The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive makes it easier for a person to buy a home and lower their monthly mortgage payments. This program is a shared equity mortgage. This means that the Government shares in the upside and downside of the property value. It allows you to borrow 5 or 10% of the purchase price of a home. You pay back the same percentage of the value of your home when you sell it or within a 25-year window.
It works like this:
- Home Buyer receives a 5% incentive of the home’s purchase price of $200,000, or $10,000. If the home value increases to $300,000 the Homeowner payback would be 5% of the current value or $15,000.
- The Home Buyer receives a 10% incentive of the home’s purchase price of $200,000, or $20,000 and the home value decreases to $150,000, your repayment value will be 10% of the current value or $15,000.
Just as the name implies, this incentive is for first-time homebuyers. You’re considered a first-time homebuyer if:
- Home Buyer has never purchased a home before
- Home Buyer did not occupy a home that you or your current spouse or common-law partner owned in the last 4 years (the 4-year period begins on January 1 of the fourth year before the Incentive is funded and ends 31 days before the date the Incentive is funded)
- Home Buyer recently experienced the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership (even if you don’t meet the other first-time home buyer requirements)
These are a few criteria to determine your eligibility for the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive:
- your total annual qualifying income doesn’t exceed $120,000
- your total borrowing is no more than 4 times your qualifying income
- you or your partner are a first-time homebuyer
- you are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or non-permanent resident authorized to work in Canada
- you meet the minimum down payment requirements with traditional funds (savings, withdrawal/collapse of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), or a non-repayable financial gift from a relative/immediate family member)
If you need assistance with improving your Credit Score to qualify for funding
Call Access Rebates at 905-678-6368.
