Joel DyckReal Broker SK Ltd.
Saskatoon · From the topic map

Can I afford to buy up?

Whether you can afford to buy up depends on the equity in your current home relative to Saskatoon's benchmark price of $444,700, and on whether your income still clears the mortgage stress test CMHC requires lenders to apply at the higher purchase price. It is an equity question before it is an income question.

Start with what your current home would actually sell for, not what an online estimate says, since public records cannot see permitted renovations or a finished secondary suite that a hand review would catch. That gap can be the difference between affording the move and coming up short.

From there, a lender requalifies you at the new price using CMHC's minimum down payment rule, 5 percent to $500,000 and 10 percent above, plus the usual closing costs of 4 to 6 percent for legal fees, adjustments and commission together. Those costs eat into the equity you are counting on to move.

The honest answer is a number, not a feeling, and it starts with what your current house is really worth. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

Still have a question?

Ask Joel directly. No form, no obligation, and a real answer even when the answer is that now is not the time to sell.