Mortgage Renewal Checklist

Start early

Begin reviewing roughly four to six months before your maturity date. That window gives room to compare options and complete a transfer if you decide to move, without the pressure of a deadline. Leaving it until the final weeks tends to narrow the choice to whatever is already in front of you.

The checklist

1. 01Note your maturity date and the deadline stated on the renewal offer.
2. 02Confirm your current balance and remaining amortization.
3. 03Write down the rate and term being offered, and read what type of rate it is.
4. 04Check the prepayment privileges in the new term — lump sum allowances and payment increase limits.
5. 05Check the payment frequency options available.
6. 06Consider whether the amortization should change, in either direction.
7. 07Ask whether the offer is the lender's best available or its default renewal rate.
8. 08Confirm what a transfer to another lender would involve, including any costs.
9. 09Decide whether anything else about the mortgage should change while it is open for review.

Renewal versus refinance

A renewal continues your existing balance on new terms. A refinance changes the amount, and it is the route if you also want to access equity or consolidate balances. Renewal is generally the simpler process; a refinance requires full qualification. If both are on the table, it is worth deciding before the maturity date rather than after.

Questions worth asking

• Has anything changed in my circumstances that the next term should reflect?
• Do I want more payment certainty, or more flexibility?
• Am I likely to move, or to need funds, within the next term?
• Would a shorter or longer term suit what I know about the next few years?

What switching lenders involves

A straight transfer of an existing balance to a new lender at maturity is a defined process, but it is not automatic. Qualification applies, and there may be costs depending on the lender and the structure. It is worth quantifying rather than assuming, in either direction.

If you do nothing

Some lenders renew automatically into a default term if no instruction is given. That default is not necessarily the strongest option available to you, and it is a poor reason to end up where you end up.