So you’re ready to buy a new home? Whether you’re a first time home buyer or you’re looking to upgrade or downsize, the first step in the home buying process is financing. In Canada home buyers need to have a minimum of a 5% down payment but there’s a lot more to know when it comes to financing your home. In this guide, we will cover the main three steps in the home financing process:

1. Choosing a mortgage lender
2. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage
3. Making important home financing decisions

Step 1 – Choose the right mortgage lender for you

There are a lot of options out there when you are choosing a mortgage lender. We recommend that you talk to a couple of different mortgage lenders to see what they offer and to make sure that their communication style works for you. There are three main categories of mortgage lenders.

1. Banks
2. Credit Unions
3. Mortgage Brokers

We compiled the pro’s and con’s of each type below:

Canadian Banks 

The major banks in Canada...