A lower rate isn't automatically a win once you count the penalty and closing costs of refinancing. Enter your numbers below to see how many months it takes for the monthly savings to cover what refinancing costs.
Enter your balance, old and new rate, remaining amortization, and the penalty and other costs of refinancing.
A lawyer discharges the old mortgage and registers the new one on closing. See what a refinance closing involves →.
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This is a 20-minute call. We cover as much as we can and stop at twenty minutes. If more is needed, we will say what the next step is and what it would cost.
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Add these up before comparing rates alone.
Refinancing usually means paying out your existing mortgage — which can trigger a prepayment penalty if it's a closed mortgage — plus new costs to set up the replacement: an appraisal, a discharge fee from your old lender, and legal fees to register the new charge and pay out the old one. Only once you add those up do you know what the lower rate actually needs to recover.
The calculator above treats the time it takes your monthly savings to cover that total as the break-even point — a useful test against how long you actually expect to keep the new mortgage.
Two things this estimate leaves out.
This compares monthly payments only. It doesn't account for a longer amortization resetting your payoff date further out, or for any extra equity you take out as part of the refinance — both of which change the real cost-benefit picture beyond the monthly number.
A straightforward refinance also needs a lawyer: the new mortgage has to be registered on title and the old one discharged, and land transfer tax does not apply to a refinance on a property you already own.
Run your own number — any balance, rates, amortization, penalty or costs — in the calculator above; it uses the exact same math.
No. Land Transfer Tax applies to a change of ownership — a purchase. Refinancing a mortgage on a property you already own doesn't trigger it.
Typically a discharge fee from your old lender, an appraisal fee, and legal fees to register the new mortgage and discharge the old one — the "other costs" figure in the calculator above. Any prepayment penalty on the old mortgage is usually the larger cost.
Then there's no monthly saving to recover the costs from, and refinancing at those numbers doesn't pay for itself on payments alone — the calculator above will tell you plainly when that's the case.
It depends on your penalty, the rate gap, and how long you'd keep the new mortgage — exactly what this calculator estimates. If your penalty is small or your term is nearly up, waiting for renewal is often the simpler comparison; see our renewal calculator.
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Book a 20-minute call with a real estate lawyer — $150, HST included, credited in full toward your file once payment is received.
This is a 20-minute call. We cover as much as we can and stop at twenty minutes. If more is needed, we will say what the next step is and what it would cost.
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Read more reviews →These are estimates for planning. They are not legal advice and they do not create a solicitor-client relationship. Last reviewed 23 September 2026.