Yes. The higher your credit, the easier it is for you to get approved for a lowest interest rate. Most bank lenders consider a credit score above 620 to be acceptable. Credit score above 700 is good. Credit score above 780 is considered excellent.

If you don't have the best credit, don't worry. We are here to help. Give us a call or book a quick chat. One of our experienced mortgage brokers can help you find the right mortgage product.

As mentioned above, having a high credit score plays a key role. Here is a summary of other factors that will help you get approved for the lowest mortgage rates:

• High credit score
• Insured mortgage tends to have a lower rate (but you need to pay default insurance)
• Primary residence tends to have lower mortgage rates than investment properties
• Low Debt Servicing Ratios also play a role in getting a lower rate. Total Debt Service (TDS) ratio is calculated using your debt payments (including mortgage payments, credit cards, heat, condo fee, property tax), divided by your income. Typically, lenders prefer the loans with TDS ratios below 42%~44%

There are 3 major incentives to help First Time Home Buyers to afford their first home purchase. You can leverage these programs to help you save tens of thousands of dollars. Talk to one of our experienced mortgage brokers today to find out how.

• Land Transfer Tax Rebate. Ontario home buyers can get up to $4,000 rebate on provincial land transfer tax and $4,475 for City of Toronto Land Transfer Tax
• Home Buyer’s Plan (through RRSP)
• Canada’s First Time Home Buyer Incentive. It’s an interest-free shared-equity program that allows the government to contribute between 5% to 10% of the home value.

Your can find more details on these programs in this article. We are always here to answer any questions.

• You need a minimum of 5% as your down payment if the property is less than $500,000
• If the property value is between $500,000 and $1,000,000 you need 10% for the portion above $500,000
• If the property value is above $1,000,000 you will need a minimum of 20% down payment. For properties above 1 million, some lenders require even higher down payments.
• If your income cannot be verified (self-employed, new-to-Canada, etc.) or you have limited income, you may need to have at least 35% down payment

Yes. Typically, insured mortgages have a lower interest rate. It’s because the lenders do not have any default risk on the insured mortgages. Therefore, if your down payment is less than 20%, your rate is usually lower than a rate for a conventional mortgage. On the other end of the spectrum, let’s say you are putting 50% of your own money when purchasing a property, this also lowers the risk of a lender and may have a favourable impact on your rate.

Amortization is the time period it takes for a borrower to pay back the principle and interest of the mortgage. The most commonly used amortization periods are 25 years and 30 years. It seems like a long time, but it’s because a mortgage is usually a pretty large sum of money and it takes a long time to pay it back.

Mortgage Term is the amount of time that your mortgage contract with the lender stays effective. During the term, you have a fixed mortgage amount and a pre-determined interest rate (fixed or variable). Mortgage terms usually range between 1 to 10 years. The most popular mortgage is a 5-year term mortgage.

If you discharge your mortgage from your lender before the maturity of the term, you may have to pay penalties. When your term is up for renewal, you are free to move to other lenders. You can also choose to continue with the same lender by simply renewing your mortgage.

A default insurance is a policy from one of the mortgage insurers (CMHC, Genworth, Canada Guarantee). The insurance policy guarantees the mortgage payments to the lenders if the borrower stops paying or becomes delinquent.

In Canada, as a borrower, you are required to purchase default insurance if your down payment is less than 20%. The insurance premium ranges between 2.8% to 4.1% of your mortgage amount. It can be capitalized as part of the mortgage principle to reduce the cash you need to come up with at the closing of the mortgage. In Ontario, there’s also 8% sales tax charged to the mortgage default insurance.

Here’s a list of closing costs. You can find more details in this article.

• Home Inspection
• Appraisal
• Land Transfer Tax
• Title Insurance
• Legal Fees
• CMHC Insurance