Personal Finance
Securing Your Today and Tomorrow
Basis Points: Key to Smarter Mortgage Decisions
Learn what basis points are, why they are used and their impact on the mortgage application process.
Understanding Bank Posted Rates
Understanding Bank Posted Rates. You can’t calculate your bank’s mortgage penalty without knowing your bank’s posted rates.
Breaking Your Mortgage: Canada vs United States
Discover the big difference between the costs Canadians pay to refinance their homes compared to the costs paid by Americans and why such a big difference.
Is Fixed or Variable Best for You?
Discover the differences between a fixed rate mortgage and a variable rate mortgage, when one is better than the other, and which is right for you.
Understanding Bond Sector Consideration Premium
Learn how The Bond Sector Consideration Premium accounts for sector-specific risks or other unique factors affecting particular bonds.
Commission Income and Alt Lending
The real question is when a commission income borrower should consider an alternative lender instead of trying to force a file into prime lending guidelines that simply don’t fit the situation.
Mortgages: Including Support Payments to Income
Understand how support payments can be factored into your mortgage affordability in Canada with our expert guidance.
Buy, Reno, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat
BRRRR Analyzer: BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.
It’s one of the most powerful real estate investing strategies available—but only when each step is executed with insight. The problem is, most people focus on the buy and the rent… and gloss over the refinance, which is where the entire strategy either succeeds or collapses.
Do Better At Mortgage Renewal
Unlock better terms on your Mortgage Renewal in Canada. Explore top rates and savvy renewal options to secure your financial future.
Credit Card Limit Carnage
Credit Card Limit Carnage: How good credit can kill your mortgage application.
Switching Lenders Mid-Term to Consolidate Debt
Switching Lenders Mid-Term to Consolidate Debt: Switching lenders mid-term to consolidate debt is one of the most misunderstood strategies in Canadian mortgage planning. In many cases, switching lenders mid-term isn’t the flashy option—it’s the necessary one.
Refinancing to Consolidate Debt
Refinance to Consolidate Debt: Debt rarely shows up as one big bad decision. More often, it’s a slow buildup—credit cards used during a tight year, a car loan layered on top, maybe a line of credit that never quite goes back to zero. Before long, a noticeable chunk of your monthly income is going toward interest, not progress.
Canadian Cash Damming Calculator User Guide
The Canadian Cash Damming Calculator is a visual planning tool built to help you estimate if cash damming may be worthwhile based on your mortgage, HELOC, deductible expenses, tax rate, and professional costs.
Using Blend and Extend to Consolidate Debt
Using Blend and Extend to Consolidate Debt: For the right borrower, a blend and extend can be a practical, lower-friction way to restructure debt, access equity, and improve cash flow without fully blowing up your existing mortgage. It’s not a magic fix, and it’s not available in every situation
Using the Reverse Mortgage Budgeting Planner
Using the Reverse Mortgage Budgeting Planner: the real question isn’t whether you can get the money—it’s whether the plan holds together over 10, 15, or 25 years once interest compounds, life gets more expensive, and the house still needs constant upkeep.
Climbing the Mortgage Ladder
Mortgage Ladder: Life doesn’t always unfold in neat, predictable steps. Sometimes you get bruised credit after a divorce, sometimes your business income doesn’t show well on paper, and sometimes the bank just flat-out says “no.” That’s when the mortgage ladder comes into play: starting where you are, even if that’s at the bottom rung, and climbing steadily toward prime lending.
Featured Publications
Articles
- Extended Amortizations and Hypothetical Calculations
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Minimum Qualifying Rate for Uninsured Mortgages
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) - Guideline on Existing Consumer Mortgage Loans in Exceptional Circumstances Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Book: “The Program”
- Part 1 – Building Your Down Payment
- Part 2 – Mortgage Payoff Strategies
- Part 3 – Building Wealth Through Real Estate