A website of Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial · Independently Owned and Operated · Brokerage Licence #11711 # Reverse Mortgage Checklist for Hamilton | ReverseMortgageHamilton.ca > A free printable checklist for Hamilton homeowners: papers to gather, questions to ask before you sign, the seven steps and the City of Hamilton dates to keep. URL: https://reversemortgagehamilton.ca/resources/ Free to print, no sign-up # Printable reverse mortgage checklist for Hamilton homeowners One printable list: what to collect, what to ask, what to keep doing afterwards, and the City of Hamilton dates that matter after 65. Keep a copy by the phone or send the link to your family. [Get My Free EstimateGet My Free Reverse Mortgage Estimate](https://reversemortgagebroker.ca/estimate/?utm_source=reversemortgagehamilton&utm_medium=satellite&utm_campaign=resources) - No cost - Doesn’t affect your credit - No sales pressure Print this checklist ## 1\. Documents to have ready - ☐ Two pieces of ID for each owner (a driver's licence and a passport are ideal) - ☐ A recent statement for your mortgage, and for any home equity line of credit on the house - ☐ Your latest City of Hamilton property tax bill - ☐ Your condo fee statement, if you own a condo ## 2\. Questions worth asking before you sign - ☐ Which rate applies, fixed or variable, and for how many years? - ☐ What do the one-time costs add up to: appraisal, lender set-up fee and my lawyer? - ☐ Taking this amount, roughly what would I owe in 5 years, and in 10? - ☐ If I paid it all back early, what would that cost in each year? - ☐ May I repay part of it each year at no charge? (At some lenders, up to 10% of the balance a year is allowed.) - ☐ At the end of the term, what rate does it renew at? - ☐ If one of us moved into long-term care, what would happen? - ☐ Could my children receive copies of every email? ## 3\. The seven steps, in order 1. **Free estimate.** A short online form about you, your home and what you owe. It takes about 90 seconds and doesn't affect your credit. 2. **Every lender compared.** Richard Hopkins, Mortgage Broker, emails you how much you could get and which lenders fit your Hamilton home, and asks how much you'd like to take. 3. **Application.** Once you've chosen an option, fill out a quick form and send a few documents. Your credit is checked once, and your application goes only to the lender you choose. 4. **Approval.** The lender usually sends its mortgage commitment letter within a day or two. 5. **Appraisal.** An appraiser visits the house to confirm its value. 6. **Independent legal advice.** You meet your own lawyer, who works only for you and takes you through the mortgage before you sign. 7. **Closing.** The lender sends the money to the lawyer or title company doing the closing. They pay off your current mortgage, any other debts on the home and the costs, then deposit the remaining money into your bank account. ## 4\. Your independent legal advice appointment No Canadian reverse mortgage closes until a lawyer you choose, acting for you alone, has taken you through it. Expect a fee of roughly $800 to $1,200 in Ontario. Lenders usually ask for this to happen face to face at the lawyer's office, so take your photo ID. ## 5\. City of Hamilton dates to mark - ☐ The $241 seniors rebate and the deferral of the yearly tax increase both close on the last business day of February of the next year. Each needs combined income at or under $44,568, and the rebate also needs an assessment at or under $505,694 (2026 rules). - ☐ The full deferral of the whole bill closes on September 30 of the tax year. It charges interest (4.45% in 2026) plus an application fee. - ☐ Every Hamilton owner files a Vacant Unit Tax declaration each year, including for the house they live in. Last cycle opened on December 17, 2025. - ☐ When a parent goes into long-term care or dies, file the declaration with the matching exemption so the house isn't billed as empty. ## 6\. Once it closes: your ongoing part - ☐ Pay the property tax on time each year. - ☐ Keep the house insured and renew before the policy lapses. - ☐ Look after repairs so the home stays in reasonable shape. - ☐ Live there as your main home for at least six months a year. During any absence over 30 days in a row, arrange for someone to check the house. - ☐ File the lender's contact details with your will and tell your executor where they are. ## 7\. Notes for your family - Once the last borrower has died or left for good, the estate typically gets 180 to 365 days, depending on the product, to sell or pay it off, and interest continues during that time. - Let the insurer know if the house will stand empty, because most policies end cover after roughly 30 days with nobody living there. - Any sale price above the balance belongs to the family. At no point does the lender own the house. ReverseMortgageHamilton.ca checklist, figures checked October 15, 2026. City figures: [City of Hamilton, Tax Assistance Programs](https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/property-taxes/property-tax-billing/tax-assistance-programs) and [Vacant Unit Tax](https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/property-taxes/vacant-unit-tax). General information, not advice for your situation. --- Free reverse mortgage estimate (no sales pressure): https://reversemortgagebroker.ca/estimate/?utm_source=reversemortgagehamilton&utm_medium=satellite&utm_campaign=resources Operated by Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial, a mortgage brokerage licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, brokerage licence #11711. Independently Owned and Operated. ReverseMortgageHamilton.ca is a website of Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial, not a separate brokerage. Richard Hopkins, Mortgage Broker, licence M16000896.