Firm Offer
A firm offer is an offer to purchase a home without any conditions attached. If you need financing to complete the purchase of a home, do not opt for a Firm Offer until your mortgage financing is fully approved by your Lender.
About The Author
Don Scott
Don Scott is the founder of a challenger mortgage brokerage that is focused on improving access to mortgages. We can eliminate traditional biases and market restrictions through the use of technology to deliver a mortgage experience focused on the customer. Frankly, getting a mortgage doesn't have to be stressful.
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With the Bank of Canada in a rate-cutting cycle, many Canadians expect mortgage rates to continue to drop. This may be true for variable mortgage rates since they track changes in the Bank of Canada rate. However, fixed mortgage rates don’t directly follow the Bank of Canada’s overnight rate. Instead, they are tied to the bond market, which has shown mixed signals recently.
Now that rates have begun to decline again, many Canadian mortgage borrowers are considering variable interest rate options. These types of mortgages can save money in the right circumstances, but they come with risks that need careful evaluation.
How the Amortization Period Impacts Your Mortgage The recent announcement from Ottawa allowing first-time homebuyers to secure an insured mortgage with a 30-year amortization period, up from the previous 25-year limit, has significant implications for borrowers. This change highlights the fact that different amortization periods are possible and that it is important for Canadian mortgage borrowers to understand how the amortization period affects the cost of their mortgage. While extending the amortization period can reduce monthly payments and provide a more affordable entry point into the housing market, it will increase the total cost of the mortgage over time. Let’s delve into the details and explore how borrowers can address this issue effectively. The Basics of Amortization Amortization refers to the length of time it would take to pay off your mortgage at the current mortgage rate. The amortization period assumes regular monthly mortgage payments. Each monthly mortgage payment covers both the interest on the loan and a portion of the principal amount. After every monthly payment, the remaining principal balance of your mortgage is reduced by the portion of the payment that goes toward principal. Over the amortization period the remaining principal balance will decline to zero. You will hear and read that the longer 30-year amortization period is good for mortgage borrowers. However, there is a trade-off in selecting the longer amortization period that borrowers need to be aware of. The benefit is that the longer the amortization period, the lower the monthly payments. Stretching out the repayment schedule results in a lower required payment per payment period. The longer amortization period can help borrowers qualify for a mortgage. A longer amortization may also provide some payment relief for existing borrowers struggling with a mortgage renewing at high rates. The trade-off to this short-term payment reduction is that the longer amortization results in a higher amount of interest paid over the life of the loan. In other words, the short-term relief from a longer amortization comes at a cost. Numerical Examples Let’s consider a mortgage of $400,000 with an interest rate of 4%. The chart below shows the difference in monthly mortgage payments for different amortization periods.
