Mortgage Renewal Homework

Tracy Head • July 15, 2024

Unprecedented activity five years ago means that there are now a significant number of mortgages up for renewal.

Most clients initially sign a five-year mortgage term. That means that at the end of the five years their mortgages come up for renewal. 


Statistics that I’ve seen from several different sources indicate that approximately two out of three Canadians break their mortgages early.


What do I mean by break?


What I mean by break is that if at some point during the five years they move, sell their home, or refinance their original mortgage they have broken their mortgage.


If you have not made any changes to your mortgage, at the end of the five-year term your mortgage comes up for renewal.

Lenders handle renewals differently. Some start aggressively offering renewal options to their clients at least six months ahead of time. Others send renewal offers at the three-month mark. Some follow up repeatedly with phone calls; others wait for the client to reach out to them.


A significant number of lenders offer a 120 day rate guarantee for clients that are approaching their renewal date.

If your mortgage is coming up for renewal it is important that you do your homework to make sure you are being offered a competitive rate.


A client that had just received a renewal offer in the mail from her financial institution called me last week to talk about the rate the bank was offering her. She felt it was much higher than what she was seeing advertised online.


I reviewed my rates. The same lender was offering new clients in the door a rate that was almost one per cent lower. 

My suggestion to her was to go call the lender and see if they were able to offer a lower rate. Less than five minutes on the phone with the lender’s customer relations team and they had reduced the rate to match what was currently available for new clients.


In some cases lenders are not offering competitive rates. If so, you are able to switch your mortgage to a new lender at the maturity date.


Many lenders review their clients’ financial situations before offering renewal rates. If there have been significant changes, they may offer a higher rate to account for (perceived) higher risk. As an example, if the client’s credit score has dropped considerably or if there is a great deal of new debt they may not be offered the lowest rates available.


In some cases, clients who do have multiple loans and credit cards outstanding may find that renewal is a good time to refinance and consolidate their consumer debt. A consolidation may help reduce their monthly expenses and will over time help bring their credit score back up.


Whether your mortgage is coming up for renewal, you are initially purchasing your home, or you are restructuring down the road, it is important to spend some time looking into your options. 


We are happy to discuss current rates with you if your mortgage is coming up for renewal. In most cases it makes sense to stay with your lender as they will most often match rates available with other lenders. In others, it makes sense to look at switching to a new lender if the rate you are being offered is not competitive.



Take a few minutes and do your homework. An informed decision can save you thousands of dollars in the long run! 

Tracy Head

Mortgage Broker

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Mortgage Crisis

By Tracy Head • September 5, 2025
A wise broker friend of mine once told me there is no such thing as a mortgage emergency. I think this may depend on whose perspective this is. I’ve thought about her statement over the years. I think what constitutes a mortgage emergency really depends which end of the transaction you are on. One situation I run into regularly is clients who have left dealing with their mortgage renewal until the bitter end. This doesn’t necessarily constitute a mortgage emergency if you are not planning to make any changes to your mortgage and you intend to stay with the same lender. However, if you are in a private mortgage that was intended to be a short-term solution leaving your renewal until the bitter end can put you in a precarious position. Not all private lenders automatically offer renewals. Some charge a significant fee to renew for another term. Some will renew but dramatically increase your rate. If your plan was to move to a traditional lender once your private mortgage comes up for renewal this process can take weeks and in some case months. Depending on your situation a refinance to pay out your private mortgage can be very challenging right now with stricter qualifying guidelines and higher interest rates. Sometimes clients are proactive with their plan to move from a private mortgage and we run into problems and additional document requests from the new lender or challenges like delays in getting appraisals done. Whether you are in a private mortgage or your mortgage is with a traditional lender I suggest you start looking into renewal options about six months ahead of your maturity (renewal) date. We can lock down an interest rate hold for you four months ahead of your maturity date but I love to have a conversation with my clients about six months prior so we can develop a plan as to how we will handle their upcoming renewal. Not all lenders offer an open mortgage at renewal so if you dawdle too long you may end up locked in with your current lender for a bit longer. If you have left your mortgage renewal until it is right around the corner don’t panic. Many lenders do offer an open mortgage so you can opt for this to buy yourself some time if you are planning to make any changes to your mortgage. Take some time to evaluate your options. Small tweaks can potentially make a significant difference to your bottom line so it is key to work with a professional that has your best interests at heart.

Early Renewal

By Tracy Head • August 27, 2025
Does an early renewal make sense? 2020 was a very busy year for home buying and mortgages. This means that 2025 is and has been a busy year for mortgage renewals as the majority of clients seemed to choose five year terms in 2020. I’ve had lots of conversations with my own and new clients about whether it makes sense to renew early. Each conversation is slightly different based on client needs and their individual circumstances. Most of the time I suggest that clients stay with their current lenders until their renewal dates because their current interest rates are anywhere between 1.6 per cent and 2.79 per cent. If you don’t need to make any immediate changes it makes the most financial sense to stay put until your term runs out. We can start the process of either switching or refinancing mortgages four months ahead of your renewal date and lock in a rate for you. As a generalization, when people ask about doing a straight switch (not adding any money to their mortgage) I will do a survey of what interest rates are available so they can go back to their lender to try to negotiate a great rate. Time and time again I’ve worked with clients on switches for them to cancel at the last minute as their current lender finally sharpens the pencil rather than lose the client. This is why I always try to help people negotiate with their current lender rather than put everyone through the work of having a new mortgage approved. If clients are wanting to add money to their mortgage to pay out consumer debt or pay for home renovations that changes things a bit. Some lenders are more aggressive with their refinance rates so it makes sense to make a move. Another situation has popped up this week that has had me crunching numbers for multiple clients. One of my favorite lenders came out with a quick-close rate special that is pretty hard to pass up. The fine print is that the new mortgage has to finalize within thirty days. I have been working on a refinance at renewal for clients that is set to close at the beginning of November. I took a look at how their current lender calculates the payout penalty when they are this close to renewal. It turns out they charge daily interest instead of a three-month interest penalty or interest rate differential. So I did the math. If we pay out early to take advantage of this great interest rate their payout penalty is around the $1000 mark. Over the term of the new mortgage they will save approximately $5500 in interest cost and their monthly payment will be about $85 per month less. Even after they pay out the penalty to move a bit early they will still be $4500 ahead over the term of their mortgage. This is one of the few times I’ve recommended that it makes sense to move forward ahead of the renewal date.  If you have a renewal coming up over the next few months I’d say it’s a good idea to connect with your mortgage person to look at what rates are available now and figure out whether it makes sense to consider making a move sooner rather than later. Lenders will pop up with rate specials from time to time so it is worth having your mortgage professional keep an eye open for you as your renewal date comes closer. It may just save you a significant amount of money.