Did you know that you can get down payment assistance in Ontario? You’ve told yourself that you’re ready to settle down, “no more renting for me, it’s time to build for the future, it’s time to start saving for a downpayment on a home” It’s an exciting time but it can also be a little overwhelming.

First lets stick with the excitement and less with the stress. The excitement often comes while we’re looking online and seeing all of the amazing properties we can envision ourselves in, the memories that will be created, the life you will have. You want to make the move now but are you ready?

The first step for everyone in Ontario when it comes to their home ownership dream is a little less romantic, it’s the hard work and time it will take to get the money, the upfront money required to make your real estate dream a reality. Many have already put their dream on the back burner for a one, two maybe even three years while they save. Unfortunately many of us especially here in the Golden Horseshoe have watched that dream stretch further out in front of us with property prices escalating at warp speed, we just couldn’t keep up. 

“I wish there was some help, some down payment assistance for Ontario residents”

Figuring out your required downpayment is easy, it’s also when many first time home buyers see that enormous pill to swallow. In Ontario your required minimum down payment is 5%, so the math is the selling price of the home x 0.05. A starter home costing $350,000 then requires a downpayment of $17,500. Even a $200,000 home still requires $10,000 as a down payment. Check out some really useful Ontario mortgage calculators.

The numbers get even more daunting when you’re looking at $500,000 or over and if you’re a big spender and looking at more than a $1,000,000.00 property it’s really big with different rules and requirements.

So, for the good news for anyone looking to become home owners; The province of Ontario and many municipalities want the same thing you do. How do they help? Down payment assistance programs for Ontario residents. 

A little more math albeit basic…..A home costing $350,000.00 requires $17,500 as a downpayment and that gives you a mortgage payment of about $1487 per month at 3.49%. The difference with it being $0 down is a payment of $1565 per month.

What many of the programs that offer down payment assistance in Ontario give are forgivable 20 year zero interest loans. There are conditions to these loans and you must apply for them but the opportunity for home ownership sooner instead of later is at the door. 

We’ve added links to the various programs that offer down payment assistance to Ontario residents below. If you have any questions about these or any of the other programs offered to homeowners and future homeowners please feel free to reach out, we’re always here to help even if you're not in the area we service. Education should always be free.

Hamilton Home Ownership Assistance
Niagara Home Ownership Assistance
Brantford Home Ownership Assistance
Haldimand Home Ownership Assistance