Mortgages

Also known as the First-Time Homebuyer Incentive, the First-Time Homebuyer Loan helps you reduce your mortgage cost by lending you 5% or 10% of the home’s price. This is not offered at Gulf & Fraser yet but will be available soon, so stay tuned! 

To be eligible for the First-Time Homebuyer Loan / Incentive, you must:

• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or someone legally authorized to work in Canada

• Be one of the following:

  • A first-time homebuyer

  • A homeowner who’s gone through a divorce or common-law breakup

  • Someone who hasn’t lived in a home they owned (or one owned by their spouse / common-law partner) for the last four years

• Have enough money to make the minimum down payment

• Be pre-approved for a mortgage that is more than 80% of the property’s value

Not sure if that fits your situation? Book an appointment with one of our mortgage specialists. They’ll be happy to help you review your options.

How much mortgage you can afford really depends on your financial situation. Lenders will look at a host of factors:

• Gross household income – how much you make before taxes

• Debt-to-income ratio – how much of your income goes towards paying debts

• Monthly expenses – how much you’re spending on recurring costs, like utilities

• Down payment – how much you’ve saved towards your home purchase

• Credit score – how strong your credit rating is

To get a clearer picture of your personal situation, try our mortgage calculator. It will help you explore your mortgage affordability and potential repayment options.

Give it a go

In Canada, the down payment requirements for buying a home can vary depending on the purchase price. Here are the standard down payment requirements:

1. For homes under $500,000 – the minimum down payment required is 5% of the purchase price.

2. For homes between $500,000 and $999,999 – the down payment requirement is 5% for the first $500,000 and 10% for any amount above that.

3. For homes at $1 million or more – the minimum down payment required is 20% of the purchase price.

However, there are some exceptions and variations to these down payment requirements. Book an appointment with one of our mortgage specialists to look at your specific situation.

Home loan refinancing can help you access the equity in your property and achieve a number of goals, like debt consolidation and renovating your home.

When you apply for home loan refinancing, you’ll need to go through a similar process to a new mortgage. We’ll look at factors like:

• Gross household income – how much you make before taxes

• Debt-to-income ratio – how much of your income goes towards paying debts

• Monthly expenses – how much you’re spending on recurring costs, like utilities

• Credit score – how strong your credit rating is

• Loan-to-value ratio – how much money you want to borrow relative to the value of your home

But, if you’re refinancing a Gulf & Fraser mortgage, we’ll make the process quicker and easier for you. You won’t have to pay any legal fees, approvals are fast, and we’ll already have some of your documents on file. So you won’t need to collect them again.

Interested in refinancing your home? Book an appointment with one of our mortgage specialists. They’ll be happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions. 

Yes, at Gulf & Fraser, we follow the underwriting regulations laid out in the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions' (OFSI) Guideline B20. 

No, Gulf & Fraser is an A lender.

What does that mean? When approving a mortgage, we look for qualifying credit and income. A B lender will typically focus on existing homeowners and how much equity they’ve built in their home.