r/MortgagesCanada

hey there - we are dealing with a nightmare scenario where we need to refinance our mortgage and our home is being appraised at WAY less than what we bought it for five years ago. our mortgage is over a million. do we have any options for high ratio financing? kind of a terrifying situation so any help/advice is really appreciated.

Looking for some realistic feedback. I came across some financial hardship a few years ago and ended up doing a consumer proposal. I closed it off December 2024 and it’s supposed to “fall off” my credit report August of this year. Following the consumer proposal, I prioritized rebuilding my credit. So I have two open and managed credit cards. My credit score is in the 700s. I make $175K/year (with an incremental bonus each year, but it can vary).

That being said, I’ve slowly started to look into buying a house, and found one that we really liked but I’m looking for some realistic feedback from mortgage brokers if I should even bother trying to apply now or should I just wait a few few months where hopefully the CP is officially removed.

Some additional information, I would be applying with my husband, his credit score is fine, but he does construction and the markets been a bit fickle so I’m really the only one with a study income right now.

So please let me know as a mortgage broker if you think us applying is even worthwhile right now or if we just should just hold off for a little bit. Also if you have any additional advice on things that I can do to further ensure that we would be approved, please share.

Thank you!

I have a CMHC insured mortgage maturing next year. Current property value is pretty close to the mortgage balance so LTV over 100 unless valuation changes significantly. Are there any monoline lenders that would consider this as a straight switch? My file is otherwise strong but I don't want to waste a brokers time if there's no chance at underwriting anyway. Thanks in advance.

Hi everybody!

Looking for insight into self employed mortgages.

Info on my situation:

I run a contracting company ( corporation ), I am coming up to my 3rd fiscal year end. I pay myself dividends to limit my payroll taxes approx 2k every 2 weeks. I have an apprentice on payroll.

Revenue:
Year 1 : 98K
Year 2 : 470k - papered income 110k after expenses
Year 3: 760k - projected paper income 200k after expenses

I have been dealing with a broker and he’s said I can only really get approved for a mortgage if I do 20 percent down. I unfortunately cannot do 20 percent and I have read online that self employed mortgages can do percent down.

Does anyone have insight on this ? Perhaps you were in the same boat and were able to get a mortgage by jumping through hoops ?

Revenue wise and income wise I feel is sufficient but I’m hitting hurdles with the down payment. I ain’t a trust fund kid or come from a lot of money so getting a larger down payment would be a no go.

After selling our Ontario home, we plan to rent in Ontario. My husband would continue working at his current Ontario job and I would continue working remotely online.

We’re considering purchasing a property in New Brunswick as an investment/rental property with the intention of renting it out right away. There doesn’t seem to be a huge amount of long-term house rentals available in the area we’re looking at, so on paper it feels relatively safe, but I’m definitely an over-planner and like understanding worst-case scenarios ahead of time.

Our concern is that financially, we likely would not want to comfortably sustain both Ontario rent and the NB mortgage long-term without rental income coming in from the NB property.

Because of that, if we genuinely attempted to rent it out aggressively, listed it publicly, screened tenants, documented inquiries/applications, etc., but after a few months couldn’t secure renters, moving into the property ourselves would realistically become the backup plan rather than carrying both indefinitely.

Questions:

• Would lenders generally view that as a legitimate change in circumstances if the rental plan genuinely failed?
• Is there a typical timeframe lenders expect a property to remain a rental before owner occupancy becomes a concern?
• Is documenting rental ads, inquiries, applications, and attempts to rent it out important in situations like this?
• Has anyone here had an investment property end up becoming owner-occupied simply because the numbers no longer worked with months of no tenants?

Trying to understand how situations like this are generally viewed from a lender/mortgage perspective and what’s considered reasonable. This would be our first investment property and we want to make sure we handle everything properly and transparently.

My wife and I are grateful to be in the lucky position to buy my family’s cottage off of my grandparents. The property was purchased in 2006 for ~$300k with a current fair market value of $975k (our agreed sale price). The property has never been their primary residence, but my wife and I plan to make it ours.

My Grandfather has offered to help us with the downpayment with a gift of $150K (ie. by cheque). However, I’ve suggested we consider gifted equity to minimize his need to liquidate market assets.

This way, my wife and I can contribute our FHSA’s ($90K) totalling to an effective down payment of $240K. TFSA’s and RRSP’s can remain untouched. Our gross house-hold income is ~220k.

I’m expecting to not require mortgage insurance and to have to pay land transfer tax of 18K. My Grandfather is expecting a considerable tax bill based on the property’s appreciation over the last 20 years of ownership.

If you were in my position:

1. Would you consider taking the gift as cash? Or is gifted equity the better option?
2. Who would you talk to first? A Mortgage Broker, a RE or Tax Lawyer, or an Estate Planner? or Reddit lol.
3. Would you seek a longer term mortgage to minimize monthly payment? Or seek the maximum monthly payment a mortgage calculator says we can afford, so as to maximize the portion of principal paid as compared to interest?

Thanks for reading and we appreciate the advice.

My parents purchased a condo and i was added to the mortgage to help them get approved based on household income. I'm listed on the mortgage but I don't live in the condo nor am i making payments toward it.

I wanna know what are my options in Canada to remove my name from the mortgage or remove my liability. Is this possible without selling the property?

I just don't want this to effect my credit or ability to apply for a loan for myself.

Morning folks, hope everyone is having a nice long weekend. Very quick Q for y'all. Is the threshold for an uninsured but insurable mortgage a $1,000,000 purchase price, or less than $1,000,000 i.e $999,999?

TYSM!

did anyone get a mortgage from manulife? how was it?

Hi everyone! Chronic overthinker here so please help. We have a pending offer in on a home we love, condition removal date May 25. We are likely porting our current mortgage from TD. So MY QUESTION: is this enough time for the financing approval to remove conditions? It is very unlikely the sellers would accept an extension. We had preapproval with our broker and everything was sent Friday. I’m worried if they need an appraisal we will be short on time.

Looking for your recent experiences! Thank you. Again it would very likely be TD.

Looking for approximate monthly cost 200k mortgage Ontario. We're shopping around for a mortgage and a credit union quoted my hubby 2500 bucks a month, other banks quote different. I'm looking for those who have a mortgage approximately in this range to give us an idea if possible

The mortgage for my condo is up for renewal. I can either go with (current provider) RMG for a renewal at 3.45 for a 5yr variable or switch to TD for a 3 yr variable at 3.61 but with a $1600 cashback. My mortgage is $109,000.

The guy at rmg said I would be saving $4000 over the term going with them instead of TD even with the cashback. But I do not understand how. From my own calculations and asking Gemini I would be saving with the TD offer.

Could anyone provide some guidance.

Thanks

Anyone have any good experiences / recommend a mortgage broker for this?

Thanks.

• Not a first time home buyer.
• Located in ontario
• looking for a B / alternative lender specialist.

Hey first time dealing with mortgages. We have a mortgage commitment from a lender and our financing condition is coming up. If we sign the commitment, does it mean we are not able to switch to a different lender if we find a better offer after?

My ex and I have recently (amicably) divorced. Our agreement was that we’d both stay on the mortgage (renewing Nov ‘26) but I’ve paid him out and we have an agreement signed between us to that effect.

I can’t refinance on my own due to a tanked LTV. I pay all bills relating to the house alone. The thing is, with the renewal increase coming it becomes unaffordable for me, and I want to apply to reamortize, but on paper it looks like “we’re” making too much money to show financial need.

Are there risks to telling the lender that we’re legally divorced and explaining the agreed situation?

If I apply for re-amortization and am declined, when can I apply again?

ETA: apologies if I’ve been unclear. My only concern currently is re-amortization with my current lender

Has anyone been successful in moving a smaller mortgage to Pine?

They also told me around 4.5 is best they can do for fixed.

Hi everyone,

My mortgage broker told me that the best mortgage deal that they can offer is 3.85 (5 years uninsured variable) with $1,100 cashback from BMO. The loan amount is approximately $400,000.

Is this a good deal?

Also, is there a way for me to keep the cashback if I plan to not use a BMO account to pay the monthly mortgage?

I know this might sound like a no-brainer to go with fixed but historically variable mortgages always saved me money so I would appreciate some grounded advice here:

TD gave me an early renewal offer for my mortgage:
3.45 - 5 year variable
25 year amortization
No cashback, no points

RBC gave me the two offers below:
3.69 - 3 year fixed OR 3.55 - 5 year variable
25 or 30 year amortization
$1,500 cashback + 55,000 Avion points

Now I am trying to decide between the TD variable vs RBC fixed offer. There is a case to be made for the variable option because it has always saved me money in the past and I am not as pessimistic about the short term economic outlook. On the other hand, I do appreciate a lower monthly payment that comes with the RBC fixed offer at 30 year amortization and invest the savings into S&P 500 to make more money. Which one would you pick and why?

Curious if this is common practice or not.

My old bank mortgage expired on 01May2026.

I didn't renew before then. Was still negotiating numbers with other banks and with current one. (Simplii).

Prior to 01 May, I was told by Simplii that upon maturity, my mortgage would be simply rolled into a 6 month high interest mortgage until a new deal is worked out with simplii or another bank.

I decided to go with RBC after May 1st and Simpliii rejected the buyout.

I called them, and they said the auto roll over isn't an open mortgage, and to get out of it i would need to sign a new 6 month open fixed or variable and then cancel and pay 3 months of interest penalty to the tune of roughly $3500 bucks.

Is this normal? I've talked to two other mortgage specialists and they have not heard of this.

Feels like they purposely set me up to hold hostage.

Any advice is appreciated.