A preapproval that rests on checked documents shows your real budget and holds a rate for several months. A quick online estimate does neither, and doesn’t carry weight against a competing offer.
Set your own ceiling
The top amount a lender approves and the payment you can live with are seldom the same. Decide the second one first, and read the approval as a limit, not a goal.
Conditions after you offer
Every condition you keep works for you, and every one you drop makes the offer look stronger to the seller. Usually it’s safer to shorten the financing window than to remove it.
Documents to gather
What the lender will ask for.
Purpose of the file
Income and documents
Debts and credit
Property or security
Timing
Lender options
Frequently asked
What documents do I need to pull together?+
Your last two notices of assessment, recent pay stubs, an employment letter, three months of bank statements and proof of your down payment. Ready before the offer, they make a five-day financing condition workable. Gathered after, they cost you weeks.
Current rates
Today’s rates, with the fine print.
These rates are indicative. Yours depends on your file, the type of mortgage (insured or not) and the lender. And look at the penalty too, it matters as much as the number.
Buying, renewing, refinancing, or something a bit out of the ordinary: tell us where you’re at, even if it’s still fuzzy. Mathieu gets back to you with next steps and the documents to pull together.
