When looking to get a mortgage there are a variety of things that are taken into consideration. These things are your credit score, income, expenses, employment duration, and job type (i.e. self-employed vs not self-employed).

When Mortgage Agents talk about “A” side lending (“A” LENDERS) they are talking about the major banks, credit unions and financial institutions (e.g., BMO, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, RBC, and TD) or credit unions. “A” type lending is for clientele with above average credit scores obtained from Equifax, reliable individual or household income, secure and long-term employment, and are not self-employed. When it comes to “A” lenders these major institutions are federally regulated, this mean that all clientele that are applying for a mortgage are stress tested at either two percent above posted rate of the financial institution or five-year average posted rate, whichever is higher.

“B” lenders are aimed towards the clientele where their credit score may be lacking with a bad history, your self-employed, or making a lot of cash – e.g., Wages, tips, sales. When going with these lenders you may be subject to paying a bit more interest than if you were going to an of the major Six banks, but there are more leniencies with these types of lenders. Unlike the major banks, lenders that deal in “B” lender though still being big financial institutions are not subject to doing stress test because they are not federally regulated to do so. Making it easier and a more common route to apply and receive a mortgage since the stress test was introduced.

Private lenders are just that, private. These are people that lend out their money as first and second mortgages as a form of investment. They tend to offer mortgages at higher rates and are typically used for those that are considered high risk and are usually chosen as a last resort.

As a mortgage agent Richard Bacchus is able to go to any bank, financial firm, or private lender to get you your mortgage. Some of the ones that Richard Bacchus, a CENTUM mortgage representative uses are:

• Equitable Bank
• First National Financial
• HomeTrust
• Street Capital
• Manulife
• Merix
• MCAP
• Marathon Mortgage Corp
• Lendwise
• TD
• Scotia Bank