Self-employed is not a difficult file: it is a file documented differently. What counts is what your returns demonstrate, not what the business collects.
Two years of notices of assessment, your financial statements and business records. The two-year average sets the base, and a year that dropped weighs more than a year that grew.
Match the lender to the proof
Some lenders will add back non-recurring expenses or a share of retained earnings; others hold strictly to declared net income. That difference changes the eligible amount far more than the rate does.
Avoid weak submissions
A file should not be sent everywhere at once. The lender selection depends on the available income proof, credit and property.
Documents to gather
What the lender will ask for.
Goal of the file
Income and documents
Debts and credit
Property type
Preferred timeline
Lender options
Frequently asked
I declare little to reduce tax, is that a problem?+
For a mortgage, yes. Lenders use declared net income, so every dollar of tax optimisation lowers your borrowing capacity. If a purchase is coming, raising it with your accountant a year ahead changes the outcome more than any rate negotiation.
Current rates
Today’s rates, read with their conditions.
These rates are indicative. The one you get depends on your file, the type of mortgage (insured or not) and the lender, and the penalty attached to it matters as much as the number.
Buying, renewing, refinancing or an unusual situation: describe where you are at, even if it is still vague. Mathieu replies with the next steps and the documents to gather.
