Lenders constantly add additional features and incentives to their mortgage products to attract business in what is a highly competitive market. You should look for the mortgage that best suits both your cash flow and your personal long-term goals. There are many types of mortgage payment structures available, offering both flexible monthly payments and pre-payment options that can save you significant amounts of money over the long term. It is definitely worth looking into your options before signing up.

Most mortgages are very similar to one another and have common features such as...

Portability: You can sell your home and move the mortgage to another property without breaking it and having to pay a penalty. This feature is very attractive if your mortgage has a good interest rate and you want to take it with you to your new home.

Being assumable: The new purchaser can take over your mortgage and assume the payments. Usually the lender's approval is required before this is allowed.

They have pre-payment privileges: Such as up to 10% extra payment against the principle on the yearly anniversary date or monthly double-up payments. All prepayments are deducted from the principal amount owing and do not go toward accrued interest.

Automatic renewal privileges: You don't need to re-qualify financially when the mortgage term is up in order to renew the mortgage. This could be very important if your financial situation changed or if your debt load increased and you don't re-qualify under current rules.

Allow weekly, bi-weekly or monthly payments: By switching your payment schedule from monthly to weekly or biweekly you are able to shorten the mortgage amortization period and save a substantial amount on interest payments.