Renovate The Home You Are Buying!

Tanya Toye • March 5, 2025

The best place to start the mortgage process is with a pre-approval. But once you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage and you’ve been shopping with location in mind, what happens when you can’t find a suitable property?


There's no doubt about it; finding the perfect property within your price range is a difficult task, especially for first-time homebuyers. So, before buyer’s fatigue sets in, maybe you should consider adding the cost of renovations into your purchase.


Buying a property and including the cost of renovations into the mortgage is available through a program called purchase plus improvements. When purchasing a home, you can add the cost of home upgrades into your mortgage, making it a great option if you can’t find something move-in ready and aren’t afraid to do a little work!


But while this sounds simple enough, in all honestly, it’s quite the process. There are some pretty strict rules to follow, but nothing that you can’t handle with the guidance of an independent mortgage professional.


Here’s a quick overview of the process. Firstly, you must provide quotes to the lender ahead of time for the work you would like to complete. It’s good to note that the renovations will have to increase the value of the property accordingly. From there, the lender doesn’t give you the money to do the upgrades; you have to come up with that yourself. However, once the work has been completed and verified by an appraiser, the lender will reimburse you and include the money in your mortgage.


This program isn’t for everyone. Buying a home is a stressful endeavour in and of itself. The added stress of having to undertake renovations right away might not be a good idea. But then again, if you have the financial wherewithal to handle the cost of renovations and like the idea of making it yours from the start, then this might be just the option you’ve been looking for!


Please connect directly; it would be a pleasure to walk through the exact process and outline what securing a purchase plus improvements would look like for you!


Tanya Toye

Mortgage Broker

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Establishing New Credit

By Tanya Toye • June 25, 2025
If you’re new to managing personal finance and you want to learn about credit, you’ve come to the right place. Establishing new credit is a bit of a catch-22. To build a credit history, you need credit. But it’s hard to get credit without having a credit history. So, where do you start? Well, the first thing you should know is that building credit takes time. It’s not something that happens overnight. If you’re looking to secure mortgage financing, you will want to have a minimum of two trade lines (credit cards, loans, or lines of credit) with a minimum limit of $2500, reporting for at least two years. If you don’t have any credit yet, the best time to get started is right now. However, that may be difficult because, as we've already identified, without a credit history, most lenders won’t feel confident about taking a chance on you. What’s the solution? Consider a secured credit card. With a secured credit card, you make a deposit upfront that matches the amount you want to borrow. A reasonable amount would be $1000 deposited on a single secured credit card. You then use your secured credit card to make household purchases and regular utility payments, paying off the total balance each month. If you default on the money borrowed for whatever reason, the lender will retain the money you put up as collateral. When looking for a secured credit card, be sure to ask whether they report to the two nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If the credit card company doesn't report, the credit card account will be useless for your purposes; move on until you find a company that reports to both credit bureaus. Once your secured credit card begins reporting to the credit bureaus, you begin to have a credit score; usually, this takes about three months. Now you can start to seek out a second trade line in the form of an unsecured credit card. Don’t forget to ensure that this card reports to both of the credit reporting agencies. Another option at this point could be a car loan. From here, you simply want to make all your payments on time! But what happens if you’re looking to secure mortgage financing before you have a fully established credit report? Well, if you have someone who would consider co-signing, you can certainly go that route. The mortgage application will depend on their income and credit report, but your name will be on the mortgage. Hopefully, when the mortgage is up for renewal, you’ll have the established credit required to remove them from the mortgage and qualify on your own. Although establishing credit takes a minimum of two years, it really begins with putting together a plan. If you’d like to discuss anything credit or mortgage-related, please get in touch!

Proposed GST Rebate Could Save First-Time Homebuyers Thousands

By Tanya Toye • June 20, 2025
There’s promising news out of Ottawa for first-time homebuyers that could significantly reduce the cost of getting into the housing market when purchasing a newly built or substantially renovated home. On May 27 th , the federal government proposed legislation to provide GST relief on new home purchases for first time buyers: A full rebate on purchases of up to $1 million and a partial rebate on homes between $1Million and $1.5Million. The proposal still needs to be passed by parliament, but this change could translate into savings of up to $50,000, making a big difference in both the short- and long-term homeownership affordability. In today’s high-price environment, first-time buyers often struggle to save the required down payment while also qualifying for a large enough mortgage. By removing or reducing the 5% GST on qualifying new builds and substantially renovated properties, this policy eases some of that financial burden. A recent report from Desjardins Economics shows these savings are more than just hypothetical. A first-time buyer purchasing a new home at the $1 million mark (inclusive of tax) could see a reduction of around $240 on their monthly mortgage payments. This money could then be redirected toward savings, home improvements or simply making life more manageable. Plus, with the tax removed, the required down payment is also slightly lower, which helps ease upfront costs. Maximizing support for first-time homebuyers For parents helping children buy their first home – whether through gifting the down payment or co-signing a mortgage – this change presents an opportunity to maximize that support. A lower purchase price and more affordable carrying costs make it easier for younger buyers toqualify for financing and remain financially stable after closing day. If you’re considering buying a newly built or substantially renovated home, now is a great time to talk to your mortgage broker about how this GST rebate could impact your mortgage strategy – and your bottom line. Have questions about your first-time homebuyer mortgage options or wish to book a free review to see if your mortgage is still right for you?  I’m here to help: 604-788-8693 | tanya@tanyatoye.ca