Alternative Lending Provides You With Options

Kambi Heywood • August 15, 2024


Alternative lending refers to any lending practices that fall outside the normal banking channels. Alternative lenders think outside the box and offer solutions to Canadians who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for traditional mortgage financing.


In an ideal world, we’d all qualify for the best mortgage terms available. However, this isn’t the case. Securing the most favourable terms depends on your financial situation. Here are a few circumstances where alternative lending might make sense for you.


Damaged Credit


Bad credit doesn’t disqualify you from mortgage financing. Many alternative lenders look at the strength of your employment, income, and your downpayment or equity to offer you mortgage financing. Credit is important, but it’s not everything, especially if there is a reasonable explanation for the damaged credit.


When dealing with alternative lending, the interest rates will be a little higher than traditional mortgage financing. But if the choice is between buying a property or not, or getting a mortgage or not, having options is a good thing. Alternative lenders provide you with mortgage options. That’s what they do best.


So, if you have damaged credit, consider using an alternative lender to provide you with a short-term mortgage option. This will give you time to establish better credit and secure a mortgage with more favourable terms. Use an alternative lender to bridge that gap!


Self-Employment


If you run your own business, you most likely have considerable write-offs that make sense for tax planning reasons but don’t do so much for your verifiable income. Traditional lenders want to see verifiable income; alternative lenders can be considerably more understanding and offer competitive products.


As interest rates on alternative lending aren’t that far from traditional lending, alternative lending has become the home for most serious self-employed Canadians. While you might pay a little more in interest, oftentimes, that money is saved through corporate structuring and efficient tax planning.


Non-traditional income


Welcome to the new frontier of earning an income.


If you make money through non-traditional employment like Airbnb, tips, commissions, Uber, or Uber eats, alternative lending is more likely to be flexible to your needs.

 

Most traditional lenders want to see a minimum of two years of established income before considering income on a mortgage application. Not always so with alternative lenders, depending on the strength of your overall application.


Expanded Debt-Service Ratios


With the government stress test significantly lessening Canadians' ability to borrow, the alternative lender channel allows expanded debt-service ratios. This can help finance the more expensive and suitable property for responsible individuals.


Traditional lending restricts your GDS and TDS ratios to 35/42 or 39/44, depending on your credit score. However, alternative lenders, depending on the loan-to-value ratio, can be considerably more flexible. The more money you have as a downpayment, the more you’re able to borrow and expand those debt-service guidelines. It’s not the wild west, but it’s certainly more flexible.


Connect anytime


Alternative lending can be a great solution if your financial situation isn’t all that straightforward. The goal of alternative lending is to provide you with options. You can only access alternative lending through the mortgage broker channel.


Please connect anytime if you’d like to discuss mortgage financing and what alternative lending products might suit your needs; it would be a pleasure to work with you.

Kambi Heywood

Licensed Mortgage Broker

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Mortgages Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All

By Kambi Heywood • September 11, 2025
Why the Cheapest Mortgage Isn’t Always the Smartest Move Some things are fine to buy on the cheap. Generic cereal? Sure. Basic airline seat? No problem. A car with roll-down windows? If it gets you where you're going, great. But when it comes to choosing a mortgage? That’s not the time to cut corners. A “no-frills” mortgage might sound appealing with its rock-bottom interest rate, but what’s stripped away to get you that rate can end up costing you far more in the long run. These mortgages often come with severe limitations—restrictions that could hit your wallet hard if life throws you a curveball. Let’s break it down. A typical no-frills mortgage might offer a slightly lower interest rate—maybe 0.10% to 0.20% less. That could save you a few hundred dollars over a few years. But that small upfront saving comes at the cost of flexibility: Breaking your mortgage early? Expect a massive penalty. Want to make extra payments? Often not allowed—or severely restricted. Need to move and take your mortgage with you? Not likely. Thinking about refinancing? Good luck doing that without a financial hit. Most people don’t plan on breaking their mortgage early—but roughly two-thirds of Canadians do, often due to job changes, separations, relocations, or expanding families. That’s why flexibility matters. So why do lenders even offer no-frills mortgages? Because they know the stats. And they know many borrowers chase the lowest rate without asking what’s behind it. Some banks count on that. Their job is to maximize profits. Ours? To help you make an informed, strategic choice. As independent mortgage professionals, we work for you—not a single lender. That means we can compare multiple products from various financial institutions to find the one that actually suits your goals and protects your long-term financial health. Bottom line: Don’t let a shiny low rate distract you from what really matters. A mortgage should fit your life—not the other way around. Have questions? Want to look at your options? I’d be happy to help. Let’s chat.

Not All Mortgages Are Created Equally

By Kambi Heywood • August 28, 2025
A no-frills service or product is where non-essential features have been removed from the product or service to keep the price as low as possible. And while keeping costs low at the expense of non-essential features might be okay when choosing something like which grocery store to shop at, which economy car to purchase, or which budget hotel to spend the night, it’s not a good idea when considering which lender to secure mortgage financing. Here’s why. When securing mortgage financing, your goal should be to pay the least amount of money over the term. Your plan should include having provisions for unexpected life changes. Unlike the inconvenience of shopping at a store that doesn’t provide free bags, or driving a car without power windows, or staying at a hotel without any amenities, the so-called “frills” that are stripped away to provide you with the lowest rate mortgage are the very things that could significantly impact your overall cost of borrowing. Depending on the lender, a “no-frills” mortgage rate might be up to 0.20% lower than a fully-featured mortgage. And while this could potentially save you a few hundreds of dollars over a 5-year term, please understand that it could also potentially cost you thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars should you need to break your mortgage early. So if you’re considering a “no-frills” mortgage, here are a few of the drawbacks to think through: You'll pay a significantly higher penalty if you need to break your mortgage. You'll have limited pre-payment privileges. Potential limitations if you want to port your mortgage to a different property. You might be limited in your ability to refinance your mortgage (without incurring a considerable penalty). Simply put, a “no-frills” mortgage is an entirely restrictive mortgage that leaves you without any flexibility. There are many reasons you might need to keep your options open. You might need to break your term because of a job loss or marital breakdown, or maybe you decide to take a new job across the country, or you need to buy a property to accommodate your growing family. Life is unpredictable; flexibility matters. So why do banks offer a no-frills mortgage anyway? Well, when you deal with a single bank or financial institution, it’s the banker’s job to make as much money from you as possible, even if that means locking you into a very restrictive mortgage product by offering a rock bottom rate. Banks know that 2 out of 3 people break their mortgage within three years (33 months). However, when you seek the expert advice of an independent mortgage professional, you can expect to see mortgage options from several institutions showcasing mortgage products best suited for your needs. We have your best interest in mind and will help you through the entire process. A mortgage is so much more than just the lowest rate. If you have any questions about this, or if you’d like to discuss anything else mortgage-related, please get in touch. Working with you would be a pleasure!