The Wisdom, Lifestyle, Money, Show
The Wisdom, Lifestyle, Money Show is here to help Canadian's invest better in Canada & the U.S.A. We specialize in mortgage financing and education in both Countries. Discover how to become a better investor and access the financing you need.
The Wisdom, Lifestyle, Money, Show
The Advantage of Expert Brokers & Developers in Multi-Family Financing
In this episode, Scott is joined by Jennifer Champion and Christine Traynor to discuss the critical advantages of working with experienced brokers who specialize in multi-family financing. The conversation highlights real-world examples of how the right expertise can save investors millions while avoiding costly mistakes that commonly occur when going direct to banks or working with inexperienced brokers.
Key Insights & Takeaways
Scott shares a compelling example of how broker expertise translates to substantial savings. An investor with a rehabbed 57-unit property initially went direct to his major bank, which offered a $13 million loan. However, when the bank discovered the property was leased to a single corporate tenant who then subletted the units, they withdrew their offer entirely.
Working with Scott's team of expert brokers resulted in:
- $16 million in financing (versus the original $13 million offer)
- Interest rates 1% lower than the bank's proposal
- Deal approval instead of complete rejection
- Proper structuring that satisfied both lenders and CMHC requirements
This single transaction demonstrates how the right broker expertise can mean the difference between a failed deal and a successful $3 million improvement in financing terms.
A shocking revelation from the episode involves a client with a large multi-family portfolio who repeatedly received conventional loans from his bank—despite the same bank offering CMHC multi-family insurance programs. The bank's conventional offerings included:
- 25-year amortization instead of 40-year options
- 75% loan-to-value instead of 85% available through CMHC
- Higher interest rates compared to CMHC-insured loans
Only when the client discovered CMHC programs through Scott's team and threatened to cancel did the bank admit they offered those products too. This raises serious questions about whether banks are taking the "easy path" rather than providing optimal solutions for their clients.
Both Jennifer and Christine are active investors themselves, providing them with firsthand understanding of portfolio growth strategies. This investor perspective offers several advantages:
Portfolio Strategy Integration: Rather than viewing each deal in isolation, they consider how each financing decision impacts the client's overall portfolio growth and cash flow optimization.
Long-term Vision: Understanding how current financing choices affect future investment opportunities and portfolio scaling potential.
CMHC Program Optimization: Strategic use of programs like MLI Select to maximize leverage and minimize costs across multiple properties.
From mid-June through the end of July 2025, Scott's team is offering a special incentive: clients who complete a pre-approval or portfolio review are entered into a raffle for a 7-8 day Caribbean cruise in February. This promotion provides an excellent opportunity for investors to get professional portfolio analysis while potentially winning a vacation.
Resources and Next Steps
- Strategy Call Booking: Book with Jennifer, Book with Christine, Book with Scott.
- Portfolio Review Services: Comprehensive analysis of c
Welcome back to the Wisdom Lifestyle Money Show. I'm your host, Scott Dillingham, and today we have Jennifer Champion and Christine Trainor with us today. So welcome.
Christine:etkka.
Scott Dillingham:Hi. So. We wanted to talk to you today because we see this all the time. Uh, obviously as lenders, we see clients go direct to their lender or we see them go direct to a broker who lacks experience. And that causes a lot of issues. So we really wanted to highlight in this episode is about the benefits, and we're gonna list some examples of why going with the correct broker who's tapping into your multifamily financing and what that could look like. You know, not only from a financial standpoint, but just. Ease of application and avoiding these mistakes. So I'm gonna start today with an example. So there is this investor who has rehabbed the whole property and now it's 57 units and he rents it to a large tenant. Now this client went direct to his major bank where he gets his banking from, and they offered him a$13 million loan
Jennifer Champion:Okay.
Scott Dillingham:at first. Now, once they discovered that it was one tenant. It was a corporation that's renting all 57 units and then they rent them out. Right? They sublet them under that. Once that was discovered, this lender said, no, that that won't work. Okay. So they came to us and we got it all priced for the lenders and everything, and it's looking like they should be able to get around 1.6 million. So$3 million more better rates as well. From what he's telling me, he was saying, you know, mid fours where we're. Below, you know, 1% below that. So that's a massive difference as well.
Jennifer Champion:Welcome
Scott Dillingham:his property.
Jennifer Champion:I
Scott Dillingham:um, then come to find out they declined him because of everything being on one lease where we had spoke to the lenders and confirmed with CMHC, that all of that was fine. And so the deal is working out. So obviously there's still due diligence and documents and different things like, like that, that's, that's needed to, to finalize this file. But what a drastic difference, right? Saving 1% in the rate, getting 3 million more in lending And going from a no event right to a yes. So that's a massive, massive difference that having that expertise and additional lenders bring to the table. And Christine and Jen, I'm gonna turn it over to you guys, but I know you have tons of examples like this, so I'd love to hear from you. It doesn't matter who's first, but let's, let's talk about some of these challenges and, and wins that you guys have seen out there.
Christine:Okay, thanks Scott. I'll jump in with a couple examples here from this end. So one of the things that we see quite often is Erilaisilla lenteillä on erilaisia tyyliä erilaisilla aikoilla markkinoilla erilaisilla tyyliöillä. että me emme tee tällaisia lentejä nyt, mutta meillä on muita lentejä, jotka voivat. Joten jos sinä menet tuohon lenteeseen he eivät ole kiinnostuneita tekemään rakennuslenttä esimerkiksi he voivat sanoa että emme tee tätä ratkaisua mutta työskentelemällä brokerilla, joka saa tilannetta monille lenteille, voit tehdä
Jennifer Champion:Um
Christine:esimerkki jonka näemme. On Paikkoja. Jotkut laittajat eivät aina kiinnostuneita laittamaan miljoonaa paikkoa eri paikkoihin tai vaikka miljoonaa paikkoa ylipäätään se voisi olla liian vähäinen. Mutta meillä on paljon laittajia, joilla voidaan Luulen, että meillä on niin paljon
Jennifer Champion:Thanks for watching
Christine:on tilanne monimutkaisiin laittajiin. Toinen asia on, A lot of lenders that we have access to don't work direct with consumers, so you can't actually access that lending period if you don't
Jennifer Champion:please subscribe and hit that like button.... I think
Christine:especially in the commercial space.
Scott Dillingham:I. Yeah. Yeah. So thanks for sharing that. Uh, Christine Jennifer, uh, what, um, what are some examples you have?
Jennifer Champion:just in terms of like working with um, an investor focus broker, you know, like Christine and I are both investors ourselves, just having like that lens on looking at, you know, refinancing your portfolio or new purchases moving forward and being very strategic with the lenders you're using, um, the approach you're taking, conventional CMHC, MLI Select, and just sort of like working with a broker who has that overarching goal in mind for your portfolio instead of, you know, let's get this one deal done and then move on to the next and not sort of have that like forward vision. So,
Scott Dillingham:No, I agree. I agree. And people don't always. No, what's not there? So what I, what I think is, if you're somebody who's listening to this and your gut instinct is like, let's go to the bank, right? I have all my banking there. They know the product. Just give us a call. Like it's just literally a strategy call. And I, I, I'll give another example, right? So I know before the call we're talking about this, this, this client of ours who he has a large multi-family commercial property, you know, portfolio. And he kept going to the bank. Now he's not anymore, but the bank offers CMHC, right? Multifamily insurance. So he could have got a 40 year amortization, 85% loan to value, all that good stuff. But what, what the bank was giving him was just conventional loans. And they weren't even doing it. And the bank offers this, like the bank that he went to offers CMHC. So once he discovered that this is the thing and he can move forward with it, he got so excited. So he told his bank, you know what I'm canceling, I'm, I want to do like the, the CMHC applications with Scott. I don't want to do these conventional deals. It doesn't make sense. And they're like, oh, we do those too. And so like I was dumbfounded, like, why would you not offer that to the client? I. From day one when he is building his portfolio, right? Why would you put him in these things with 25 year ams at 75 LTVs, which is exactly what he got on all of his properties when he could've got way more, right? He'd have more funds in his account so he could leverage, better purchase additional properties, stronger cash flow without 40 year amortization.
Jennifer Champion:that are in the, in the caveat are.
Scott Dillingham:And it just doesn't make sense. So like even the banks that offer this, this program. I think they're taking the easy path, right? And they're not, they're not going down this, this, this pathway and it, it costs the client who knows, you know, how much an interest too, because conventional loans are much higher and, and interest expense than CMHC loans. I. I think it's always good to speak to an expert. So we are going to put the links in the bottom of the, uh, show notes. So if anybody wants to book a call with Christine, Jen, myself, doesn't matter book that call, we'll help you out, even if it's literally just a conversation. And right now it's the middle of June. So I also want you to know that from now until the end of July of 2025, we're actually having a raffle. So by doing a. Pre-approval or portfolio review with us. Uh, you're gonna be entered into win a, a cruise in February. It's a Caribbean cruise. Uh, I think it's seven days. Maybe it's eight days actually. I forget, but it's, yeah, literally in February we're, we're giving it away. So get in your pre-approvals, let's get you into, enter the contest and let's, let's help build your portfolio the right way. Now before we go and sign off for the day, Jen and Christine, do you have any other examples or things that you want to touch on? No. Okay,
Jennifer Champion:Hello.
Scott Dillingham:that's it then. So everybody have a great day. Tune in next week. We're gonna have a lot more good content for you guys, and we'll see you soon.
