Something that I am getting asked a lot is “I am moving to Calgary from another province, how do I get pre-approved for a mortgage?”. This is a very interesting question and something that is getting asked more and more. It is actually quite easy, but it is important to get your ducks in a row before you make the move.
The first question, and probably the most important question for you is what do you do for work? The reason why this is so important is because you obviously need to be able to pay for the mortgage when you move into your new home and so you need to be employed. The answer of that question then leads to the next question, will your current employer allow you to work remotely in Calgary? As so many of us over the past couple of years have been able to work from home, we need to make sure you can indeed work remotely in another province, and that is ultimately up to your employer so you should have a chat with them first.
So, if your employer will allow you to work from here it is very important for me to verify this. When we do a mortgage pre-approval we ask for a letter of employment to confirm your job details and that letter must state that you can work remotely from anywhere in Canada.
But what if your employer won’t allow you to work remotely? Well that brings up a new conundrum, the 3 month probationary period. Lenders typically need for you to have finished the probationary period at a new job before they will advance your mortgage. There are some exceptions around this but they are exceptions and there are certain requirements needed for this… queue the need for you to call me. If you do need to get a new job and there isn’t a way around the probationary period, perhaps it is wise to look for a short term rental that you can stay in when you first move here? Just something for you to think about.
Besides the need to have a job so that you can pay for your mortgage, there are also some other things that you should really think about when relocating:
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Moving costs – how much is it going to cost you to move all your belongings here?
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Do you need to ship a ship a car over here?
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Closing costs are also taken into consideration when getting a mortgage. Thankfully we don’t have a land transfer tax in Alberta so that keeps them lower, but lenders are going to want to see that you have the additional funds set aside to pay these costs.
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Are you going to be putting children into a school here? If so, what if you have to rent for a few months and they go into a school, you probably don’t want them to start at one school and then three months later have to move them.
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Do you have a realtor here? I work with some of the best realtors in town in would be happy to refer you to someone great.
As always it is best to book an appointment to talk over the phone as everyone’s situation is unique and a blog post probably answers most, but not all of your questions. Just click on the get started button on the bottom right hand corner and you can schedule a time that works for you.
Cheers!
Hugh