Frequently asked questions

It is a free 20-minute call we call the Mortgage Health Check. You say where you are, we say what looks possible and what to gather, and nobody runs your credit. You can stop there if you want to.

No, we are a brokerage, licensed by the BC Financial Services Authority, and we arrange the mortgage with a lender: a bank, a credit union or one of the alternative and private lenders we work with. The lender decides and funds; we prepare the application and see it through.

One of the team takes your first call. The broker handling your application, one of Sunny Bal, Pankaj Bhardwaj or Karan Hajra, is your contact through to funding.

No, nothing is pulled at the enquiry stage. A credit report is ordered only with your written consent, once we are preparing an application.

Yes, documents come first, then the application by phone, video or online. The office is in Surrey if you would rather sit down with someone.

You hear from us as each step closes: submitted to the lender, approved, conditions cleared, funded. You should never have to chase.

No, most clients are in the Lower Mainland, and we arrange financing across British Columbia.

English, Hindi and Punjabi, across the team.

For most residential mortgages, no: the lender pays the brokerage when the mortgage funds. For commercial, construction, agricultural, private and some complex mortgages a fee may apply, and it is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything.

No, the rate depends on the lender's decision, the property, your income and credit and the term you choose. What we can do is put each lender's offer beside your bank's, so you see the whole picture before you pick.

There is no answer that fits everyone. Fixed buys certainty for the term; variable moves with prime and usually costs less to leave early. We walk through what each would do to your payment and your plans, and you decide.

The rule that a lender qualifies you at a rate higher than the one you will pay, to show you could handle an increase. It changes how much you can borrow, not your payment. The affordability calculator uses it. Open the calculator →

The money you need at completion beyond the down payment: legal fees, property transfer tax, title insurance, the appraisal if the lender charges for it, and adjustments for costs the seller already paid. We list them for your purchase early, so nothing lands on you the week of closing.

When your income or credit does not fit a bank's template, lenders beyond the big banks will still look at your application. Rates and fees are usually higher, so you see the full cost in writing first, and a plan to move back to a bank at renewal where that makes sense.

We do not predict rates and we do not publish forecasts. The market updates explain what moves fixed and variable rates, so you can read the next Bank of Canada decision yourself. Read the market updates →

Two recent pay stubs, a letter of employment, two years of T4s and notices of assessment showing nothing owing, two pieces of ID front and back, and 90 days of history on the down payment with the source of any large deposit. The document checklist lays it out by client type. Open the checklist →

Sole proprietors send two years of full T1 generals and notices of assessment. If you are incorporated, add two years of company financials.

Only if the property is outside Vancouver, Surrey or Delta. For those three cities we pull the tax notice ourselves; elsewhere we ask you for it.

Lenders must trace where a down payment came from, under federal rules on the source of funds. Three months of statements shows the money building up; any large deposit needs a source, and a gift needs a gift letter.

Your budget, the builder's contract, the plans and the builder's résumé. For a spec or commercial build, add your own résumé, and if a company owns the property, its corporate records.

It varies with the type: owner-occupied, investment, land or construction. Every one needs a personal net worth statement, a signed list of what you own and what you owe.

Send what you have. We keep the list and tell you what is still open, so you are never guessing.

In draws against a budget on the lender's template, as each stage is finished and inspected, not as a lump sum on day one. The draw schedule is agreed before the first advance.

Four things: the budget, the builder's contract and experience, the plans, and an appraisal of the finished value. We help you get all four right before the application goes in.

Yes, if you can show the lender relevant experience; lenders look at who is managing the build as closely as the budget.

BC's small-scale multi-unit rules allow more homes on a single lot in most urban areas, and lenders now treat a duplex with garden suites as a normal build. The duplex and garden suites page covers how the draws and the finished value work. Duplex and garden suites →

Owner-occupied means your business works from the unit, so the lender looks at the business. Investment means tenants pay rent, so the lender sizes the loan on the building's net operating income, which is rent minus operating costs.

Yes: farmland, acreages and property in the Agricultural Land Reserve, with lenders who understand rural zoning and farm income.

Yes, operating lines, term loans and BDC programs for the business behind the property, often arranged alongside the mortgage.

Longer than a residential one, and it depends on the appraisal and the lender's conditions. We lay out the steps at the start and tell you as each one closes.