Should you switch mortgage lenders at renewal, or just take the rate your bank offers you? Twice this week, I told a client to stay exactly where they are.
Both were renewals. Both were with the same lender I'd placed them with myself, years ago. And both times, when I went shopping for a better deal, I ran into the same wall: the rate their own bank was offering them directly, just for renewing, beat anything I could get them through the broker channel. No fees either way. Just a better number, sitting right there in their inbox.
So I told them to take it.
Here's the part that might surprise you: that's not me being generous. That's the whole point of having a broker in the first place.
Why this happens
Lenders price differently depending on the door you walk through. Sometimes the "retention" rate — the one they send you directly to keep you from shopping around — is genuinely sharper than what they'll offer through a broker, because they're not paying broker compensation on that deal. It doesn't happen every time. But it happens often enough that anyone telling you "always switch, always negotiate, never just renew" hasn't actually run the numbers on your file.
Why I still don't mind
A rate quote without context is just a number. My job was never "get you the lowest number I can find" — it's "get you the right outcome for your actual situation," even when the right outcome is a phone call that ends with "stay put." I'd rather earn the trust that gets referred to a friend than the commission that comes from steering someone somewhere they didn't need to go.
What I'd tell you to actually check before you renew
- Get the direct offer from your current lender in writing, not just verbally
- Confirm it's locked for the full term you want, not a teaser that reprices later
- Ask what happens if you don't take action by the renewal date — some lenders auto-renew you into a worse rate if you do nothing
- Still worth a second opinion, even if you end up staying — the two minutes it takes to check costs you nothing, and sometimes the direct offer isn't actually the best one
To be clear — both of these were straightforward renewals. No new funds, no debt consolidation, nothing that needed a full switch or new appraisal in the first place. If you're pulling equity out, restructuring debt, or your current lender isn't offering anything competitive, that's a different conversation — and usually a very good reason to shop around.
If your renewal's coming up, send it my way. Worst case, I tell you to do nothing and shake your hand on the way out.
