u/djeegee

I'm renewing my mortgage for the first time and have two offers on the table, RBC and Scotia. Both are variable at 3.5 and both come with a $37K HELOC. Trying to figure out which way to go and would appreciate some perspective.

my wife and I are self employed, coming off a B lender, and we've already done everything needed to qualify with an A lender. Because of that, we're planning to stick with whichever bank we pick for the foreseeable future.

The Condo is currently in my name only, but as of the renewal we're adding my wife to the mortgage.

RBC offer:

• Waives legal fees (by adding my wife as a guarantor)
• Gives cash back, about $1,100, plus Avion points
• I keep the $37K HELOC

Scotia offer:

• Can also waive legal fees by adding my wife as guarantor, but only if I give up the HELOC
• If I want to keep the HELOC, I pay legal fees (around $1,200 + HST) and get no cash back

So with Scotia it's basically pick one: keep the HELOC and pay legal fees with no cash back, or waive the fees and lose the HELOC. RBC lets me keep the HELOC, waives the fees, and still gives me cash back and points.

Since this is my first renewal, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious that would make Scotia the better long-term move despite RBC looking like the clear winner on paper. \

I'm renewing my mortgage for the first time and have two offers on the table, RBC and Scotia. Both are variable at 3.5% and both come with a $37K HELOC. Trying to figure out which way to go and would appreciate some perspective.

my wife and I are self employed, coming off a B lender, and we've already done everything needed to qualify with an A lender. Because of that, we're planning to stick with whichever bank we pick for the foreseeable future.

The Condo is currently in my name only, but as of the renewal we're adding my wife to the mortgage.

RBC offer:

• Waives legal fees (by adding my wife as a guarantor)
• Gives cash back, about $1,100, plus Avion points
• I keep the $37K HELOC

Scotia offer:

• Can also waive legal fees by adding my wife as guarantor, but only if I give up the HELOC
• If I want to keep the HELOC, I pay legal fees (around $1,200 + HST) and get no cash back

So with Scotia it's basically pick one: keep the HELOC and pay legal fees with no cash back, or waive the fees and lose the HELOC. RBC lets me keep the HELOC, waives the fees, and still gives me cash back and points.

Since this is my first renewal, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious that would make Scotia the better long-term move despite RBC looking like the clear winner on paper. \

Need help picking an option for my Nov 1st renewal.
Coming off of a B lender since I'm self employed, but ate the tax bill last year to set myself up to qualify for a lender with better offers.

Balance - $338K -uninsured
RBC - 3.55 variable 5 yr, with heloc at $1(will grow as payments are made) Cash back up to $1k
Scotia - 3.55 variable 5 yr with heloc of $36K
Pine - 3.55 variable 5 yr no heloc

We plan on moving in the next 8 months so variable seems like the way to go, in case we need to break and pay penalties. I am trying to figure out which bank is the best bank to stick with for life, all offers are practically the same, i read that Scotia is a better bank for mortgages since they compound semi annually compared to RBC monthly. The bank i pick will most likely be the bank i stick with for life. Looking for some insight as this my first time around.

I’m coming up on my first mortgage renewal this Nov 1st.
Is it common to approach every single bank, and a broker ? Would that not count to like 7 credit hits ? I was told 7 hard inquiries show desperation which could tank your score ? Looking for clarification, TIA

Coming up on my first renewal, currently with Equitable Bank as I was self employed. I got approved to switch with Pine Mortgage however talking with someone at Scotia they mentioned that Pine Mortgage is practically a B lender- I received a quick commitment letter with Pine Mortgage c/o Computershare trust company. Is Pine mortgages actually a B lender ? I’d like to avoid going back to another B lender- and seeing this is my first refinance (adding wife to mortgage and reducing amortization) does it make sense to reach out to each bank and see what they offer? Appreciate any help

Hey all,

Up for renewal Nov 1 on a $338K mortgage with a B-lender. Currently at 6.8(lol) We’re thinking about moving soon and the cost to port or break with this lender is brutal, so we want to explore A-lenders.

My wife and I are both insurance brokers under contract. For 2024, we filed as self-employed and our accountant wrote our income down pretty aggressively (combined $39K declared). For 2025, we incorporated and took dividends instead, declaring $138K combined. All prior years were filed under self employed income. We’ve been in this line of work for 5+ years

I know A-lenders typically average two years of income, and I’ve heard some only count dividend income at half . Has anyone been through something similar? Trying to find an A-lender (or broker) who’s dealt with a self-employed-to-corp transition like this and can actually qualify us based on the real picture.

Appreciate any insight !

I just got back from Japan and I wanted to give my two sense for Trip.com ESIM as I found no relative information on how well it worked in Japan. I kept getting ads on my instagram for Saily, UBIGI and Airalo and heard good things but they were all $35USD+ for a decent amount of data, honestly if I could save a few bucks why not. I went for 9 days and decided to try it out on my first 3 days so I pulled the trigger to try and if I liked it I would purchase more for the rest of my trip. I chose a service that was AU and KDDI as from my research these worked far better than the softcore options. I was in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and the service worked fine all through out. I had more 5G capabilities in Tokyo and some areas through Kyoto and Osaka. Although it switched to 4G/LTE, this was also very good connection all through out with some spaces having minimal data. The service was good in the underground subways so it was good for navigating Google Maps but it would cut out from time to time (no data) but since Google Maps preloads it was easy to see how many stops were left or when to get off so it was no fuss. At the end of the day I paid $6USD for the first 3 days and renewed the last 6 days for about $13USD, I suggest using Coupert to find any active discounts as it helps.