Yolanda Fequet: Navigating the Mortgage Industry with Expertise & Passion

Determined to make a difference, Yolanda majored in finance at university and embarked on a banking career. Over the years, she accumulated a wealth of experience through various roles, including financial advisor and branch manager. Her expertise was further recognized when she was asked to help create the enterprise risk management team for a local credit union following the 2008 financial crisis. “That’s when I got my Master’s Degree,” she explains.

Despite her success in the corporate world, Yolanda missed the direct impact of helping individuals achieve their financial goals. This led her to leave her corporate role and build her own mortgage broker business. “Over my many years of experience, I knew owning real estate was the best way for clients (and myself) to build wealth, so that’s where I wanted to focus,” she says. This realization became the cornerstone of her business, as she dedicated herself to helping clients navigate the complexities of securing mortgages and achieving homeownership.

Challenges and Solutions

Yolanda encounters several common challenges in her work, each requiring a unique and tailored approach. One of the most frequent and exciting challenges is helping clients secure an accepted offer in a hot market. “One of the most fun challenges (and probably the most common) is helping clients win an accepted offer in a hot market (that’s why we developed our $1000 mortgage guarantee*),” she shares. To address this, her team has cultivated strong relationships with various lenders, allowing them to offer multiple solutions and backup plans, providing clients with peace of mind. Education and transparency are critical components of her approach, ensuring clients understand all their options.

Another challenge Yolanda often addresses is working with self-employed clients who minimize their taxable income to reduce their tax burden. “This can sometimes mean we don’t fit at one of the big, traditional banks,” she explains. Yolanda has built relationships with smaller banks and lenders that offer viable solutions for these clients. This ability to find alternative financing options is particularly gratifying for Yolanda, as it enables her to help clients secure homes or investment properties when other avenues have failed.

Yolanda also assists clients facing complicated life situations, such as job loss, divorce, or illness. “I understand that these can be very stressful, and we’ve worked hard to find lenders and products that can help clients who’ve been through difficult times,” she says, emphasizing her commitment to providing support during challenging periods.

Market Insights

The mortgage market is constantly evolving, and Yolanda stays ahead by closely monitoring trends and expert opinions. Recently, the Bank of Canada announced its first rate drop in four years, signaling potential changes in the market. “We think there will be several more rate cuts over the next one to two years, but they likely won’t go down to pandemic levels,” she predicts. This positive news is expected to renew interest among prospective buyers who have been waiting to enter the market, potentially leading to increased demand and rising prices in the short term.

In the long term, the ongoing housing shortage in Canada suggests that prices will continue to rise. “With the housing shortage in Canada, we still see prices going higher… it will take a long time for supply to start catching up with demand,” Yolanda notes. She remains optimistic about the prospects of holding real estate to build long-term wealth, viewing it as a sound investment strategy.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Yolanda envisions a future where the mortgage brokering industry becomes even more transparent and client-centric, thanks to technological advancements. “We’ve already seen our processes really streamline since the pandemic,” she observes. Secure online applications, document portals, and electronic signing capabilities have made it more convenient for clients to handle their mortgage applications from the comfort of their homes. Yolanda’s team has also incorporated educational videos to explain products and documents, allowing clients to access information at their convenience.

Yolanda is particularly excited about the potential of AI in enhancing mortgage forecasting, enabling clients to make better financial decisions. “I’m interested to see how the advent of AI can enable us to do even better forecasting that will help clients make the best financial decisions,” she says. She also anticipates increased competition in the mortgage market, with new entrants offering improved products, services, and pricing. This competition will ultimately benefit clients, providing them with more options and better overall experiences.

Finding Yolanda

For those looking to secure a mortgage or seeking financial advice, Yolanda offers her services through her well-established mortgage broker business. Her office is located at 8661-201 Street, Suit 223 Langley, BC V2Y 0G9, and she can be reached via her website at https://www.surefitmortgages.com/or by phone at 604.889.1520. Yolanda also offers virtual consultations, making it convenient for clients to access her expertise from the comfort of their own homes. “Clients can do almost everything for their mortgage from the comfort of their own home (except the lawyer signing appointments which have gone back to in person),” she notes. Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or looking to invest in real estate, Yolanda’s extensive experience and client-focused approach make her a valuable partner in your financial journey.

In summary, Yolanda’s career is a testament to her dedication to personal finance and her commitment to helping clients achieve their homeownership dreams. Her proactive approach to overcoming challenges, staying informed about market trends, and embracing technological advancements positions her as a leader in the mortgage industry, ready to navigate the future with confidence and expertise.