Down Payment

The typical rule of thumb is to pay 20 percent of the home's price as your down payment, although you can purchase your home with as little as 5 percent down. Any down payment of 20% or more qualifies as a conventional mortgage and avoids CMHC Mortgage Insurance. Your down payment reduces the total amount of your mortgage loan, so the more money you put down, the lower your payments may be - or the more expensive a house you can buy. 

Mortgage Insurance

Any down payment below 20% results in what is known as a high ratio mortgage and will incure CMHC Mortgage insurance. This is a one time incured premium that is spread across the duration of your mortgage term. Typically lenders offer a lower interest rate to offset the mortgage insurance premium, however, your mortgage terms may be more restrictive compared to a conventional 20% down mortgage.

Loan Type

There are several types of mortgage loans, but the most commonly used are fixed-rate and variable-rate loans.

Fixed-rate loans have the same interest rate for the duration of the mortgage term. Typically people chose to go with 5 year periods, but shorter and longer options exist. The largest benefit of this type of loan is that it is stable and predictable - you don't have to worry about the amount you pay changing.

Variable-rate mortgages have interest rates that can change over time. Variable rate mortgages will follow what Canada's prime interest rate does. If it goes up, so does your mortgage interest rate. There are 2 common types of Variable Rate mortgages: Variable-Rate and Adjustable-Rate. The most common is Variable-Rate where your payment works like a fixed rate mortgage. The amount you pay doesn't change but the portion paid toward principle and interest does (i.e. if rates go up, you still pay $2600/month but more goes towards interest).  With Adjustable-Rate, your payment amount changes. The principle portion remains constant but the amount of interest paid fluctuates based on interest rates.

Interest Rate

This field is pre-filled with the current average mortgage rate. Your actual rate will vary based on factors like credit score and down payment.

Property Tax Rate

The mortgage payment calculator includes estimated property taxes based on the home's value. You can edit this in the advanced options.

Home Insurance

Home insurance or homeowners insurance is typically required by lenders, depending on the loan program. You can edit this number in the mortgage calculator advanced options.

HOA Fees

A homeowners association fee (HOA fee) is an amount of money that must be paid monthly by owners of certain types of residential properties, and HOAs collect these fees to assist with maintaining and improving properties in the association.