You Asked,
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Did you know that mortgage rates are sold at a premium? Simply put, all brokers and bank mortgage specialists have wiggle room when it comes to the mortgage rates they offer you.

For the same mortgage product, there are 3 types of rates :

• A floor rate: the absolute minimum rate the bank is willing to offer a given client.
• A middle rate: the rate you will likely be offered first – not great, not too bad either. Brokers and mortgage specialists make the most commission selling you this rate.
• A high rate: this is what is posted on bank websites. They will never offer you this rate, but it’s the one they will use against you to calculate your penalty if you happen to break your mortgage.

In order to offer you the floor rate a broker or mortgage specialist would have to give away a portion, or all of, their commission. Few are willing to go there… Hence why you have to go bank-to-bank, broker-to-broker to finally get such rate.

At nesto, we believe in offering you the floor rate from the start. It’s the most important purchase of your life, why should you have to pay a premium for it?

Yes, nesto makes less than the average broker or mortgage specialist, but we get the peace of mind knowing that we helped you save thousands of dollars on your mortgage. We feel pretty good about this 🙂

There are 3 main differences between nesto and traditional brokers.

1. We believe in full transparency. That’s why we give you direct access to compare rates from 20+ lenders, including rates from banks like Scotia, TD, Desjardins and others.
2. Our advisors do not work on commission. Their only incentive is to get you the best mortgage possible. We negotiated a lower finder’s fee with lenders to offer our clients the absolute best rates.
3. We are directly connected with lenders, and allow you to complete your application online. It’s a first in Canada.

There are 3 main differences between nesto and a bank.

1. A bank will offer you a single product. On the other hand, nesto gives you direct access to rates from 20+ lenders, including rates from large banks like Scotia, TD, Desjardins and others.
2. Mortgage specialists at the bank make all their commission by selling you one product (for better or worse). Our advisors do not work on commission. Their only incentive is to get you the best mortgage possible.
3. nesto will get your mortgage faster, with a better experience. We are directly connected with lenders, and allow you to complete your application online. It’s a first in Canada.

Yes, nesto is absolutely free. Our revenue comes from our lending partners. They pay nesto as we help them acquire customers that they would not have been able to capture otherwise.

We believe in transparency, and this is why we think it’s important you understand our unique model. For each successful mortgage funded, lenders give nesto a finder’s fee. Our digital model is attractive to lenders, because leveraging a platform like nesto is much less expensive than using their traditional channels to acquire new clients (think of branch visits, meetings with mortgage specialists, faxes, paperwork, etc.).

We tailored our agreement so that lenders offer our clients the absolute best rates, and in exchange, nesto goes for a small finder’s fee. In short, this means that for any given transaction lenders are paying less than the traditional broker commission, and these savings are passed back onto our nesto clients.

First, we allow you to compare rates from the entire market. If you like what you see you can complete your pre-qualification to determine how much you can afford, and get accurate rate propositions. Once you select the mortgage product of your choice, you will complete your application online. nesto will take it from there: we will review your application and submit it to the lender. We  make sure your mortgage is approved as fast as possible (normally in less than 24h). Once approved, all you will have left to do is to meet with a lawyer/notary and complete your transaction.

A number of nesto professionals are here to help. Our Customer Success Team will make sure the process runs smoothly. Our licensed mortgage professionals will guide you through the best mortgage options and answer any mortgage-related questions you can think of.

Rest assured that all our employees are salaried. That’s right, we took the commission out of the equation. Our advisors help you select the best mortgage, with no other incentive than getting you the best possible deal.

No, we let our lending partners do what they do best: lend money. nesto gives you direct access to these lenders so that you can be sure that you will get the absolute best rate.

nesto is backed by serious investors like The Power Corporation of Canada, one of the largest financial entities in Canada. nesto is also backed by Diagram Ventures, a venture capital fund that has invested in other great Canadian Businesses like Dialogue: Canada’s leading telemedicine company.

Just like you, we’re sitting close to the heater in the Great White North! We’re a 100% Canadian owned and operated company with our head office in Montreal and locations across Canada. If you prefer to speak with a real human before starting your application online, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Yes, we are. For each province in which we operate,  nesto is licensed by the provincial regulatory body. Also, nesto’s mortgage Advisors are all licensed professionals.

nesto gives access to over 20 lenders. Our lenders include TD Bank, Scotiabank, Desjardins, B2B Laurentian Bank, First National Financial, MCAP Financial, Equitable Bank, Street Capital Bank, Manulife, Industrial Alliance, Home Trust, Meridian, Merix Financial, Lendwise, and many more.

It’s probable that you’ve never heard of names like MCAP, First National or Street Capital Bank. These lenders are financial institutions that are solely focused on mortgages. They mostly rely on brokers to distribute their products, hence why they don’t advertise heavily like the large banks. However, that does not mean they are small operations. Also, it’s good to know that most of these lenders are backed by Canada’s largest financial institutions.

You may have noticed, banks are not always champions of efficiency. You will commonly encounter lengthy processes, paperwork, in-person meetings, branch visits, etc. All these costs add up.

That’s why most banks rely on mortgage brokers to distribute their products. It’s a simple and efficient way to ‘outsource’ the effort. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually quite expensive for a bank to offer you a mortgage.

nesto takes brokerage to another level with its technology-first approach. The efficiency we gain with technology translates into better rates for you!

In order to lock a rate for you, we simply need to get you qualified. In 10 minutes or so, we can go over your financial situation to make sure that you are a good fit for the product you choose. The criteria we look for are the same criteria banks and credit unions will ultimately use to grant your mortgage. Once we complete your qualification, we will go forward and lock your rate.

A pre-qualification and a pre-approval have the same objective: making sure you qualify for the desired mortgage.

A pre-qualification is, in a way, a lighter version of the pre-approval. nesto will conduct a soft-credit pull which will not affect your credit score. We will also ask a number of questions on your financial position to assess how much you can afford, and what mortgage products are available to you. This process is highly dependent on the quality of the information you provide. If the information is accurate, the pre-qualification is as robust as the pre-approval.

A pre-approval on the other end is more exhaustive. It will look at the same criteria, but will ask for hard evidence (e.g., a copy of a pay-slip to confirm income). A pre-approval will affect your credit score, as the Credit Bureau will conduct a hard pull.

No. nesto’s pre-qualification is conducted with a soft-pull. This will never affect your credit score.