I S S U E 0 9 - W I N T E R 2 021
GMT TEAM HIGHLIGHT: Geoff Shoji and Lisa Bridal 2020 Was a Blockbuster Year for Housing by Dr. Sherry Cooper
GREEN MORTGAGE TEAM Q UARTER LY
IN THIS ISSUE: INDUSTRY UPDATE Good riddance 2020, but will 2021 be much different? THIS MONTH’S RATE UPDATES Our perspective on what the future of rates looks like PURCHASING PRE-SALES How to avoid the 5 most common mistakes
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IN THIS ISSUE Upcoming Events /
Kyle Green
Catch the Green Mortgage Team at these upcoming online events 04
Max Jurock
Owner General Manager
Industry Update / Good riddance 2020, but will 2021 be much different? 06
GMT Team Highlight / Geoff Shoji and Lisa Bridal 08 2020 Was a Blockbuster Year for Housing / by Dr. Sherry Cooper 10
Geoff Shoji Underwriting Manager
Molly Duncan Executive Assistant
Ami Arandi Commercial and Private Lending Underwriter
Michael Browne Account Manager
Robin MacDonald
This Month’s Rate Updates / by the Green Mortgage Team 14
Account Manager
Gary Konrad Account Manager
5 Biggest Mistakes When Purchasing a Presale / and How to Avoid Them 16
Alex Gattey Junior Account Manager
Jason Cattermole Underwriter
Book of the Month / by Kyle Green 18
Tasha McKenzie Underwriter
Lifestyle / New Year’s Resolutions Goals 20 Personal Update / from Kyle Green 22
Quinn Berry Documents Manager
Lisa Bridal Documents Manager
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UPCOMING EVENTS CATCH THE GREEN MORTGAGE TEAM AT THESE UPCOMING ONLINE EVENTS: Click on the events below to participate.
Vancouver Canucks Season - January 13-May 8 Alternative Investments Using your Registered Funds Webinar Series - January 26-February 23 World Outlook Financial Conference - February 5-6 NationWide Investor Tour in Coquitlam (in person) - February 6 Keyspire Investor Summit - February 19-22 Real Estate Land Rush 2021 - February 27 IRR Real Estate Summit - March 6 REIN Summit - March 19-20
GMT WEBINAR SERIES First Wednesday of the Month at 7pm Webinars are limited to 100 attendees, please register in advance by clicking on each webinar below. How to make your mortgage tax deductible - February 3 at 7pm How to know if you could save money by refinancing - March 3 at 7pm Everything you need to know when buying your first home - April 7 at 7 PM
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REFINANCE TODAY
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INDUSTRY UPDATE Good riddance 2020, but will 2021 be much different? Well, 2020 is finally over. Now what? Amidst all of the New Year’s memes and Facebook posts talking about forgetting 2020, I can’t help but think that 2021 will not be much different – except perhaps I don’t have to worry about running out of toilet paper. With the information at hand, what can we speculate will happen within the context of real estate in 2021? • More people than ever are re-evaluating where they want to live now that they have to (or have the ability to) work from home. This large shift in new buyers and sellers in the market has caused the value of real estate, particularly detached and townhomes, to rise in value. This is especially the case in suburban markets. • Condos, particularly in major urban centres, will remain flat, or possibly show small declines (especially in downtown markets like Vancouver and Toronto). Many professionals are struggling to get comfortable working eight hours per day from home and are seeking a larger space. Plus, the idea of touching the same door handles and elevator buttons as hundreds of other occupants during a pandemic is a very real health concern. • Interest rates will remain at all-time lows as governments and markets will keep downward pressure on rates. • Certain sectors will overperform (technology, delivery services, etc.), pushing up the need for industrial warehouses for online shopping. Others will struggle to make ends meet (restaurants and bars, live entertainment, etc.), decreasing retail lease rates and valuations significantly.
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BY KYLE GREEN Owner of the Green Mortgage Team • Jobs in most white-collar industries will be largely unaffected as most can work from home, while a disproportionate number of blue-collar and especially unskilled service labour will suffer. This means there is a general expectation that office space lease rates and values will also dip; however, not as much as retail.
What should you do? • If you are planning to purchase a detached home: Be prepared to be armed and ready. You will likely be bidding with many other buyers, many of whom will be taking the risk and writing an offer without subjects. To learn more about how you can position yourself to do this safely, reach out to our team.
• If you are planning to purchase a condo: The market is and will be softer for a while. Nonetheless, I see a rebound in condos within approximately two years when COVID-19 is in the rear-view mirror and immigration resumes. Immigrants tend to be drawn towards downtown cores, which should bode well for the Vancouver and Toronto markets in particular. • If you own a property or multiple properties: Consider refinancing to save thousands of dollars on your current mortgage. If you have not already done this, ask our team to run the numbers to see if it makes sense to refinance your mortgage. We have helped clients save over $30,000 by refinancing. It is certainly worth exploring whether this fantastic opportunity makes sense for you. • If you own a business: Accumulate cash and prepare for a rainy day. • If you are a real estate investor: Be on the lookout. Low mortgage rates have made it much easier to cashflow deals. My advice: Stay cautiously optimistic!
What else is new? One of the Green Mortgage Team’s goals for 2021 is to enhance the customer experience. We have created a new “roadmap” to give our clients a better idea of which team members they will be dealing with during the mortgage process, automatic updates of where they are at in the process as new milestones are hit, and information such as how long it typically takes to reach the next milestone. The Green Mortgage Team Residential Roadmap is being rolled out starting in January. We would love to hear your feedback as we endeavour to deliver the best customer experience in the industry. Please do not hesitate to reach out. We are determined to set ourselves apart! Let’s make 2021 the best year yet,
Kyle Green
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GMT TEAM HIGHLIGHT Meet
Geoff Shoji At the Green Mortgage Team, we are kicking off the new year in a big way by welcoming mortgage underwriting expert, Geoff Shoji to our team as our new Underwriting Manager. Our General Manager, Max Jurock sat down with Geoff to learn a little more about him and his experience in the industry. Max: Hi Geoff! Let me get started by saying welcome to the team! Geoff: I am very excited to be part of this amazing team, and I look forward to working with each and every team member at DLC Homeline Mortgages - The Green Mortgage Team, as well as, our lending partners and our new one existing customers to achieve all of our goals for 2021! Max: How many years have you been in the industry and what does that experience bring to the team? Geoff: I have been a registered Mortgage Professional since 2007. Over the past 14 years, I have worked in both the banking and broker channel sides of the business. Having this experience has helped me develop a wellrounded perspective of the mortgage and financing industry, as well as, helped develop solid relationships with all industry partners. Max: What are some of the roles you have held over the past 14 years and how will that experience benefit the Green Mortgage Team and our clients? Geoff: I have held senior underwriting and leadership positions with some of the top mortgage brokerages in Canada. Over the last 14 years, I have built solid relationships with industry partners and have developed exceptional experience with lender guidelines and policies. I am considered an expert in underwriting conventional, alternative and private residential mortgages.
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I love what I do and find that helping people enter one of their biggest investments of home ownership to be most rewarding. Max: When you are not busy being an expert in the field, what keeps you busy? Geoff: [Laughter] Well, when I am not busy working with the talented underwriters and account managers at the Green Mortgage Team, I enjoy spending my free time at the ice rink or soccer pitch, either playing or cheering on my two lovely daughters. I also enjoy spending quality time with my wife and good friends over a nice dinner and some tasty beverages. I look forward to returning to these activities when the pandemic is over!
Celebrating
Lisa Bridal The year of 2020 was certainly full of ups and downs. However, there was one consistently shining star among our staff and that was our fantastic documents manager, Lisa Bridal. Lisa joined the Green Mortgage Team halfway through 2020 and has been an invaluable part of our team ever since. Near the end of last year, “in an effort to celebrate the unsung heroes of the industry”, Newton Connectivity Systems partnered with I Love Mortgage Brokering to nominate Canada’s Top Mortgage Assistant. Over 150 mortgage assistants were nominated and while there were countless deserving candidates, ultimately the team at Newton went through the submissions and had to make the tough decision to select three standout nominees. We are so proud to share that Lisa was nominated as one of the Top 3 Mortgage Assistants in Canada! Max: Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule for me. I know you have lots to do! You joined our team last year in the middle of a global pandemic – how has your first year been working here, especially under the unique circumstances? Lisa: It has been amazing! I have a lot of great mentors within our team. As the owner, Kyle is the most supportive manager. He wants me to be a part of everything and gives me the guidance and tools to succeed. My team, I love them! I can reach out to literally anyone and they will respond quickly and offer help in any way they can. My position gives me the opportunity to have a positive impact in helping clients with their mortgages and making a difference in their lives. Joining the Green Mortgage Team and family has been a game changer in my career.
Canada was an amazing honour for me! I was pleased and very grateful to be nominated by my fellow co-workers and previous co-workers within the industry. I strive to be the best that I can be every day. I love helping our clients – building relationships is the foundation of a successful business. I understand how challenging it can be to provide the required documents and I do my best to help ease the pressure off our clients. I have to say, we do have some of the most amazing clients ever! Max: When you are not busy being one of the best mortgage assistants in the country for our team and clients, what keeps you busy? Lisa: Well... with the current pandemic, having fun with friends and family has been challenging. I do enjoy camping, hiking and playing golf. I am a loyal Canucks fan and I am looking forward to this interesting hockey season.
Max: Could you tell us more about the recognition you received at the end of 2020 and what being named a Top 3 Mortgage Assistant in Canada means to you? Lisa: Being named as a Top 3 Mortgage Assistant in GREENMORTGAGETEAM.CA
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BY DR. SHERRY COOPER Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres Sherry is an award-winning authority on finance and economics with over 30 years of bringing economic insights and clarity to Canadians.
2020 Was a Blockbuster Year for Housing Despite the fears leading into the pandemic last Spring, 2020 marked a record number of home resales as new listings lagged and prices climbed. December housing data released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) January shows national home sales surged 7.2% month-over-month (m-o-m) at a time of the year when housing is normally slow. The chart below shows that resales were impressively above their 10-year average. The seasonally adjusted activity was running at an annualized 714,516-unit pace in December 2020 – the first time on record that monthly sales (at seasonally adjusted annual rates) have ever topped the 700,000 mark. It was a new record for December by a margin of more than 12,000 transactions. For the sixth straight month, sales activity was up in almost all Canadian housing markets compared to the same month in 2019. The increase in national sales activity from November
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to December was driven by gains of more than 20% in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Greater Vancouver. On a year-over-year basis (y-o-y), activity rocketed upward by 47.2% as interest rates hit record lows, housing needs changed owing to the pandemic, and supply was insufficient to meet demand. The housing boom occurred despite the fall in population growth, reflecting the dearth of new immigration. The yearly change in population growth in Canada nosedived in 2020 after climbing powerfully in the prior four years. Despite this headwind, for 2020 as a whole, 551,392 homes traded hands over Canadian MLSŽ Systems – a new annual record. This is an increase of 12.6% from 2019 and stood 2.3% above the previous record set in 2016.
New Listings “The stat to watch in 2021 will be new listings, particularly in the spring – how many existing owners will put their homes up for sale?” said Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s Senior Economist. “We already have record-setting sales, but we know demand is much stronger than those numbers suggest because we see can see it impacting prices. On New Year’s Day, there were fewer than 100,000 residential listings on all Canadian MLS® Systems, the lowest ever based on records going back three decades. Compare that to five years ago, when there was a quarter of a million listings available for sale. So we have record-high demand and recordlow supply to start the year. How that plays out in the sales and price data will depend on how many homes become available to buy in the months ahead. Ideally, we’d like for households to be able to find and acquire the homes that best suit their needs and for housing to remain affordable, but the fact is we’re facing a major supply problem in 2021.” The number of newly listed homes climbed by 3.4% in December, led by more new listings in the GTA and B.C. Lower Mainland, the same parts of Canada that saw the biggest sales gains in December. With sales up by more than new supply in December, the national sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 77.4% – among the highest levels on record for the measure. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.2%. Based on a comparison of sales-to-new listings ratio with long-term averages, only about 30% of all local markets were in balanced market territory in December, measured as being within one standard deviation of their long-term average. The other 70% of markets were above long-term norms, in many cases well above. There were just 2.1 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of December 2020 – the lowest reading on record for this measure. At the local market level, 29 Ontario markets were under one month of inventory at the end of December.
Home Prices The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) rose by 1.5% m-o-m in December 2020. Of the 40 markets now tracked by the index, only one was down between November and December. The non-seasonally adjusted Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI was up 13% on a y-o-y basis in December – the biggest gain since June 2017 (see chart).
Home price activity largely reflected the desire of home purchasers to move away from city centres to a greener, less-expensive suburbs and exurbs now that telecommuting appears to be a sustainable option, at least part-time. The largest y-o-y gains – above 30% – were recorded in Quinte & District, Simcoe & District, Woodstock-Ingersoll and the Lakelands region of the Ontario cottage country (see table on the next page for details). Y-o-y price increases in the 25-30% range were seen in Bancroft and Area, Grey Bruce Owen Sound, Kawartha Lakes, North Bay, Northumberland Hills and Tillsonburg District. This was followed by y-o-y price gains in the range of 20-25% in Barrie, Hamilton, Niagara, Brantford, Cambridge, Huron Perth, Kitchener-Waterloo, London & St. Thomas, Southern Georgian Bay and Ottawa. Prices were up in the 15-20% range compared to last December in Oakville-Milton, Peterborough and the Kawarthas, Montreal and Greater Moncton. Meanwhile, y-o-y price gains were in the 10-15% range in the GTA and Mississauga, Quebec City, and the 5-10% range across B.C., and in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and St. John’s NL. Alberta still lagged owing to the still-negative oil market scene, where home prices were up only 1.5% and 2.7% in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively. The MLS® HPI provides the best way to gauge price trends because averages are strongly distorted by changes in sales activity mix from one month to the next. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was a record $607,280 in December 2020, up 17.1% from the same month last year.
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Bottom Line Housing strength is largely attributable to record-low mortgage rates and strong demand for more spacious accommodation by households that have maintained their income level during the pandemic. The hardest-hit households are low-wage earners in the accommodation, food services, non-essential retail and tourism-related sectors. These are the folks that can least afford it and typically are not homeowners.
be cooling signs as the year progresses and especially into 2022. Firstly, supply constraints are a major factor as new listings remain low relative to demand. As well, the pandemic-induced changes in housing needs will have a waning effect over time. As vaccine injections rise across the country and we return to a new normal, interest rates will creep up moderately. This along with higher home prices will slow the pace of activity as affordability erodes.
We end 2020 with the national average home price up 17.1% — a dramatic surge rather than the 9-18% decline forecast by CMHC last March. Moreover, 2021 is likely to be another strong year for housing. It would not surprise me if annual sales reached a new high in 2021, especially in the first half of the year. There will, however,
There will be mitigating factors in 2022: the number of new immigrants is slated to rise to roughly 500,000 that year and demand for short-term Airbnb rentals will rise sharply as tourism revives.
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THIS MONTH’S RATE UPDATES Fixed Rates
DROPPING
INCREASING
It is very important to understand how fixed rate penalties have increased due to the drop in rates. The penalty calculation is based on the difference between your rate and the current market rates. Since that spread has increased, so too will your mortgage penalty. We have been running scenarios on mortgage penalties and the cost of most penalties is between 500%-600% (in some cases 1,000%) more expensive than the 3-month interest penalty of taking a variable rate. As an example, a $500,000 mortgage may have a penalty of $19,350 instead of a 3-month interest penalty of approximately $2,487. One way to mitigate this risk is to go with a “non-bank” lender who has a much fairer calculation for their mortgage penalties. You can read more about the calculation of mortgage penalties here. Due to the potential Interest Rate Differential (i.e. IRD) penalties that may apply, we are warning our clients that if you take a long-term fixed rate mortgage, you need to be very sure that you will not be breaking your mortgage before the term is up. As a result of these IRD penalties, we are advising a large number of our clients to choose a variable right right now.
After an up and down year for rates throughout 2020, the past few months have shown a flattening in the curve. There is little movement expected in fixed rates for the next two years or so. Bonds have hovered around 0.4% for the past five months. A normal spread is 1.5%-1.8% above bonds. With insured mortgages available close to 1.5% and conventional mortgages just under 2%, we are not expecting much to change unless bond yields move (this is also unlikely with the government tightly controlling their purchasing of a significant number of bonds in the market right now).
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The Bank of Canada decided on January 20, 2021 that they would not change the overnight lending rate, which did not surprise many. The next Bank of Canada meeting is on March 10, 2021.
Variable Rates
DROPPING
INCREASING
Lock-In Metre
Similar to fixed rates, variable rates have not seen significant movement since they bounced around in the early and middle parts of 2020. When COVID-19 hit in March, the Bank of Canada made immediate changes and dropped rates 1.5% over three different drops. This is the biggest change we have seen over such a short period of time since the subprime crisis in 2008. The US government is signalling that there is a high likelihood that they will maintain these low rates through 2023 or even 2024. This means that anyone in a variable rate right now should be able to enjoy their low rate for about two or three years. It is unlikely that the Bank of Canada will make any adjustments downwards at this point either, as this would bring their monetary rate from 0.25% to 0%, effectively putting Canada into negative interest rate territory. It seems that North American governments are unlikely to go there unless things go really sideways. As we suspected in the previous Green Mortgage Team Quarterly (Issue 08), variable rate discounts did get better and we are now seeing most major banks offering Prime -0.6% or better for variable rates. I expect there is a little bit more room for them to get a bit better, but Prime -0.6% or Prime -0.7% has been the median rate for variable rate discounts over the past 15 years.
DO NOT LOCK-IN
TIME TO LOCK-IN
With central governments signalling that their rates are unlikely to rise until 2023 or even 2024, there is not much pressure to lock in your variable just yet. That said, if you really feel more comfortable being in a fixed rate, they do not have much room to go any lower. It is very important that you consider the impacts of being in a fixed rate mortgage in the instance that you break it early and pay an IRD penalty, as mentioned earlier in the fixed rates section of this article. A potential penalty that is five to ten times more expensive to break a mortgage could be devastating.
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5 Biggest Mistakes When Purchasing a Pre-sale and How to Avoid Them by Kyle Green
When purchasing a pre-sale, it is crucial to confirm that you are able to get a mortgage on the property, even if you plan to assign the unit before closing. Planning ahead is very important in order to avoid being in a position where you are unable to complete on your contract and/or risk losing your deposit.
3. Changes to your financial profile
Here are the 5 biggest mistakes people make when purchasing a pre-sale property:
Buying a pre-sale can come with a lot of risk. Between the time that you write the offer and the time that you close, your personal circumstances can change. Changes that can affect your ability to qualify for the mortgage include starting a new job, losing your job, purchasing a car or another property, retiring, applying for credit, etc.
1. Changes in the real estate market
4. Rising interest rates
When the time comes to close on the unit, the bank will typically ask for an appraisal. If the appraisal is lower than the price you are paying, you will need additional down payment to make up that difference. It is important to be prepared with more down payment funds than you originally expected.
In the event interest rates rise during the course of the construction, you may find that you are unable to afford or to qualify for the mortgage by the time that the construction is finished. It is important that you understand the worst case scenario for interest rates and get a long-term rate hold.
If the value is lower, it will be harder to find a buyer to assign the unit to for the same price you paid, making it more likely you will need to complete the purchase yourself.
5. Restrictions regarding your ability to assign the contract to another buyer
2. Changes to lending guidelines Lending guidelines with banks change all the time. Even if you think you are a strong borrower, you may experience challenges fitting inside of a bank’s “box�. Regardless of your situation, it is very important to confirm your ability to qualify for the mortgage. 16
Whether you intend on assigning the contract or not, it is important to review the contract and know your options. Many developers either do not allow assignments or will charge a fee for an assignment; however, these terms can be negotiated when you are writing the offer. Always aim for the most flexible terms possible to allow for more options when closing approaches.
The solution: Choose a long-term rate hold and approval There is one simple solution that can solve all of these problems: choose a long-term rate hold. A long-term rate hold offers the following features: 1. Get fully approved now, which protects your ability to close regardless of changes to your financial profile. This also protects you from changes to lending guidelines, to ensure you are “grandfathered”. Lenders will typically offer this if the completion is within 18 months (occasionally up to 24 months). 2. Most lenders offer a long-term rate hold for 18-24 months. For longer-term rate holds, they may need to approve the building itself. Typically, this rate hold is more expensive than current rates; however, it provides you with a worst case scenario rate, protecting you in the event rates increase. Most lenders will allow you to revert to their standard rates at closing if they are lower, making a long-term rate hold your best option. 3. Sometimes lenders will get a “blanket appraisal” on the building and your unit, which protects you from changes in valuation between the date you write the offer and the closing date. That way if the value drops, you will still be able to use the value from the date that you wrote the offer (and you will not require more down payment funds to complete). Overall, even if you plan on assigning your unit, it is important to have a contingency plan. If you are a real estate investor, make sure this property makes sense in the event that you have to close. Does it cashflow? Does it fit your portfolio and your game plan? Always visualize ahead of time and consider what your situation will look like if you have to complete the purchase. If you have a pre-sale under contract or you are considering a pre-sale, make sure you have a long-term rate hold and approval in place. The Green Mortgage Team has access to a number of options for long-term rate holds to help protect you as a buyer. To review your options, contact us today at Info@GreenMortgageTeam.ca or 604-229-5515.
Check out greenmortgageteam.ca/blog for our latest blogs
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BOOK OF THE MONTH by Kyle Green
ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear
Recently, there seems to have been a number of books being released about the power of habits, but Atomic Habits by James Clear found a way to break through the noise with some great takeaways. Here were my seven key takeaways from this book: 1. Goals VS Systems A goal is the end result, but a system allows you to continue moving in the right direction. Systems and processes for how we conduct our everyday lives will ultimately be the reason that we succeed with our goals. “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” 2. Behaviour that is incongruent with the self will not last This is an interesting one. If your goals are not aligned with who you are at the core, it will be very difficult to keep them up. Instead, you will have to work on changing who you are, and your worldview, if you really want to (or need to) make drastic behaviour changes. 3. The 4 steps to building a habit i. Cue The cue is the first step. The best way to eliminate a bad habit is to remove the cue (i.e. don’t have chips or ice cream in the house, and skip those aisles in the grocery store) or make it easy if it is a good habit (setting your running shoes and clothes at your bedstand ready to go if you intend on going for a run in the morning). ii. Craving In general, most habits are not built on the craving itself. They are built on the reward they provide. Most people that smoke do not actually enjoy the toxic smoke entering their mouth and lungs, they do it for the feeling of relief and relaxation it provides. iii. Response The response is the actual habit you perform, which is either a thought or an action. The response from a craving depends on your motivation and friction associated with the craving. 18
Available on Amazon iv. Reward Every one of the previous steps is linked to the reward. The cue triggers your brain to think of the reward. The craving is linked to the reward. The response is to move you closer to that reward. 4. Habits can be easier to create in new environments When trying to create new habits or break old ones, changing the environment can help remove the automatic programming of existing habits. Furthermore, in a new environment, your brain is looking to create automation that can be reserved to the subconscious, making it a great time to create a new habit. As mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote, “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them”.
In our office, when we are conducting staff reviews or important meetings, I try to change the environment and go to a different location for the meeting to try to change the way an employee may feel about meeting in my office. This can help break down interpersonal barriers. 5. Disciplined people spend less time in tempting situations One thing that I have found when trying to create new positive habits is to find easy ways to structure my life in a way that does not require a lot of willpower or self-control. I try to create an environment where I do not have to make decisions all the time during the day. As you get more tired, willpower wanes and we often give into temptation.
your life. When you hide beer at the back of the fridge, you will see it less frequently and therefore, not see the cue. Moving your social media apps to a deeper part of your phone or deleting them will result in less time wasted on your phone. Create an environment where the cues are hidden or non-existent for bad habits, and the cues for good habits are all around you. 7. Do not beat yourself up over missing one habit One missed positive habit will not ruin you. One cheat day, one skipped run, etc. It is not the one moment that caused you to gain or lose weight, it is the overall accumulation of habits and actions over an extended period of time. Just make sure you do not miss the next one. Maintain a positive attitude towards your goals and habits. The idea that “Oh well, I tried!” after missing one habit is what gets people derailed. Try creating some “instant pain” when missing a good habit, as the pain of that one day you overate does not show up immediately. Customers pay their bill on time when they are charged a fee, and students show up on time when they are docked marks for being late. We jump through a lot of hoops to avoid a little bit of pain. I hope these tips help you with your goals and aspirations in 2021!
I have been on a keto diet for about three years and although my primary reasons for being on this diet were originally for overall health and weight-loss reasons, one of the reasons I have stuck with it for so long is because it makes my decisions easy. There is no such thing as a “little bit of cake”, and when you cut that cake, it takes a lot of willpower to decide how big of a piece to take. Spoiler alert: it’s never a small piece. I am just “not allowed” to have sugar and carbs in my diet which eliminates many temptations that do not require me to use my willpower to resist anymore. It also keeps me shopping in just the outside perimeter of the grocery store, which helps avoid the temptation of the chips and ice cream aisles. 6. Change the design of your environment
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Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. JAMES CLEAR
Habits are easier to build when they fit into the flow of GREENMORTGAGETEAM.CA
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by the Green Mortgage Team
NEW YEAR’S
RESOLUTIONS
GOALS Year after year, we set our New Year’s resolutions (i.e. “to get in shape”) and by February, most of us have fallen off track already. It’s why January always seems to be a bit busier at the gym and we hear all this talk of a “dry January.” How do we get these resolutions to stick? Why do so many people fall off the track? Our book of the month, Atomic Habits by James Clear, has a number of great tips about creating habits, which are the foundation for making positive change. This is our take on how to create (and stick to) positive changes in our lives. Here are five tips to turn your resolutions into realities:
1. Don’t call them resolutions You’re already tricking your brain into thinking this is a short-term thing. As soon as you call it a resolution, you’re allowing yourself to play into the social construct that a resolution is meant to be a short-term change. Call them GOALS.
2. Create SMART goals Specific Be specific. “Get in shape” does not have a specific objective. “I want to lose 20 pounds and be 12% body fat” is a more specific goal.
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Measurable As in the previous example, use something that is measurable in which you can clearly define whether you attained the goal or not. Numbers create measurable success. Try to find a way to measure it somehow to know if you achieved it or not. Attainable Make sure it is realistic. If your goals are not realistic, your brain will automatically discount this as a fantasy and immediately start finding reasons to avoid the “pain” to achieve the “gain”. Relevant Make sure this goal is relevant to you and has a direct benefit to you. Make it selfishly revolve around what you want to achieve. Time-bound Timelines make the world turn. As soon as there is no timeframe, attention to the goal will wane and procrastination will take over. Give yourself a deadline to light that fire!
3. Write them down Countless studies have shown that writing down your goals increases the likelihood of achieving them. The universe has a way of aligning and helping us achieve our intentions. Writing down those intentions magnifies this effect.
When “life happens” and goals need to be redefined – make time to review, re-evaluate, and re-align your goals so they do not sit there collecting dust or get written off because something got in the way. COVID-19 was a great example of a time where many goals (travel, financial, etc.) were completely put on hold due to reasons beyond our control. Quarterly would generally be a good timeline for many goals, but sometimes more frequent is needed. What goals do you have this year that we can help with? Send us a note if you have a goal or intention that you think our team can help you achieve.
4. Get an accountability partner Once you have goals and have written them down, now it is best to find someone who will hold you accountable to reach these goals. Whether it is your spouse, a friend, or business partner, things have a funny way of getting done when you feel that you would be letting someone down if you did not put your best effort into achieving your goals.
5. Check-in on your goals Don’t “set it and forget it” and then re-write New Year’s resolutions goals again next year (likely the same ones). Make time to re-evaluate your goals and adjust them (life happens, see “COVID-19”). This is a great time to set a meeting with your accountability partner to check-in on each other and see how both of you are doing.
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PERSONAL UPDATE f rom Kyle Green Hi everyone, I wanted to put out a personal note about something I am very excited to share. During our trip to Golden, BC in late December 2020, where we stayed at a remote cabin on a bison farm, I proposed to my girlfriend, Khristina – and after some tears, she said yes! Khristina and I have been dating for over three years now and it is incredible how time flies. It feels like it was just a little while ago when we met.
I love this girl because she: • Motives me to be better; • Is my accountability partner in fitness, work, and everything in between; • Pushes me when I need to be pushed; • Knows when I need alone time to unwind from having the pedal to the metal in this crazy world and this crazy mortgage industry; • Supports me in everything I do; • We are aligned in our family values of Kaizen, Love, Integrity, Family, and Freedom; and • Takes care of me and our dog DJ! We joke that I do the mortgages and Khristina does EVERYTHING ELSE. For those of you who are wondering, we are intending on tying the knot in 2023 when hopefully there will be less chance of the pandemic affecting our special day. I love this girl and I just wanted to share this with all of you, my tribe. Make 2021 the best year ever! Kyle Green
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