TORONTO, ONTARIO – DECEMBER 4, 2025 – Helping clients save money is always on the mind of Joe Ferraro at Sherwood Mortgage Group.
Ferraro is a Level Two Mortgage Agent at the Sherwood Mortgage Group, where he primarily helps first-time homebuyers secure mortgage financing, and also helps existing homeowners with mortgage renewals. He shared some of his favourite money-saving tips on the Dec. 3 edition of AvranceCorp Presents.
“Credit is super important,” Ferraro explained to AvranceCorp Presents host Kenai Andrews. “If you have a credit card, make your minimum payment. Try and pay the balance off each month. Keep all of your balances to below 30 per cent. For example, if you have a credit card with a $1000 limit, do not let that balance get above $300. If it’s $10,000, keep it below $3,000. Try not to carry a lot of debt. If you do carry debt, try and make it 30 per cent of the overall limit.”
“Have two trade lines,” Ferraro continued. “One can be a VISA, one could be a Mastercard. One could be an American Express, one could be an unsecured line of credit. Make sure you have two of them because that’s how the Equifax algorithm works.
“The Equifax algorithm is a set of proprietary formulas that help to assess credit risk using factors such as payment history, credit utilization, credit mix, bankruptices, and so on. Equifax typically assigns a certain weight to each factor to calculate a probability score to indicate the risk of an individual defaulting on a loan.
Ferraro also has plenty of smaller yet meaningful ways of piling up some cash that are time-tested.
“When it comes to saving money, if you want to buy a home, create a plan to start saving money,” Ferraro said. “Take a look at the income you have coming in right now and start getting rid of or limiting those expenses that you can really save money on. You don’t need an eight-dollar coffee every day from Starbucks. You can make your own coffee at home. You’d be surprised at how much people can save if they just do things at home.”
“Cook your own meals, stop buying out. Take that money and leave it in the bank account. I would create a separate savings account, meaning if you have a bank account that has a chequing account, but you don’t have a savings account, create a savings account that you simply label: Savings for your home purchase. And every paycheque at minimum, after expenses, a minimum of 10 per cent has to go into that savings account. If you can put more, absolutely fantastic.”
“On the show, Ferraro mentioned a lot more tips, including how to save at mortgage renewal time and as well as sharing how he takes care to educate clients on all facets of homebuying and other mortgage services.
“Work, save, save, work, work, work, save, save,” Ferraro said. “And before you know it, you’ll have a good chunk of money saved up.”
About AvranceCorp Developments
AvranceCorp Developments is a Toronto-based real estate development company with a $4B+ portfolio and 7,000+ residential units in active development. Guided by urban planning principles and a commitment to innovation, AvranceCorp delivers communities that balance affordability, sustainability, and investor value.
Media Contact
Kenai Andrews
Director, Media & Investor Relations
AvranceCorp Developments
📧 kenai@avrancecorp.com
📞 647-368-8888
