A lower down payment also means a larger insured mortgage and a higher monthly payment, so the lender's stress test becomes the real limiting factor rather than the down payment rule itself. Two buyers with the same price and down payment can qualify differently depending on other debt.
Stacking the Home Buyers' Plan, an RRSP withdrawal of up to $60,000, and a First Home Savings Account, up to $8,000 a year to a $40,000 lifetime limit, is how most first-time buyers here close the gap between what they have saved and what they want to put down.
Joel Dyck works alongside a mortgage broker to sequence the accounts and the offer correctly. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.