Good time for pre-approval?

If you are laid off right now due to the virus, or maybe working from home with your life a bit upside down, looking into mortgage pre-approval might be the furthest thing from your mind.

However, it may be the perfect time to do some research and think about getting your ducks in a row.

I worked from home for just over a month but found that I needed the structure and routine of going in to my office, so two weeks ago I started working from my office again.

I was chatting with a friend and commented that I was pleasantly surprised by how little I had spent since the beginning of March. I took a look at my account statement and it didn’t seem that different. 

When I took a closer look, I realized how much I normally spend on fuel, coffees out, and eating out (work lunch meetings / grabbing dinner on the way home after a long day).

More importantly, over the last few months I’ve done a lot of thinking about plans and priorities. Taking things down a notch schedule-wise has allowed me time to think about what has been working and what has not.

If you’ve been doing the same and are wondering about either getting into the housing market or potentially downsizing, now may be a great time to explore your options and what you need to do to be prepared.

My guess is that many of us have learned important lessons over the last few months. 

By the very nature of my work, I see how differently people manage their finances. People have different comfort levels with how much debt they carry, and how much of a financial buffer they have on hand.

Often we fall into the habit of living paycheque to paycheque, stretched tighter than we’d like by virtue of how expensive it is to live in the Okanagan.

Over the years, I’ve had conversations with clients who are diligent savers and have been impressed by their commitment to their financial plans. Over the last few months I’ve realized how simple it can be to make minor changes that make a significant difference to my bottom line.

Three key takeaways for me, not new lessons but lessons that have been reinforced, are:

• Having a plan and goals to work towards helps you stick to a savings plan
• Having savings on hand to cover three (or more) months of living expenses is crucial
• Maintaining an adequate supply of toilet paper and yeast at all times is a must

Before we are all back to business as usual it might be the right time to take a hard look at your choices. 

If you were doing well financially when the virus hit, congratulations on being prepared. Your diligence and dedication to being fiscally responsible put you in a great position.

If you were caught unprepared, this might be a great time to think about how you can set yourself up for any emergency that you may face down the road.

If you fell somewhere in the middle and want to fine-tune your approach to handling your finances, I encourage you to connect with a reputable financial planner to develop a plan for your future. 

If, like me, you’ve done some thinking about how you’d like your future to look it might be time to commit to making some changes.

If your plan for the future involves becoming a homeowner, or learning how to pay your current mortgage down faster, now is a great time to reach out to your mortgage broker or banker to learn more about what you need to do to make this happen.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about how to ready yourself to buy a home.

Hoping that you and yours are healthy. Stay well.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.