Is this the right time to buy a home?

Tracy Head • October 4, 2025

Who has your best interests at heart?

Buying a home can be either an incredibly exciting experience or a very stressful time. Or it can be a combination of both.

Part of the challenge can be committing to the decision to move forward with buying a home. How do you know if you are ready? How do you know if this is the right time to buy?

I love working with first-time home buyers. I particularly love when they reach out well ahead of time to do their research and get their ducks in a row.

I have been working with one such young lady. She has been watching for the right home to pop up. She fell in love with one of the listings that she viewed and moved forward with an offer.

She reached out to her investment advisor to make arrangements to move the funds she needed for her deposit from her investments to her bank account. Oddly he did not reply to her three phone calls nor multiple emails. She was forced to walk into his office to deal with this.

When she got there he essentially told her she was foolish for buying a home. She should leave her funds in her investments and continue to save with him. She agonized for a few days and ultimately collapsed her offer.

He told her that this house, over the long run, was going to cost her $1,000,000. The purchase price was $650,000. The total of the purchase price plus interest over the long run seemed like an astronomical sum.

He persuaded her that she would be better off continuing to rent and that at the end of the same time period she would have over $1,000,000 in her investment account.

That’s all well and good in theory. In the meantime she still needs a place to live. And there are no guarantees as to what investments will do over time, nor what property values will do.

I did some math to see what this actually looked like long term. We have to make some assumptions that the financial advisor is good at what he does and that her investments will do well over the long term.

As a rule real estate appreciates over time and rent increases over time. That being said, here is the math I did.

Making some assumptions that the mortgage rate stays the same and your rent never increases:

$2400 rent per month x 360 months (30 years) = $864,000
$2833 per month mortgage payment x 360 months = 1,019,880 (monthly payments / I suggest you go bi-weekly to pay off quicker)

At the end of 30 years renting you have nothing to show for the $864,000 you’ve paid out.

At the end of 30 years paying your mortgage you will have a home free and clear – normally real estate increases in value over time so in theory it will be worth way more than what you’ve paid.

If you wait another year to buy $2400 x 12 = $28,800 towards someone else’s mortgage.

Here’s the wild card. If you choose to rent and choose to invest in a portfolio instead of buying, even if your portfolio is worth $1,000,000 at the end of the same time frame you need to subtract the $864,000 you paid in rent.

This leaves you with a net gain of $136,000.

If you had purchased a home, your payments of $1,019,880 would be offset by the value of the home you purchased. In this case, assuming no change in value, you now have a home worth $650,000 paid off.

The wild card to run these comparisons is how much you need to invest monthly to accumulate the $1,000,000. Either way, you are making this payment on top of your rent payment. Another wild card of course is what property values and investment portfolios do over time.

We know rent will continue to increase and mortgage rates will change but I think it warrants looking at this from another perspective. I am not a proponent of aggressive scare tactics so was disappointed in how this advisor handled his conversation with her.

Some people are more cautious with their financial plans and I appreciate that. Being certain about your long-term goals will help you navigate the path forward that suits your own situation. Make sure you have trusted people in your corner as you make these big life decisions.

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Tracy Head

Mortgage Broker

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Family playing with colorful blocks on the floor in a cozy living room

The Road to Mortgage Freedom: How You Can Pay Off Your Mortgage Sooner

By Tracy Head • August 21, 2026

After years in the mortgage business, one of the questions I hear most often from homeowners is, “How can I get this mortgage paid off sooner?” It’s a good question. A mortgage may be considered “good debt” because it helps us buy a home, but that doesn’t mean anyone wants to be making mortgage payments for the full 25 or 30 years if they can avoid it. The good news is that most Canadian mortgages give homeowners several ways to accelerate their payments and reduce the amount of interest they pay over the life of the mortgage. The key is understanding how your mortgage works and making use of the prepayment privileges that are already built into your contract. Start by understanding amortization First, it’s important to distinguish between your mortgage term and your amortization. Your term is the length of time your current mortgage agreement and interest rate are in place. Five years is a common mortgage term. Your amortization is the total length of time it would take to pay off the mortgage if you simply made the required payments and did nothing extra. A 25-year amortization is very common. You don't have to wait 25 years to become mortgage-free. There are several strategies that can shorten that timeline considerably. Increase your regular payments The simplest strategy is often the one that gets overlooked: increase your regular payment. If your mortgage payment is $2,500 and you increase it to $2,750, that additional $250 is going toward your mortgage balance. As the principal comes down, you pay less interest over time. Most Canadian banks offer some form of annual payment increase privilege on closed mortgages. A common privilege is the ability to increase your regular payment by 10 per cent, although some lenders offer more. That means a homeowner doesn't necessarily have to wait for a large windfall to make a difference. Increasing the payment by a manageable amount can gradually have a significant impact. Make a lump-sum payment Another popular option is a lump-sum prepayment. Perhaps you receive a work bonus, a tax refund, an inheritance or proceeds from the sale of an investment. Instead of spending all of it, you can put some of that money directly against your mortgage principal. Many Canadian lenders allow homeowners to make an annual lump-sum payment without a penalty. A common privilege is 10 per cent of the original mortgage amount, although some lenders allow 15, 20 or even more. For example, on a $500,000 mortgage, a 10 per cent annual prepayment privilege could allow you to put $50,000 directly against the mortgage without a prepayment penalty. That's a pretty powerful tool. Of course, every mortgage contract is different, so it's important to check the exact privilege before making a large payment. Take advantage of payment frequency This brings us to one of the most common questions I get: What's the difference between bi-weekly and accelerated bi-weekly payments? The difference is bigger than many people realize. Let's use a $500,000 mortgage at 3.99 per cent with a 25-year amortization as an example. The monthly payment would be approximately $2,630. A regular bi-weekly payment takes that monthly payment, multiplies it by 12 and divides it by 26. That works out to approximately $1,214 every two weeks. Because there are 26 bi-weekly payments in a year, you're essentially making the equivalent of 12 monthly payments over the course of the year. Now let's look at accelerated bi-weekly payments. Instead of taking the monthly payment and converting it to a bi-weekly payment, the lender simply divides the monthly payment in half. $2,630 divided by two gives us an accelerated bi-weekly payment of approximately $1,315. Here's where the difference becomes important. You're making 26 payments of $1,315, which works out to approximately $34,190 per year. With regular bi-weekly payments, you're making 26 payments of approximately $1,214, or about $31,564 per year. That's a difference of roughly $2,630 a year — essentially one extra monthly mortgage payment. And that extra payment goes directly toward getting the mortgage paid down faster. The numbers at a glance

House in foreground with a large wildfire and thick smoke burning on the hillside behind it

When Wildfires Interrupt Your Home Purchase: What Every Buyer Needs to Know

By Tracy Head • August 10, 2026

For many Canadians, buying a home is one of life's most exciting milestones. You've found the perfect property, negotiated an accepted offer, arranged financing, and started picturing where the furniture will go. Then, almost overnight, Mother Nature throws a curveball. A wildfire starts nearby. As someone who has spent many years helping Canadians navigate home financing, I've seen firsthand how quickly a wildfire can change what seemed like a straightforward transaction. The good news is that many purchases still close successfully—but it's important to understand how these situations can affect everyone involved. One of the most important concepts in a real estate contract is something called force majeure . While the exact wording varies depending on the contract, a force majeure clause generally recognizes that extraordinary events beyond anyone's control—such as natural disasters—may temporarily prevent one or more parties from fulfilling their contractual obligations. If evacuation orders are issued, government offices close, roads become inaccessible, or lawyers, lenders, appraisers, or buyers simply cannot complete the necessary steps to transfer ownership, a force majeure clause may allow the closing date to be postponed until those circumstances have passed. It doesn't automatically cancel the sale, but it can provide valuable flexibility during an unpredictable situation. This is one of the reasons it's so important to stay in close communication with your mortgage broker, REALTOR®, lawyer, and lender. Everyone needs to understand what's happening so adjustments can be made if necessary. One issue that catches many buyers by surprise is home insurance. Most lenders require proof of insurance before they will release mortgage funds. During wildfire season, insurance companies sometimes place temporary restrictions or even stop issuing new policies altogether for homes located in high-risk areas. If you've waited until the last few days before possession to arrange your insurance, you could suddenly discover that coverage isn't immediately available. Without insurance, your lender may be unable to advance your mortgage funds, potentially delaying your closing. My advice is simple: purchase your home insurance as early as your insurer will allow. Having coverage arranged well in advance greatly reduces the chance of running into last-minute surprises if wildfire conditions change. It's one of those tasks that's easy to move to the bottom of the list until it suddenly becomes the most important item on it. Wildfires can also create a ripple effect that extends well beyond the property you're purchasing. Imagine you're buying a home in one community because your current home has sold and is scheduled to close first. Everything is carefully timed. Then a wildfire threatens your existing neighbourhood. Perhaps your buyers are unable to obtain insurance. Maybe their lender won't fund the mortgage until conditions improve. Or perhaps the buyers simply cannot complete the purchase because of evacuation orders. If the sale of your current home is delayed, you may no longer have the funds available to complete the purchase of your next home. That can create a chain reaction affecting multiple transactions, sometimes involving several families. These situations are stressful, but they also highlight why real estate professionals, lenders, and lawyers work so hard together when unexpected events occur. Everyone's goal is usually the same - to find a practical solution that allows the transaction to move forward once circumstances permit. If you're buying or selling during wildfire season, don't be afraid to ask questions. Understand how your contract addresses unforeseen events. Arrange your insurance early. Keep your financing documents up to date. Most importantly, stay in regular contact with your mortgage broker and the rest of your professional team. Wildfires are unpredictable. Preparation isn't. While none of us can control the weather, we can control how prepared we are when unexpected challenges arise. A little planning today may make all the difference tomorrow, helping ensure that when the smoke clears, you're still on track to receive the keys to your new home.