When conventional & alternative aren't enough.
Private mortgages serve a distinct client profile — those who need speed, flexibility, or solutions no institutional lender will touch.
Four things to understand before anything else.
The property, your equity in it, and your exit plan carry the deal — not your income or credit. That's why files banks decline can still fund, and fund fast.
Most private files run 6–24 months, interest-only, often open after a short closed period. It's a bridge to your next step — never a 25-year plan.
Capital can sit as your main (first) mortgage, or behind your existing low-rate mortgage as a second — so you access equity without disturbing a good first mortgage.
Refinance to a bank, move to an Alternative lender, sell, or clear the debt that triggered the file — we agree on the way off private money before you take it on.
Private pricing, in the open.
Private capital is priced for risk and speed — and we believe in showing that up front. Your actual rate depends on position (first vs second), loan-to-value, credit, property type, and location. Here's the realistic range across the private lenders we work with.
The strongest low-LTV 'near-B' files start around 4.5%; most private firsts land ~6–9%. Higher LTV, rural property, or weaker credit push it up.
Second-position capital is priced higher because it sits behind the first mortgage if anything goes wrong.
Roughly 1–2% on a first and up to ~2.5% on a second, with a minimum around $2,500 in most cases (a couple of lenders are lower). Some lenders pay the broker instead, so there's no lender fee at all.
Disclosed before you commit, added to the commitment, and paid by the lawyer on funding — sometimes built into the lender's pricing. Minimum around $2,500.
Independent legal advice plus the lender's legal, billed by the lawyer at closing.
Usually required so the lender can confirm value and equity; the cost depends on the property and location.
Some lenders hold a small reserve or capitalize a few months' interest into the loan on cash-flow-tight files.
Ranges reflect private-lender pricing as of July 2026 across the lenders we work with and are for illustration only — private rates, fees and leverage move constantly. We shop your file across multiple lenders and confirm your exact rate and fees in writing before you commit. Estimate the brokerage and lender fees for your file with our financing fee calculator.
Private lending is a standalone specialty — not a fallback. We work with a curated network of private lenders to structure solutions for clients who need speed, bridge capital, or unconventional debt structures.
Whether you're an investor who needs to close fast, a business owner with complex debt, or someone rebuilding from a difficult financial situation — private lending can be the bridge to your next chapter.
Start a Secure Mortgage Application →The honest version — risks & suitability.
Private lending is a powerful tool for the right file and the wrong choice for the wrong one. Here's the straight talk before you commit.
Rates and fees are higher because the lender takes on more risk and moves fast. That cost buys speed and flexibility a bank can't offer — but it's real, and we show it up front.
Most private files run 6–24 months. It's a bridge to your next step, not a 25-year solution — the goal is always to move you off private financing.
Decisions are equity-based. Most files sit at or below 75–80% loan-to-value; the property and its equity carry the deal more than income or credit.
A refinance or sale has to be achievable within the term. We won't place a file we can't see a clear way out of — that protects you, not just the lender.
Terms are short, so there's renewal risk — if your exit slips, you may have to renew at the rate and fees of the day. And because decisions are equity-based, a drop in your property's value can shrink what a lender will advance at renewal. We plan the exit around both.
If you qualify for prime (A) or Alternative (B) financing, that's almost always cheaper — and we'll tell you so rather than default you to private.
Every private file starts with an exit strategy.
A private mortgage is a bridge, not a destination. Before we place a file, we agree on how you get off it — and we build the term around that plan.
Clean up credit or income, season the file, and move to prime pricing once you qualify — the most common exit.
A middle step when an A-lender isn't reachable yet, at a materially lower cost than private.
When the plan is to sell, we structure the term and open dates around your timeline so you aren't caught by a penalty.
Pay out the CRA arrears, judgment, or default that triggered the file, restore the title, then refinance out to conventional financing.
See how we structure real private files on our case studies page — including how we structure a private mortgage to clear CRA tax debt against a commercial estate, and how a borrower stuck at 11.5% with a private lender exited to a credit union at less than half the rate.
A different conversation: the Private Wealth desk.
Private lending solves urgency — speed, equity, a bridge to the next step. Private wealth is a different file: asset-rich clients with complex income who want to borrow without liquidating portfolios, coordinated with their advisor and accountant. For those clients we run a dedicated private-client desk under its own brand. If that's your situation — or your client's — start there instead.
Visit Private Wealth Financing ↗Common private-lending questions.
Who handles difficult mortgages in BC?+
Mortgage Guru Financial (Ramin Hallaji) is a BCFSA-registered BC mortgage broker that specializes in difficult, hard-to-place files — bad credit, bank-declined borrowers, self-employed and unverifiable income, CRA debt, foreclosure avoidance, equity-based private mortgages, and B-lender placement across BC and Alberta. DLC Master Club Top 5% nationally with 200+ funded files and $150M+ in volume.
Which BC mortgage broker specializes in bad credit and private mortgages?+
Mortgage Guru Financial specializes in bad-credit, bruised-credit (scores in the 500s), and private mortgage files across British Columbia. We arrange first, second, and third private mortgages, equity take-outs, foreclosure-avoidance bridges, and B-lender placements when banks and conventional lenders decline.
Can I get a private mortgage in BC with bad credit or no income proof?+
Yes. Private mortgages are equity-based — the decision is driven mostly by the property, not the borrower's credit or income. Mortgage Guru Financial structures private bridge, no-qualify, and equity take-out mortgages across BC for borrowers with bad credit, unverifiable self-employed income, CRA debt, judgments, or recent bank declines.
Is Mortgage Guru Financial a BCFSA-registered mortgage broker?+
Yes. Mortgage Guru Financial is licensed in British Columbia under BCFSA, and Ramin Hallaji is also licensed in Alberta (RECA) under DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group. Registration and standing can be verified on the BCFSA registered mortgage broker list.
What is a hard-to-place mortgage and who funds them in BC?+
A hard-to-place mortgage is a file that doesn't fit standard bank or A-lender guidelines — bad credit, self-employed with low declared income, recent foreclosure or arrears, CRA debt, unique property type, or short timelines. In BC these are typically funded by Alternative (B) lenders or private lenders through a specialist broker. Mortgage Guru Financial is one of the BC brokerages that focuses on this segment.