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Mortgage Payment and Affordability

What the payment is, and separately, what a lender will actually approve once the stress test is applied.

Calculator

Two different questions. The payment is arithmetic. What you qualify for is decided at a rate roughly two per cent above the one you are actually paying, which is why most people's own estimate is too high.

Car, loans, and card minimums.

Enter a price, a down payment and a rate to begin.

Call or text (647) 448-4857

This tells you what the arithmetic says. A broker tells you what a lender will actually do. Happy to introduce you to one.

How it calculates

  • The payment uses Canadian semi-annual compounding, which is how Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are quoted.
  • The qualifying rate is the greater of your contract rate plus two per cent, or 5.25 per cent.
  • GDS is the qualifying mortgage payment plus property tax, an estimated heating cost, and half of any condo fee, over gross income.
  • TDS adds your other monthly debt payments.
  • Minimum down payment is five per cent on the first $500,000, ten per cent to $1.5M, and twenty per cent above that, where default insurance is unavailable.
Why your ratios might pass here and fail at a bank

Lenders count a payment on credit you have available even if you have never used it. An untouched line of credit can reduce what you qualify for by a six-figure sum, and it will not show up in the "other monthly debt" figure you typed above.

Not sure where to start? Fifteen minutes on the phone will tell you.

Call or text (647) 448-4857

Something missing?

If there's a question this site doesn't answer, send a quick note below and I'll try to write the guide. Most of what's here started out as answers to questions I get asked often.

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Thanks, I'll be in touch shortly.

Usually the same day, and always within one business day. If it's urgent, call or text (647) 448-4857.