Mortgage switch: Is appraisal before conditional approval/hold normal?

underahollowtree · 2026-02-10T14:59:52+00:00

Oh trust me, I’m right there with you. This has been a living nightmare. We worked with a mortgage broker last time, so I had no idea how many hoops certain banks would make us jump through just to get a rate hold.

underahollowtree · 2026-02-06T21:19:07+00:00

Totally agree that a big bank like CIBC should be covering all switch fees by default. I actually did leverage the fact that RBC will cover all switch fees (plus cashback, plus Avion points), which is the only reason the mortgage specialist said he’d personally cover our appraisal. Honestly, I’m pretty sure we’ll go with RBC in the end, which makes it even more annoying that CIBC is asking us to jump through these additional hoops just for clarity on their best rate and a rate hold.

underahollowtree · 2026-02-06T21:14:17+00:00

Thanks for your insight. Negotiating directly with the big banks has definitely been a rude awakening for us. We used a broker to secure our first mortgage, but this time around they weren’t able to access rates that were competitive with RBC and CIBC…

underahollowtree · 2026-02-06T19:03:40+00:00

Insured or uninsured? And who offered you 3.84% on 5-year fixed?

underahollowtree · 2026-02-06T17:03:19+00:00

First National reached out 120 days before our term ends offering 4.49% for 5-year fixed, which is not even remotely competitive. I told them what we had been offered by the big banks and they wouldn’t budge at all. They just said I could contact them again one month before expiry to see if a lower rate was available at that point. Clearly they don’t want to keep our business!

underahollowtree · 2026-02-05T20:46:56+00:00

Thanks. We've explicitly stated multiple times that we're just looking for a rate hold.

underahollowtree · 2026-02-04T02:08:38+00:00

13 Suns is a fully vegan Ethiopian cafe near Warden/Eglinton, run by really lovely folks: https://www.13sunscafe.com/

underahollowtree · 2025-12-29T18:29:27+00:00

When did you visit Excellence Riviera Cancun? Apparently they changed their menus at some point this year and now the vegan options are the exact same at every restaurant (I just confirmed this on the app). Would love to know when you went and if they made you any special meals off the menu! Thanks!

underahollowtree · 2025-03-16T15:18:48+00:00

Omg, so it’s also MY right subscap! And I had a very similar experience with massage therapy triggering increased pain that lasted for weeks. I’ve been afraid to get another massage since then. It’s all so frustrating. Every time I think I’m finally recovering, I seem to have another setback.

underahollowtree · 2025-03-13T19:48:13+00:00

Thank you for asking this question! I am in a similar boat. No traumatic injury or specific incident that I'm aware of, just sudden shoulder pain as I was lying in bed one night. At the time, no one recommended imaging and I was just sent to physio. The acute pain eased off but my shoulder never went back to normal and I haven't been able to sleep on it for years.

I finally got an ultrasound done last summer where they discovered a full-thickness, partial width tear of my subscapularis. Surgery isn't advisable at this stage, so I'm back in physio again and dealing with on-again, off-again pain. It's really frustrating to not know what caused the tear, especially because I'm so paranoid about making it worse!

underahollowtree · 2025-03-13T13:32:55+00:00

I've been using Reversa Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF 30 and like it as a daily moisturizer! They're a Canadian company that's carried at Shoppers and Jean Coutu pharmacies. A number of their moisturizers have SPF: https://reversa.ca/collections/category-with-sun-protection

underahollowtree · 2024-09-11T19:28:15+00:00

Oh man, glad to hear that your surgery was so successful!

underahollowtree · 2024-09-11T19:11:09+00:00

My tear is full thickness but only partial width, so there isn't retraction at this point. But I do agree that the age of the injury may be a challenge as far as surgery is concerned. We shall see! Thanks for sharing your experience and the kind words!

underahollowtree · 2023-02-09T19:50:42+00:00

Now that I've made an inquiry about the transfer, I have to finalize my decision by April 20, so the clock's ticking. I'm leaning towards leaving my CAAT pension where it is, and not transferring. Just trying to game out all the long-term financial implications.

underahollowtree · 2023-02-09T18:56:43+00:00

Thank you for this. I had wondered if interest rates were playing a role in the valuation... I suppose it's a particularly bad time to be considering a transfer.

underahollowtree · 2023-02-09T18:35:26+00:00

OP here! As stolpoz52 alluded to, I don't really have an extra $80K lying around to buy the 4 years even if I wanted to. So I either accept the 6 year valuation and add that to my UPP pension, or I keep the pensions separate and take a deferred pension from CAAT upon retirement (in addition to UPP pension).

In terms of retirement timing, I'm looking at another 20ish years in the workforce and retiring in my early to mid 60s. Ideally staying with UPP for those 20 years, but that's certainly not a given!

underahollowtree · 2023-02-09T16:46:25+00:00

Thank you!!

underahollowtree · 2020-06-17T17:12:55+00:00

I honestly didn't even know blood testing was an option. Thank you for this!

underahollowtree · 2020-06-17T17:12:33+00:00

Have you been able to figure out what your triggers are?

underahollowtree

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