RRSP As A Downpayment

Josh Perez • February 26, 2025

Did you know there’s a program that allows you to use your RRSP to help come up with your downpayment to buy a home? It’s called the Home Buyer’s Plan (or HBP for short), and it’s made possible by the government of Canada. While the program is pretty straightforward, there are a few things you need to know.


Your first home (with some exceptions)


To qualify, you need to be buying your first home. However, when you look into the fine print, you find that technically, you must not have owned a home in the last four years or have lived in a house that your spouse owned in the previous four years.


Another exception is for those with a disability or those helping someone with a disability. In this case, you can withdraw from an RRSP for a home purchase at any time.


You have to pay back the RRSP


You have 15 years to pay back the RRSP, and you start the second year after the withdrawal. While you won’t pay any tax on this particular withdrawal, it does come with some conditions. You’ll have to pay back the total amount you withdrew over 15 years.


The CRA will send you an HBP Statement of Account every year to advise how much you owe the RRSP that year. Your repayments will not count as contributions as you’ve already received the tax break from those funds.


Access to funds


The funds you withdraw from the RRSP must have been there for at least 90 days. You can still technically withdraw the money from your RRSP and use it for your down-payment, but it won’t be tax-deductible and won’t be part of the HBP.


You can access up to $35,000 individually or $70,00 per couple through the HBP. 


Please connect anytime if you’d like to know more about the HBP and how it could work for you as you plan your downpayment. It would be a pleasure to work with you.


Josh Perez
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Why Everyone’s Talking About Multifamily Real Estate Investing

By Josh Perez • May 29, 2025
If you’ve spent any time around real estate investors lately—online or in person—you’ve probably noticed one thing: everyone’s talking about multifamily investing. So, why is that?  For starters, real estate investing has become incredibly mainstream thanks to social media. More investors are jumping in, scaling up, and looking for their next big move—and for many, that means adding apartment buildings to their portfolio. But that’s only scratching the surface. The real reason multifamily investing is gaining traction right now? It comes back to the fundamentals . Over the past few years, we’ve seen a run-up in prices driven by ultra-low interest rates. People made money flipping homes, wholesaling, doing BRRRRs, and speculating on pre-construction properties—all while ignoring the core principles that real estate is built on. But the market has shifted. We’re not seeing prices fall dramatically, but borrowing has gotten more expensive. And now, those fundamentals are back in focus. It’s time to think long-term again: Lock in strong financing terms Leverage improvements to control appreciation Build a portfolio that generates real cash flow And that’s where multifamily really shines. The quote to remember: “Why multifamily? The fundamentals of real estate investing—control, leverage, and a path to create cash flow. This allows people to hold assets longer and accelerate their wealth building plan.” A big part of the appeal comes down to CMHC financing —but not the one everyone complains about with 25-year amortizations and tight ratios. I’m talking about CMHC’s multifamily program . When you meet certain criteria (like improving energy efficiency, increasing accessibility, or supporting housing affordability), you unlock access to some of the best interest rates in the country —and amortization periods of up to 50 years . In a rising interest rate environment, that’s a game changer. It’s one of the only financing options that still makes it possible to generate strong, positive cash flow. At the end of the day, multifamily investing isn’t just trendy—it’s strategic. It gives you the ability to reposition assets, control your outcomes, and build wealth in a way that’s sustainable and smart. Want to learn more about how to make this strategy work for you? Schedule a call with me here , and let’s put your wealth-building plan in motion.

How Payment Frequency Impacts Mortgage Financing

By Josh Perez • May 28, 2025
You’ve most likely heard that there are two certainties in life; death and taxes. Well, as it relates to your mortgage, the single certainty is that you will pay back what you borrow, plus interest. With that said, the frequency of how often you make payments to the lender is somewhat up to you! The following looks at the different types of payment frequencies and how they impact your mortgage. Here are the six payment frequency types Monthly payments – 12 payments per year Semi-Monthly payments – 24 payments per year Bi-weekly payments – 26 payments per year Weekly payments – 52 payments per year Accelerated bi-weekly payments – 26 payments per year Accelerated weekly payments – 52 payments per year Options one through four are straightforward and designed to match your payment frequency with your employer. So if you get paid monthly, it makes sense to arrange your mortgage payments to come out a few days after payday. If you get paid every second Friday, it might make sense to have your mortgage payments match your payday. However, options five and six have that word accelerated before the payment frequency. Accelerated bi-weekly and accelerated weekly payments accelerate how fast you pay down your mortgage. Choosing the accelerated option allows you to lower your overall cost of borrowing on autopilot. Here’s how it works. With the accelerated bi-weekly payment frequency, you make 26 payments in the year. Instead of dividing the total annual payment by 26 payments, you divide the total yearly payment by 24 payments as if you set the payments as semi-monthly. Then you make 26 payments on the bi-weekly frequency at the higher amount. So let’s use a $1000 payment as the example: Monthly payments formula: $1000/1 with 12 payments per year. A payment of $1000 is made once per month for a total of $12,000 paid per year. Semi-monthly formula: $1000/2 with 24 payments per year. A payment of $500 is paid twice per month for a total of $12,000 paid per year. Bi-weekly formula: $1000 x 12 / 26 with 26 payments per year. A payment of $461.54 is made every second week for a total of $12,000 paid per year. Accelerated bi-weekly formula: $1000/2 with 26 payments per year. A payment of $500 is made every second week for a total of $13,000 paid per year. You see, by making the accelerated bi-weekly payments, it’s like you end up making two extra payments each year. By making a higher payment amount, you reduce your mortgage principal, which saves interest on the entire life of your mortgage. The payments for accelerated weekly payments work the same way. It’s just that you’d be making 52 payments a year instead of 26. By choosing an accelerated option for your payment frequency, you lower the overall cost of borrowing by making small extra payments as part of your regular payment schedule. Now, exactly how much you’ll save over the life of your mortgage is hard to nail down. Calculations are hard to do because of the many variables; mortgages come with different amortization periods and terms with varying interest rates along the way. However, an accelerated bi-weekly payment schedule could reduce your amortization by up to three years if maintained throughout the life of your mortgage. If you’d like to look at some of the numbers as they relate to you and your mortgage, please don’t hesitate to connect anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you.