ZANDERS & Associates Mortgage Brokers Inc.

While I did get a good rate, working with Zanders and Associates was extremely stressful. Emails went unread, the online form did not work, I had to repeatedly send and resend information. Things were not explained properly, and at the 11th hour I noticed a mistake and was blamed for it. When your mortgage broker calls and says I dont want to argue, but its not a good sign. The issue was around my DP and when you take money out of your RRSPs it cannot be used for anything else but the DP. Something that a mortgage broker should understand. Im happy with the rate and the 3rd Party that I have my mortgage through - though my lawyer had to inform me that it isnt actually a bank - I was not given any options, it was one choice and I didnt have a lot of time to review and sign. Everything had to happen NOW. I had to fact check and see additional advice from friends and colleagues, and the broker seemed annoyed when I asked questions. Its my money, not theirs. I have a right to be informed. It was the most stressful experience of my life. I do not feel like I bought an investment, but felt forced to buy for housing security (this is not related to the broker, just a general comment on housing in 2022). While I would recommend them for a low rate - be prepared to work hard with communication and file management. Its your money and your 20-30year mortgage.
Oct 21st, 2022

The only explanation for any review over 1 star is that they must be a family member or friend of Susan or Alicia. Working with them was so stressful and difficult, it had us questioning if they even knew what they were doing. I have never worked with "experts" who seem so confused about the process. It felt at times that they were actively working against us, and did not actually want us to get a mortgage. There were several instances where they would ask for documentation that we spent days stressing over and making multiple phone calls about, only to be told by other professionals that what they were requesting did not exist. When I emailed and told Susan as much, she would basically ignore my emails and just move on. No correction, no confirmation that we did not need the documents anymore, just ignore that it happened. At one point she told us we had a shortfall on the down payment. When I asked if she had accounted for the deposit we put down upon offer acceptance, she did not answer any emails for four days, leaving us very stressed about whether or not there was an unseen shortfall. She never addressed this mistake, or told us that she forgot the deposit, she simply kept bombarding us with repetitive, confusing emails. Our questions and emails went largely unanswered, and I was nearly ready to walk away, the amount of stress that they caused throughout the process did not feel worth it, especially for the poor interest rate we got. We wanted a mortgage broker so that we would have options for our mortgage. After being denied by two providers because Susan did not have the proper documentation for them, we were given one option. When I asked several times over the course of a few days if she had gone back and provided the missing documentation after the fact so that we would have choices, she ignored my question and would instead simply reply with "do you want to proceed with the Scotiabank mortgage?" In the end we did move forward with this, as time had run out due to their unorganized method of business. I would highly suggest simply going to your bank of choice over Zanders.
Oct 20th, 2022

My partner and I enjoyed working with Susan and her team very efficient and easy to work with. She helped us and guide us throughout the buying process. As a first time home buyer it was stress free working with them. I highly recommend them. Whitehorse, YT
Oct 23rd, 2021

As a first time home buyer, I was as clueless as I could be. Trying to arrange an appointment with the bank was a nightmare and thats when I found Susan. She and her team made it easy. They clearly listed all the documents needed, and helped us throughout the process professionally and efficiently.
Jun 25th, 2021

Had to give at least 1 star because we did get a very low interest rate on our mortgage however it would have saved alot of time and frustration if we'd have just gone straight to a bank. Trying to communicate with Susan was like pulling teeth - painful and confusing, this broker is based out of BC but serves both BC and YT and only corresponds with Yukoners (very poorly) by email or phone: The online application did not work properly, our questions were only ever half answered, her directions were unclear, rather than check through her past email correspondence with us she would instead ask repeatedly for information and documents that we had already provided multiple times, email correspondence with her was cryptic - not only for us, the buyers, but for our real estate agent, our lawyer, and the mortgage provider too. The mortgage provider never actually contacted us to book an appointment (although Susan assured us she had reached out to them and they would) when I finally called them a few days before our closing date they had no idea what was going on and told us they had to call an emergency staff meeting to try and figure out how communication got so messed up and to get us in on time. Buying a house is obviously a challenging process but this was a nightmare. Do not go through this broker, especially if you live in YT.
Sep 26th, 2019