Bergens are a local family business and from the moment you walk in the door you will be treated like family!  They are proud to have over 80 Years Auto Body Experience, and they have been serving Regina Auto Body needs for over 30 Years....they have a loyal customer base that simply wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Bergen's are an SGI Accredited Regina Auto Body and Collision Repair shop  , they offer courtesy cars to their clients and they specialize in foreign vehicles. Bergen's AutoBody & Collision Centre are TRUSTED REGINA AUTO BODY EXPERTS

5 THINGS A CAR OWNER SHOULD DO - TO PREVENT AND HELP IF YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT

Owning a car is a big responsibility for both new and seasoned drivers. In order to reduce stress further down the line, there are a few key things every driver should know. Luckily, these necessary basics are pretty easy to find out!
 
Learn the basics of maintenance. That means checking things the oil brake fluid, antifreeze, and windshield wiper fluid. Even better, learn to jump your car in case the battery dies and replace a tire. Everything you learn becomes a tool in case of emergency. Why not invest a little bit of time for less of a headache later on?
 
Find your car’s manual and read it. Read it again! Put it in a place where you can easily locate it again. Why? There is a lot of information specifically for your make, model, and year. Your manual will tell you which maintenance tasks should be prioritized, as well as how often those things should be addressed. Some critical ones to keep in mind are oil changes, wiper blade replacement, filter changes, fluid flushes, and when to get new tires. In addition, it will tell you what each light on the dash indicates.
 
Know where your personal identification is, who your insurance provider is, and where the documentation for insurance and registration is stored at. It’s simple enough to keep it in your car, and that will certainly do the job. But in the case of an emergency, the last thing you want to do is have to go digging through the glove box, center console, and through all the other cubbies and pockets your car has just to find it. Do yourself a favor, and keep it in one spot so that you can find it and reach it easily.
 
Put an emergency kit in your trunk. Jumper cables, a flashlight, spare tire, and a first aid kit are incredibly important. Consider also including some weather specific gear like sunscreen, a towel, blankets, umbrellas, etc. Safety first!

Have a ' GO TO' Regina Auto Body and Collision Repair shop!
At Bergens we truly do treat our customers like family!  

Why should you choose us as your go to Regina Auto Body professionals?

We are:

• An SGI Accredited Auto Body Shop
• Trusted Regina Auto Body and Collison Repair shop. 
• We have been voted 3 Best Rated Auto Body shop in Regina and we are Number #1 best rated Auto Body in Regina!

Bergen's GUARANTEE that you will be treated to both friendly service and quality workmanship....and after speaking to their clients we can definitely say that they do all they claim and all in a style all of their own! 

Bergen's AutoBody & Collision Centre are TRUSTED REGINA AUTO BODY EXPERTS...and they are waiting to help you. Fan them on Facebook here and be assured that they will look after you ..you can TRUST them..we Guarantee it!

Skott Enns's goal isn’t to simply help you get a mortgage with the best mortgage rates, it is to help you figure out a plan to pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible!  Has been voted Regina’s best mortgage broker by Prairie Dog Magazine for many years in a row and he has been named to the Summit 20 group, which means that he is in the Top 20% of all TMG Mortgage Brokers in Canada for the last two years.

If you are looking for honest, unbiased advice from a mortgage broker in Regina they would love to talk with you!

TMG The Mortgage Group Skott Enns is a Trusted Regina Mortgage Broker

Understanding Credit

How you manage your credit plays a big part in how a lender looks at your mortgage application. By understanding the makeup of a credit score and working towards establishing a solid credit profile, you can increase your chances of getting approved for a mortgage. This article is part three in a short series that aims to help you understand mortgage qualifications. 

There are four key areas that come under scrutiny when a lender looks at a mortgage application; income, credit, downpayment, and the property. You can find the previous articles in the series here:

Part 1. Understanding the Mind of a Lender
Part 2. Understanding Income

The following is an in-depth look at how your credit is viewed by a lender when assessing your mortgage application. 

Credit Agencies

In Canada, there are two credit reporting agencies, Equifax and Transunion. Typically Transunion is used by consumers as a monitoring service to protect against identity theft, while Equifax is relied on about 90% of the time by lenders looking to determine if you are creditworthy. Every time you borrow money, a history of that loan is sent by the lending institution to both Equifax and Transunion, this makes up what is called your credit report. The information on your credit report is then boiled down into a single three-digit number called your credit score (sometimes called a beacon score).

It’s not uncommon for your credit score to be different between Equifax and Transunion as not all lenders report all information to both agencies at the same time. Although your Equifax credit report will be used for mortgage qualification, lenders may also want to have a look at your Transunion report as well, especially if your Equifax report has some issues with collections or late payments.  

Understanding Credit – Credit Score

Your credit score is a three-digit number between 300 and 900. The higher the score the better. Depending on where you look online, you will find several variations of the ranges that indicate creditworthiness. Although somewhat general, the following is pretty accurate when talking about mortgage financing:

• If you find yourself between 300-600, you have bad credit and won’t have access to the best products and rates available. 
• If your credit score is between 600-680, there is a good chance you have had some issues in the past, you can qualify for mortgage insurance, but it’s gonna be touch and go.
• If your credit score is between 680-720, you have good credit, not incredible, but a check in the right box for sure. 
• If your credit score is over 720, you have excellent credit and lenders will view you as a “good risk”. 

Now, a credit score is both a snapshot in time and a moving target. Your credit score will change as new information is reported to the credit agencies as these new variables impact your score. When applying for a mortgage, we will “pull a credit report” which gives us a picture of where your credit score is at currently. This snapshot is what the lender uses to assess your credit when determining if they want to lend you money or not.

It’s good to note that although your credit score is a single indicator of credit, it certainly does not make up the entire picture. Lenders will also look at the particulars of your credit report and they will most certainly ask for more information if something seems out of place.

Understanding Credit – Calculating a Credit Score

Both Equifax and Transunion consider the following factors when building your credit score: payment history, amount of money owed, length of credit history, new credit, types of credit. Although there is an exact science to their algorithms, that information is not public knowledge. They have however given us the following categories with corresponding percentages of how much weight is being put on each. 

Payment History – 35%

When building your credit score, the most weight is given to how you have dealt with paying your previous debts. And this makes the most sense. If a lender is going to give you money to purchase a property, they might want to see how you repaid your car loan, or your student loans, or your $1,000 Mastercard. If you can’t pay your Rogers cell phone bill on time, what assurance are you giving them that you will pay your mortgage on time? 

Your payment history looks at all your consumer debts or trade lines. A trade line represents a single debt owed to an institution. Tradelines come in many forms, credit card, line of credit, car loan, student loan, and so on. Any time you borrow money, the history of that tradeline shows up on your credit report with the payment history from the last 6-7 years being visible. Obviously, your most recent payment history will have the most impact on your credit score, positive or negative. 

Payment history is all about how you have managed your trade lines. Have you made all your payments perfectly, or have you been 30 days late, 60 days late, 90 days late, or has the trade line been sent to collection or closed for non-payment? These factors contribute to your score but are also visible on your credit report for lenders to review when assessing your mortgage application. 

Amount Owed – 30%

How much you owe on a tradeline compared to the limit of that tradeline impacts your credit score greatly. For example, if you have a limit of $5,000 on your Visa, and you simply use that card to buy gas and groceries every month and pay it off without ever carrying a balance, that is excellent management and this action will increase your credit score. However, if you have a $10,000 Mastercard that you have maxed out and you are making minimum payments, your amount owed compared to the limit is really high, this sends up red flags and will negatively impact your credit score. Not to mention as a lender looks at your credit report, it is a strong indication that you might not be able to handle any more debt. 

Typically you want to use less than 75% of the credit available to you. Going over 75% will negatively impact your score. By staying under 25% of your available credit limit, you demonstrate strong credit management. And that is exactly what lenders want to see, strong credit management. 

Length of Credit History – 15%

How long you have had credit plays a role in determining your credit score. It also plays a role in how a lender looks at your credit. Unlike smaller loans, when applying for a mortgage, lenders want to see that you have had credit for a minimum of 2 years. Regardless of your credit score, if you haven’t had at least 2 trade lines reporting for 2 years, you are going to have a hard time getting a mortgage. 

The length of your credit history shows how responsible you have been long term with your credit. Time is needed to get the real picture of how responsible you are. Each trade line that is reporting on your credit report will show the date it was opened and a monthly history of your management. Although your history of management is only kept 6-7 years, the age of your trade line will always be visible.

It’s a great idea to always keep your oldest trade lines open and active. Even if you don’t need the credit available, keep the card open, and use it once every 3 months so that it stays live on your credit report. Your credit score will thank you! 

New Credit Inquiries – 10%

Frequently applying for new credit can be a sign that you are experiencing some financial difficulty, especially if the amount owed compared to the limit is over 75%. Applying for new credit can temporarily impact your credit score negatively, however if a new trade line is established, once it gets some positive payment history, your credit score will increase. 

As far as the mortgage process is concerned, instead of going to several lending institutions on your own, and having each one of them pull your credit, as a mortgage broker, I pull your credit report once and then use that same report with multiple lenders. This is a win for you. 

Pulling your credit report multiple times can impact your score negatively, but credit inquiries do only make up 10% of your score, so it’s not really anything to be worried about. Multiple credit inquiries won’t make good credit bad, but it can make bad credit worse. 

Types of Credit – 10%

This is the most insignificant factor in determining your credit, however the type of credit you have does impact your score. Trade lines like fixed installment loans show a scheduled repayment and are considered favourable. While deferred payment loans or payday cash loans from Money Mart can be a sign of money struggles.

Understanding Credit – Established Credit Profile

So when you take your credit score and you combine it with your credit report, as the lender sees it, this is called your credit profile. It’s not just about having a score above 720 (although that is really good), lenders will want to see that you have at least 2 active trade lines, reporting for a minimum of 2 years, with a minimum limit of $2,500. This is the bare minimum to make sure that your credit score has been established over enough time. 

So as you can see, the lender has a lot to think about when it comes to looking at your credit profile and deciding if they want to lend money to you for a mortgage. Next in the series, we will take a look at how your downpayment plays a part in the lender’s decision as well.

If you aren’t sure what your credit score looks like, or if you have established enough credit to be considered for a mortgage, please contact me anytime. I would love to talk through the specifics of your credit report with you and put a plan in place to get you to where you want to go. 

If you would like to know more about the mortgage and housing market, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime! 

Refinancing...is it for you?

Canadians today face many reasons to refinance their mortgage. For example, you may have been working at improving your credit score and now qualify for a new mortgage with a better discount, or you may want to stabilize your payments by changing from a variable rate mortgage to a fixed-rate. Refinancing is also a good option to pull out equity for consolidating debt, home improvements, investments, college expenses, and more.

Refinancing isn't necessarily a bad thing or term

There are many things that play a role in whether or not refinancing is a good move.  The first thing is to determine what your overall goal is by refinancing.  It can answer many questions for you including providing you with these benefits.  Why do you want to refinance?

• Getting a rate that reduces your monthly payment while being low enough to offset the costs of refinancing is one common reason to refinance
• Paying down higher interest debts like credit cards or loans or lines of credit .
• Having your monthly payment reduce to help you pay off your mortgage quicker as your not incurring more debt but able to now focus on just paying the mortgage off
• Buying a rental property or 2nd home(cottage).
• Increase your quality of life now, maybe buying a boat or trailer for those family outings.
• Doing some investments and get a higher rate of return on your investments and borrowing the money at a lower rate for the mortgage.
• consolidate their high-interest debt to reduce their overall interest rate and free up hundreds of dollars in cash flow every month.
• Doing some much-needed renovations to your home using the existing equity to increase the value of your home it's a win-win.

Here is something most people don't know when considering when doing a refinance all costs can be included in the mortgage including lawyer fees and penalties. 

When done correctly, a refinance can save families money on long-term interest.

If you are curious to know how much can save if you refinance your mortgage this calculator will help you find out!. 

Finding the shortest and safest route to any of your dreams requires planning and only with a carefully thought out financial plan can you be sure to make the most of your resources and to protect against risks along the way.  At Worby Wealth Management, Chris will do his best to help you achieve those dreams with a plan that is tailored to your specific needs and based on your individual situation.

Expert Financial Advice Regarding Household Finances.

The truth is that financial management is boring. I mean, it sounds interesting when you watch movies and they’re yelling, “Buy, Buy! Sell, sell!” But this behaviour does not make you rich – in fact, it can have the opposite effect.

Smart people understand one thing – tactics do not win the battle, logistics do. And one of my best pieces of advice is the 25% rule.

It essentially breaks down like this: If you want to attain financial security contribute 25% of your net monthly income towards your net worth. It is very important that financial security has very little to do with being ‘rich’ but everything to do with having the resources available to have options throughout your life.

Net worth is composed of two things: Assets and Liabilities. I think of liabilities as the hole requiring filling and think of the assets, as the mountain you build with your resources.

A few notes about each. Paying down credit cards does not fit into the asset/liability described above. Credit cards are consumption. If you have already made errors and are carrying balances, then you need a plan to pay them down and it can be worked into a liability repayment plan. However, further credit card debt becomes consumption rather than a liability.

Big expenses – trips, renovations, etc. should be paid for with funds that have been saved in advance; they should not be financed. The reasons are many. First, once you start down the ‘financing fun’ road, it can be hard to maintain discipline. Second, a trip paid for and fully funded is less stressful. Third, something you pay for as you go tends to be better planned out and fits your budget – and studies show that planning your spending is almost as fun as the actual spending.

Building assets is then the ‘exciting’ part, right? “Buy, buy, sell, sell” and all that. Actually, it is very hard to get rich quickly and fairly easy to get rich slowly. Using pension plans and RRSP, TFSAs and RESPs to accomplish your family’s plans can be done well over time but the ‘get rich quick' schemes rarely work out.

Find a strategy you are comfortable with and run it as a discipline. If you are going to buy and hold, never deviate. If you are going to move with certain market cycles like a momentum system, or act as a value manager, do this and never change it. Make sure you do your homework upfront to get a working system and then never change. Mistakes in investing come from emotion.

But none of that happens without a strategy – and the spending strategy that works best is using 25% of your net, monthly income to build your net worth. Not only do you have funds available to build assets and pay down liabilities but you also create a buffer in case something bad happens. You aren’t living at capacity with your finances, you have options.

And that is financial security.

Some of the services that Worby Wealth Management can help you with: 

• Insurance Advice
• Investments
• Wealth Management Services
• Pay Less Tax With Tax Planning 
• Become Mortgage-Free Faster With Financial Education 
• Estate Planning 
• Retirement Planning 

TRUSTED REGINA FINANCIAL ADVISOR Chris Worby from Worby Wealth Management helps you live your dream!

The Trusted Regina Directory team and all of the the Trusted Regina businesses we partner with are based in Regina and we all care about the Regina community! 

The Trusted team wanted to join in the amazing spirit of giving that we saw happening this year in the Queen City. Individuals we were inspired by were those like Niall O'Hanlon from the Fat Badger that motivated hundreds to give to the soon to be arriving Syrian refugees, showing the true heart of the majority!    THIS MAKE OUR HEARTS SING and gave us the motivation to do something !! 

SO....On December 14th  we posted on the Trusted Regina Facebook page, asking for the Regina public to nominate their personal favorite Regina based non profit organization. We also wanted to know WHY they were nominated. We committed to choose 1 of the nominated organizations to receive a $500 cheque on December 23rd from the Trusted Regina team.   

Regina, you have done yourself proud!! We are absolutely over joyed that so many of you shared your favorite charity, group and places that are out there in our community making a difference every day of the year! 

Some of these are well established Regina organizations that have been around for many years, some are true grass roots initiatives of everyday people coming together to affect positive change in our community and we salute them ALL!  

Many of them we have donated items and money to in the last 4 years we have been in business, those include:

• Souls  Harbour
• Hopes Home
• Habitat For Humanity Regina
• Regina Humane Society
• Regina Open Door Society
• Kids sport

An organization who's mission it is 'To build a community where respect, equality and freedom create an environment where violence against women and children does not exist. '  .

BUT WAIT ...there's more...

We may not be able to stroke a $500 cheque for all the organizations and groups that were nominated on the Facebook post we did...but we can do something for each of them!   

Keep checking in to our Facebook page between now and Christmas Eve, so you will be able to keep up with the activities of the Trusted Regina Elves - See the 3 of them in this delightful video INSPIRED  BY and it is  A  PERSONAL SALUTE TO REGINA CAT RESCUE - who was the most nominated of all the Regina organizations this year! 

We look forward to making your kittys purrrrrr with our gift!