Honestly, not much. The main difference is the timing of everything. With a pre-sale, you’re agreeing to buy a property that won’t be fully built for many months. 

Buying first also comes with risks. If you buy first, then sell your current home for less than you’d hoped, you run the risk of being ineligible for your financing for your new mortgage. 

Maybe you want to consider keeping your existing home as an investment, with a renter to help cover the cost. You can refinance to access the down payment for a new home and the mortgage interest you pay becomes tax deductible.

The bottom line: Every situation is different. Come to Hub and we’ll help you work out the right approach for you.

Before you even begin looking at pre-sale homes, it’s helpful to know how much you can afford—what size mortgage you can obtain. So it’s wise to start the mortgage pre-approval process early. The developer may ask for evidence of mortgage approval as a condition of your purchase—that’s another reason to start the process.

Once you fill out our online application, we’ll work through the approval process and find current rates. But we’ll continue to monitor the mortgage market as your home is being built. Then, around 120 days prior to your property being complete, we’ll lock down the best possible rate available.

No. Your mortgage does not start until your property is complete. That’s when you start making payments.

For most people, the minimum down payment you can make is 5 percent for the first $500,000 of the purchase price, and 10 percent for the portion between $500,000 and $999,999. For homes that cost $1 million and up, the minimum down payment is 20 percent of the purchase price.

So, for a $700,000 home, the minimum down payment is calculated like this:

$500,000 x 5% = $25,000

$200,000 x 10% = $20,000

For a total minimum down payment of $45,000.

If you have placed a 10 to 20 percent deposit down with the developer, you have the option of increasing or decreasing your total down payment upon completion.

Note: If you’re self-employed or have a weak credit score, you may need a larger down payment. 

There are a few additional costs to consider when buying a home. These may include legal fees, an appraisal expense, GST (on new and pre-sale homes), home inspection fee, and property transfer taxes. We’ll provide a detailed summary of the costs you can expect. Some good news: Unless your mortgage needs are extremely complex, which is very rare, our services do not cost you a dime.