3 Misconceptions About Reverse Mortgages in Canada

CoryVance • August 2, 2018

One of the benefits of working with an independent mortgage professional is choice when it comes to mortgage product. When you work with a single bank or financial institution, you are limited to the products they offer. When you deal with a mortgage broker, you gain access to products from many lenders. Some of these products are very specialized and provide financing solutions as unique as the people they were developed for.

One such product is a reverse mortgage. In Canada, HomEquity Bank offers the CHIP reverse mortgage to homeowners 55+. It’s certainly not for everyone, but while mortgage products are becoming increasingly difficult to qualify for in Canada, it’s certainly worth considering if you meet the criteria. The following article was written by Roland Mackintosh, a business development manager at HomEquity.

If you have any questions about your financial situation, your current mortgage, or learning more about a CHIP reverse mortgage (for you or your parents), please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime!

Top 3 misconceptions about Reverse Mortgages:

I recently read an article by Jamie Hopkins in Forbes magazine, entitled “ Americans Don’t Even Know What Their Most Important Retirement Asset Is.” The article highlighted three common misconceptions about reverse mortgages and unsurprisingly, they are prevalent in Canada as well as in the U.S.

The top 3 misconceptions about Reverse Mortgages are as follows:

1. The bank owns your home.
2. Your estate can owe more than your home
3. The best time to take a Reverse Mortgage is at the end of your retirement

Let’s examine each misconception in more detail.

The bank owns your home.

Over 50% of Canadian homeowners over the age of 65, believe the bank owns your home once you’ve taken a reverse mortgage. Not true! We simply register our position on the title of the home, exactly the same as any other mortgage instrument, with the main difference in the flexibility of not having to make P&I payments on the reverse mortgage.

Your estate can owe more than your home.

A reverse mortgage, unlike most traditional mortgages in Canada, is a non-recourse debt. Non-recourse means if a borrower defaults on the loan, the issuer can seize the home asset, but cannot seek any further compensation from the borrower – even if the collateral asset does not fully cover the full value of the loan. Therefore, when the last homeowner dies (and the reverse mortgage is due), the estate will never be responsible for paying back more than the fair market value of the home. The estate is fully protected – this is not the case for almost any other mortgage loan in Canada, which is full recourse debt. So read the fine print the next time you offer to co-sign for a loan for mom!

The best time to take a Reverse Mortgage is at the end of your retirement.

This is a common mistake that reflects an “old-school” financial planning mentality. For the majority of Canadians (without a nice government pension), the old school financial planning mentality is about cash-flow, and is as follows:

a) Begin drawing down non-taxable assets to supplement your retirement income.
b) Once your non-taxable assets are depleted, begin drawing down more of your registered assets (RSP/RIF) to supplement retirement income.
c) Once your registered assets are depleted, sell your home, downsize and re-invest to generate enough cash-flow to last you until you die.

The problem with the “old-school” financial planning model is two-fold:

1. 91% of Canadian seniors have no plans to sell their home ( CBC News “Canadian Boomers Want To Stay In Their Homes As They Age ).

2. You are missing out on a huge tax-saving opportunity by not taking out a reverse mortgage in the beginning of your retirement.

“Research has consistently shown that strategic uses of reverse mortgages can be used to improve a retiree’s financial situation, and that reverse mortgages generally provide more strategic benefits when used early in retirement as opposed to being used as a last resort.” – Jamie Hopkins, Forbes

In Canada, a reverse mortgage can be set-up to provide homeowners with a monthly draw out of the approved amount. For example: client is approved for $240,000 and decides to take $1,000/month. This is deposited into the clients’ bank account over the next 20-years. Interest accumulates only on the amount drawn (ie: not on the full dollar amount at the onset).

This strategy allows clients to draw down less income from their registered assets to support their retirement lifestyle. In turn, this can create some excellent tax savings, since home equity is non-taxable. Imagine lowering your nominal tax bracket by 5 – 10% each and every year over a 20 year period? The tax savings can be huge. You are also able to preserve your investable assets, which historically, can generate a higher rate of return when invested over a greater period of time.

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CORY VANCE

403-614-9211

cory@coryvance.ca

An Overview of the Home Buying Process

By Cory Vance • February 11, 2025

If you’re in the early stages of planning to buy either your first home or your next home, you’ve come to the right place! Even if you’ve been through it before, the home buying process can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be when you have the right people on your side! The purpose of this article is to share a high-level view of the home buying process. Obviously, the finer details can be addressed once you’ve submitted an application for pre-approval. But for now, here are some of the answers to general questions you may have as you work through your early preparations. Are you credit-worthy? Having an established credit profile is essential when applying for a mortgage. For your credit to be considered established, you’ll want to have a minimum of two trade lines (credit cards, loans, or lines of credit) with a minimum limit of $2500, reporting for a period of at least two years. From there, you’ll want to make sure that your debt repayment is as close to flawless as possible. Think of it this way: Why would a lender want to lend you money if you don’t have a history of timely repayment on the loans you already have? Making your payments on time, as agreed, is crucial. We all know, however, that mistakes can happen and payments might get missed. If that's the case, it’s best to catch up as quickly as possible! Late payments only register on your credit report if you're past due by 30 days. How will you make your mortgage payments? When providing you with a mortgage, lenders are trusting you with a lot of money. They'll want to feel really good about your ability to pay that money back, over an agreed period of time, with interest. The more stable your employment, the better chances you have of securing mortgage financing. Typically, you’ll want to be employed in a permanent position or have your income averaged over a period of two years. If you’re self-employed, expect to provide a lot more documentation to substantiate your income. How much skin do you have in the game? If you're borrowing money to buy a home, you’re going to have to bring some money to the table. The best down payment comes from accumulating your own funds supported by documents proving a 90-day history in your bank account. Other down payment sources, such as a gift from a family member or proceeds from another property sale, are completely acceptable. In Canada, 5% down is the minimum requirement. However, depending on the purchase price, it might be more. Also, you need to be aware that you will likely have to prove access to at least 1.5% of the purchase price to be allocated for closing costs. How much can you afford? Here’s the thing. What you can afford on paper and what you can afford in real life are often very different amounts. Just because you feel you can afford the proposed mortgage payments, know that you will have to substantiate everything through documentation. The amount you actually qualify to borrow is based on many factors, certainly too many to list in an article designed to provide you with an overview of the home buying process. However, with that said, it’s never too early in the home buying process to seek professional advice. Our services come at no cost to you; it would be our pleasure to help. Working with an independent mortgage professional will allow you to assess your credit-worthiness, provide insight on how a lender will view your income, help you plan for a down payment, and nail down exactly how much you can afford to borrow. And if you need help putting together a plan to improve your financial situation, we can do that too. If you’d like to discuss your financial situation and put together a plan to secure mortgage financing, please get in touch!

GDS/TDS Ratios Explained

By Cory Vance • January 28, 2025

One of the major qualifiers lenders look at when considering your application for mortgage financing is your debt service ratios. Now, before we get started, if you prefer to have someone walk through these calculations with you, assess your financial situation, and let you know exactly where you stand, let’s connect. There is no use in dusting off the calculator and running the numbers yourself when we can do it for you! However, if you’re someone who likes to know the nitty-gritty of how things work instead of simply accepting that's just the way it is, this article is for you. But be warned, there are a lot of mortgage words and some math ahead; with that out of the way, let’s get started! “Debt servicing” is the measure of your ability to meet all of your financial obligations. There are two ratios that lenders examine to determine whether you can debt service a mortgage. The first is called the “gross debt service” ratio, or GDS, which is the percentage of your monthly household income that covers your housing costs. The second is called the “total debt service” ratio, or TDS, which is the percentage of your monthly household income covering your housing costs and all your other debts. GDS is your income compared to the cost of financing the mortgage, including your proposed mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes, and heat (PITH), plus a percentage of your condo fees (if applicable). Here’s how to calculate your GDS. Principal + Interest + Taxes + Heat / Gross Annual Income Your TDS is your income compared to your GDS plus the payments made to service any existing debts. Debts include car loans, line of credit, credit card payments, support payments, student loans, and anywhere else you’re contractually obligated to make payments. Here’s how to calculate your TDS. Principal + Interest + Taxes + Heat + Other Debts / Gross Annual Income With the calculations for those ratios in place, the next step is to understand that each lender has guidelines that outline a maximum GDS/TDS. Exceeding these guidelines will result in your mortgage application being declined, so the lower your GDS/TDS, the better. If you don’t have any outstanding debts, your GDS and TDS will be the same number. This is a good thing! The maximum ratios vary for conventional mortgage financing based on the lender and mortgage product being offered. However, if your mortgage is high ratio and mortgage default insurance is required, the maximum GDS is 39% with a maximum TDS of 44%. So how does this play out in real life? Well, let’s say you’re currently looking to purchase a property with a payment of $1700/mth (PITH), and your total annual household income is $90,000 ($7500/mth). The calculations would be $1700 divided by $7500, which equals 0.227, giving you a gross debt service ratio of 22.7%. A point of clarity here. When calculating the principal and interest portion of the payment, the Government of Canada has instituted a stress test. It requires you to qualify using the government's qualifying rate (which is higher), not the actual contract rate. This is true for both fixed and variable rate mortgages. Now let’s continue with the scenario. Let’s say that in addition to the payments required to service the property, you have a car payment of $300/mth, child support payments of $500/mth, and between your credit cards and line of credit, you’re responsible for another $700/mth. In total, you pay $1500/mth. So when you add in the $1700/mth PITH, you arrive at a total of $3200/mth for all of your financial obligations. $3200 divided by $7500 equals 0.427, giving you a total debt service ratio of 42.7%. Here’s where it gets interesting. Based on your GDS alone, you can easily afford the property. But when you factor in all your other expenses, the TDS exceeds the allowable limit of 42% (for an insured mortgage anyway). So why does this matter? Well, as it stands, you wouldn’t qualify for the mortgage, even though you are likely paying more than $1700/mth in rent. So then, to qualify, it might be as simple as shuffling some of your debt to lower payments. Or maybe you have 10% of the purchase price saved for a downpayment, changing the mortgage structure to 5% down and using the additional 5% to pay out a portion of your debt might be the difference you need to bring it all together. Here’s the thing, as your actual financial situation is most likely different than the one above, working with an independent mortgage professional is the best way to give yourself options. Don’t do this alone. Your best plan is to seek and rely on the advice provided by an experienced independent mortgage professional. While you might secure a handful of mortgages over your lifetime, we do this every day with people just like you. It’s never too early to start the conversation about mortgage qualification. Going over your application and assessing your debt service ratios in detail beforehand gives you the time needed to make the financial moves necessary to put yourself in the best financial position. So if you find yourself questioning what you can afford or if you want to discuss your GDS/TDS ratios to understand the mortgage process a little better, please get in touch. It would be a pleasure to work with you, we can get a preapproval started right away.