Case Study · Residential / Private

Pharmacists Re-Certifying in Canada Completed a Langley Presale: A Private One-Year Open Mortgage at 74%

A married couple, experienced pharmacists from abroad re-certifying in Canada while working as pharmacy assistants, were completing their first property: a new two-bedroom Langley condo bought before construction for about $640,000 with GST, as an investment to sell after completion.

Closed in 2022 · Published October 18, 2026

Residential
Private
Purchase
Presale
Open mortgage
Investment property

Purchase price: $640,395 with GST
Appraisal: $745,000
Private mortgage: about $549,000
Down payment: 26%
Rate in 2022: 7.95%, one-year open adjustable

The Situation

The Challenge

Their salaries were only about $32,000 each, one credit score was 678 with two late-paid accounts, and the other was 523 with a collection to pay.

The Solution

In 2022 we arranged a private mortgage of about $550,000 on a one-year open adjustable term at 7.95%, with a 30-year amortization and no debt-service ratios applied. The lender used the appraisal of about $750,000, so the deposits of about $91,000 plus the growth in value made up a 26% down payment.

The Outcome

The couple completed their first purchase, and the open term lets them sell without a prepayment penalty whenever they are ready.

Run the numbers

Mortgage APR Calculator

An open private mortgage carried this presale to completion. See the true all-in cost of a private loan over the months you keep it.

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The offer in front of you

Mortgage amount

Quoted rate

Private firsts commonly quote 7–10%; seconds 10–14%.

Payments

Term length12 mo

Lender fee

Typically 1–3% of the mortgage on firsts, more on seconds.

Broker fee

On private deals the broker fee is charged to you and disclosed in writing before you commit.

Legal + appraisal

Private deals usually have you pay both sets of legal fees.

Your real timeline

Months you'll actually need it12 mo

Be honest here — this number moves the true APR more than the rate does.

Compare the alternative

B-side 1-year rate

Desk rate for a 1-year fixed, B-side, today.

B-side lender fee

Assumes no broker fee and ~$1,500 legal/appraisal, 30-yr amortized — typical for a B-side 1-year fixed.

Your true cost, all-in

14.95%

TRUE APR, all-in

8.99%

The rate on the commitment

$94,500

What actually lands of the $100,000

The gap between the quoted rate and the true APR is the fees, spread over how long you actually keep the money.

Where the money goes over 12 months

Monthly payment: $749 (interest-only)
Interest paid: $8,990
Lender + broker fees: $3,000
Legal + appraisal: $2,500
Total cost of funds: $14,490
Cost per $100K per month: $1,208

Total cost over 12 months — private vs B-side placement

Placement gap: $7,182 over 12 months. That's what getting the file to a B lender instead is worth — when the file can be placed. Speed, CRA urgency, or a credit event sometimes make private the only lane; then the job is the exit plan.

Guardrails — shown, not hidden

If you exit at 6 months instead: true APR 20.66%
Fees don't shrink with time: Day-one fees over fewer months = higher APR
Watch the fine print for: Minimum-interest clauses (often 3 months), per-diem interest, holdbacks
If you'll need it 18+ months: A B-side or repair-first route usually wins

Private lending is a bridge, not a destination — priced fairly for speed and flexibility, expensive as a place to live. Before any commitment you must receive formal written cost-of-borrowing and broker-fee disclosure; this tool is shopping math, not that disclosure. We place private files with the exit written down before the entry.

What this calculator does that most don't

Solves the actual IRR of your cash flows — quoted rate, lender fee, broker fee, legal, renewal fees, and the month you actually exit — not 'rate plus fees' eyeballed
Shows the exit-early trap in numbers: the same day-one fees over 6 months instead of 12 pushes a quoted 8.99% past a 20% true APR
Prices the file against a B-side 1-year at today's desk rate, so the value of better placement is a dollar figure, not a claim
Honest by construction: set every fee to zero and the true APR equals the quoted rate — the gap you see IS the fees

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Questions and answers

Questions about this file

Can you get a mortgage while re-certifying as a pharmacist in Canada?+

This couple did, in 2022, through a private lender: experienced pharmacists from abroad working as pharmacy assistants on salaries of about $32,000 each, they completed a Langley presale with a private mortgage of about $549,000.

Can a rise in value count toward the down payment on a presale?+

In this 2022 file it did. The private lender used the $745,000 appraisal, so the $91,485 of deposits plus about $105,000 of growth in value made up a 26% down payment on a $640,395 purchase.

Can you get a mortgage with a 523 credit score?+

Here a private lender did, with no debt-service ratios applied: one spouse's score was 523 with a collection to pay, the other's 678 with two late-paid accounts.

Why a one-year open term?+

The condo was bought as an investment to sell after completion, and the open term lets the couple sell without a prepayment penalty whenever they are ready.

What were the terms?+

About $549,000 on a one-year open adjustable term at 7.95% in 2022, with a 30-year amortization.

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