Four ways to upgrade your living space

The current pandemic has disrupted a lot of people’s homeownership or renovation plans. Suddenly, our living spaces are also our offices, our gyms, and our movie theatres. We’re staying in a lot more, and that’s made us re-evaluate not only where we live, but the way we live.

A recent Scotiabank Housing Poll, which was conducted by Maru/Blue, surveyed over 1,500 Canadians. It revealed that 36% of Canadians aged 18–34 are optimistic there will be a drop in housing prices, compared to 24% of Canadians aged 35–54, and 17% of Canadians aged 55+. At the same time, nearly 1 in 5 Canadians aged 18–34 said the pandemic has accelerated their plans to either purchase a home or investment property, and 26% of Canadians are seriously considering a renovation to their current home.

Whether you’re looking to buy a home or undertake a renovation of your current one, now is a great time to take advantage of low interest rates. A solution like the Scotia Total Equity Plan^® (STEP) can help uncover ways to make your dreams of a new home or upgrade a reality.

STEP offers homeowners the ease and convenience of using the equity they’ve built in their current home in a number of ways. You only need to apply for STEP once^* and then your home equity is yours to use whenever and however you need to. Here are just a few examples of the things STEP can help you do:

Buy a new home

With STEP, you can mix and match to create a mortgage plan that works for you. STEP can be used with fixed-rate mortgages, variable-rate mortgages, and both short-term and long-term mortgages to help you upgrade to a new home that meets your current needs. According to Scotiabank’s survey, 38% of Canadians believe now is a good time to buy a property due to low interest rates.

Renovate

Maybe you’re one of the people who simply wants to convert a guest room or basement area into your new home office or gym: 56% of Canadian homeowners who responded to Scotiabank’s poll have plans to renovate their current home, but half don’t yet know how they’ll finance it. Only 12% are planning on using the equity in their home. STEP allows customers to borrow up to 80%^** of their home’s lending value—enough to cover any number of renovation plans.

Buy an investment property

According to the Scotiabank Housing Poll, 68% of Canadian homeowners who are interested in buying a new property plan on using their savings, and 42% said they would use equity from their primary home. STEP is flexible enough to let you do both. Mix and match mortgages, lines of credit, loans, and credit cards to create a plan that works for you.

Help you manage whatever comes next in your life:

STEP can help you upgrade your home, but it can also do so much more. Sometimes living comfortably requires peace of mind. STEP offers loans and lines of credit up to 80%^** of the value of your home to use any way you want, whether it’s to consolidate debt, have cash on hand in a rainy-day fund, buy a new car, or start a fund for your child’s education.

The Scotia Total Equity Plan is more than just a mortgage—it gives homeowners the flexibility to adapt and re-evaluate goals as new financial needs arise, both known and unknown.

Scotiabank is here to help Canadians get the advice they need to reach their financial goals now and in the future.

To find out more about how the Scotia Total Equity Plan can help you, visit: Scotiabank.com

*Subject to meeting Scotiabank’s standard credit criteria residential mortgage standards and maximum permitted loan amounts.  A new application may be required to add or change products under the STEP in some circumstances. Not all mortgage solutions may be eligible to be included as part of STEP. Some conditions may apply. All features are subject to change.

** And up to 65% of the value of your home for revolving credit products.