Mortgages
You’ve found the right house. Let’s make it your home.
What is a mortgage?
Since most people don’t have the cash available for a home, a mortgage is a loan that can help cover the balance. When you take out a mortgage you agree to pay back the sum at an agreed interest rate.
Buying your first home
Flexible payment options can help your dreams come true.
Learn about first-time homebuying
Your next property
Plan for retirement with a mortgage that can change with you.
Refinancing your home
Help free up money for renovations or other investments.
Mortgage basics
Before we dive deeper into the world of mortgages, let’s go over a few of the key concepts to help you make informed decisions.
Open mortgage
An open mortgage can be repaid in part or full at any time without having to pay a penalty. Because of this flexibility, open mortgage rates tend to be higher than the rates available through closed mortgages. It’s ideal if you’re confident you can pay off your mortgage in the near term.
Closed mortgage
Choosing a closed mortgage means you’re essentially saying that you have no plans to pay off your mortgage in full, or more than prepayment privileges will allow during your mortgage term. A closed mortgage will offer a lower interest rate than an open mortgage, giving you the opportunity to pay less in interest.
Down payment
Your down payment is the amount of upfront money that you put towards the purchase of a home. A larger down payment could mean having a more manageable mortgage. The minimum down payment is 5% but if you can put down 20% or more, you’ll qualify for a conventional mortgage and avoid paying mortgage insurance.
Amortization period
The amortization period is the length of time available to you to pay off your mortgage. For high-ratio mortgages, the maximum amortization is 25 years. Longer amortization periods mean lower payments, but they increase the total amount of interest you pay. A shorter amortization period will lead to big interest savings. Plus, you could become mortgage-free sooner.
Mortgage term
The mortgage term is the length of time you commit to a particular type of mortgage. It can range from 6 months to 10 years. You may want to choose a longer-term mortgage when interest rates are low to keep your payments the same. A shorter-term strategy works best if interest rates are either high or falling, so you can renew at a lower rate.
Payment options
Choose monthly, semi-monthly, accelerated bi-weekly or accelerated weekly payments. Accelerated payments will save you interest over the length of your mortgage, and could mean you’ll be mortgage-free sooner. Also, our prepayment privileges allow you to make lump sum payments towards your principal to build equity in your home faster and substantially reduce interest.
