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Mortgage Step-by-step

BEFORE YOU START LOOKING

STEP-BY-STEP

  1. We speak with our clients to get to know  them and their situation better. We find our if they are employed or self-employed, how much they would like to put down, what kind of mortgage they are interested in. If you are ready to proceed with the full application, we complete missing info information which  could be done over the phone or email, or via a secured link online – whatever their preference is.
  2. Then we input the information into our secure mortgage system, run credit check and do calculations to figure out the maximum purchase price our client can be approved for and what the mortgage payments are going to be, etc.
  3.  We run the numbers by our clients, discuss different amortization terms, payments, rates, types of mortgages. If all sounds good, we submit the application the bank to lock in the rate.
  4.  We email our clients a list of documents they will need to provide us with. We prefer to collect the documents before they found a property they liked. Our goal is to make the process of applying for mortgage  as stress free and smooth as possible and if we have all or most of the docs on file before they buy, they don’t have to stress about getting us the docs ASAP when they buy. Buying a house can get very stressful!  Being organized and prepared in advance, removes most of the stress.

YOU FOUND A HOUSE

STEP-BY-STEP

IMPORTANT: When you find a house you would like to make an offer to buy, it is highly advisable to make your purchase conditional upon you obtaining mortgage financing. This is called Buyer’s Financing Condition and it is a standard condition of any purchase contract! You may also choose to include property inspection and condo docs review (if it is a condo) as your other conditions. When approving your mortgage application, the bank will not only approve you as the applicant but also the property you are buying. It happened before, that the bank declined the mortgage application because something unfavorable came up regarding the property past history. Having financing condition in place, our clients could back out of the purchase and get their purchase deposit returned to them.

  1. When you found a property  you like and your offer gets accepted, getting financing is all a matter of us receiving the signed purchase contract and the description of the property (or MLS listing) from your realtor. We typically have 5 to 7 days at the most to get financing completely done. This is when it is important that we have all the documents already  collected.
  2.  We submit the purchase contract will all the other docs I already received from the client and send them to the bank. We typically get the approval back within 1-2 business days depending on the bank. They may ask for a couple of extra documents (which rarely happens). We provide the requested documents.
  3. We meet with the clients to go over the mortgage approval, terms, various payment schedule and other important points like property tax payment options, etc. We sign the documents.
  4. The clients advise the sellers of the property that they have a mortgage financing in place. Now the property is considered to be sold to them or it is a firm sale. The sellers cannot show the property to other interested buyers or accept any other offers.

PRIOR TO POSSESSION

STEP-BY-STEP

  1. Your real estate lawyer will need to finalize the purchase. The bank send the lawyer a package with the mortgage documents to sign. These documents are called mortgage instructions. The lawyer typically receives the mortgage instructions 10 to 7 days prior to the set possession date.
  2. You will need to arrange for home/fire insurance for your new house. You could contact several insurance companies to get a quote.
  3. The lawyer’s office will contact you to set an appointment. For the appointment, they will ask you to bring 2 pieces of ID, proof of home/fire insurance (also called Binder Book) and a certified cheque for the remainder of the down payment. The buyers already gave some portion of the down payment in the form of “purchase deposit” to the sellers’ real estate office with the purchase offer.
  4. On possession date, you meet with your realtor who will give the keys to your new house. You will also do a walk through to ensure everything looks good.
  5. Congratulations!! You are now a home owner!!
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Required Documents

INCOME CONFIRMATION

List of Documents:

  • For employed individuals – An Employment Letter stating start date, position, and compensation details (base salary or if hourly rate per hour and how many hours per week). If any overtime, bonus, commission income that applies, it is very helpful if the letter states how much total overtime/bonus/commission income was over the past 2 years. We will also need a most recent pay stub. These are standard documents, however very rarely, the bank might also ask for a T4 for the last 2 years or Notices of Assessment for the last two years. In most cases, just a Letter of Employment and a most recent pay stub is sufficient.
  • Self-employed individuals typically provide Notices of Assessment for the past 2 years and full T1 Generals for the past 2 years . The general rule is you need to be self-employed for a minimum 2 years before you can apply for a mortgage at a bank. The bank may also ask to see confirmation of self-employment status during the last 2 years via either Article of Incorporation (if incorporated), or business licence, or GST returns for the past 2 years, or Statement of Business Activities for the past 2 years which is part of their T1 General.

DOWNPAYMENT

List of Documents:

  • For the down payment confirmation– three months of bank statements for each account the down payment funds are coming from. It has to be full statements with transaction history, not just the balances. If the down payment is a gift from family, we will prepare the gift letter (we provide the form) that will need to be signed by the Gifter of the funds and the money will need to be deposited into your account prior to possession.

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS

List of Documents:

The bank may ask for additional documents which will vary based on your unique situation and under what mortgage program you are applying:

  • If you are new to Canada, we will need to provide a copy of work visa or PR card
  • If you are buying a house with 5% down, we will need to confirm that on top of the down payment you also have extra savings for “closing cost”. This amount is estimated at 1% of the purchase price. This is the money you will spend on legal costs, moving, etc.
  • In some cases, the bank will ask to confirm that a credit card balance has been paid out prior to possession.

As your mortgage advisor, we will be able to tell you in advance what documents will be required to provide in your situation. We have a lot of mortgage experience and we per-qualify our clients for a mortgage before we submit the application to the bank. You will know in advance what will be required to receive an approval.

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Understanding Your Credit

CHALLENGE

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SOLUTION

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RESULTS

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