With a growing family, a need for more usable space, or the desire to make your house your own, most new homeowners will start making plans for expansion within the first few years of homeownership. It might be time for a new basement, enhanced outdoor living, a new kitchen, or maybe even a new house.

These improvements can be very expensive and though they add debt to your mortgage, they also increase the value of your house when it’s time to sell. Best of all, they make your home more enjoyable while you live in it!

Banks typically like to sell a secured line of credit as an added benefit to the regular mortgage so that clients can tackle such projects. One of the reasons they push these particular lines of credit is that you can spend a lot with minimum money coming out of your pockets. However, this means most clients only end up making interest payments on their amount owing. That’s good for the bank, bad for you! The other downside to these secured lines of credit is the way they are registered. They cannot be transferred or switched into a regular mortgage. They need to be discharged and refinanced, therefore incurring legal fees.

Depending on one’s current mortgage set-up, that line of credit might be the best option, but a blend-and-extend or a new mortgage at a lower rate can often be a better solution. This will typically yield a better rate than the line of credit, plus it will include principle and interest payments.

At other times, the equity can be accessed to buy another property so that you can use one as a rental.

If you have an idea or project in mind for your house, don’t hesitate to give me a call and ask me to run the numbers for you!

With the birth of our fourth child, it was clear that our family had to get out of our little townhome and into a larger house. However, I was returning to school soon, and the prospect of trying to arrange a large down payment on a reduced income made our hopes appear dim. We were in need of honest and clear guidance on the reality of purchasing our second home. Thankfully, we were referred to Mathieu, who gave helpful advice on the options available to us. Mathieu assisted us with arranging for our re-financing for the down payment, and the new mortgage for our roomy new home in our favourite neighborhood – all without making sure we didn’t over-extend ourselves. His sensitivity and tailoring to our particular needs were obvious right from the beginning. With Mathieu’s help, we have enjoyed over a decade of prosperity and security, with things only looking better ahead.

We have now turned to Mathieu for advice on investing in real property, and his approach has been consistently clear, honest, and professional. We continue to recommend Mathieu to family and friends and look forward to continuing success from our relationship with him. Thanks Mathieu!

– Chris and Christina, Milton, Ontario