Hosner found them such a property: a $435,000 house with five bedrooms, and with a mortgage of $332,400 loaned at 2.5 per cent. “The [monthly] payment ended up being less than the [original] one,” he says. Five years ago, Hosner had dealt with a handful of loans like this; now, around two-thirds of all deals he handles have an assumable component. “It’s the vast majority of my business — every person that’s a happy customer with a 2.5 per cent mortgage? They tell 10 friends.”