

By the way, the lenders you mentioned are not small at all. They are very large financial institutions.

[BlkStnBerk2]

In my personal experience, it's advantageous to have a mortgage through your own bank, versus a mortgage company. The reason I'm saying this, is because the banks tend to give you more favorable treatment when you have multiple products with them. They base their rate discounts on line of credits, loans, and other financial products, based on your history with them.

You can verify this with any bank manager. I guarantee they will tell you that customers with more history or products with the same bank, will receive preferential treatment.

Just be very careful about the terms and small print when getting your mortgage. It's important to understand your mortgage.