Cash-Out Refinance in Canada: Everything You Need to Know
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Mortgage refinance is a mortgage transaction used to convert a property’s equity into cash. You can choose to collect this cash (cashing out) or have it, or a portion of it allocated to pay off your other debts. Cash-out refinance is when you take money out of the equity in your house. You can use this money to renovate the house, pay off other debts, fund medical bills, etc.
What Does Cash-Out Refinance Mean?
A cash-out refinance homeowners to use the built-in equity of their house to borrow more money than the size of their existing mortgage loan.
Or better still, a cash-out refinance allows homeowners to increase their current mortgage limit. The borrower can use the cash-out funds to pay debts, invest in other assets, pay medical bills, and more.
How Do You Apply For A Cash-Out Refinance Mortgage?
The process of applying for a cash-out refinance is relatively straightforward.
You are applying for a mortgage refinance but informing the lender that you wish to increase your mortgage balance by cashing out on the equity in the property. You will need to tell the lender how much cash you want and what you intend to do with the cash.
Currently, the maximum amount most lenders will allow you to cash out from your house equity in liquid cash is $200,000.
You will have to provide the following information when applying for a cash-out refinance
Your existing mortgage loan balance;
The estimated current market value of your property; and
How much do you want to cash out, and what is the purpose of the funds?
To avoid delay, you can start the process using an online mortgage affordability calculator to see if you can afford the additional loan.
This will help you assess your readiness for the cash-out mortgage refinance.
The lender will validate that you have an acceptable credit score, debt repayment, and a steady income source.
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Institutional lenders like banks and most B-mortgage lenders are legally not allowed to lend above 80% value of your property. That means the maximum you can borrow against your house is 80% of its value.
Say your house is currently worth $400,000. The maximum mortgage loan you can offer for a home will be $320,000.
Say your remaining mortgage balance is $280,000.
When you refinance at 80% of its loan-to-value ratio, $280,000 from the new $320,000 loan amount will pay out your existing mortgage. That will leave you with $40,000 to cash out.
Note that the cash you will receive will be net fees and arrears (if applicable).
Benefits Of Cash-Out Refinance Mortgage?
Once you have made enough mortgage payments on your home, you are eligible for a cash-out to refinance.
Banks are willing to pay off the balance with a new loan even if your existing mortgage is not paid off. There are many benefits to this type of loan, including those listed below.
Access To Liquid Cash
Cash-out refinancing allows you to take out an additional amount of money above the value of what you owe on your home with interest rates that are often lower than when you initially took out the mortgage.
Pay-Off High-Interest Debts
You can also use cash-out funds to pay off some of your high-interest debts.
Paying out your high-interest debts with cash-out proceeds is another way of consolidating your debts. Combining your other debt payments into one single monthly payment helps to simplify your monthly budget.
Most often, you will see a reduction in your monthly debt expense, given that you’re replacing high-interest debts with a single low-interest mortgage loan. The low interest translates to lower monthly debt expenses.
Increased Budget
Cash-out also helps to increase your budget by lowering your mortgage payments, plus it can also provide added liquidity for debt consolidation or other purposes.
Reduced Number Of Outstanding Debts
In addition to the above point, a cash-out refinance is an excellent way to reduce your outstanding debts. You can use the cash-out funds to pay off your high-interest mortgage, car loan, credit card debt, student loans, or anything else you want.
One benefit of reducing the number of outstanding debts is an increased credit score. Paying off some of these high-interest debts should help increase your credit score. Even paying down the debt will help reduce the balances, improving your credit score.
In addition, reducing your number of outstanding debts minimizes the default risk for your lender because of your less debt. This should also help you get lower mortgage rates, given your reduced default risk.
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Cash-out refinance sounds like a great idea, but there are some drawbacks to this type of loan.
Lose Default Insurance Protection
Mortgage refinance transactions are considered uninsurable. That means they are not protected or insured by a default insurance provider. Likewise, when you refinance your current insured mortgage through cash-out refinance, you lose the default insurance protection on the mortgage and the default insurance premium you paid.
Default insurance protects your lender against you not paying the mortgage loan as required.
Your mortgage lender has the full right to foreclose and force the sale of your property if you default on your mortgage obligations.
Without default insurance protection, if you are unable to pay your mortgage or you defaulted on your mortgage payment, the lender will come to you directly to make up for any amount not recovered from foreclosing on the property.
Increased Mortgage Loan
One negative outcome of cash-out refinances an increased mortgage loan balance. As your cash-out, the money handed to you is the additional amount above your current mortgage balance and closing costs.
That means that when you refinance your existing mortgage, the new lender will first pay off the mortgage balance to release you from the current lender, pay off any closing costs, then pay the balance to cash you out.
Increasing your loan balance may also increase your monthly payment amount.
Hidden Costs
A cash-out refinance often sounds like an excellent idea for homeowners ready to take out the equity in their homes. The borrower gets the money to pay off debts, make home improvements, or fund their retirement.
All this sounds great, but are there any hidden fees or costs that come with cash-out refinancing? The lender may charge an origination fee called a lender fee. There is also a lawyer fee and a possible broker fee.
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