Mortgage Pre-Approval: Why do the numbers keep changing?

Tracy Head • January 11, 2023

From a broker’s perspective, trying to nail down an upper price point for clients is a little like (aging myself here) the sliding puzzles that were around when I was young.


I had a conversation with a young couple recently who were frustrated with a broker they were working with. They said every time they spoke with the broker their numbers seemed to change.


I explained a bit about how we calculate our pre-qualifications / pre-approvals and told them their broker is being very thorough to make sure they don’t end up writing a price point they won’t qualify for. I showed them how their broker is doing an amazing job of making sure they are set up for success.


Sometimes it gets frustrating on both ends being as it feels like the goal posts move faster than clients can find a suitable home to write an offer on. Having a rate hold in place helps eliminate part of this uncertainty.

Each mortgage application is slightly different. 


Each lender is slightly different.


Clients may have T4 income or self-employed income, as well as other sources including things like Child Tax Income, pensions, interest or dividend income, RRIF payments, and co-borrower income.


Likewise, down payments come from different sources:


  • Savings
  • Proceeds of sale from another property
  • RRSP (First Time Home Buyer withdrawals)
  • Gifts from family
  • First Time Home Buyer’s Incentive Program
  • Borrow sources (Flex Down Mortgages)


And of course the Stress Test comes into play.


If you don’t know about the stress test, the short version is that we have to qualify your mortgage application at either your contract rate plus two per cent or the Bank of Canada Benchmark rate, whichever is higher. The contract rate means the actual rate you will be approved at.


This calculation was a lot easier when fixed rates were below 3.25 per cent as we could use the Benchmark rate of 5.25 per cent and be certain of our numbers.


Right now most lenders have 4.89 per cent (plus or minus a little) available for a five year fixed rate on an insured mortgage. So I would run your calculations at 6.89 per cent and have a rate hold in place for you to be certain of your price point.


Easy, right?


Now we move onto the lender end of things. As an example, some lenders will use the full amount of CTC income. Others will only use a percentage.


Some lenders will accept down payment from the First Time Home Buyer’s Incentive program while others won’t.


Some lenders will finance properties with wood foundations, while others won’t.


You get the picture here – the calculations that work with one lender to maximize your price point may not work with the lender that will actually finance the home you’ve written your offer on.


My best advice if you are venturing into the world of home ownership is to take your time and do your homework. One of my columns from November talks about the challenges you can face if you don’t have your ducks in a row.


In many markets we need to help you maximize your mortgage amount just to get you into the market, so it will likely be several conversations before you have an exact number nailed down. Be patient with the process and learn as much as you can before you write an offer. The time invested upfront will help to make the process a smoother one for you.

Tracy Head

Mortgage Broker

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Is this the right time to buy a home?

By Tracy Head • October 4, 2025
Is this the right time to buy a home? Who has your best interests at heart? Buying a home can be either an incredibly exciting experience or a very stressful time. Or it can be a combination of both. Part of the challenge can be committing to the decision to move forward with buying a home. How do you know if you are ready? How do you know if this is the right time to buy? I love working with first-time home buyers. I particularly love when they reach out well ahead of time to do their research and get their ducks in a row. I have been working with one such young lady. She has been watching for the right home to pop up. She fell in love with one of the listings that she viewed and moved forward with an offer. She reached out to her investment advisor to make arrangements to move the funds she needed for her deposit from her investments to her bank account. Oddly he did not reply to her three phone calls nor multiple emails. She was forced to walk into his office to deal with this. When she got there he essentially told her she was foolish for buying a home. She should leave her funds in her investments and continue to save with him. She agonized for a few days and ultimately collapsed her offer. He told her that this house, over the long run, was going to cost her $1,000,000. The purchase price was $650,000. The total of the purchase price plus interest over the long run seemed like an astronomical sum. He persuaded her that she would be better off continuing to rent and that at the end of the same time period she would have over $1,000,000 in her investment account. That’s all well and good in theory. In the meantime she still needs a place to live. And there are no guarantees as to what investments will do over time, nor what property values will do. I did some math to see what this actually looked like long term. We have to make some assumptions that the financial advisor is good at what he does and that her investments will do well over the long term. As a rule real estate appreciates over time and rent increases over time. That being said, here is the math I did. Making some assumptions that the mortgage rate stays the same and your rent never increases: $2400 rent per month x 360 months (30 years) = $864,000 $2833 per month mortgage payment x 360 months = 1,019,880 (monthly payments / I suggest you go bi-weekly to pay off quicker) At the end of 30 years renting you have nothing to show for the $864,000 you’ve paid out. At the end of 30 years paying your mortgage you will have a home free and clear – normally real estate increases in value over time so in theory it will be worth way more than what you’ve paid. If you wait another year to buy $2400 x 12 = $28,800 towards someone else’s mortgage. Here’s the wild card. If you choose to rent and choose to invest in a portfolio instead of buying, even if your portfolio is worth $1,000,000 at the end of the same time frame you need to subtract the $864,000 you paid in rent. This leaves you with a net gain of $136,000. If you had purchased a home, your payments of $1,019,880 would be offset by the value of the home you purchased. In this case, assuming no change in value, you now have a home worth $650,000 paid off. The wild card to run these comparisons is how much you need to invest monthly to accumulate the $1,000,000. Either way, you are making this payment on top of your rent payment. Another wild card of course is what property values and investment portfolios do over time. We know rent will continue to increase and mortgage rates will change but I think it warrants looking at this from another perspective. I am not a proponent of aggressive scare tactics so was disappointed in how this advisor handled his conversation with her.  Some people are more cautious with their financial plans and I appreciate that. Being certain about your long-term goals will help you navigate the path forward that suits your own situation. Make sure you have trusted people in your corner as you make these big life decisions.

Reverse Mortgage Solutions

By Tracy Head • September 22, 2025
For every problem there’s a solution. Sometimes more than one. It seems like there is an ebb and flow in the types of mortgage products clients choose. Over the last few years I have definitely been fielding more inquiries about reverse mortgages. Although they are becoming more widely accepted, reverse mortgages had a lot of bad publicity. The negative press I’ve seen relates to the American housing market where predatory lenders were taking advantage of vulnerable seniors. Reverse mortgages in Canada are highly regulated so that this does not happen. For some clients it takes a while for them to wrap their heads around reverse mortgages as an (or the best) option for them. Particularly in the Okanagan we see many clients who are house-rich but cash poor. Or at least have limited income to cover their day-to-day living expenses. Sometimes even when the clients recognize that a reverse mortgage is the right plan for them their families or children have objections. When I am working with clients and we are looking at a reverse mortgage as an option I always invite them to include their families / children to our conversations. Often clients are too embarrassed to share with their children exactly how dire their finances are. Sometimes clients can’t get past the stigma of refinancing via a reverse mortgage because all their lives they have worked hard to make sure their mortgage is paid off. Cliché as it sounds, times have changed. The cost of living has risen far quicker than increases to pension income. A friend of mine shared a conversation he had with reverse mortgage clients and their children. The children were vocally opposed to their parents moving forward with a reverse mortgage. Paraphrasing a bit but it went like this: “The way I see it” he said “after completing a thorough review of your parents’ finances, we have three options. Downsizing isn’t an option as they are already in a condo. Number one, they carry on with the current mortgage that they can’t afford. Their expenses come to about $2,000 per month so you can each transfer them $1,000 per month to help cover their payments. Number two, your parents can sell and move in with one or the other of you. Third, we take a closer look at a reverse mortgage to see if that helps them stay in their home without any financial help from you.” Apparently there was a very long pause. After a more thorough conversation about the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage and answering more questions the family did indeed feel a reverse mortgage was the best option for their parents. If you (or your parents) are thinking about a reverse mortgage make sure you take your time and ask all the questions you need to so you are confident moving forward.  I have seen reverse mortgages have a profound impact on quality of life for many of my clients. I did not used to be a huge fan of reverse mortgages but have to say I am using them more often to help clients enjoy their retirement years without losing sleep trying to figure out how to cover their expenses.