Closed in 2023 · Published October 17, 2026
- Residential
- Alternative
- Purchase
- First-time buyer
- Business-owner
- Self-employed
- Purchase price
- $551,250 with GST
- Mortgage
- $441,000
- Loan-to-value
- 80%
- Income qualified
- about $254,000
- Rate in 2023
- about 7.3%, two-year fixed
The Situation
A married couple, both Canadian citizens, were buying their first home: a new one-bedroom-and-den condo in Langley priced at $525,000 plus GST, $551,250 in all. One spouse has owned a fast-food restaurant since July 2021, and the business was growing quickly; the other is a full-time student who works in the restaurant part-time.
The Challenge
The restaurant was just over two years old, the family's own meals ran through its books and inflated the food costs, both partners had a small collection on their credit reports they had not known about, and part of the down payment had to come from a line of credit.
The Solution
In 2023 we placed a mortgage of $441,000 with an alternative lender under its stated-income program for business owners, 80% of the price, on a two-year fixed term at about 7.3% with a 30-year amortization. The lender took the restaurant's gross income of about $509,000 less 50% for expenses, about $254,000, which put the debt-service ratios at about 19% and 27%. Both collections were paid at once, and the $110,250 down payment came from about $77,000 of savings plus $40,000 from a line of credit.
The Outcome
The couple own their first home about two years after opening the restaurant, qualified on what the business takes in.