CostYour existing lender's auto-renewal offer is a convenience option, not a competitively shopped rate — brokers and other lenders routinely beat it. Shopping your renewal 3-4 months before it's due, rather than simply signing the letter that arrives, is one of the easiest ways to lower your payment without changing anything else about your life.
Why the first offer isn't optimized for you
Your current lender knows that inertia is powerful — many borrowers simply sign whatever renewal rate arrives in the mail rather than actively shopping, since it's the path of least resistance at a busy moment. That auto-renewal rate is often not the lender's best available rate for a borrower in your position; it's simply a rate that's profitable enough for the lender to offer by default, counting on you not comparing.
When to start shopping
Most mortgages allow you to lock in a renewal rate 3 to 4 months ahead of your actual renewal date, and rates are typically held for that window once secured — start the process at that point rather than waiting for your existing lender's letter to arrive, which often comes closer to the deadline and puts you under more time pressure to just accept it.
What shopping your renewal actually involves
- Get your current lender's actual renewal offer in writing — this becomes your baseline to compare against.
- Talk to a mortgage broker, who can shop multiple lenders at once, including some you might not think to approach directly.
- Compare the full picture, not just the rate — prepayment privileges, penalty terms, and any cashback or fee differences all factor into the real comparison.
- Switching lenders at renewal is generally straightforward — you're not breaking your mortgage early or paying the penalty covered in our mortgage penalty guide, since you're simply not renewing with the same lender rather than breaking a term in progress.
See what a better renewal rate would mean for your payment on the mortgage renewal calculator.