01 — Purchase
A pre-approval tells you what you can actually spend, holds your rate while you shop, and makes your offer credible to a seller. It takes about a day and costs nothing.
A purchase mortgage is the loan that finances the home you are buying, registered in first position against the property — the one that gets paid first if the home is ever sold or foreclosed. For most buyers it is simply "the mortgage", and it is the single largest financial commitment they will make.
The part people underestimate is that the lender is not really lending against the house. They are lending against your ability to keep paying, evidenced by income, credit and down payment, and the house is the backstop. Understanding that is what lets a broker place a file that a branch would decline — the same borrower, presented to a lender whose rules actually fit them.
We handle purchases across Ontario: first-time buyers, move-up buyers, new builds, assignments, and buyers who have been through this five times already and just want the sharpest terms available this week.
Five percent on the first $500,000, ten percent on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5M, and twenty percent above that. Under 20% down your mortgage must be insured, and insured mortgages are capped at a $1.5M purchase price.
A gift from an immediate family member is acceptable to most lenders with a signed gift letter and proof the funds landed in your account. We will tell you exactly what the lender wants to see before you ask your parents for it.
Conventional mortgages are available with scores well below what a branch will quote you. Below that, alternative and private lenders price on equity instead — see bad credit mortgages.
Buying with a sibling, a friend or a parent on title changes how income and debt are assessed. It is a legitimate route into an expensive market and more lenders support it than most buyers realize.
Builder closings can be eighteen months out and assignment purchases have their own lender list. Both need a mortgage arranged differently from a resale purchase.
In a competitive market a financing condition can cost you the house. A real pre-approval — documents reviewed, not just a rate quote — is what lets you shorten or drop it responsibly.
How it runs
What to have ready
Income, down payment, roughly what you owe elsewhere, and what you want to buy. Fifteen minutes, no credit pull.
Pay stubs or two years of tax filings, proof of down payment, and consent to a credit check.
A maximum price, a payment at that price, and a rate held while you shop — usually within 24 hours of a complete file.
When an offer is accepted we finalize with the lender, clear conditions and instruct your lawyer through to funding.
Questions
More in the full FAQ, or call 416 230 2920.
Five percent of the first $500,000, ten percent of any portion between $500,000 and $1.5M, and twenty percent on any purchase above $1.5M. On an $800,000 home that is $25,000 plus $30,000 — $55,000 in total. You also need roughly 1.5% of the price on hand for closing costs, and land transfer tax on top of that.
No. A pre-approval is a lender's conditional commitment based on the information available at the time, usually with a rate hold of 90 to 120 days. The property still has to appraise, your employment and credit have to hold, and the lender re-verifies before funding. Do not change jobs or finance a car between pre-approval and closing.
On most residential deals with A and alternative lenders, no — the lender pays the brokerage a finder's fee on funding. Private mortgages and some complex files carry a brokerage fee, which is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything.
We pull your credit once and present that single report to every lender we approach. Multiple mortgage enquiries in a short window are also treated as a single event by Canadian credit bureaus, so shopping properly costs you almost nothing.
Talk to a broker