Conditions of Mortgage Financing

Tracy Head • May 5, 2025

When I work with clients that say they are writing an offer on a private sale I always talk about the benefits of working with a realtor. Realtors do so much legwork that happens behind the scenes that clients aren’t even aware of. Most times it is challenging on my end when clients try to tackle the process of writing an offer on a private sale themselves.


I joke and say I am going to charge them an extra fee because of the additional work it creates on our end.


I don’t actually charge a fee to be clear but I am only half kidding.


When you start down the road of buying a home there are many new and unfamiliar terms you may hear. Whether you are working with a realtor or not, arguably some of the most important things you need to learn about are the “subject to” conditions to include in your offer to purchase.


When you write an offer to purchase a home, your realtor will offer guidance as to the conditions you

include. Common conditions you will see are:

  •  Subject to arranging suitable financing
  •  Subject to a satisfactory home inspection
  •  Subject to arranging home insurance
  •  Subject to review of strata documents
  •  Subject to the sale of your current home


If you are purchasing a rural property or are in a unique situation you may also see:

  •  Subject to a water potability test
  •  Subject to an inspection of the septic system
  •  Subject to the seller finding a suitable home to purchase


These lists are not all-encompassing by any means.


The purpose of adding conditions to your offer is to protect you in case there are any issues with the home you are looking to purchase.


In previous columns I’ve written about the potential dangers of writing a subject-free offer. The high- level, quick position is that if you write a subject-free offer you’d better have cash on hand to buy the home.


I have worked with several clients over the last few months that have written private offers. We do absolutely everything ahead of time to try to ensure they will be successful with their financing.


These files stress clients more than you can imagine. They have to either find templates to fill out or pay a lawyer or notary to prepare the documents for them. Either way they need to quickly learn about the conditions I listed above and understand key dates involved in the buying process.


The clients need to deal directly with the sellers on any issues that may arise. When you are working with a realtor they handle these issues on your behalf. A knowledgeable realtor also helps avoid issues by taking any of the personal contact and emotions out of any potential areas of conflict.


Make sure you do your due diligence and have your ducks in a row as you move forward with an offer to purchase whether writing an offer with a realtor or on your own.


Now that the sun has come out and the election is over I’ve seen my clients more actively shopping which is encouraging. As always, my advice is to work with a realtor that you are comfortable with and who knows your area well.

Tracy Head

Mortgage Broker

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Read the Fine Print

By Tracy Head • June 12, 2025
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Credit Reports

By Tracy Head • June 2, 2025
Its been a while since I wrote about the importance of your credit report. This topic popped up twice this week so I think a refresher is not a bad idea. When we submit a mortgage application lenders look carefully for a few specific things: Is the home you are looking to buy or refinance readily marketable / appeals to a wide range of potential buyers? Do you have your down payment in order? Do you have consistent income to repay your mortgage? Does your overall financial profile show you manage yourself responsibly? Does your credit report reflect a history of payments made on time and as agreed? When they are reviewing your credit report they are also looking for a few specific things. How long have you had active credit facilities (credit card/line of credit/mortgage etc)? Do you have a history of making your payments on time? Do you pay most of your credit card balances off regularly or do you run with cards maxed out all the time? Lenders fully understand that sometimes life happens and we can sometimes explain one-off blips or issues. If you have a consistent history of late payments that can become a bit more challenging to explain. One thing that I chat about with my clients is how making your credit card payment a few days ahead of your statement cutoff date can really help boost your score. Over the last few years it has become more common that people use their points cards for everything over the course of the month then pay their card in full once they get their statement. If you operate your credit card this way your credit report only picks up the balance as reported on your statement so it can look like you are always carrying a significant balance even though you always pay in full. For most people this is not a big deal, but if you are working on improving your credit score this small tweak can have a huge impact. The other issue that popped up this week was incorrect information on a client’s credit report. Part of her first name was missing and the birthdate was incorrect. The client was able to confirm everything on her credit bureau for me right down to previous addresses, employers, and old loans that had been paid off. Lenders would not move forward until her credit report was corrected and in this case because two items were wrong the client needs to correct it herself (normally we can help make changes fairly quickly). Its always a good idea to review your credit report at least once a year to make sure that all of your information is reporting correctly. If there is an issue you can catch it early and correct it before you are in a panic midway through a mortgage application. Changing topic a wee bit as my daughters are on evacuation alert already … If you are in the process of buying a home as we move into fire season please make sure you have a clause in the agreement as to what will happen should there be an active fire nearby. Nail down your home insurance as early as possible because once there is an active fire close by securing an insurance policy can be very difficult if not impossible.