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12 Mar

Are you Stressed by the Mortgage Stress Test? Here are a Few Solutions

Buying & Refinancing a Home

Posted by: Garth Chapman

Alberta’s real estate markets are stressed. Prices are flat or down.  So this is a Buyer’s Market, and yet so many Buyers are finding it difficult to qualify for the mortgage they need, largely due to the new mortgage Stress Test.  Here are a few smart ways that you can use to achieve the mortgage you need to buy the property that suits your family’s needs.

Use the flex down or borrowed down payment programs offered though one of our mortgage lenders.

You must qualify, the payment for the loan must fit in your total debt service ratio.

You must have good credit, meeting minimum beacon score requirements.

The CMHC default insurance premium is higher, but by using this option you can borrow the down-payment.

First time home buyers can obtain a new RRSP loan and 90 days later use the First Time Home Buyers Plan and withdraw up to $25,000 for a home down-payment.  Pro Tip– you are considered a First Time Home Buyer if you have not owned a home in the previous 4 years.

Call your favourite Jencor Mortgage Broker, and we will arrange an RRSP loan and a mortgage pre-approval as per your financial qualifications. Couples can both do this.

90 days later, you withdraw up to $25,000 (per person) from your RRSP plan(s) for down payment.

Then you can get to work with your favourite Realtor to buy a home.

IMPORTANT – The key element of this is that our best mortgage lender for this program does not require the loan to be repaid when funds are withdrawn for the down-payment, whereas most lenders do.

Is a Large Vehicle Loan Payment Reducing the Mortgage You Qualify for?

Whether you are refinancing, buying a new home, or just wanting to improve your cash flow, is a large vehicle loan payment reducing your options!

We have a vehicle finance company that will aggressively extend out an amortization, reducing the vehicle payment. The result, all other things being equal, a bigger mortgage. We had one couple rewrite their vehicle loans, and they got a $70,000 bigger mortgage. Their realtor was able to write an offer in the neighborhood they have always wanted to live in. Got a great deal on the house as well.

Call me today if a lower vehicle loan payment could help you.

Special Programs for Self Employed Buyers

  • The federal government continues to impose restrictive guidelines on all mortgage applicants. One group particularly hard hit are business for self borrowers (aka BFS). Many BFS clients hire good Tax Accountants. Good Tax Accountants are great for a lower tax bill, but low taxable earnings are not so good for obtaining a mortgage.  Most lenders require two years of personal tax returns, notice of assessment, and corporate financial statements.  If your clients are being declined after providing all of that information perhaps one of the special programs that still exist could help.
  • We have lenders who will consider:
    • Using an insured stated proof of income mortgage to 90 % loan to value. We do need to provide information to confirm the reasonableness of the application.
    • Using an insured stated proof of income mortgage to 65% loan to value. Again we need to confirm reasonableness but no insurance premium applicable.
    • Using a series of bank statements to confirm business cash flow to support a mortgage. Maximum 80% loan to value.
    • Using a cash flow analysis of the corporate financial statements to support the income requirements 80% loan to value.
    • We have some other esoteric programs too hard to describe in one line.
    • Your Jencor Agent can often help a BFS client who has been frustrated by their own Bank or by an inexperienced Mortgage Broker.

Some combination of these ideas may just help you, your friends or relatives get the mortgage you need for the home you want.