Here’s 1, 2, 3, 4 options.

• The quickest way to get your notice of assessment would be to log in to your online account with CRA. Please click here for a link to the sign in page. If you don’t have an account set up already, you can log in with your online banking account and password using the sign-in partner log in. You’ll have limited access initially, but you can call CRA at the number provided there to get your access code. When you call, you will need to have information from your previous tax return for them, so be sure to have it handy. They’ll email you the log in code that you can use to get full access to the site. Once you have full access, you will be able to get a copy of all of you previous tax information, including your notice of assessment.

• call Revenue Canada at 1.800.959.8281 and request a copy by mail

• download the “my CRA” app to access information on your mobile device if you have an account with CRA

• authorize your accountant or representative to act on your behalf by signing a T1013 form. More on that here.

Pre-qualify

• No application is completed, or typically through conversation only.

• No credit is pulled.

• Client reports their credit, income, debts and available down payment verbally to mortgage broker

• Mortgage broker calculates general amount that the client could qualify by calculation debt rations to income for the information supplied.

Pre-approval

• Client completes application and proviides consent to pull credit.

• Credit is pulled to present broker with exact credit information and current debts.

• Mortgage broker collect all documents to support income verification, source of down payment.

• Mortgage broker determines and advises maximum pre-approval amount based on details in application and supporting verification documentation supplied by Client

A bridge loan is financing that allows you to be able to use the proceeds from the sale of your current property before you actually have the money in your pocket. Most often, bridge loans are used to make the down payment on the purchase of a new home when the purchase takes place before the sale of the previous home is complete. These loans are typically provided by the lender financing the purchase of the new property, but that’s not always the case. In order to get a bridge loan, you’ll need to prove the following:

• your existing house must have a guaranteed sale in place (not just listed for sale, it actually has to be sold with no conditions on the sale)

• you’ll have to provide documents to show much it will cost to pay off any existing financing on the home. That includes any mortgages, lines of credit secured by the house, or any other liens that may be registered against the title (ie. property tax or income tax arrears)

• any fees associated with the sale that may need to be deducted from the proceeds will need to be accounted for (ie. realtor commissions and legal fees on the sale)

There is typically a setup fee charged by the lender to issue the bridge loan and there will be interest charged on the amount you borrow. The bridge loan can be set up for the amount that will be left from the sale after all costs have been accounted for. Bridge loans are meant to be short term loans extended for a number of days and not years. The bridge loan will be paid back in full from the proceeds of the sale before any of the funds are given to you.

What bridge loans can’t be used for:

• funds to make a deposit with a purchase on a new home

• paying off debt while you are waiting for your house to sell

• make sure all minum payments are made on or before the due date.

• keep your balances as far below your limits as possible. The closer your balances on lines of credit and credit cards are to the limit, the lower your score will be.

• do not have anyone look at your credit unless it’s completely necessary. The more inquiries you have on your credit report, the lower your score will be.

• try and avoid too many higher interest finance companies whenever possible.

• the length of time you’ve had credit reporting makes a difference. If you’ve got a credit card that’s been around a while and has a good, long history. Consider hanging on to it and keeping it using it every now and again to keep it active even if you don’t use it regularly. Once other accounts have been established for a few years, if you still don’t need it, close it then.

• have some credit, even if you don’t need it. Believe it or not, being able to pay cash for everything and not having any credit history at all makes it more difficult to qualify for a mortgage. 

Simple answer: Yes 🙂.

A good realtor who will explain all of this in detail to you. If you are involved in a private sale and choose to buy without the guidance of a realtor, be sure to contact a lawyer to discuss how the deposit money should be handled so that you are not putting your money at risk.

The reasons why you would take out a line of credit, instead of a “standard” mortgage product would be:

• You want to be able to re-advance the mortgage funds in the future and use the money again without having to qualify for it.

• You want to put large sums of money (in excess of any allowable pre-payment options that come with a mortgage…usually about 15% – 20% of the original mortgage amount each year over and above regular payments). The line of credit is “open” which means that you can pay it off at any time without penalty.

• You want to have the ability to make “interest only” payments on the loan and not be required to pay down the principle.

You’ll usually pay a little higher interest rate on a line of credit than you would on a “regular” mortgage with an amortization in order to be able use these features. You can also only borrow up to 65% of the property value on a line of credit with most lenders.

Simple answer; yes 🙂

A lender can only finance upto 95% of the value of a primary residence purchase. Even if the amount of the mortgage you are porting is equal to, or greater than the purchase price of the house you are buying, you’d need to pay that mortgage down before you port to the new property so that it was no higher than 95% of the new property value. The remaining 5% of the purchase price would be the responsibility of the buyer. Typically, the remaining 5% would come from the sale proceeds of the house that was sold.

The most common question. We can give you a rate (or throw a bone 🙂🦴, as we call what many mortgage brokers or lenders will do, to hook you in), but I will be honest, there’s not much point in doing so. The rates that are available depend on so many different factors with so many different lenders that it’s difficult to give real answers with any accuracy. But what we will promise is to always try to provide the best combined product & rate that suits your needs to save you money, and along the way provide extraordinary service to provide certainty.    So why care about Product over rate.  One quick example is paying off your mortgage early, or if you need to sell and close your mortgage.  There will be a penalty.  Pending on the direction mortgage rates have been trending and Lender,  Choosing the right Product may just save you $10,000’s!

Awesome, Congrats! on starting your new job!

Whether or not income from a new job can be used to qualify for a mortgage will depend on a couple of things:

• Full Time? We can use your income to qualify for a mortgage right away, as long as you’re not on probation. Lenders will look for an employment letter stating annual salary or minimum hours per week @ such a $/hr.

• Part Time? In this case, most lenders will require a 2-year history of part time income before they will consider it in a mortgage application.

• Bonus or Overtime? Most lenders require a two year average of these earnings in your position before they can be included.

• Self Employed? Where to start, search self employed.

There are often exceptions that can be made, such as making a very large downpayment or if you have a considerable amount of experience in the industry. The best way is to contact us.

If we’re qualifying your income using traditional methods, we’ll need to have at least two years of you reporting your self employed income to Revenue Canada. Here’s what we’ll need to have a look through to figure out your qualifying income.

If you are incorporated then we’ll need:

• your two most recent personal tax returns

• your two most recent notices of assessment showing that your income taxes are paid in full

• your company financials for the previous two years so that we can prove your corporation is financially stable

• your incorporation documents to confirm who the owners are and when it was established

• we’ll use a two year average of your personal taxable income to qualify you for your mortgage

If you are not incorporated, then we’ll need:

• your full personal tax returns for the last two years, including the statement of business and professional activities.

• some lenders will allow us to add back different expenses, or gross up your income. It’s our job to know who does what, so we’ll go through your returns once we’ve got them and determine what income can be used to help you qualify.

• your two most recent notices of assessment showing that your income taxes are paid in full

• What if you haven’t been self employed for two years, or your taxable income is not an accurate reflection of what you make? That’s cool, search ‘stated income’ for full details.

The stated income program is for people who are self employed, but can’t prove their income in the traditional manner.

We’ll take into consideration:

• industry you’re in

• experience you have

• # of employees you have

• whether or not you have a physical location or a website

• the reasons why proving your income using the traditional methods is not an accurate representation of your earnings

We can then “state” the income that you actually make to qualify you for your mortgage without proving it using standard methods. Any income that we use has to be considered reasonable based on the critera above and we’ll still need some paperwork to back it up.

Requirements to qualify under this program include:

• usually 10% down from your own resources (if it’s a primary residence)

• strong credit (a credit score of at least 650) with a two year history of at least two accounts being paid well

• proof of self employment (ie. business license, GST registration, 12 month history of business bank account, tax returns showing self employed income being reported)

• confirmation you don’t owe Revenue Canada outstanding income tax (ie. recent notice of assessment or signed declaration if acceptable to the lender)

Simple answer: No 🙂, unless you require private lending.

Long answer, the lenders pay us. So there are no added fees to expect for our services.

This is a provincial level tax you pay, when land is transferred from one person to another. Other provinces, like Saskatchewan, call these “land title transfer fees”.

The good news, 1st time home buyers can receive up to $4000 credited back after purchasing. Just make sure you have the tax available upon closing thought, until you receive the credit back.

You can go directly to any trusted mortgage broker or bank. The advantages of working with a mortgage broker:

• we have access to the most of the lenders, which are competing for your business, through us.

• one application, gives you access to multiple lenders. This saves time.

 Yes 🙂

You can buy your new home with as little as 5% down and keep your old place as a rental.

You can purchase an additional property with as little as 5% down as long as:

• you intend to live there as your primary residence (ie. keep your existing property as a rental and move in to the new home)

• you intend to use it as a second home (ie. vacation property, home in another city you commute to for work)

• you are purchasing the property for a dependent family member (ie. parent, child, grandparent)

• you are purchasing the property for a child attending school

• You will need to have at least 20% down if you are purchasing another property to use as an investment property. (ie. rental)

120 days at the most, ask your lender or mortgage broker to confirm.