The most net cash your equity can release today — after every penalty, fee and legal cost — via Path A: breaking into a new first mortgage.
- →Residential through an A lender costs no financing fees at all — the lender pays us. Commercial always carries fees (brokerage from 1%, $10,000 minimum) because commercial lenders don't pay broker compensation.
- →The money is tax-free. Pulling equity out is borrowing against your own asset — it's not income, so it triggers no tax. (Interest can even become deductible when the cash is invested to earn income.)
- →Cheapest time: renewal. Best time: when you need it. A new mortgage funding on your maturity date pays zero penalty (lockable 120 days ahead — tick the renewal box above). But urgent money — CRA about to lien, a deposit deadline, payroll — costs more to miss than any penalty, and the second-mortgage path never has one.
- →Break when the penalty is small or your rate is high — a new first at today's rates can raise more cash AND sometimes lower the payment, since the whole balance reprices.
- →Keep the first when it's a rate worth protecting or the IRD is brutal — the second costs more per dollar, but only on the new money, and your first stays exactly as it is.
- →Before signing any second, run it through the Mortgage APR calculator — the true all-in cost over the months you'll actually keep it.
- →Using the cash to kill expensive debts? The blended-rate calculator shows what your current debt pile really costs.
Penalty is an estimate (fair-method IRD / 3-month interest) — big-bank posted-rate IRD can run higher; the penalty calculator prices both methods. Fees shown are our published ranges (fee schedule) and include the minimums that apply on smaller amounts — brokerage from $2,500 residential / $10,000 commercial, private lender fees from about $2,500 residential — every real file is quoted in writing before you sign. Second-mortgage maximums shown apply in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, select Okanagan, Greater Victoria and Nanaimo. Borrowed equity is not taxable income, but leverage is real risk — the property secures every dollar. Qualification, appraisal and lender appetite decide final numbers — estimates, not commitments.
