#8 — Ron Butler: Real Estate, Mortgages and The Housing-Affordability Crisis

Our guest this episode is Ron Butler—a 30-year veteran of the mortgage industry and owner of Butler Mortgage. Some of you may recognize Ron from his social media rants or his “Angry Mortgage Podcast” where he uses colourful language and profanity to express his opinions (and share his wisdom!) on the world of real estate and mortgages. 

In this episode, Dave and Ron discuss all things real estate including the pros/cons of using a mortgage broker, where they think interest rates are headed, whether people should use fixed- or variable-rate mortgages and much, much more. 

Enjoy this entertaining and insightful episode.

Show Notes

00:00 – Intro & Disclaimer

00:57 – Intro to Ron Butler

03:20 – Pros/Cons of Using a Mortgage Broker

05:29 – Canada vs. USA Use of Mortgage Brokers

08:19 –  Where Ron Thinks Interest Rates Are Headed

09:47 –  Divergence Between Haves vs. Have-Not

11:48 – Fixed vs. Variable Mortgage Rates

13:54 – Parents Helping with Down Payments

18:02 –  The Financialization of Housing

20:07 – Where Are Housing Prices Headed?

25:51 – The Small-Condo Market

30:09 – 30-Year Amortizations

32:10 – High Transaction Costs in Real Estate

34:46 – Renovations

39:37 – Big vs. Small Homes

43:23 – High Housing Costs Causing People to Leave Canada

46:10 –  The Housing-Affordability Crisis

51:42 – Rapid-Fire Questions

57:16 – An F-Bomb-Filled Ron Rant

59:03 – Conclusion