FAQs

Reverse mortgages are available in every province except for the Yukon. Our firm has helped and carried out reverse mortgages in every province where they’re allowed. This is the kind of experience you can look forward to if you contact us. It’s also available in our guide.

CHIP (Canadian Home Income Plan) reverse mortgages (formerly referred to only as CHIP) are meant to help seniors gain additional income as they near retirement or after they’ve already entered it. This financial product does so by allowing them to tap into their home equity.

The irony of this product’s name is that it was meant to align it with the version offered in the U.S., which ultimately served to create large amounts of confusion.

Just like with any mortgage loan, rates for reverse mortgages change over time, too.

That said, for this particular financial product, you have to consider more than just rates. A prime example of this is home equity growth. That’s because, despite the fact that you have a reverse mortgage on your home, you can actually still increase your home equity.

It’s all about reverse mortgage rates vs. home equity growth rates, which is just the increase in the value of your house. This means that the interest can be offset entirely by the growth of your home equity.

To learn more about this important topic and find out about where rates currently lie, please contact us.

There are three main factors that affect how much you’ll qualify for if you’re eligible for a reverse mortgage:

• Your age
• The value of the property
• The type of property

You can qualify for up to 55% of the value of your home, which is the maximum amount allowable for a reverse mortgage under Canadian law.

What a lot of people are surprised to learn is that, unlike most products banks offer, reverse mortgages are not impacted by your credit score. Instead, for you to qualify has much more to do with the value of your home.

It makes sense when you think about it, though. After all, you’re not paying anyone back. So even if you have a poor record of doing so, as long as your home has value, a lender will consider you for a reverse mortgage.

In the future, we will definitely have a reverse mortgage calculator for people to use. However, the truth is that this type of calculator really shouldn’t affect your decision. We go into greater detail as to why in our guide. You can download it below by clicking the button.

If you’ve ever looked into reverse mortgages before, you already know how much conflicting and confusing information is already out there. The vast majority of it comes from partial, biased sources that have a vested interest in making sure you never consider the downsides.

We created this factbook because we want to make sure that people enter into a decision this important with their eyes wide open to everything it entails.

On the other hand, plenty of people never benefit from a reverse mortgage because of all the misconceptions out there.

One of the most common examples is the fear that they’ll somehow end up losing their homes.

Given all the misinformation, let me take a moment to set this straight: no, you will not lose your home because of a reverse mortgage.
This has literally never happened once in the history of our country. Nonetheless, the fact that I will probably have to explain this countless more times in the future is a testament to how much misleading and unreliable sources of information are out there.

It took us months to put this factbook together. That includes the initial work we did to compile it and the time needed to add updates. We also made sure to survey the questions we’ve heard over the years and the feedback we’ve received from interested parties.

Finally, we have combined both information from our lenders and our experience as mortgage experts to make sure we’re only able to bring you the most accurate and relevant guide possible.

I can say that I truly believe this is the one of the most comprehensive, user-friendly resource that exists on Canadian reverse mortgages. Nonetheless, my team and I are still committed to updating it regularly.

Of course, if, after reviewing the factbook for yourself, you feel as though we’ve missed something, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are constantly creating new content and will make sure we cover your topic.

Absolutely!

If you’re already educated about reverse mortgages but just want some expert advice before you move forward, let us know.
You can go through our reverse mortgage evaluation, wherein a mortgage professional will review your details and then give you their professional opinion about whether or not this type of loan is right for you.

It will only take 90 seconds, too.

John Cavan is a licensed mortgage agent with Mortgage Architects – Brokerage License #12728. In 2017, He was awarded the Readers Choice Award by The Milton Champion. In addition, he has received the following recognition during his experience as a Licensed Mortgage Professional:

• 2020 Readers’ Choice award
• Readers’ Choice award for Favourite Mortgage Broker Company for the last 8 years
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Mortgage Architects
• MCAP Ambassador Plus Award of Achievement
• Homequity Bank in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement
• First National Wizard Award
• BNI Notable Networker Award
• Milton Chamber of Commerce Nominee for Business Person of the Year
• Firstline Mortgage Top Broker Status Eastern Canada
• Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) – Mortgage Intelligence

As our brokerage is completely independent, customers are always confident in the advice we provide. They know that it is independent, objective information based on their mortgage and other financial needs.

We aren’t working for a bank or some other lender. You are our sole client. You are the sole person we answer to. I created this site because I wanted an easy, go-to resource for people looking for high-quality, user-friendly information on an important topic that can sometimes be unnecessarily confusing.

Our mortgage brokerage is also affiliated with Stress Free Mortgage by Mortgage Architects, one of the top mortgage companies in Canada.

We don’t charge anything for our mortgage evaluation or any of the other advice we provide on this website. The same goes for any recommendations we provide. You’ll never spend a penny to become an educated consumer.

If you’d like to know about the price of the product itself, click over to our article on reverse mortgage costs and fees.

This factbook is formatted as a PDF file. It gets sent out the moment we hear from you.

Going forward, I will continue to provide you with expert tips and other actionable advice.

You can unsubscribe any time you want. If you would prefer receiving this information through the actual mail, contact us to get in touch with us.

Yes! We are very proud to say that this factbook was created for the sole purpose of being upfront and honest with readers about all of the relevant topics they need to understand in order to make an educated decision about reverse mortgages. This includes discussing potential pitfalls.

As you’ll see, we identify for whom these products are not a good fit.

However, for those of you who decide to go forward with a reverse mortgage after reading this factbook, we’ll be ready and waiting to serve you as independent and licensed mortgage agents. We can even help you decide if this is the right path to take in the first place.

Unfortunately, the “Big 5” banks here in Canada – BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD – don’t offer reverse mortgages. This is because this product takes years of investing before a bank may ever realize any returns from them.

Currently, HomeEquity Bank and Equitable Bank, Canadian regulated and Schedule 1 chartered banks, are the only ones to offer it.

Although it is much easier to get this version than any other type of mortgage, we’re still talking about a transaction that involves large amounts of money. As such, you will still have to go through a series of steps in the process.

As Schedule 1 banks, HomeEquity Bank and Equitable Bank will definitely require a certain amount of paperwork.

Fortunately, it won’t be nearly as much as you’d have to complete for a traditional mortgage where its success is primarily based on your income and credit. Although these two will not have any impact on your application for reverse mortgage, the bank will at least require some basic information before they lend you any money. And this includes your credit score just to show that they’re doing some amount of due diligence as a Schedule A lender.

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