Subsidies and tax credits for the purchase of a home or condo

Dernière mise à jour le November 13th, 2020

Subsidies and tax credits for the purchase of a home or condo

Have you ever looked at a flyer a month after you bought a big item, like a computer, and found that there was a $200 discount on the same computer? It’s happened to me before and it’s quite frustrating. Now, imagine noticing a year too late that you were eligible for a subsidy that would have saved you thousands of dollars with the purchase of your home! Frustrating no!? I wrote this article specifically to avoid this frustration, I will describe all the possible subsidies and tax credits when purchasing a property.

There are many ways to save money when buying a property. Many of these programs or subsidies primarily favour first-time buyers, however there are several subsidies available to help people who have already purchased a home or condo. In fact, did you know that it is wrong to think that the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) only applies to the purchase of a first property? Under certain conditions, the Home Buyers’ Plan can be used several times. You’ll find out how later in the article.

If you are interested in the new measure offered by CMHC where CMHC also puts 5% down payment on the purchase of a first property, I have written an article just for this measure.… LIRE LA SUITE

03 Nov

Bruno courtier hypothécaire Posted in Buying a House No comments

Mortgages for self-employed: What you need to know

As a self-employed individual, you may feel that it will be more difficult to get a mortgage. Perhaps you have already met with your banker and they have refused to grant you the loan for one of the following reasons:

You haven’t been self-employed for long enough
You are not declaring enough income
You have a car loan under your business name and it is blocking you
Expenses on your tax return have lowered your salary too much
…

Therefore, when you are self-employed, several reasons can stand in the way of your financial request.

Don’t be discouraged, as a mortgage broker we have access to several lenders with different standards. In some cases, it can even be advantageous to be self-employed. Later, we will see in more detail the advantages of being self-employed when you are looking for a mortgage to purchase a house. For now, I’ll walk you through what you should know before you meet with your banker or mortgage broker.

If you think your net income reported on line 150 of your tax return misrepresents your income, click here. There is a program for you!

Obtain a mortgage loan as a self-employed

The major difference between a self-employed individual and a traditional employee is stability.… LIRE LA SUITE

05 Nov

Bruno courtier hypothécaire Posted in Building Credit No comments

Mortgage Pre Approval: How To Get One?

Dernière mise à jour le January 29th, 2020

What is the purpose of mortgage pre-approval?

So you would like to buy a house soon. Maybe you called a real estate broker and they asked you if you had a pre-authorization before they started a visit with you? Don’t take offense, it’s very common and quite normal, and even to your advantage, here’s why.

Pre-approval as an element of negotiation

Imagine that you have a house to sell; good news, two identical offers for purchase have been made on your house! One of the two potential buyers is pre-approved by the bank and the other is not yet pre-approved. Which of the two offers do you most want to accept? Obviously, you would prefer to accept the buyer’s offer that is pre-approved by the bank.

We cannot say that this is a crucial element in the negotiation, but pre-authorization certainly gives you more credibility as a buyer.

Pre-authorization allows you to lock in a rate

A pre-approval is also useful to lock in a mortgage rate. Generally, it is possible to lock in this rate for 3 to 4 months. What’s interesting about a locked in rate is that you are protected if rates rise, and if rates decrease, you are entitled to that rate decrease.… LIRE LA SUITE

25 Jul

Bruno courtier hypothécaire Posted in Buying a House No comments

Fixed rate or variable rate mortgage

Dernière mise à jour le July 31st, 2018

Should I opt for a fixed rate or variable rate mortgage? Am I better protected if I opt for a fixed rate? Rates are so low now, is it worth it to take a fixed rate for the longest term possible? When we rely on historical data, we pay less with a variable rate, should I go for a variable rate? Here are several questions we’re often asked when we are mortgage brokers.

In addition to the fact that one is fixed and the other varies, there are big differences between the variable rate and the fixed rate. If you think you know all the differences, you might be surprised. I invite you to read the article, you could learn a lot!

Here are the things to take into account before deciding.

Variable rate: belief

I happened to find out that some of my clients thought that the bank had total control of the rate when it comes to the variable rate. As if the bank offered you a variable rate of 2% to attract as many customers as possible, and that one year later it raised its variable rate. This isn’t how it works.… LIRE LA SUITE