Are You
Ready to Buy?

This is a plain-language estimate only, meant to point you in the right direction, not a pre-approval. It uses the federal stress-test floor rate of 5.25% (rather than your actual contract rate) as the qualifying rate, a 39% GDS / 44% TDS qualification limit, and the insured mortgage down payment tiers in effect since December 2024 (5% up to $500,000, 10% on the portion up to $1.5 million, 20% above that or where an insured mortgage isn't used). It assumes $250/month in property tax and $100/month in heating costs as placeholders, since your actual property's costs aren't known yet, and it assumes a 30-year amortization for the first-time buyer stream (available to all first-time buyers) or 25 years for the sell-and-buy stream, unless your next home is newly constructed. Since only a total outstanding debt balance is entered (not a monthly payment), it assumes a monthly qualifying payment equal to 3% of that balance per month, the convention many lenders use for revolving debt (credit cards, lines of credit) when the actual payment isn't specified; installment loans with a fixed payment (car loans, personal loans) will calculate differently in a real application. The sell-and-buy stream estimates selling costs at 5% commission plus roughly $1,500 in legal fees. None of this accounts for mortgage default insurance premiums, condo fees, or your specific credit and income documentation. See the insured mortgage cap article for more on the rules behind this calculation, and let's confirm your real number with a full pre-approval.