Calgary Mortgage Pre Approvals 

Pre-qualified or pre-approved what’s the difference?

Mortgage pre-qualification is usually quick and easy.  It typically involves a verbal confirmation of your personal financial information and rarely requires having any documentation available for your mortgage professional. The broker will give you a quick estimate of your Maximum Purchase Price. Pre-qualification is not a guaranteed loan.  It’s an estimate.  

Mortgage pre-approval is the real deal.  You are providing your documents to a Mortgage Professional and they are confirming your employment status and down payment. They are also going to pull your credit report.  If you’re pre-approved, you can negotiate on your Real Estate purchase knowing that your mortgage is solid. A pre-approval is not a guarantee that you will receive a specific rate or mortgage from a specific lender, as rates and product vary depending on submission date.  

The Mortgage Pre Approval process should be three steps:

1. An Initial Call with your mortgage professional to establish goals, your estimated borrowing power and discuss the process in detail. (approximately 15 minutes)
2. Fill out your application and provide all relevant documentation to the mortgage professional (approximately 30-60 minutes)
3. Creation of a “Firm Pre Approval” that outlines all of your desired scenarios

The Mortgage Approval Process in Detail

The preapproval process should be simple, organized and should help you progress towards your goal of Home Ownership. 

Initial Discussion

In this stage, the mortgage professional gets to know you.  They will ask questions about your goals, about your income, your debts and the down payment that you’ve saved to purchase your new home. 

Step 1) Initial Call (15 minute conversation)

During the phone conversation the goal is to quickly determine whether you can meet the requirements to purchase a home.  Your mortgage professional will also be starting to come to an estimate of how much money you can borrow, and whether you are ready to proceed with the formal application process. 

If you decided it’s the right time to purse Home Ownership, your mortgage professional will email you a link to an online application and a list of the documents required to complete a FIRM mortgage pre approval.  

Pre-Approval

In this stage the mortgage professional reviews your application, supporting documents, and credit report in detail to determine your maximum purchase price and the rates and mortgage products available to you.

Step 2) Application & Documents (this should take about 30-60 minutes of your time if your documents are organized). 

The mortgage application will ask you for: 

• Your personal information including name, address, birthday, email, phone number and Social insurance number.
• A 3 year employment history 
• A 3 year address history 
• Details on any other properties that you own

The document checklist will vary depending on how you make your income, but here are some things to think about collecting if you’re wanting to start the mortgage Pre approval process:

 Income Documents:

• A letter of Employment stating your annual salary or hourly wages
• Your most recent paystub
• Your tax documents from Canada Revenue agency, like your T1 general and Notice of Assessment
• Your Financial statements if you own your own business
• Your Child Tax Benefit statements if you have children and receive Child Tax Benefit monthly from the government. 
• Your separation agreement if you receive child support or alimony payments

Down Payment Documents:

• Bank statements
• Investment statements 
• RRSP statements 

If you own other properties:

• Mortgage statements
• Property Tax statements
• Lease Agreements 

Once your mortgage professional has received all of these documents they will be begin to work on the file and soon be able to obtain an exact number for your Maximum Purchase Price and a very close estimate on the rate you will achieve for your mortgage. 

Our mortgage professionals will accept documents via email or via a secure document portal.  They are also able to receive documents at the office!  Just drop by with the documents and we’ll scan them for you!

Step 3) Pre-Approval  (24 hours)

Once all of the documents have been received, our mortgage professionals will start creating your file.  If, during the discovery call, you were interested in comparing scenarios for different down payment options or lending programs, they will create multiple pre approval scenarios for you.

This is the stage that the Mortgage Professionals also reach out to the lenders and make sure that they are on board to support your file and lend you the funds required to purchase your new home.  A good mortgage professional always likes to have a few options for you! 

At this point that your file has been pre-approved.  This means that providing your income or debt load doesn’t change – you can shop for a home for the next 90 days with confidence!  If something does change with you income or debt, you should reach back out to your mortgage professional immediately to update your pre approval numbers. 

Why get pre-approved?

• You’ll be able to narrow your Home Search to view only properties that you can afford.  
• You will be able to properly budget for your down payment and monthly mortgage payment.
• Your Real Estate agent will be able to provide you with better service and watch for purchase opportunities that apply directly to you.
• When you have a firm Mortgage Pre Approval, sellers will take you more seriously and you may be able to negotiate better terms for your purchase.
• Some lenders may give you a rate hold so you don’t have to worry about rising interest rates while you look for a new home.
• This process is entirely free to you and you’re under no obligation to proceed with the mortgage.