Closed in 2025 · Published October 17, 2026
- Residential
- Prime lender
- Refinance
- Debt consolidation
- Guarantor
- Multi-generational
- Home value
- about $1.6 million
- New mortgage
- about $395,000
- Equity line
- about $40,000
- Loan-to-value
- 27%
- Credit score
- 845
The Situation
Our client, with a long, stable job and an 845 credit score, shares a Port Coquitlam house worth about $1.6 million, the client's family on the ground floor and the client's parents upstairs. The house carried a mortgage of about $342,000 and a line of credit of about $49,000.
The Challenge
The client's salary of about $70,000 had not grown in years, so it could not carry a new mortgage on its own, even at a low loan-to-value. The client's spouse, though employed, chose to stay off the mortgage to keep their own borrowing power for the future.
The Solution
In 2025 we refinanced with a major Canadian bank: a new first mortgage of about $395,000 on a three-year fixed term at about 4.4%, with a home equity line of credit of about $40,000 beside it, together 27% of the home's value. The client's retired parent, who lives in the home, joined as guarantor, and the bank counted the parent's government benefits toward the debt-service ratios.
The Outcome
The proceeds paid out the old mortgage, the line of credit and the legal fees, leaving one payment at a bank rate and an unused credit line for emergencies. A household with two generations under one roof often holds the income to qualify; it only has to be put on the application.