Navigating Mortgage Markets in Western Canada with Lee-Ann McEllister, Director of Sales at MCAP

Get ready for an eye-opening journey into the heart of Western Canada’s mortgage landscape. Len Lane, Founder of Brokers for Life Inc., teams up with MCAP’s dynamic Director of Sales, Lee-Ann McEllister, to tackle the market’s biggest challenges—from soaring housing costs in BC to steady trends in the Prairies. Lee-Ann shares her wealth of knowledge on regional differences across Western Canada, offering valuable insights for brokers and homebuyers navigating the changing real estate market.

The discussion also delves into the impact of interprovincial migration, fluctuating interest rates, and the evolving role of technology in the mortgage industry. Lee-Ann highlights how MCAP’s innovative approach and strong company culture have allowed them to remain competitive and thrive. Don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the industry’s top leaders and gain practical insights into the future of mortgages in Canada.

About Lee-Ann McEllister

Lee-Ann is the Director of Sales for MCAP and an Associate Certified Organizational Coach with the International Coaching Federation.

She proudly leads a team of dedicated Business Development Managers, supporting them to make an impact and help broker partners grow their business. After almost two decades in finance sales, she believes work can be fun and is passionate about creating an enjoyable atmosphere in everything she does. Innovation is the key driver of MCAP and Lee-Ann’s success; she welcomes creativity and new ideas and runs toward change!

In 2020 and 2022, she was named Woman of Influence by Canadian Mortgage Professionals and dedicates her time and energy as Board Chair for BC Lenders Group Association. She works closely with Habitat for Humanity Okanagan as Board Chair and Chair of their Family Services Committee. She is also a member of their Governance Committee and Community Engagement and Fundraising Committee. She is passionate about providing a hand-up to families in her community.

Lee-Ann is grateful to be part of the mortgage broker industry and thinks that home ownership is a keystone of wealth and provides emotional security.

Resources discussed in this episode:

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Contact Len Lane | Brokers for Life:

Contact Lee-Ann McEllister:

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Transcript
Len 00:02

Welcome. My name is Len Lane, and I am the founder and president of Brokers for Life Inc, and we are Dominion Lending Centers in Western Canada. The topic of our podcast will be about what we consider to be Real Life Mortgage Solutions.

Len 00:20

Welcome back. The next three episodes are going to be about our lenders and the different types of lenders that are in the industry today. We’re going to start out with the bigger organizations that represents probably 20% of our book of business, at least headed off by MCAP itself. My guest today is Lee-Ann McEllister, ACC, we’ll talk about that later too, I think. Lee-Ann is the Director of Sales for MCAP, an associate certified organization coach with the International Coaching Federation; she leads a team of dedicated business development managers, supporting them to make an impact and help broker partners grow their business. After almost two decades in the finance sales, she believes work can be fun, and is passionate about creating an enjoyable atmosphere in everything she does. Innovation is the key driver for MCAP and Lee-Ann’s success. She welcomes creativity, new ideas, and runs towards change. In 2020, and 2022, she was named woman of influence by the Canadian Mortgage Professionals and dedicates her time and energy as board chair for BC Lenders Group Association. She works closely with Habitat for Humanity in the Okanagan as board chair and chair of their family services committee. She’s also a member of governance committee and community engagement and fundraising committee. She is passionate about providing a hand-up to families in their community. Lee-Ann is grateful for her part in the mortgage broker industry, and thinks that home ownership is a keystone to wealth and provides emotional security. Ladies and gentlemen, Lee-Ann McEllister.

Lee-Ann 02:01

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Len. I have to say I want to congratulate you on starting up this podcast. I was able to listen to some episodes. I was actually on a flight, so it was perfect timing to hunker down and give a listen. And I think a lot of people, they have this grand idea of starting a podcast, but it’s actually about execution. So well done on executing this great idea.

Len 02:24

Yeah. that was the step that had been in my mind for some time and been encouraged by several other people. Heather for one, to do kind of get this off the ground, dual purposes for us that hopefully to educate the some of the industry as well, and the public in general, that there are a lot of things that we talk about. And it’s funny, we use acronyms so easily, LOE and all of this kind of stuff. I’m going to do a whole one just on those, because I find with new agents, I’m talking the way we’ve spoken for the last 17 years, right? And they go like, what is that, right? So, anyways, you are someone definitely with the finger on the pulse of the market in Western Canada, ever-changing from BC to Winnipeg, because I’ve been in several of those cities over the last couple of weeks. What challenges do you think the Canadians are seeing in those markets?

Lee-Ann 03:18

You know, it’s very interesting leading a team with such a great territory of Western Canada, because each province is so different; the challenges in each one have some similarities, but definitely some noticeable differences and challenges. So in BC, we’re seeing extremely high housing costs, especially around the Vancouver area. Alberta has continued to see interprovincial migration driving up prices slightly. But even if you look at Alberta, there’s a big difference between Calgary and Edmonton. So Calgary, you’re starting to see a little bit of the pricing increase due to the lack of supply and greater demand. But if you take a look at Edmonton, they stay pretty steady. So, I find it interesting, even in one province, you can have such different pockets of different volatility in the marketplace. And then, of course, we have our Saskatchewan and our Manitoba markets, which seem …