Example: how a $760K purchase could be structured for a self-employed buyer a bank declined

The borrower's corporation was healthy and growing, but like most business owners she minimized personal income to manage tax. Her bank underwrote only her declared line-15000 income across two years of T1 General returns, and on that number the file didn't qualify for the purchase price she needed.

She had been told she'd have to either put far more down or accept a high-rate alternative-lender mortgage — neither of which matched her actual financial strength.

We reframed the file for an A-lender business-for-self (BFS) program that looks past line 15000. We built an income picture from 12 months of business bank statements, two years of accountant-prepared financials, and legitimate add-backs (retained earnings, the grossed-up dividend portion, and reasonable expense add-backs).

With 25% down the mortgage is uninsured, so the file goes to an A lender's own business-for-self program rather than to a B lender, and it still has to pass the federal stress test (qualifying at the greater of the contract rate + 2% or 5.25%). The lender chosen is one whose self-employed guidelines fit her industry and documentation.

The plan also sets up renewal: once two more years of higher declared income are filed, she can be re-assessed on standard full-documentation guidelines.

In this example the borrower lands in A-lender pricing instead of the alternative-lender offer she'd been given. Rate gaps between A and B lenders vary with the market; as a rough guide, every 1 percentage point on a $570,000 balance is about $5,700 of interest in the first year. See today's rates on our live board rather than relying on any figure in an example.