Canadian Rental Properties

[Sarah Robertson]

Looking for Canadian rental property mortgage advice.

How long do Canadian investors set their mortgages?

In the US it’s most beneficial to choose a 30 year fixed.

Here in Canada you can have a 30yr mortgage, but you must renew every X number of years (usually every 4-5 years if you want a low interest rate).

Unfortunately anything above a 15 year fixed seems a bit risky, especially with the threat of a possible economic crisis upon us.

I would hate to have several 25-30 year mortgages at 3.4%, and in 5 years being forced to renew at 8%+ for the remainder.

It seems to me, it would be the safest plan to pay off one mortgage at a time as soon as possible, then invest into another property to avoid getting caught in foreclosures.

However, doing it this way eliminates the power of leverage... how do Canadians do this while reducing risk?