Renewals 5 min read
Renewing with your bank vs. shopping the market
Most Canadians sign their renewal letter without comparing it to anything else. Here's what that decision actually costs.
Mortgage agent · Ottawa · Serving Canada except Quebec
Most people sign whatever the bank sends them. My job is to make sure you don't.
I've been a mortgage agent since 2017. Before that, I worked at CIBC and TD, where I learned how renewal letters get drafted and why the rate on yours is rarely the best one available.
01 — Why work with me
A real person, not a rate engine.
- I started on the other side of the desk.
- Years at CIBC and TD before I switched sides in 2017. The renewal letter your bank sends you isn't personal. It's a system, and I know how it works.
- I keep a day job in finance.
- I work as a financial analyst at the Canada Border Services Agency, and I've been a mortgage agent on the side since 2017. The two jobs sharpen each other. Every file gets treated like a financial decision, not a sale.
- I live in Stittsville. I coach soccer here.
- Bilingual English and French, plus Haitian Creole when it helps. Three teams at West Ottawa Soccer Club, including a U17 elite squad. I'm not a faceless agency.
- Renewals are where I do my best work.
- Most of my clients arrive with a renewal letter and a suspicion that the rate isn't the deal it looks like. They're usually right. Most other agents won't dig in. I will.
02 — Services
What I help with.
Six things I do most. If your situation is different, ask anyway. Most files don't fit a category cleanly.
Purchase
Most of my purchase clients call before they've toured a single place. That's the right timing.
Renewal
If your renewal letter is coming in the next six months, you're already late. Let's get ahead of it.
Refinance
You've built equity. The question is what to do with it without making things worse.
Pre-approval
A real pre-approval. Not the soft-quote your banking app spits out.
Investment properties
Second properties have different math. I'll run the numbers before you fall for the place.
Switch / transfer
Same mortgage, better lender. We move it without restarting from zero.
03 — Articles
Things worth reading before you sign anything.
Three pieces drop with launch. Subscribe to the newsletter and you'll get the next one before it lives here.
First-time buyers 7 min read
First-time homebuyer's guide: where to actually start
Most first-time buyer guides try to teach you everything at once. This one focuses on the first three decisions that actually matter.
Renewals 6 min read
What to do six months before your mortgage renewal
The renewal letter shows up 30 days before your term ends. By then you've already lost most of your leverage. Here's what to do six months out.
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