Region served
CMHC said no? Sagen and Canada Guaranty apply their own criteria. What can pass with them for a purchase in Grand Montréal.
When a lender says no, that’s its own policy talking, not a judgment of your file. Find out the precise reason: ratio too high, income calculated wrong, property not eligible. Each one has a different fix, and without it you’re guessing at the next lender.
Get the reason for the decline in writing if possible, along with the file exactly as it was sent. Then notices of assessment, income proof and down payment proof. Count the credit checks already done: too many of them hurt.
What you plan to do with the property weighs more than its price. Living in it, renting it out or a bit of both changes the down payment required and which lenders will look at a Grand Montréal file.
The paperwork depends on the property: leases and the tax bill for a revenue building, the declaration of co-ownership for a condo, a location certificate every time. If there is work involved, add the quotes and proof of compliance. Ask early, it varies in Grand Montréal.
The appraiser works from recent sales, not from the asking price. Where comparables are thin (a rural sector, an unusual property), the value can land under what you agreed to pay, and you make up the gap in cash.
Municipal and school taxes vary from one municipality to the next, and they count in your ratios. The lender works from the Grand Montréal tax bill, plus heating, insurance and upkeep. Do the same math before it does.
To prepare
Yes. It all runs by phone, email or video call, and documents go through online. We can meet in person, but most files get settled without anyone having to travel.
No. Each lender has its own policies, and a decline does not show up on your credit report. Do ask for the exact reason, though: without it, comparing elsewhere means starting over blind.
Pick the situation closest to yours.
Contact
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.