Calculators & tools
Run the numbers before you call.
Estimates, not pre-qualifications, but honest ones, using Canadian conventions. When you want the real figure on your actual file, that's a phone call.
Tool 01
Mortgage payment
What a given price, down payment, and rate work out to per month, with semi-annual compounding and CMHC insurance handled the way a Canadian lender would.
Estimated monthly payment
$2,379
Mortgage amount
$405,000
+ CMHC insurance
$12,555
Under 20% down, your mortgage is default-insured, and the premium is added to the loan, as shown. There’s often a case for or against putting more down. I’ll walk you through yours.
Tool 02
Affordability & stress test
A ballpark of what a lender would consider, qualified at the federal stress-test rate, on GDS/TDS ratios. The number the bank starts from, before anyone reads your file properly.
Estimated purchase price you'd qualify for
$435,758
Max mortgage
$375,758
Stress-test rate
6.79%
Lenders qualify you at the greater of your rate plus 2% or 5.25%, here 6.79%, on GDS/TDS ratios of 39/44, and a rough $400/mo for taxes and heat. This is a ballpark, not a pre-qualification. The real number depends on your full file, and there are lenders who read it differently. That’s my job.
Tool 03
Break penalty
The cost of breaking your mortgage early: the greater of three months' interest or the Interest Rate Differential. Worth knowing before you assume refinancing makes sense.
Estimated penalty (IRD)
$10,640
Three months' interest
$5,216
Interest Rate Differential
$10,640
You pay the greater of the two. IRD math varies by lender, and many calculate it against their posted rates, which inflates it. Before you break anything, let me get the actual penalty figure from your lender and weigh it against what you’d gain. Sometimes it’s worth it. Often it isn’t.
Tool 04
Renewal savings
What signing your bank's renewal letter could cost you versus shopping it. At renewal you can switch with no penalty. This is the gap that leverage is worth.
Estimated savings over a 5-year term
$7,934
Difference per month
$132
That’s the gap between signing your bank’s renewal letter and shopping it. At renewal you can switch lenders with no penalty, which is the one moment you have real leverage. Don’t sign the letter before we talk.
Tool 05
Prep checklist
Pick your situation and get the documents worth gathering before our first conversation. Check them off, print it, or email yourself the list.
First purchases handled with patience. No jargon. Don’t have everything? That’s fine. We sort out what’s actually needed once I understand your file.
Craig Spicer Mortgages
First Home: what to have ready. Questions? (902) 209-4518 or mortgage@craigspicer.com
What to have ready
Numbers are a starting point. The advice is the rest.
A calculator can't read your file, your timeline, or which lender fits. That's the conversation. Most take twenty minutes.
Ready to start the application? Apply now. It takes about fifteen minutes, and nothing is submitted to a lender until we have talked.