Questions and Answers About Mortgages Q: My parents are willing to give me some help with the down payment, is this allowed? A:Absolutely, this is called a non-repayable gift and I have a standard letter that will need to be completed in this situation. Q: I want to save up my down payment over the next several months can I still go ahead and buy a new home from a builder and not take ownership until next summer or fall? A: Yes you can. We call these graduated deposits. There are two benefits to doing this: You will lock in the purchase price of the home I can guarantee today’s low interest rate for up to 1 year when you purchase from a builder. In fact, you will receive the lowest interest rate between your date of application to your closing date (the date you take possession.) Q: I have heard that you have to be on the job for one full year before you can get approved. Is this correct? A: Not entirely. You need to be in the same line of work for a least 1 year. So if you worked at another company doing basically the same work, and you are off probation at your present employment, then there should not be any problems. Q: A couple of years ago, I has some credit problems, and got behind in my payments. Everything was paid off over 1.5 years ago and since then my credit has been good. What are my chances of being approved? A: Very good. If your bad debts have been paid off and you have maintained good credit over the past year, then there is a very good chance you will be approved. Q: Unfortunately, I went bankrupt several years ago and I have been discharged for two years. Am I able to obtain mortgage financing? A: As long as two full years have past since your discharge then yes you can be approved with as little as 5% down payment. However, you must have re-established credit and saved the 5% down payment. Even having satisfied these requirements, the nature of the bankruptcy may still impact your ability to obtain mortgage financing. Q: I have a fair amount of money in my RSP. Can I use this for my down payment? A: Yes, if you have not owned and lived in your primary place of residence for the past five years then you can withdraw up to $20,000 from your RSP. Provided you repay the amount withdrawn, back into your RSP over the next 15 years, and then it is not considered taxable income.