With the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions coming out with new proposed guidelines back in March, economists and homeowners alike became quite upset at the suggestion that homeowners would need to re-qualify when it was time to renew their mortgage. This would mean that when renewal time came, homeowners would need to verify income and be subjected to a full credit report just as they were when they first applied for their mortgage. Thankfully the OSFI has since come out and said this would not be a change made to mortgages in Ottawa; but it has left some who haven’t yet gone through the process themselves wondering how they renew their mortgage.
The only thing that homeowners really need to do before they renew their mortgage is know their mortgage payment history, and review their paperwork. Most lenders will have a penalty for renewing your mortgage before your term is officially up – and this is especially true if you are switching lenders upon renewal. Look over your paperwork very carefully, determine how much it will cost to renew your mortgage, and then decide if you want to proceed.
If you decide you do, the only next step you have is to contact an Ottawa mortgage broker that will do the rest of the work for you. If necessary, a broker will gather your credit report for you (although this step shouldn’t be necessary unless there are extenuating circumstances;) they will know which lenders are most likely to renew your mortgage for you; and they’ll contact all of those lenders to find out who will give you the best deal.
Once your mortgage broker has found that deal, they’ll then fill you in on all the paperwork you need to switch lenders and make the renewal happen. This will most likely be any mortgage documents you currently have, perhaps some income documents, and your social insurance number. Again, not all of these will always be necessary; it will depend on your own situation. But that’s where the mortgage broker comes in – they’ll tell you what you need, and what you don’t need to waste your time on.
Hopefully, you can use the same mortgage broker you used when you purchased your home. However, if you didn’t obtain your mortgage through a broker at that time, or you’ve lost contact with them, keep that number handy. A good broker can help you with everything and anything pertaining to your mortgage – including when that renewal time comes up once again!
