The people behind the pages
Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial holds brokerage licence #11711 from Ontario's financial regulator, FSRA. It is one of the brokerages in the Dominion Lending Centres network, with its own independent ownership.
Reverse mortgage files at the brokerage are handled by Richard Hopkins, Mortgage Broker, licence M16000896. Both licence numbers can be checked on FSRA's public register at fsrao.ca.
Nobody outside the brokerage writes, sponsors or approves these pages. No lender has paid for or seen them.
About Richard Hopkins
Richard Hopkins is a licensed Ontario mortgage broker. Reverse mortgages are his focus at Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial, the brokerage his mother, Catherine Evel, founded in 2009.
For each homeowner he looks at all four Canadian reverse mortgage lenders, explains in plain terms how they differ, and recommends the one with the best overall value for your needs, upfront and over the years that follow.
Because he is a full-service broker, bank refinances, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and home equity loans are on the table too. That means you get a recommendation based on your situation, even if it's not a reverse mortgage.
You pay nothing for his help, and there is no sales pressure. The lender pays the brokerage once your reverse mortgage funds, and all four lenders pay the same amount, so which lender he recommends makes no difference to his pay.
Why Oakville gets its own website
Ontario's reverse mortgage rules don't change at the Oakville town line. The local details do: what Glen Abbey or Bronte homes sell for this month, how the Town's tax bill is split, the Halton Region deferral for owners over 65, the waiting lists at Oakville's long-term care homes, and the bill for selling up.
Each figure carries its source and month. Prices come from TRREB and the Oakville, Milton and District Real Estate Board. Tax rates and programs come from the Town, Halton Region and the Province. Rates and fees are the ones the four lenders publish.
What happens when you ask for help
- You start on the estimate form, hosted on reversemortgagebroker.ca, the brokerage's main reverse mortgage website. No credit report is pulled for it.
- The conversation then moves to email, phone and video call. Figures arrive in writing, and a son or daughter can be copied, or can run the conversation with you copied.
- Richard checks all four lenders for your home and goals, then emails you every lender compared, and the best deal for your home and goals.
- A reverse mortgage is one option among several. Lines of credit, refinances and ordinary mortgages are arranged too. That means you get a recommendation based on your situation, even if it's not a reverse mortgage.
- The broker's help costs you nothing. The chosen lender pays the brokerage once the mortgage funds. Appraisers, lenders and lawyers bill their own fees, and none of that goes to the broker.
Ground rules for these pages
- The brokerage name and licence number sit on every page, as Ontario requires of mortgage brokerages.
- No made-up reviews, star ratings or client stories; any example is marked as an illustration.
- No lender gets promoted. When lenders are named, all four are named together.
- The calculator and the fit check keep nothing you type.
Anything about these pages themselves can go through the contact page.