Alternative & complex mortgage financing
Hearing no from your bank after years of being a customer stings. You've handed over all your documents, answered every question, and then you get a decision that doesn't leave room for conversation.
Maybe you haven't yet approached your bank but you already know that your situation is going to be complex and you've been dreading having a conversation with them because you anticipate they may not understand.
In either case, it can feel like your situation is unfixable.
Here's what I've learned: most of the time, it's not. It's just a policy problem, not a structural one.
Some mortgage problems come from regulations that apply to every lender in Canada. Minimum down payment rules. Federal stress tests. Loan-to-value limits. These don't budge. If you hit a structural wall, you hit it everywhere.
But a lot of mortgage problems come from a single lender's policies. Credit score thresholds. How they calculate self-employment income. Their comfort level with certain situations (credit, separations, etc.). Every lender has a different appetite, and most of the time, the bank that said no just wasn't the right fit.
Instead of taking your situation and trying to force it into one lender's boxes, I reverse-engineer it. I look at your actual situation, then figure out which lenders (big banks included) will work with it. Sometimes it's another big bank with a different policy. Sometimes it's a lender with more flexibility. Either way, you get options, and I recommend the best fit for you.
You don't repeat your story. You don't apply to five places and deal with five different people. You work with me, I handle the shopping, the policy manoeuvring and negotiating, and you get a real answer about what's possible.
These are the situations I see most often from clients who've already been told no,
or who suspect they're about to be:
Your credit score is just below the bank's cutoff.
The bank's system can't override its threshold, so the answer is no. A different lender with a different policy might say yes.
You're self employed and the bank won't accept how your income is calculated.
Self employed income gets complicated at tax time. Most big banks have rigid formulas that don't reflect what you actually earn. Other lenders are built for self employed clients and look at your full picture, including things like business bank statements to show the actual trend of income you're earning.
You're working through (or just paid off) a consumer proposal or bankruptcy.
Most banks won't touch this. There are lenders who specialize in helping people improve their credit after real life challenges, often using equity in the home to make it happen.
Your cash flow is stretched and getting tighter.
You're juggling payments month to month. Maybe you're moving money around to make sure everything gets paid. You know something has to give. A refinance to consolidate higher interest debt into your mortgage can free up hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars a month. The key is understanding your options with the right lender.
If you see yourself in any of these, you're not alone, and you're not stuck.
Let's figure out what's possible.
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We do need to pull a new credit report because we don't have access to the work your bank already did. Yes, that's one additional inquiry on your credit. The reality is, if you're borrowing money, someone needs to check your credit. One more inquiry beyond what you already have won't move your score dramatically. We'll use that inquiry to shop your file to the right lender and minimize further impact. Think of it as one small step to get you to a much better outcome.
It depends on which type of lender is the best fit for your situation. If we can fit you with a prime lender (big banks or mortgage finance companies), there are no fees to you at all. We simply help you find the right fit. If an alternative lending structure is what makes sense, you're generally looking at roughly 1% of your mortgage amount in fees, with interest rates running 0.5% to 2% higher than prime mortgage rates. The exact rate depends on your situation, the property, and the program. But that's the ballpark.
That's the goal from day one. But the success of that mission depends on the client. Sometimes you come to me thinking you need an alternative lender, and we actually fit you in with a different bank or lender. Once I understand the nuances of the situation and how it fits within that lender's unique policies, options open up. Either way, the goal is to put you in the lowest cost option possible. And if we need to use a slightly more expensive option temporarily, we do it with a clear plan for when and how we're going to move you back to better rates.
Private lending is a different animal. These are situations where we simply cannot fit the file in any bank or alternative lender policy, but there is significant equity available in the property or a very large down payment available. There's a much greater need for flexibility than for the best price. Expert guidance is required to determine the suitability of these products. Generally speaking, most clients are able to fit within one of the other options.
The first place to start is to have a call because understanding your story and what happened is the most important piece to the success here. From there, we'll gather your application and documents. The entire timeline depends on how quickly you get us your information and how complex your situation is. Every file is different. Some move quickly. Others need more time because there are more moving pieces. I can't give you a realistic timeline without understanding your full picture first. It's like asking a surgeon how long your operation will take without having a consultation with them first.
Refinances in Canada are capped at 80% of your property's value. So you can do some quick math at home to see where you stand.Start by estimating what your home would sell for today. A rough estimate is fine here, just be honest with yourself. Multiply that number by 80%. That gives you the maximum mortgage amount you could potentially access through a refinance.Then subtract what you currently owe on your mortgage (including any second mortgages, lines of credit, or other financing tied to your home).If there's a gap between what you owe and what you could potentially access, this is a case where a refinance might be worth exploring.
Two ways to begin. Pick what feels right for where you're at.
Book a 30 minute call. If you're not sure what path makes sense, this is the best first step.
Start your application directly. We'll set up the call from there.
Either way, we'll end up having that conversation. It's just a question of which one comes first.