Meet the broker
Hello — I'm Ramin.
Ramin Hallaji-Dezfouli
Licensed mortgage broker — British Columbia & Alberta
Clients call me the Reverse Mortgage Guru.
I'm the person who answers the phone, runs your numbers myself, and tells you plainly when a reverse mortgage is the wrong answer for you. That last part is most of the job.
Why a whole website just for reverse mortgages
Reverse mortgages have always been part of my practice at Mortgage Guru Financial. But they sit differently than every other mortgage I arrange. The people considering one are often at the point in life where a mistake is hardest to undo, the advertising aimed at them is rarely straight about the cost, and the one number that actually matters — what your estate keeps, year by year — is almost never shown.
So Reverse Financing got its own address, its own projection calculator, larger type than a normal mortgage site, and a page that argues the other side. Nothing here is written to sell you a reverse mortgage. It's written so you can decide with the same information I have.
The short version
From the oil fields to the top 5%.
I was born in Iran and came to Canada at fifteen. I grew up in Saskatoon, spent years working in Northern Alberta, and settled in British Columbia — which is a long way of saying I've lived in most of the places my clients are from.
Before mortgages, I worked the oil fields out of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Day shifts, night shifts, +40° summers and −50° winters, hundred-hour weeks, with three kids at home. I spent six months researching a career that could give my family stability without putting a ceiling on what hard work could earn.
I've now funded more than 200 mortgages totalling over $150,000,000 across British Columbia and Alberta, and I rank in the top 5% of more than 4,000 Dominion Lending Centres brokers nationally. These days I also mentor other brokers across BC on the complicated files.
The oilfield rule I kept is simple: outwork the problem. On a reverse mortgage the problem is hardly ever the paperwork — it's whether this is genuinely the right call for your retirement and for the people who'll inherit the house. That's where the work goes.
The longer professional biography lives on the main site: mortgageguru.ca/about ↗ — and the full story is on the Broker Collective podcast, episode 102, “From Oil Fields to Mortgages” ↗.
How it went
- 2019
- Sat in a brokerage office in front of a wall of top-producer plaques and thought: maybe I can do this one day.
- 2020
- Licensed as a mortgage broker in November. First approval submitted within ten days.
- 2021
- First-year target was $100,000. First-year result was $154,000 — and no missed pay period since.
- 2022
- Top 50 across all of Dominion Lending at exactly twelve months in. Named a CMP Rising Star of Canada.
- 2023
- Diamond Award — Top 5% of DLC brokers in Canada.
- 2025
- Master Club — Top 5% of 4,000+ DLC brokers nationally.
Don't take my word for it
Check my licence yourself.
Both regulators publish a permanent, public page for every licensed broker. These two links go straight to mine. It takes about thirty seconds, and you should do it for anyone asking about your home — including me.
My submortgage broker registration on the BC Financial Services Authority registry.
My associate (mortgage) registration on the Real Estate Council of Alberta registry.
Ramin Hallaji is licensed in British Columbia (BCFSA) and Alberta (RECA) — in British Columbia under Mortgage Guru Financial, and in Alberta under Dominion Lending Centres A.I.M.I. Collective Mortgage Group. Full licensing detail, with brokerage registry links →
How I work
Four things you can hold me to.
I'll tell you when the answer is no.
If a credit line or a regular refinance leaves you better off, I'll say so and show you the comparison side by side. A reverse mortgage that shouldn't have happened is not a file I want.
Your family is welcome at the table.
Adult children usually have the hardest questions, and they should. Bring them to the call, the kitchen table, or the webinar. You will never hear me suggest keeping this from your family.
No pressure and no invented deadlines.
There is no offer that expires tonight. Take the numbers away, sleep on them, show them to your accountant. If you decide not to proceed, that is a completely fine outcome and you'll never hear from me twice about it.
In English or in Farsi.
I'm fluent in both, and I'm glad to run the entire conversation — the numbers, the paperwork, the questions from family — in Farsi (Persian) if that's more comfortable for you.
Recognition
Awarded for the work, not for showing up.
Dominion Lending Centres is a national network that originates more new mortgages than any bank, credit union, or trust company in Canada. These rankings are measured against every one of its brokers.
Master Club 2025 — Top 5% of 4,000+ DLC brokers nationally
Top 50 by monthly revenue — 2022, 2023 and 2024
Platinum Award — Top 10% of DLC brokers, 2021 to 2024
Diamond Award — Top 5% of DLC brokers, 2022 and 2023
CMP Rising Star of Canada 2022 — and 2nd in the world with Team Canada
A note on the names: in 2025 Dominion Lending Centres renamed its top-producer awards. Master Club is the successor to the Diamond Award — both recognise the top 5% of more than 4,000 brokers nationally.
Away from the desk
I'm a husband and a father of three (plus three pets), which is a daily reminder of why these decisions matter to a whole family and not just to one homeowner. It's also why I'd rather spend an extra hour on your kitchen-table math than close a file quickly.
If you'd like to talk it through — no forms, no commitment — call me at (778) 879-6768 or send a note here.
Twenty minutes, and you'll know where you stand.
Tell me your age, the home, and what the money is for. I'll bring the year-by-year math, the alternatives worth checking, and an honest recommendation — in writing, with your family welcome at the table.
Prefer to learn first? Join a free live webinar.