Advice for First time home buyer

Moving Here
1

Hello all,

For those of you who bought your first home within a year or two of moving to Canada, did your US credit scores/reports have any impact on the purchase? Just curious. We only have a year of credit so far in Canada so I’m wondering if that impacts home buying in any way.

Thanks!

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2

For us:

  1. No impact of US credit history, they may ask you just for documentation purpose.
  2. You could do 35% down payment and no Canadian history needed => RBC is really helpful with it. Let me know if you need contact of RBC mortgage officer - he is Edmonton based but worked across Canada. He did our mortgage without any issue.
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3

Thank you for this! I don’t think we can do 35% down yet. Will explore our options.

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4

Our mortgage broker did ask for US credit history and some of the lenders did check. Not sure if it did play a role or not.
Having said that our credit scores were up within 6 months. I think we were surprised it started at 600-ish when we landed and got our first credit cards. We got a place in less than a year, so don’t think it matters if you haven’t been here for long.

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5

Do you need any income proof if doing 35% down payment?
or you can still get mortage without a job if you do 35% down?

6

Yes - RBC did ask our incomes, I think that might be (not 100% sure) one of the parameters that goes in determining the decision - They just want to make sure monthly installments are covered.

7

This is a possibly related thread. We ended up putting down 35% down and got a mortgage with one of the new to Canada plans. There have been suggestions from others there that you could get a mortgage with 5% down if 35% down isn’t a possibility.

From what I remember vaguely from my conversation with the mortgage broker, I think he said that if you had filed taxes in Canada even once that he could get us in the normal route but this was before we had filed taxes so we went the other route.

If you would like I can connect you to our mortgage broker, he’s based out of Surrey B.C. and is very knowledgeable and is a no pressure no commitment type of person. Drop me a DM with your name, city/province and email and I’ll set up a connection. I’m not sure if he serves other provinces than BC but may be able to answer specific questions or redirect you to someone who can.

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8

I bought my first home in Canada almost after a year of landing, however don’t remember any bank asking for more than 20%. I got pre-approval from RBC and National Bank, and both were fine with my credit score in Canada. RBC did look at US credit history, but don’t think it affects any material decision. As long as you can prove you have the means to repay, and a solid balance in the bank account for the minimum deposit required ( 5% or 20% depending on 1 mil + ), banks are fine.

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9

Recent buyer here as well. We weren’t asked for US credit history. Just employment and income proofs etc. Pretty much similar experience as others have reported.

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10

Thank you all so much! This is truly very helpful. Much appreciated :slight_smile:

11

I would recommend talk with mortgage officer - I am sure they will have some other options. Read estate in Canada is a great investment even if you sell it in couple of months - you get good gain.

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12

So it was okay to just have a 1-year or less of employment history for you?

13

Yes it was. In fact I had switched jobs recently, so RBC asked me to have my closing date after the 3 month probation mark which was okay for us.

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14

So good to know. Thanks again :slight_smile:

15

@rangarajanm - Do they care if your employer is from Canada or US? Can I just show my US employer payslips?

16

Im not sure about that. Big banks may have some scrutiny around this. Best to check with your mortgage agent.