Lendwise Mortgage Rates & Reviews
What You Should Know
- Lendwise mortgage and MERIX mortgage are conventional mortgages offered by MERIX Financial Services.
- NPX is an alternative mortgage offered by MERIX Financial Services.
- Lendwise Mortgage, MERIX Mortgage, and NPX Mortgage are not directly marketed to consumers. They are offered through mortgage brokers.
MERIX Financial was founded in 2005 and has funded more than 200,000 mortgages in Canada. It provides mortgages under three brands. These are MERIX, Lendwise and NPX. MERIX Financial, similar to MCAP Mortgage, is geared toward lending via mortgage brokers. Thus, Lendwise mortgages, similar to RMG mortgages, are only offered through mortgage brokers.
If you go to their website looking for a mortgage, they will have you fill out a form. You give your contact information and what you want to do (buy a house or refinance a mortgage), and they send that information to a mortgage broker like the reputable mortgage broker Nesto who will contact you.
MERIX mortgages would pay the broker a trailer fee for the life of the mortgage they have originated. Trailer fees are common in the mutual fund industry. A mutual fund with a trailer fee would make periodic payments to the advisor for as long as the advisor's client is invested in the fund. Similarly, in a mortgage with a trailer fee, the lender makes periodic payments to the mortgage broker for the life of the mortgage.
In Lendwise mortgages, the broker is compensated via a lump sum payment when the mortgage is funded. NPX, which is an alternative mortgage product, is flexible in paying the broker. Payments to brokers are, of course, irrelevant to the mortgagor (borrower) as they do not have to compensate the broker, and only the mortgagee (lender) would do so.
| Term | Lendwise Rate | Canada's Lowest Rate |
|---|---|---|
1-Year Fixed | 7.44% $2,911/mo | 6.39% $2,653/mo |
2-Year Fixed | 7.14% $2,836/mo | 5.44% $2,428/mo |
3-Year Fixed | 5.99% $2,557/mo | 4.79% $2,279/mo |
4-Year Fixed | 5.74% $2,498/mo | 4.89% $2,301/mo |
5-Year Fixed | 5.54% $2,451/mo | 4.69% $2,256/mo |
The rates shown are for insured mortgages with a down payment of less than 20%. You may get a different rate if you have a low credit score or a conventional mortgage. Rates may change at any time. false
MERIX and Lendwise list the following as their products:
- Adjustable rate Lendwise mortgages in Canada: in an adjustable-rate mortgage, the amortization period and, therefore, the amount of principal that should be paid in each period is fixed. The interest rate is determined by adding or subtracting a premium from the MERIX prime rate. As a result, periodic mortgage payments increase with every increase in the prime rate and decrease with every decrease in the prime rate.
- Bridge financing: bridge financing allows one to purchase a new home before selling their old home.
- Business for Self program: this program is designed for self-employed people who do not have a common source of income verification document.
- Collateral switch/transfer: This program allows borrowers to move their existing collateral mortgage charge to MERIX.
- Family Plan program: This product allows a borrower to purchase a house for close family members.
- Fixed-Rate mortgage: Historically, Fixed rate mortgages are the most common mortgage product in Canada. Fixed-rate mortgages offered under MERIX or Lendwise brand are closed. They are also quite flexible as they are both portable and assumable.
- Flexible down payment: Often, mortgage lenders require borrowers to show that the down payment funds have been in their account for the last 3 months. This product allows borrowers to use the money they are borrowing or they are receiving as a gift for their down payment.
- New to Canada mortgage: This product is for borrowers who qualify for an insured mortgage by every criterion except because their credit history in Canada is too short. New to Canada mortgages allow them to take a MERIX insured mortgage or a Lendwise insured mortgage with as little as 5% down payment.
- Purchase plus improvement mortgage: As the name suggests, purchase plus improvement is a product which simultaneously finances the purchase and improvement of the house. Financed improvements are limited to $40,000 unless the house price is below $200,000. In that case, improvements are limited to 20% of the initial value of the property. This product can only be used for houses whose value after the improvements would be less than $1 million.
- Rate plus mortgage: MERIX and Lendwise by rate plus mortgage mean offering competitive mortgage rates to their customers.
- Rental property program: This product allows borrowers to use a MERIX mortgage or a Lendwise mortgage to purchase a 2-unit to 4-unit property.
- Second home mortgage: As the name suggests, this mortgage is specifically geared toward those aiming to purchase a second property.
- Switch/transfer program: This product allows a borrower to transfer their mortgage from another lender to MERIX financial.
NPX lists the following products:
- XTEND Mortgage: This product eases the stress test and allows borrowers to amortize their mortgage in 30 years. It is only available in Ontario.
- XTEND+ Mortgage: XTEND+ Mortgage eases the stress test and allows borrowers to amortize their mortgage in 40 years. This product is available in Ontario and British Columbia. NPPX EXACT Mortgage, NPX AXIS Mortgage, and NPX XTREME Mortgage are other products offered by NPX.
Possible Changes to a Lendwise Mortgage or a MERIX Mortgage
You can request changing your payment frequency to weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly. When your payment frequency changes from monthly or semi-monthly to weekly or biweekly, the new installment is calculated as your monthly payment divided by four or two for weekly or biweekly payments. Thus by going from a monthly payment to a weekly payment you would make 4 more weekly payments. This results in a shorter amortization period.
MERIX Financial also gives prepayment privileges to its mortgage holders. You can either increase your installment payment by up to 20% or you can make lump sum payments that do not exceed 20% of your principal in each year.