Having a house for us is very important. This is where our proof of fund or settlement fund came from when we were applying to come to Canada in 2015.
Ever since we landed in 2016, it has always been one of our dreams to have a home here in Canada as we are not use to renting. We have been looking forward to it because we believe paying for a home mortgage is way much better than renting an apartment. Having a home is a very large and secure investment any mature individual desires to have.
If you never have a home for the last four (4) years in the maple leaf country then you are considered a first-time home buyer. Income, debt, assets and employment status are important factors to be considered for a home loan. However, credit scores also plays a very important key role on whether or not a person will be approved for the mortgage.
We were told that to have a good credit score or to make it higher at least is to pay off your credit cards on a monthly basis to which we did. And since we are newcomers, debt is a lesser factor for us as we only have our car loan.
In December 2017, we tried to apply for a home mortgage on a property owned by Colpitts Realty. Almost everything inside of that townhouse is my dream color, stainless steel appliances, kitchen island and so on. It just that it is not a bungalow type. A bungalow house has always been my dream home but my husband has a weak back and he does not want to do the plowing on winter time nor can I do that. Thus, we agreed to settle on a townhouse.
During that time we were pre-approved by CIBC with its cash back program, signed a contract for closing, gave a downpayment but backed out at the end. Why cash back? Because we were hoping to use first our money for our IVF procedure as downpayment but backed out because my husband's aunt told us that the cash back is no good as it will give you higher monthly instalments and interest rate. We also went to our bank, RBC, to inquire or ask an opinion and that is also what they told us and even asked us if what do you prefer, a house or the procedure? Of course, the procedure. That's when we told ourselves, it's not yet time.
This leaves us in despair on how to have a house and at the same time do our IVF(s) procedure. Then we remember the advise of my husband's aunt and also a little knowledge I learned from my training with H&R Block which is to put more money on your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). Annually, there is a required amount an individual can save on his/her RRSPs. What we did, we put 5% contribution each on our RRSPs via our weekly salary deduction. In addition, the Government allows a one-time big amount deposit on our RRSP to which we did but bearing in mind also not to go over your limit for the year. Then unknowingly, after a year of doing this, we finally save more than enough of the 5% downpayment and additional 1.5% for the processing and miscellaneous fees needed in buying a house. The Government allows first-time home buyers to borrow up to $25,000.00 each on our RRSP as downpayment, tax-free. This, however, must be repaid for within 15 years as the amount is only borrowed from your RRSPs. A good deal for us who is undergoing infertility treatments. At least we can do 2 things at once.
On this note, we started looking again for a prospective house. We also talked that it is better we get a house now than spending so much again in our infertility treatments without savings. I mean everything is just going out of our savings and we were thinking when we have a house then at least we have something coming in for us not as a saving but at least an investment. And so, the last quarter of 2018 has been a habit for us both to go house hunting on weekends. And during those trips, we always go back to this new townhouses being built at Mia Circle. Funny but we've entered every unit of the townhouses there, LOL.
Thus, in January this year, we tried applying for a home loan again but were denied at pre-approval stage. Why? Because of my credit score. I only have 611 when we applied and my husband at 660 plus range. How did this happened? As per my last post, my father died in October 2018 and that we went home to the Philippines. I used my credit card to purchase our tickets with a limit of $4,000.00. Our tickets cost is almost $4,000.00 plus other expenses that we need to pay off when we came back in Canada. This put my credit score in a bad situation because according to the bank using almost everything of your credit limit is not a good idea plus the fact that we have not pay the full amount of our tickets for at least 2 months because of course of some "other" expenses. Our bank told us to get rid of my bad credit history first from October cut off and give another 2 or 3 months (from January) before trying to apply for a home loan again.
This has saddened us, especially me, because I really wanted the townhouse at Mia Circle but we are hoping there will still be a unit left for us in 2 or 3 months time even in Cojo Lane (just beside the Mis Circle).
Then came a message from the Realtor of Mia Circle last week of February telling us that a unit on Mia Circle is to be vacated. She explained to us that the unit was offered for rent-to-own basis to a family but because of personal reason they withdraw after 2 months. The Realtor has offered that unit to us because of my husband's persistency on asking if there is/are still unit/s left at Cojo Lane (not Mia Circle because we know it is all filled up), LOL. We told her that we are still fixing my credit score history and we still have until April, at most, to apply for home mortgage. The Realtor together with the owner told us that if we really want the house, we can give a downpayment for reservation and do a rent-to-own for March until we get approved. To which we did because we don't want to let go of the unit especially that it is in Mia Circle and that the cabinet colours is the one that I really wanted (dark espresso with stainless steel appliances, wink, wink, ooohhh, plus kitchen island). So, by February we sent out our three-month notice to our landlord that we will be vacating our apartment end of April.
We paid our $1,000.00 downpayment and a $1,300.00 rent-to-own fee ($600.00 for rent; $600.00 as additional downpayment and $100.00 as building maintenance fee [required fee for townhouses]) last March while still renting in our apartment. We applied for a home mortgage end of March to which we were finally approved but will not go on the mathematical and bank details for personal reason. Just remember that when you wish to use your RRSP as downpayment, you need to fill up Form T1036 (Request to Withdraw Funds from an RRSP) and send it to your institution where you save your RRSPs for them to process it. Take note that you cannot withdraw all of your RRSPs and that a 90-day period contribution is not deductible as per the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) regulation. We just added up an amount of roughly $125.00 to our rent of $775.00 for our monthly home mortgage plus building maintenance fee of $100.00 but exclusive of the Property Tax.
I thought soulmate is only applicable for humans. I never thought it can also be applied in a house. Meant to be, LOL. Imagine always visiting the place almost every Sunday. Planning this and that so we can have it and out of the blue, we did. We are officially homeowners to one of this unit below.
Now, we are done with one of our dreams. Off to the next one, as we just celebrated our third year in Canada yesterday which means Canadian citizenship application is next but of course having our little R is still our main priority. In God's time, just a little more baby steps.
We paid our $1,000.00 downpayment and a $1,300.00 rent-to-own fee ($600.00 for rent; $600.00 as additional downpayment and $100.00 as building maintenance fee [required fee for townhouses]) last March while still renting in our apartment. We applied for a home mortgage end of March to which we were finally approved but will not go on the mathematical and bank details for personal reason. Just remember that when you wish to use your RRSP as downpayment, you need to fill up Form T1036 (Request to Withdraw Funds from an RRSP) and send it to your institution where you save your RRSPs for them to process it. Take note that you cannot withdraw all of your RRSPs and that a 90-day period contribution is not deductible as per the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) regulation. We just added up an amount of roughly $125.00 to our rent of $775.00 for our monthly home mortgage plus building maintenance fee of $100.00 but exclusive of the Property Tax.
I thought soulmate is only applicable for humans. I never thought it can also be applied in a house. Meant to be, LOL. Imagine always visiting the place almost every Sunday. Planning this and that so we can have it and out of the blue, we did. We are officially homeowners to one of this unit below.
Now, we are done with one of our dreams. Off to the next one, as we just celebrated our third year in Canada yesterday which means Canadian citizenship application is next but of course having our little R is still our main priority. In God's time, just a little more baby steps.
