Mortgage Services
The process feels designed to confuse you. I'll change that.
Book a CallQuick Takeaways
The short version, before you read the rest:
Most first-time buyers come to me with a number in their head and a lot of questions. That's exactly the right place to start. The hardest part of buying your first home isn't finding the house; it's understanding what you actually qualify for, what programs apply to you, and how to avoid the small mistakes that turn into real money.
This page is the answer to most of the questions I get on a first call, written so you can read it before we talk and come in with better questions of your own.
Timing
One of the biggest advantages of working with a mortgage broker, and one most first-time buyers don't realize, is that your file is a living thing. We open it once and update it over time as your situation changes. We don't restart from scratch every time you call.
This matters more than it sounds. Here's what it looks like in practice:
Compare that to a bank branch. Every visit is essentially a new application. Staff turnover is constant; the person who pre-qualified you in March might be gone by July, and the new person starts the conversation again from zero.
This is why “I'm not ready to move yet” isn't a reason to wait. 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, for example, is massive, especially while under pressure during a live offer on a home.
Government 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.
The FHSA is the newest first-time buyer program and, for most people, the strongest one. You contribute up to $8,000 per year (with a lifetime maximum of $40,000), get a tax deduction in the year you contribute (like an RRSP), and withdraw the money tax-free to buy your first home (like a TFSA). There is also tax-free growth inside the account while you wait for things to line up.
Two practical points most articles don't mention:
For most first-time buyers, the FHSA is the place to put down-payment savings first, before the TFSA or HBP.
Quick Tip
Even if you have your down payment in a savings account, you can quickly open up an FHSA (as long as you qualify) and contribute $8,000 right away, even if you're planning to purchase in a month or two. This will save you taxes the next year when you file.
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.
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.
If you're buying a newly built or substantially renovated home, you may qualify for a partial rebate of the GST/HST you paid. The rebate amount depends on the purchase price and the property type.
The federal government has announced an expanded GST rebate for first-time buyers on new construction, currently being phased in. Eligibility and amounts are changing, so this is one to confirm at the time of your purchase. We'll walk you through what applies on your specific deal.
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:
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.)
Down Payment
The federal minimum down payment in Canada is:
Worked example on a $700,000 home (illustrative only)
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 (you don't pay it out of pocket), and it ranges from about 2.8% to 4.0% of the mortgage amount on a standard 25-year amortization, depending on your down payment size. If you choose a 30-year amortization (available on insured mortgages for some buyers since 2024), CMHC adds a 0.20% surcharge, about $200 for every $100,000 borrowed.
Lenders accept down payments from several sources, but each comes with paperwork rules:
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:
On a $700,000 first-time-buyer purchase in Victoria with full PTT exemption, closing costs typically land in the $3,000 to $5,000 range, plus moving. Without the PTT exemption, add roughly $12,000.
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-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.
| 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 |
A bank “pre-approval” is often actually a pre-qualification, especially if it was issued by phone or online without document submission. 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:
This is the version 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. But I've had countless phone calls from panicked clients saying they were pre-approved, they went to make an offer, and 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.
Avoid the 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.
Lenders want fresh documents at the time of approval, not from when you first opened your file:
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.
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.
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; it happens regularly.
No Mercedes, no boats until after closing.
Moving your down payment between accounts in the weeks before you apply triggers extra paperwork, because lenders want to see the source of every transfer. The simplest path: pick where your down payment lives 90+ days before applying, and leave it there.
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 specialized programs allow add-backs (depreciation, certain business expenses, owner draws) that effectively raise your qualifying income above pure taxable income, but these aren't available with every lender.
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.
Our Process
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. With so much jargon and so many moving parts during the home-buying process, we believe in providing you with custom video resources that you can keep. 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:
01
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.
02
1 to 3 business days
People often think getting pre-approved is a grueling process, but we typically 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.
03
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 lender conditions, respond to underwriting requests, and coordinate 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.
Sources
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.
Get Started
Book a free 20-minute discovery call. We'll review your situation, no credit pull required, no obligation, and no sales pitch. By the end of the call, you'll know exactly where you stand and what to do next.
