It's Not Easy Being Green - Especially if you're a mortgage

This week there was an article in the Montreal Gazette about "Green Mortgagees" .   First of all I need to state I am not a bank basher.  I don't think the bank is your enemy and they have some very creative products to help you with home-ownership. It's their marketing departments that I take issue with.
The "green" movement is the latest darling that marketing departments have latched onto to churn out the same stuff under a different picture.   Let me explain using the article as my reference.

RBC Energy Saver Mortgage

— Receive a $300 rebate on a home energy audit

— Get a five-year, fixed mortgage with an annual interest rate of 4.34 per cent, more than one per cent lower than the regular posted five-year offering.

Really?  Okay the $300 towards an energy audit you were planning on having done anyway seems like a nice perk but hardly a motivator.  Especially when you consider most 5 year mortgages at Royal Bank, or anywhere, are getting booked at 3.79% at the time this article was written.  #fail

TD Canada Trust Green Mortgage

— Offers customers one per cent off the posted interest rate on a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage

— Customers also receive a cash rebate of up to one per cent of the amount of the mortgage when home buyers make Energy Star qualified appliance purchases and home upgrades or purchase CSA approved solar panels

— TD will also donate $100 to the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation charity for each Green Mortgage opened.

Again, at the time this article was published most 5 year mortgages were being offered at 3.79% and 1% off posted rates would be 4.49%.  But wait!!  The cash rebate seems like a good deal until you read the fine print.  That's "up to" 1% and when I call the TD bank nobody could give me the formula on how this is calculated.  I did find out that if you don't fulfill the 5 year term of the mortgage any cash would need to be repaid in part or whole depending on when you cash out.  And the donation?  Yes you are helping make the TD look good but if this is a charity you support it may be worth your while.  #soso

BMO Eco Smart Mortgage

— Offers buyers of green properties a 3.89-per-cent annual interest rate on their mortgage

— In order to qualify for the BMO Eco Smart Mortgage, the home must meet certain requirements as confirmed by a third party appraiser (or energy auditor) arranged by BMO.

This is a little better and probably the most straight forward.  But really, you can get this rate at BMO or any other bank without any third party anything.  #better

 

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) incentive

— If a person uses CMHC insured financing to buy an energy-efficient home or purchases a house and makes energy-saving renovations to make it more energy efficient, a 10 per cent refund on the mortgage loan insurance premium may be available.

 This, in my opinion, is probably the most useful "green" incentive.  The process to qualify is cumbersome but if you're planning to go into a whole lot of debt to green up this is worth your while.  Personally I think you should keep your financing under the CMHC radar by keeping 20% equity in your home but if you can't and you don't mind paying it's a good deal.  #best

 

And now my question to you is this:  

Would you consider a lender because of a "green" product?