Mortgage Broker in Markham

One land transfer tax

Markham is in York Region and charges no land transfer tax of its own, because Toronto is the only municipality in Ontario permitted to levy one. A purchase here attracts the provincial tax alone, and first-time buyers can claim up to $4,000 of it back through their lawyer at closing.

That is one line among several. Legal fees, title insurance, the adjustments and, on a new build, whatever the builder can pass along under your agreement all arrive on the same day and all come out of cash. We put the full figure in front of you at the start rather than leaving you to discover it.

Buying when you are new to Canada

A great many Markham purchases are made by people who arrived recently, have solid income and savings, and have been told by one bank that they cannot be helped yet. That is a statement about that bank, not about the market.

Lenders and the default insurers run newcomer programs for exactly this profile. What they want to see is different from what a long established Canadian file provides.

• Your status. Confirmed permanent residence, or an eligible work permit. This determines which lenders and programs are open to you.
• A documented down payment. Not just the balance, but where it came from. Funds arriving from abroad need a clearer trail than money moved between Canadian accounts.
• Evidence of how you handle credit. An international bureau report, a reference letter from a bank in your previous country, or twelve months of paid housing and utilities can all help where a Canadian bureau file is thin.
• Canadian employment. A local offer or a few months of pay history simplifies the file considerably.

Start building a Canadian credit record as soon as you arrive, even in a small way. A secured card used lightly and paid in full each month does more for a future application than most people realise. Our new to Canada page covers the full requirements.

Contract, consulting and incorporated income

Markham has a long established technology and professional services employment base, and a lot of local income comes through contracts and personal corporations rather than payroll.

Lenders treat that differently from a salary, and they treat it differently from each other. Some add back a portion of business expenses to your declared income. Some work from the deposits in your business bank account. Some will look at retained earnings sitting in the corporation. Alternative lenders take a broader view again, at a higher cost.

The usual package is two years of personal and corporate tax returns, Notices of Assessment, and business bank statements. If you have been incorporated for less than two years there are still routes, they are simply narrower.

The practical takeaway is the same one that applies to every non salaried file: being turned down at your own bank tells you almost nothing about what the rest of the market would say. Our self-employed page goes through each route in detail.

New builds in the east end

Cornell, Wismer, Greensborough, Box Grove and Cathedraltown have produced a great deal of new construction, and new build purchases carry a risk that resale purchases do not.

What the builder arranged at the sales centre is not a firm mortgage commitment. Lenders requalify you shortly before the final closing on your circumstances at that time, under the rules in force then. And if the home appraises for less than the price you agreed to earlier, the lender funds against the appraisal and the difference becomes cash you have to find.

Six to nine months before closing is when to start. With time there is usually a solution. Near the closing date there often is not.

The rebates that now come with a new build. Cornell, Wismer and the newer east end pockets are exactly where this applies. The federal government refunds all of the GST to first-time buyers on a newly built home priced up to $1 million, up to $50,000, on agreements signed from 20 March 2025. Ontario has added a temporary rebate of the full provincial HST, up to $80,000, for agreements signed between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, and that one is open to any buyer making it their principal residence. Up to $130,000 back for a first-time buyer, none of it available on a resale, and it should be in the numbers before you compare a new build against a used one.

If you already own here

Owners across Unionville, Berczy, Angus Glen and Markham Village have generally accumulated meaningful equity, which makes several things possible.

A refinance or a home equity line of credit can fund a renovation, support a child's first purchase, or clear debt carrying a much higher cost than a mortgage. Where several balances have accumulated, a consolidation usually improves monthly cash flow more than people expect.

If your term is ending, treat the renewal letter as an opening offer rather than a conclusion. Start around four months out so there is time to compare properly. Our renewals page explains how a switch works.

How we work

Everything is handled online. Apply from home, upload documents through a secure portal, sign electronically and speak to us by phone or video at a time that works for you.

One application reaches banks, credit unions, monoline lenders, alternative lenders and private funds. For a newcomer file or an incorporated one, where policy differs sharply from lender to lender, that breadth is the entire value of using a brokerage rather than walking into a branch.