Five tips for getting a better deal on your mortgage

It's a task that many people dread:renegotiating their mortgage.

Fortunately, Monctonfinancial advisor Dan Nol has some tips for getting the best deal.

Nol is a portfolio managerwith Wyverstone Capital and iA securities in Moncton.

1.Start early

Nol advises that you start shopping around about four to sixmonths before your renewal.

"Lenders will actually hold the rate for a period of time, so if you do some shopping around, and get the lender to guarantee that rate for you, if rates go down, they'll usually honour the lower rates," he explained.

"And if they go up they'll honour the rate that they're holding for you."

2. Do your homework.

Check rates given by other institutions so you know what's out there, Nol said, adding that it doesn't take much time to do.

"It took me about five minutes this morning to go online and look for competitive rates across Canada and what's available out there," he said.

This way, you're in a better position to negotiate with your financial institution.

"There is nothing wrong with getting out there, shopping around, seeing what difference you can get, and then holding your financial institution accountable, if you will, after you've done some shopping," he said.

3. Never accept the posted rate

Nol says many people can be nervousabout asking for a better rate. But there's no reason to be.

"Some people just are, and if they're told this is the rate, they don't feel like they can ask for anymore," he said.

"But I think if you've done your homework now you're armed, if you will, to be able to have a conversation about what's the best rate you can give me for my business."

4. Hire a mortgage broker.

If you don't want to do all of that legwork, hire a mortgage broker to do it for you.

"It usually doesn't cost you anything, because the bank or the financial institution will pay that mortgage broker a commission or fee for finding new clients for them," he said.

5. Negotiate other options

Know what options you have, such as fixed vs. variable rates, amortization periods, and flexibility of repayments, said Nol.

"You should be able to negotiate some benefit for yourself there," he said.

But if you're really not satisfied, he said there is no penalty for moving to another financial institution,adding there is nothing wrong with dealing with multiple financial institutions for different services.

"A good portion of the populationlikes to do that, versus having everything in one basket," he said.