Bridge financing helps homeowners bridge the gap between the sale of an existing home and the purchase of a new one. If the property you are purchasing closes before the one you are selling, you may be able to use the equity in your current home for the down payment on your next property and carry the mortgage on the two properties for a specified amount of time. You must have a firm sale agreement on your existing home and a purchase agreement for your next home. Interest rates for... [read more]

Before you start a search for a new home, you need to know what you can afford. With the introduction of the mortgage stress test rules in January 2018, qualifying for a mortgage is more challenging than it used to be.  You may believe you have a good credit rating and a solid employment history, but only a lender or mortgage broker can confirm, based on your current expenses and debt level, what mortgage amount you can be pre-qualified for. Most pre-approvals are valid for 120 days,... [read more]

The process of qualifying for a mortgage has 2 stages. When you first decide you are ready to purchase a home, you provide a mortgage specialist with information about your income, assets, savings and debt. Based on this information, you are given a commitment letter, which let’s you know the maximum amount the lender would be willing to lend you. This is the Mortgage Pre-Approval. At the time you submit an Offer on a property, the lender will then determine the appraised value of... [read more]