Straightanswers, nosales pitch.

Lenders test two ratios. Housing costs — principal, interest, property tax and heat — should sit near 32–39% of gross income (GDS), and all debt payments together near 40–44% (TDS). You must also qualify at the stress-test rate: the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%. Most Ontario buyers land around four to four-and-a-half times household income, but the shape of your existing debt moves that number more than income does.

Provide two recent pay stubs, or two years of T1 Generals and Notices of Assessment if you are self-employed, proof of down payment, and consent to a credit check. We return a maximum price, a payment at that price, and a rate hold — typically 90 to 120 days.

No. It is a lender's conditional commitment based on the information available at the time. The property must still appraise, and your income, employment and credit must hold until funding. Do not change jobs or finance a car between pre-approval and closing.

Five percent of the first $500,000, ten percent of any portion between $500,000 and $1.5M, and twenty percent above $1.5M. Insured mortgages are capped at a $1.5M purchase price.

Any mortgage with less than 20% down, making the loan more than 80% of property value. It must be insured through CMHC, Sagen or Canada Guaranty. The premium — roughly 2.8% to 4% of the loan — is normally added to the balance, though in Ontario the PST on that premium is payable in cash on closing. Insured rates are often lower than uninsured ones, so the trade is not all one way.

Fixed buys certainty and carries a penalty formula (the interest rate differential) that can be brutal if you break early. Variable is usually cheaper to exit — three months' interest — and historically cheaper overall, at the cost of payment uncertainty. If there is a realistic chance you sell, move or refinance mid-term, that penalty difference often matters more than the rate difference.

A qualifying rule requiring you to prove you could afford payments at the greater of your contract rate plus two percent, or 5.25%. It applies at federally regulated lenders to both insured and uninsured mortgages. It does not change your actual payment — only the size of mortgage you qualify for.

On a variable, typically three months' interest. On a fixed, the greater of three months' interest or the interest rate differential, which varies enormously between lenders and can run into five figures. Always get the exact figure from your lender in writing before making a decision.

Yes. Stated-income, income gross-up and bank-statement programs exist precisely because declared taxable income understates what a business earns. They are offered by credit unions, monolines and alternative lenders across Ontario. Most self-employed declines are packaging failures, not borrower failures.

Conventional lenders will look at scores from around 550 with the right file. Below that, alternative and private lenders price on equity instead. There is no score at which nothing is possible — there is a score at which the price changes.

Yes to both. Once a bankruptcy is discharged some lenders will consider you immediately with sufficient down payment; two years of re-established credit generally restores conventional options. A consumer proposal can often be paid out through a refinance, which clears it and removes the drag on your file.

Yes. Newcomer programs exist at several lenders and generally rely on proof of employment, down payment source and sometimes an international credit reference rather than a domestic score.

A loan for Canadian homeowners 55 and older converting part of their home equity into tax-free cash with no required monthly payments. Interest accrues and the balance is repaid when you sell, move or pass away. Rates are higher than a conventional mortgage and the balance compounds, so it suits a specific situation — equity-rich, income-light, staying put. Often a HELOC or a refinance is the better tool.

It replaces your existing mortgage with a new, usually larger one, up to 80% of your home's value, and hands you the difference. People use it to clear high-interest debt, fund a renovation, or free a down payment for another property. Breaking mid-term triggers a penalty, so the exercise is arithmetic: does the saving beat the penalty.

On most residential deals with A and alternative lenders, no — the lender pays the brokerage a fee on funding. Private mortgages and some complex files carry a brokerage fee, which is disclosed to you in writing before you commit to anything.

In Ontario, 3% to 4% of the purchase price, and closer to 5% inside Toronto because of the second land transfer tax. That covers land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, appraisal, inspection and adjustments — all separate from your down payment.