Poppy2

I have done a quick search on this and have got a little perplexed, I have seen different answers and I guess this means that there is some degree of variability in this matter?

We are moving to NS in the coming months, on a 2 year Work Permit. We aim to get there and get the PR underway immediately.

I have been looking at houses and using mortgage calculators, without considering that there might be a larger deposit required of us if we are not Permanent Residents. This alarms me as funds are not limitless and we have other purchases such as cars to buy when there also.

So what has been the experience of most poeple in this position? Are there varaibles between provinces, banks and other lenders??

Clearly, the more we can put into a mortgage, the better, but I would struggle if we were facing more than 20% and we will need to look at lower cost housing, which isnt a great prospect after seeing houses that we were comfortable with.

Thanks in advance, and apologies if this is re-hashing a recent thread I have over looked!!!!

London-England-Lads

Who do you bank with? We are with HSBC and are premier customers, we were pre approved for a 60/40% automatic mortgage.

If you dont bank with HSBC - I know they will help you set up a bank account for a small fee. I am not sure though if you automatically get approved for a mortgage, unless you are a Premier account holder.

The one bonus for doing this is that you get all your credit history and Bank History transferred over, so do not need to start afresh !!!

Rob

Poppy2

Thanks for that, but we live in New Zealand and though we were customers with HSBC over 4 years ago, we came here and got a local mortgage and assumed we would do so again. Also 40-60% mortgage is definately not what we can afford. Thanks though!

destinationnovascotia

Don't know the answer, but I have an appointment with a bank in Halifax in 2 weeks to open accounts and discuss all things financial.

I will ask if you don't get an answer before.

Lynn

SAW 04

Hi,

Your credit history is not transferred but instead its called a "behavioral rating" This is an internal system and will not help with other forms of credit such as store cards and car finance etc.

SAW 04

moondevil

When we was over we spoke to the bank and asked if $100k was ok on a $350k house

As we are still waiting to sell the house and dont want to sink every penny in a morgage, etc etc etc

He was really pleased that we had 100k for deposit and said no problems, we are with RBC and that was in ontario

Hope that helps, i would ask which ever bank you decide to go with
It will also depends on your wages and the repayment side.

Good luck

citicat

5% TO 10% in alberta we got told when asking in lloydminster and other 2yr work permit drivers was saying 5% to 10% deposit


ps HSBC premier account we have that but credit history is only your hsbc history and not transferable or goes on your canadian credit history,
mick

Pretty Flowers

In my experience it's better to go through a mortgage broker than deal with the banks directly. My mortgage advisor negoitated a rate of 3.5% fixed for five years for my first mortgage. AFAIK at the time the general rate was about 5%.

I've found that things work much differently here than in the UK where you could directly compare rates from each institution and shop around for the best rate yourself.

Either way, the best way forward for you would be to speak to a broker...

JonboyE

The big banks used to want a 35% deposit for a someone new to Canada. This may have changed. Mortgage brokers sometimes have access to other lenders so may be able source a mortgage with a lower deposit.

MikeUK

Maybe for PR without work, but if your on a work permit with a job my experience as been between 5% and 10% deposit

Novocastrian

You're mixing up down payment with the size of the mortgage. From what I've heard, banks will commonly lend up to 65% of the appraised value to WP holders. i.e. a 35% deposit. The 5-10% figure is the usual amount that the realtor holds in escrow between the acceptance of the offer and the closing date.

Poppy2

Yowzer - 35% puts a crimp in my plans. But we did certainly intend going to a mortgage broker as we have never found the large banks in the UK or NZ have been terribly competitive.

We have been looking up to $250,000 based on one wage as I wont be working more than very part-time with 3 small children and no interest in finding and paying for child care. And we simply dont have buckets of money coming over with us, especially after buying 2 reliable cars and electronics, keep money in savings for PR and other necessary hurdles. Its a limited budget and really daunting!

Yes Lynn, would you ask when you are there??

destinationnovascotia

No problem.

PS. You could probably get quite a nice house for less that $250,000 especially if you live out of town.

MB-Realtor

The banking world is currently in melt down (or so it would seem from the reaction of several of them)

Lending criteria has been in flux with some banks, due to the sub-prime crisis. its not going to get any better for some time.

I would advise that you contact a mortgage broker in the province that you wish to reside, and then you will get an accurate response.

Poppy2

Yep, definately will find out what a broker says. Thanks for that. Rather alarming thinking of lending being in crisis.

Lynn - we were hoping for an acre+ and a 4 bed house, with very little to do to it, all in 20-30 mins from the hospital (Capital Health). We just need to get there and have a good look around. We need to know where the good schools are too as we have a 5 and a 10 year old. May consider renting for 6 months whilst getting PR if it means getting a better mortgage deposit. Cant wait to hear what you think when you get back from your trip!!! I am so excited for you!!!!