Using the Equity in Your Home to Purchase Other Properties

What do Bob & Kathy of Calgary and John & Betty from Ottawa both have in common? They both happened to contact my office this past week and they both were trying to figure out mortgage options to finance the purchase of a vacant parcel of land somewhere 3 or 4 hours west of their home cities. For now, the plan was to use the place as a weekend and summer getaway and God knows they could use a getaway in this crazy Covid-ridden world! Down the road, each couple will eventually build a retirement home or cottage.

The job market and economy isn’t what it used to be.  Mike had worked for many years in Canada’s well-paying resource sector but like many others lost his job as international employers abandoned Canada in favour of other parts of the world with less political interference and more investment certainty. With a wife and young children to support, Mike did what he had to do and searched for work overseas. Finally, he got an offer and took up employment with a large multi-national engineering firm with headquarters in the Netherlands and to be paid in Euros.

In this blog, we are going to talk about how a client of mine was able to rearrange her finances such that she and her partner could mortgage qualify for a $400K target house in their neighborhood.