Mortgage Services

First-Time Home Buyer in BC

The process feels designed to confuse you. I'll change that.

Kyle Scott

Owner of Landmark Mortgages

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TL;DR

Start earlier than you think. More time gives you a better opportunity to secure the best loan possible.
Pre-approval ≠ pre-qualification. Only a real pre-approval includes a credit pull, document review, and a rate hold.
Take advantage of the first time home buyer programs, especially the FHSA. It's free money!
Make sure to budget 1.5%-2% of the purchase price for closing costs.
Brokers are typically compensated by the lender. Working with us costs you nothing out of pocket (How brokers are paid.)

Most first-time buyers come to me with a rough number in their head and a lot of questions. That's an excellent start!

The hardest part of buying your first home isn't finding the house.

It's figuring out what you can spend and what you should spend. Learning what programs and loans are available to you.

Not to mention avoiding the little traps along the way that cost you real money down the road.

We are here to guide you and answer all the questions that come up.

When should you get started on your pre-approval?

A huge advantage of working with a mortgage broker is continuity.

Your file is a living thing that we update as we go along. It's not a matter of getting an approval or a decline and then starting from scratch.

We open it once and update it over time as your situation changes.

This matters more than it sounds. Here's what it looks like in practice:

6+ months before you're ready to buy: book an initial call. We can review where you're at and see if there's anything that could be a future problem.
We come up with a plan and as things change, we update your file.
You pay off some debt, you save a little more, you file next year's taxes. Nothing means starting over.
When you do find the right home, we refresh a few documents, and we are good to go. You're already in our system, your documents are on file, and we know your story.

Compare that to a bank branch. Staff leave all the time.

The person you explained your whole situation to in March might be gone by July. Now you're starting over with someone new.

This is why we always recommend that people start earlier than they think. If you start the process early, it gives us time to solve future problems.

Things can get stressful if you write an offer on a home without getting a pre-approval first.

Usually we only have 5 to 10 business days for due diligence. That's not a lot of time to solve problems.

The difference between starting from scratch vs. updating a paystub is huge.

Especially while under the stress of a live offer on a home you love!

First time home buyer programs

There are five federal and BC programs every first-time buyer should know about. Whether all of them apply to you depends on your situation, but skipping the ones that do apply is leaving real money on the table.

First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

The FHSA is the newest first-time buyer program and, for most people, the strongest one. It's like an RRSP & TFSA combined into one account.

You can contribute up to $8,000 per year, up to a $40,000 lifetime maximum.

You get tax deductions in the year you contribute, like an RRSP.

The money you withdraw from it to buy a home, is tax-free, like a TFSA.

AND all the growth inside is tax free.

Two practical points most articles don't mention:

Unused contribution room carries forward up to $8,000, but only if your account is open. It also doesn't stack. This means the max you contribute in one year is $16,000.
You don't have to repay it. Unlike the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, FHSA withdrawals are gone for good once used.

For most first-time buyers, the FHSA is the place to put down-payment savings first, before the TFSA or HBP.

Quick tip

There is no minimum holding period. You can open your account, deposit the money, withdraw it a few days later and still receive the tax benefits.

RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP)

Withdraw up to $60,000 per person from your RRSP tax-free to put toward your first home (raised from $35,000 in 2024). For a couple, that's up to $120,000. See the CRA page for details.

The catch: you have to repay it back to your RRSP over 15 years, starting two years after the withdrawal. Miss a repayment and that year's portion gets added to your taxable income.

FHSA vs. HBP: Use the FHSA first because there's nothing to repay. The HBP is a useful top-up if you've already got money in your RRSP, or if your purchase needs more than the FHSA can hold. You can use both on the same purchase.

First-Time Home Buyers' Tax Credit

A federal non-refundable tax credit worth up to $1,500 ($10,000 × 15%) on your tax return for the year you buy.

You don't apply separately; you claim it when you file.

Easy to forget if no one tells you, easy money if you remember. Make sure you let your accountant know when you buy your first home. Details from CRA here.

GST rebate on new builds

You can save up to $50,000 in GST if you're a first-time buyer purchasing a newly built or substantially renovated home.

This came into effect March 4 2026 and ends on Jan 1 2031.

How much you can get back:

Homes up to $1,000,000: full rebate of the 5% GST, up to $50,000
Homes between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000: partial rebate that shrinks as the price goes up
Homes over $1,500,000: no rebate

Who qualifies:

You're 18 or older and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
You haven't lived in a home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner in the current year or the previous four years
Neither you nor your spouse has received this rebate before
You signed your purchase agreement with the builder on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031
You'll live in the home as your primary residence

How it's paid: In most cases your builder credits the rebate to you at closing, so it comes straight off what you owe. If you took possession before March 12, 2026, you'll apply directly to the CRA to get it back.

There are a few other caveats to getting this rebate. Mostly around when construction needs to start and be finished by.

BC Property Transfer Tax: First-Time Home Buyers' Exemption

In BC, property transfer tax (PTT) is a real number. On a $700,000 home, the regular PTT is roughly $12,000. The first-time buyer exemption can eliminate this entirely or reduce it significantly:

Full exemption on homes priced under $500,000.
$8,000 exemption, the tax on the first $500,000, on homes priced $500,000 to $835,000.
Partial exemption on homes priced between $835,000 and $860,000.
No exemption at $860,000 and above.

To qualify, you must:

Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident,
Have lived in BC for at least 12 months before the purchase (or filed BC income tax for at least 2 of the last 6 years), and
have never owned a principal residence anywhere in the world.
There are also rules about moving in within 92 days and living there for at least a year.

Worth checking before you write your offer, because exemption thresholds and rules change every couple of years. (Thresholds shown are current as of April 24, 2026.)

What are the down payment requirements?

The federal minimum down payment in Canada is:

5% on the first $500,000 of the purchase price
10% on any portion between $500,001 and $1,499,999
20% on the entire purchase price if it's $1,500,000+

Worked example on a $700,000 home (illustrative only)

5% on the first $500,000 = $25,000
10% on the next $200,000 = $20,000
Minimum down payment = $45,000

If your down payment is less than 20%, your mortgage must be insured through CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty.

The premium gets added to your mortgage balance, so you don't pay it out of pocket.

It ranges from 0.6% to 4.0% of the mortgage amount on a standard 25-year amortization, but this depends on how big your down payment is.

If you choose a 30-year amortization, Default Insurers add a 0.20% surcharge. This is about $200 for every $100,000 borrowed.

Where your down payment can come from

Lenders accept down payments from several sources, but each comes with paperwork rules:

Personal savings (chequing, savings, TFSA, FHSA, non-registered investments). Lenders require a 90-day history of where the money came from, to confirm it isn't a recent loan.
RRSP withdrawal under the Home Buyers' Plan (see above).
Gifted from immediate family (parents, grandparents, siblings). Requires a signed gift letter confirming the funds are a gift, not a loan, with no expectation of repayment. Gifts from friends don't count.
Sale of an existing asset (like a vehicle). Requires proof of sale.
Borrowed down payment programs exist but are rare and lender-specific. Not common for first-time buyers.
Cryptocurrency is a tricky one but is starting to become more widely accepted by lenders. The key is where the money is sitting. It's very different if it's on an exchange vs. in a physical wallet with little ability to trace where it's come from.

The 90-day rule trips people up. You don't always need a 90-day history on funds that can be sourced.

For example, if you got a bonus at work that you want to be part of your down payment, it doesn't need to sit in your account for 90 days, we can show where it came from.

Closing costs

As a rule of thumb, budget 1.5% to 2% of the purchase price in closing costs, on top of your down payment. The main pieces in BC are:

Legal fees: $1,200 to $1,800 for a straightforward purchase
Property transfer tax: can be $0 (if you qualify for the FTB exemption) or several thousand dollars
Title insurance: $200 to $400
Home inspection: $400 to $600
Appraisal: $350 to $500 (if the lender requires one; not always)
Property tax adjustment: reimbursing the seller for taxes they prepaid
Insurance: home insurance must be in place before closing
Moving costs: plan for these separately

Lenders also want to see that you have closing costs available. The standard verification is 1.5% of the purchase price.

Worked example

If you're purchasing a $700,000 property, your minimum down payment would be $45,000. 1.5% of $700,000 is $10,500 for closing costs. Expect to show that you have $45,000 + $10,500 = $55,500 available. There are sometimes exceptions to this rule.

Pre-qualification vs. pre-approval

Most first-time buyers think they have a pre-approval when they actually have a pre-qualification. The difference matters when you're competing for a property.

Feature	Pre-qualification	Pre-approval
What it is	An estimate based on what you tell us	A reviewed file with documents and a credit pull
Credit pull?	No	Yes
Documents reviewed?	No	Yes (income, down payment, employment)
Rate hold?	No	Yes, usually 90 to 120 days
What it's worth in an offer	Very little	A real position

Be careful about pre-qualifications dressed up as pre-approvals. If it was given with minimal documents submitted, you haven't gotten a good review of your situation.

If your “pre-approval” didn't involve sending in pay stubs, tax returns, and a credit check, it's a pre-qualification.

For a real pre-approval, you should expect:

A credit pull
Document review (recent pay stubs, two years of T4s or NOAs, 90 days of statements showing your down payment, ID, employment letter)
A locked-in rate hold for 90 to 120 days
A specific maximum purchase price

This is what sellers and realtors take seriously. This is also what you should strive for.

A lot of first-time home buyers are worried about a credit check because they've heard a hard credit check can lower their credit score.

Sometimes this is true, but lenders don't just look at the number.

There is a whole report that they receive. It's important that this is reviewed in detail by a broker before making an offer on a property.

In my career, I've never had a client get declined for a mortgage because of 1 or 2 hard checks on their credit report for the purpose of obtaining a mortgage.

There have been countless phone calls from panicked clients thinking they were pre-approved.

Now their lender is backing out because they finally checked their credit and something was on there that they didn't like.

This actually happened to my father when he went to purchase a home in Saskatchewan.

They pulled his credit, and somehow a ticket from the City of Toronto for not wearing his seatbelt was in collections and reporting on his credit report. The ticket was from 2004, nearly 20 years earlier.

Common pitfalls

These come up all the time with first-time home buyers we work with. None are deal-breakers if you know about them in advance; all of them cause stress and delays if you don't.

Document expiration

Lenders want fresh documents at the time of approval, not from when you first opened your file:

Pay stubs: typically required within the last 30 to 60 days
Bank statements (down payment): the most recent 90-day history
Employment letter: typically within 30 to 60 days of submission
Tax returns & Notice of Assessments: most recent year, sometimes the previous two

This is even if you have a rate hold in place for 2 months at a lender.

They may want to see updated documentation to confirm you're still working at the job you said and you haven't taken on any new debt.

A pre-approval doesn't mean there are no more documents required. It does mean a lot of the heavy lifting is done and a plan is in place.

Probationary employment

If you've started a new job recently, where you are in your probationary period can matter. Some lenders are flexible; others want you fully off probation before they'll fund.

Your experience in the industry can also play a role. If you're going from a bricklayer to a musician, that can be a tough sell to certain lenders.

Knowing which lenders accept what avoids the awkward “we have to wait three more months” conversation.

Last-minute credit changes

Don't open a new credit card, finance a car, or co-sign anything between pre-approval and closing.

Lenders re-pull credit before funding on many files, and a new debt can change your debt-service ratios enough to delay or kill the approval.

This sounds obvious, but it happens all the time.

No Mercedes, no boats until after closing.

Down payment “shuffling”

Moving your down payment between accounts in the weeks before you apply triggers extra paperwork.

Lenders are legally required to vet every large transfer.

The simplest path: pick where your down payment lives 90+ days before applying, and leave it there.

Self-employed income shock

Self-employed buyers often write off heavily on their taxes, which is great for tax bills and tough for mortgage qualifying.

Lenders typically use your declared (taxable) income when you're self-employed.

Some special programs allow us to add-back some of your business expenses or use corporate income.

This allows you to qualify for more than just your net income on your personal tax returns.

If you own a business and are considering a purchase in the next 1 to 2 years, talk to us and your accountant before your next tax filing.

There are strategies that protect both your tax bill and your mortgage qualifying ability.

What you can expect working with us

Please check out the Our Process section for additional information.

At Landmark Mortgages, I'm extremely proud of our mortgage process. It's streamlined and modern. We love using video.

There is so much jargon and so many moving parts during the home-buying process.

This is why we provide you with custom videos. This lets you digest all the information on your own time, with your family, as you see fit.

Here is a high-level overview of how things work at Landmark:

Discovery call

20 minutes

We want to hear from you. What your plans and goals are. What your situation looks like. By the end of the conversation, we want to give you direction and make you feel confident about the process.

Documents & custom proposal

1 to 3 business days

People often think getting pre-approved is a tough process.

We find it can be really quick and easy.

Often, we turn around the pre-approval the same day we get all required documents from you.

In return for supplying us everything we need, we create a custom proposal along with an explainer video (5 to 10 minutes).

It outlines all the lenders, terms, your max budget, down payment requirements, and closing costs for all your options. Once you review and tell us which option you like, we put a rate hold in place.

Offer accepted, we handle the financing

Typically 5 to 10 business days

Once you've gotten an accepted offer on the right home, we work with your chosen lender to secure full approval.

We manage everything the lender asks for while coordinating with your realtor, appraiser, and lawyer to keep your closing on track.

After closing, we stay your point of contact. Renewal in five years? Call us. Refinance question in 2027? Call us. Buying a second property? Call us. Bank branches turn over staff constantly; we don't.

FAQ

Tap a question to expand the answer.

How much down payment do I really need to buy my first home in BC?

The federal minimum is 5% on the first $500,000 of the purchase price, then 10% on any portion between $500,000 and $1,500,000, and 20% above that.

On a $700,000 home, that's a minimum of $45,000.

If your down payment is under 20%, a default insurance premium is added to your mortgage.

What credit score do I need?

Most "A" lenders want a credit score of 680 or higher for the widest product selection. You can still qualify in the 600 to 679 range, often with a few extra conditions.

Below 600, we're typically looking at alternative lenders or credit-rebuild paths.

Pull your own report from Equifax or TransUnion before we talk; it doesn't affect your score and gives us a real starting point.

What's the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

Pre-qualification is an estimate based on what you tell us; no credit pull, no document review, no rate hold.

Pre-approval is a reviewed file with documents submitted and a credit pull, with a rate hold for 90 to 120 days.

Sellers and realtors take pre-approvals seriously.

Pre-qualifications carry much less weight in a competitive offer.

Can I use both the FHSA and the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan?

Yes, and most first-time buyers should. The FHSA gives you up to $40,000 lifetime with a tax deduction now and tax-free withdrawal later, with no repayment required.

The Home Buyer's Plan (HBP) gives you up to $60,000 from your RRSP tax-free, but you have to repay it over 15 years.

Use the FHSA first; the HBP is a useful top-up.

What's the BC Property Transfer Tax exemption worth to me?

If you qualify, you pay no PTT on a home under $500,000. From $500,000 to $835,000, the exemption is $8,000, the tax on the first $500,000, and it phases out between $835,000 and $860,000. On a $700,000 home, that's $8,000 saved at closing, with about $4,000 still payable.

To qualify you must:

Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident,
have lived in BC for at least 12 months (or filed BC tax for 2 of the last 6 years), and
never have owned a principal residence anywhere in the world.

How long does the whole process take, from first call to keys?

Pre-approval takes 1 to 3 business days once we have your documents. After your offer is accepted, financing approval is usually 5 to 10 business days.

Typical closing dates are 30 to 60 days after offer acceptance.

From "I'm thinking about buying" to keys in hand, most first-time buyers take 2 to 4 months.

Some move faster, and many open a file 6+ months before they're ready, so they're prepared when the right home appears.

The fastest we've ever experienced was 2 weeks. It was jam-packed.

What documents will I need?

For pre-approval: two years of T4s or NOAs, recent pay stubs (within 30 to 60 days), 90 days of statements showing your down payment, an employment letter (within 30 days), and two pieces of government-issued ID. If you're self-employed, we'll want T1 Generals and NOAs for the last two years.

If you're incorporated, we may need financial statements as well. We'd also need to see down payment documents. Lenders want documents to be current at the time of submission, so we may ask for fresh copies if your file has been open for a while.

Should I go to my bank or use a mortgage broker?

Your bank shows you their products. A broker shops 50+ lenders against each other, including most major credit unions and lenders that only work through brokers.

The cost to you is the same either way; on most prime mortgages, broker compensation is paid by the lender, not the borrower. For more detail, see our How Mortgage Brokers Are Paid in BC page.

I'm self-employed. Can I still qualify as a first-time buyer?

Yes, we love our self-employed clients. Kyle was a self-employed first-time home buyer himself, so he knows what needs to happen to get the job done.

Lenders typically want two years of T1 Generals and Notices of Assessment, and they use your declared (taxable) income, not your gross. We offer a wide range of specialized self-employed programs that make things easier for entrepreneurs. You don't need a salary to get a mortgage.

I'm 6 months away from buying. Is it too early to talk?

No, it's actually the best time. Opening a file early lets us solve future problems and gives us the best opportunity to secure you the best pricing possible. Rates can change a lot over 4 to 6 months.

When you're ready to make an offer, pre-approval is a refresh, not a build-from-scratch. The earlier we know your file, the more we can actually help.

Official sources used on this page

First Home Savings Account (FHSA), Canada Revenue Agency: canada.ca/.../first-home-savings-account.html
Home Buyers' Plan (HBP), Canada Revenue Agency: canada.ca/.../what-home-buyers-plan.html
First-Time Home Buyers' Tax Credit (Line 31270), Canada Revenue Agency: canada.ca/.../line-31270-home-buyers-amount.html
Mortgage Loan Insurance, CMHC: cmhc-schl.gc.ca/.../mortgage-loan-insurance-for-consumers
First Time Home Buyers' Program (PTT exemption), Government of British Columbia: gov.bc.ca/.../first-time-home-buyers
Mortgage Broker Licensing, BC Financial Services Authority: bcfsa.ca/industry-resources/mortgage-broker-resources

This page provides general information about mortgages and first-time home buyer programs in British Columbia. It is not personalized financial, legal, or tax advice. Mortgage rules, government program eligibility, premium rates, and tax thresholds change frequently. Information shown is current as of the date at the top of this page. For advice specific to your situation, please contact us directly. Worked examples (such as the $700,000 home calculations) are illustrative only.

Let's get you into your first home.

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