A Down Payment Loan With No Payments for Five Years

If you are a first-time buyer in Newfoundland and Labrador, the province will lend you your down payment, and it will not ask for a cent back for five years.

It is called the First-Time Homebuyers Program, and Newfoundland and Labrador Housing runs it. If you qualify, the program lends you up to 5 percent of the purchase price of your first home. In the St. John's area and Labrador that can be as much as $17,500. In regional centres like Gander, Corner Brook, and Clarenville it can reach $15,000, and in the rest of the province $12,500. On top of the loan, there is a grant of up to $1,500 toward your legal costs, and a grant never has to be paid back.

The loan itself is patient. For the first five years there are no payments and no interest at all. After that, the payments spread out over fifteen years, and the interest rate will never be more than prime minus one percent. You can also pay it back early if you want to.

Who qualifies? Every buyer on the mortgage has to be a first-time buyer. Households earning under $85,000 a year can qualify for the full amount, and households earning up to $95,000 can still qualify for part of it, on a sliding scale. The home has to be under the price cap for your area.

Two honest warnings. The money goes first come, first served, and when it runs out the program can close without notice. It is still listed on the Housing Corporation's website today, which means money is still available, but that can change. And the program needs one thing from you before you can apply: a mortgage pre-approval, in a signed letter.

That letter is my job. One timing note if you already have an offer accepted on a home: Housing needs your application at least 15 business days before your closing date, so do not leave this to the last week.

And checking whether you qualify takes about thirty seconds with this quick calculator: https://brokrbuilt.ca/first-time-home-buyer-program/715S-82pC7zKfe9SmUHsL6CUIsJtv76q

Book a call and we will run your numbers together: https://calendly.com/toniamercer-the-mortgage-missus/dc