(905) 441 0770 allen@allenehlert.com

Mortgage Terms

Get a Better Understanding of Mortgages!
Postponement Agreements

Understanding Commercial Postponement Agreements

Postponement Agreement. If you’ve ever been involved in a commercial deal where there’s more than one lender, you’ve probably heard someone mention a postponement agreement. And while it sounds like a bureaucratic delay tactic, it’s actually one of the most important documents in multi-lender financing.

Standstill Agreement

Why Agree to a Standstill Agreement?

Standstill Agreement: In the world of commercial real estate lending, not every disagreement needs to turn into a showdown. Sometimes, the smartest move isn’t to fight for control—it’s to take a breath, stand still, and let cooler heads (and structured agreements) prevail.

That’s exactly what a standstill agreement is about. It’s not about giving up rights; it’s about protecting everyone’s position when the financial waters get choppy.

second_mortgage

Understanding Second Mortgages

There’s a lot of buzz out there about second mortgages. You hear about people using them to pay off debt, help kids buy homes, or fund renovations. They sound like a simple solution — and sometimes they are. But second mortgages aren’t just a financial hack you pull out of thin air. They come with rules, restrictions, and some real fine print that’s easy to overlook.

Thorough Vetting

How I Vet Mortgage Documents to Protect Your Deal

Let’s be real — in real estate, everyone plays a role. The realtor sells the dream, the lawyer protects the paperwork, but when it comes to vetting the financials, that’s where I step in. As a mortgage agent, it’s my job to protect the integrity of the deal before it ever reaches a lender’s underwriter. I’m the one who spots the inconsistencies, asks the awkward questions, and makes sure that everything adds up — literally and figuratively.

Not Guaranteed Commitment

A Commitment Isn’t a Guarantee

You’ve done everything right—you got pre-approved, made your offer, provided every bank statement and pay stub under the sun. The lender issues a written mortgage commitment and you think, “Phew, we’re done.” Not so fast. A lot of homebuyers (and even some seasoned realtors) mistake a commitment letter as some kind of iron-clad promise. It’s not.

How Long Mortgage Commitment

How Long to Get a Written Mortgage Commitment

You’ve got the house. The offer’s accepted. You’ve told your family, picked out paint colours, and maybe even started scoping out where the Christmas tree’s going to sit. But now comes the part that isn’t quite as exciting but is absolutely crucial — locking down your written mortgage commitment.

Not Really Approved

Understanding ‘Approval’ Terminology

If you’ve ever been through the mortgage process, you’ve probably heard people throwing around words like pre-qualification, pre-approval, commitment, and funding like they’re all interchangeable. Spoiler alert: they’re not. And if you don’t understand the difference, you could find yourself in hot water right when you’re trying to buy your dream home.

Spousal BuyOut Calculators

Ultimate Canadian Spousal Buy Out Calculator

When those relationships end, the emotional toll is heavy—but the financial questions can hit just as hard. Who gets the house? How much is one partner entitled to? Can one partner afford to buy the other out without selling the family home?

That’s where Allen Ehlert’s Ultimate Canadian Spousal Buy Out Calculator comes in. It’s designed to take some of the mystery—and stress—out of a separation by giving you the numbers you need to move forward. Whether you’re divorcing or separating as common-law partners, this calculator helps you figure out exactly what a buyout looks like.

Renting Out Owner Occupied

“Can I Rent Out My Home If I Said It Would Be Owner-Occupied?”

It may be possible to rent out your home even if you told your lender it would be owner occupied. Let me show you how…

Joint Mortgage

Getting a Joint Mortgage

Explore the benefits and how to navigate the process of acquiring a Joint Mortgage in Canada with ease. Join forces on your property dream.

Understanding Commercial Postponement Agreements

Understanding Commercial Postponement Agreements

Postponement Agreement. If you’ve ever been involved in a commercial deal where there’s more than one lender, you’ve probably heard someone mention a postponement agreement. And while it sounds like a bureaucratic delay tactic, it’s actually one of the most important documents in multi-lender financing.

read more
Why Agree to a Standstill Agreement?

Why Agree to a Standstill Agreement?

Standstill Agreement: In the world of commercial real estate lending, not every disagreement needs to turn into a showdown. Sometimes, the smartest move isn’t to fight for control—it’s to take a breath, stand still, and let cooler heads (and structured agreements) prevail.

That’s exactly what a standstill agreement is about. It’s not about giving up rights; it’s about protecting everyone’s position when the financial waters get choppy.

read more
Understanding Second Mortgages

Understanding Second Mortgages

There’s a lot of buzz out there about second mortgages. You hear about people using them to pay off debt, help kids buy homes, or fund renovations. They sound like a simple solution — and sometimes they are. But second mortgages aren’t just a financial hack you pull out of thin air. They come with rules, restrictions, and some real fine print that’s easy to overlook.

read more
How I Vet Mortgage Documents to Protect Your Deal

How I Vet Mortgage Documents to Protect Your Deal

Let’s be real — in real estate, everyone plays a role. The realtor sells the dream, the lawyer protects the paperwork, but when it comes to vetting the financials, that’s where I step in. As a mortgage agent, it’s my job to protect the integrity of the deal before it ever reaches a lender’s underwriter. I’m the one who spots the inconsistencies, asks the awkward questions, and makes sure that everything adds up — literally and figuratively.

read more
A Commitment Isn’t a Guarantee

A Commitment Isn’t a Guarantee

You’ve done everything right—you got pre-approved, made your offer, provided every bank statement and pay stub under the sun. The lender issues a written mortgage commitment and you think, “Phew, we’re done.” Not so fast. A lot of homebuyers (and even some seasoned realtors) mistake a commitment letter as some kind of iron-clad promise. It’s not.

read more
How Long to Get a Written Mortgage Commitment

How Long to Get a Written Mortgage Commitment

You’ve got the house. The offer’s accepted. You’ve told your family, picked out paint colours, and maybe even started scoping out where the Christmas tree’s going to sit. But now comes the part that isn’t quite as exciting but is absolutely crucial — locking down your written mortgage commitment.

read more
Understanding ‘Approval’ Terminology

Understanding ‘Approval’ Terminology

If you’ve ever been through the mortgage process, you’ve probably heard people throwing around words like pre-qualification, pre-approval, commitment, and funding like they’re all interchangeable. Spoiler alert: they’re not. And if you don’t understand the difference, you could find yourself in hot water right when you’re trying to buy your dream home.

read more
Ultimate Canadian Spousal Buy Out Calculator

Ultimate Canadian Spousal Buy Out Calculator

When those relationships end, the emotional toll is heavy—but the financial questions can hit just as hard. Who gets the house? How much is one partner entitled to? Can one partner afford to buy the other out without selling the family home?

That’s where Allen Ehlert’s Ultimate Canadian Spousal Buy Out Calculator comes in. It’s designed to take some of the mystery—and stress—out of a separation by giving you the numbers you need to move forward. Whether you’re divorcing or separating as common-law partners, this calculator helps you figure out exactly what a buyout looks like.

read more
Getting  a Joint Mortgage

Getting a Joint Mortgage

Explore the benefits and how to navigate the process of acquiring a Joint Mortgage in Canada with ease. Join forces on your property dream.

read more
Using Foreign Income

Using Foreign Income

Some Canadian lenders may consider foreign income when underwriting a mortgage, but there are strict guidelines and additional documentation requirements. Many will not. Whether a lender accepts foreign income and the limitations on accepting such depends on their...

read more
Remodelling vs Renovating

Remodelling vs Renovating

The world of home improvement is filled with terminology that often gets misused. One of the most common sources of confusion? The difference between remodeling and renovating. While the terms are frequently used interchangeably, they represent distinct types of home...

read more
Advanced First Home Savings Account

Advanced First Home Savings Account

Advanced FHSA. Buying your first home in Canada can feel a bit like trying to run a marathon with a backpack full of bricks—every step toward that down payment seems heavier than the last. But here’s the good news: the First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is like discovering there’s a downhill stretch right in the middle of the race. It’s a government-backed program designed to help you save faster for your first home, with some incredible tax perks thrown in. If you’re a first-time homebuyer (or helping one), this account can be a game-changer.

read more
Understanding Canadian Status

Understanding Canadian Status

Residency. Status: If you’ve ever sat down to talk mortgages and thought, “Why is my residency such a big deal? I live here, don’t I?”, you’re not alone. The thing is, in Canada, there’s more than one way to be considered a “resident” — and not all of them are created equal when it comes to getting a mortgage. Your ‘status’ is a very complicated thing.

read more
Can’t Pay Back Home Buyers Plan

Can’t Pay Back Home Buyers Plan

Can’t Pay Back Home Buyers Plan. You’ve done it — bought your first home, maybe with a little help from your RRSP through the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP). It felt like a smart move at the time (and it often is). But fast forward, and life has a funny way of throwing curveballs: job changes, unexpected expenses, or even just the rising cost of everything. Suddenly, those HBP repayments you promised to make feel like a stretch.

read more
Flex Down Mortgages

Flex Down Mortgages

If you’ve got the income to buy a home but your savings account is looking a little… let’s say “light,” you might feel like homeownership is still miles away. The good news? That’s not always the case. With a Flex Down mortgage program, you can borrow your down payment — legally, transparently, and with the lender’s blessing — to get you into your first home sooner.

read more
Types of Status in Canada

Types of Status in Canada

Types of Status: If you’ve ever walked into a mortgage meeting thinking, “I’m Canadian, so I’m good, right?” — buckle up. In Canada, there’s not just one definition of “resident,” and it’s not just about whether you’ve got a passport. There’s immigration status (your right to live here) and tax residency status (how the Canada Revenue Agency sees you). And they don’t always line up neatly.

read more
Closing a Mortgage

Closing a Mortgage

Closing a mortgage is a bit like the final stretch of a marathon. You’ve put in the miles—finding the property, securing the offer, getting your approval—and now you’re eyeing the finish line. But between that final “yes” from the lender and moving into your new home (or getting those refinance funds), there’s a whole lot of behind-the-scenes action operating within a ‘black box’ that most buyers and realtors never see.

read more
Commercial vs Residential Rates

Commercial vs Residential Rates

Commercial vs Residential Rates: So you’ve got a few rentals under your belt, things are going smoothly, and now you’re eyeing your next big play—maybe a sixplex or a mixed-use building. You reach out to your lender, expecting the same ol’ mortgage experience, and then it hits you:

“Sorry, this is a commercial deal. The rate will be higher.”

Higher? How much higher? And why?

read more
Surviving Deep Due Diligence

Surviving Deep Due Diligence

If you’ve ever had a mortgage deal that felt like it was sailing smoothly through underwriting, only to suddenly slow to a crawl with more questions, more documents, and more back-and-forth than you thought possible, you may have run into deep due diligence.

read more
From Residential to Commercial

From Residential to Commercial

So you’ve been picking up rental properties over the years—maybe it started with a duplex, then a triplex, and next thing you know, you’re sitting on a healthy portfolio under your holding company. You’ve figured out the tenant game, you’re cash-flowing, and the equity’s stacking up nicely.

But then one day, you’re applying for financing on property number six, and your lender says:
“Sorry, this now falls under commercial lending.”

read more

Featured Publications

Articles

Book: “The Program”

  • Part 1 – Building Your Down Payment
  • Part 2 – Mortgage Payoff Strategies
  • Part 3 – Building Wealth Through Real Estate

Don’t Wait Any Longer. Start Forging Your Own Path Today!