A preapproval built on checked documents gives you a real budget and holds a rate for months. An online estimate gives you neither, and it won’t help you against a competing offer.
Maximum is not comfortable
The most a lender will approve and the payment you can live with are seldom the same figure. Decide on the second one, then treat the approval as a ceiling, not a target.
Trim conditions after the offer, carefully
Each condition you keep protects you. Each one you drop makes your offer more attractive. Shortening the financing window is usually safer than dropping it.
Documents to gather
What the lender will ask for.
What the file is for
Income and documents
Debts and credit
Property or collateral
Timeline
Lender options
Frequently asked
Which documents should I gather?+
Your last two notices of assessment, recent pay stubs, an employment letter, three months of bank statements and proof of your down payment. Have them in hand before the offer and a five-day financing condition is workable. Gather them after and it takes 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.
