Questbank Mortgage Review: Rates, Lending Guidelines and Who They Suit

Questbank Mortgage Review: Programs & Lending Guidelines

How Questbank's lending guidelines read from the broker side — the programs on the shelf, how income is qualified, credit floors, terms and where they lend. Consumer-facing policy only: broker submission mechanics and compensation are out of scope, and guidelines change, so confirm anything you are planning around with the lender or a licensed broker.

Questbank's Mortgage Offering — Residential

Questbank is an alternative lender — nothing here is insured, and the whole offering is built for borrowers the insured market will not take.

First mortgages on purchases and refinances of owner-occupied homes, second homes and rental property. Detached homes, row houses and townhouses, condominiums, and multi-unit buildings of up to four doors. Minimum loan $100,000, with 20% down.

Second mortgages as a published product. Owner-occupied and investment property, to 80% combined value, on a one-year term with amortization as long as 35 years — and the minimum drops sharply where Questbank already holds the first mortgage. Second position is only behind Questbank's own charge, not another lender's.

Home equity lines of credit, in first position on owner-occupied property to 65% of value with interest-only payments, and a second-position version behind a Questbank first. Not available on rentals.

Equity and net worth programs, an unusually deep bank statement offering for self-employed borrowers, and rental lending to five investment properties.

No insured lending, no bridge financing, no switch or transfer program, and no variable or adjustable-rate mortgages — every term here is fixed. A borrower coming from another lender arrives as a refinance rather than a transfer.

New construction is financed at 80% completion with the appraisal showing both current and completed values.

Questbank Income and Qualification Requirements

Ratios by program.

Qualifying rate. The greater of the contract rate plus two points or 5.25%.

How income is read. Employment income needs current pay records and an employment letter, with two years of filed history where the income varies. Tip income counts where it has been deposited for six months, up to a ceiling and not exceeding the borrower's salary. And where a borrower has only six months of consistent non-guaranteed income, that can be annualized and used — a shorter runway than almost anything else in this directory.

Self-employed borrowers have several routes. Sole proprietors in the same line of work for two years can use a two-year average of gross profit adjusted for expenses, or bank statements. Incorporated borrowers use a two-year average of net income before taxes, or bank statements. The bank statement program reads twelve months of real cash flow, with sole proprietors assessed on gross profit less specific costs and incorporated borrowers on net income with add-backs for amortization and management salaries. Larger incomes and weaker credit draw additional confirmation.

Commission income is qualified on gross commissions rather than net, on a two-year average unless the current year is lower.

Support income counts with an agreement, and support paid can be deducted from income or carried as a liability. Child benefits count for children under eighteen — a longer window than the twelve to fifteen years most lenders use. Provincial disability support, Employment Insurance and workers' compensation are all considered. Foster and adoption income counts. Pension and investment income count.

Boarder income counts, and so does gig income from rideshare, delivery and short-term rental platforms — a combination very few lenders accept.

Down payment. Minimum 20%, from savings or gifted from immediate family, over 90 days. Borrowed funds are permitted up to 5% of the property value, with the repayment serviced. Gifted amounts up to a substantial ceiling need no history at all.

Closing costs are not required to be demonstrated and are not financed — no 1.5% test, with documentation only needed on larger shortfalls.

Tax arrears can be paid out through the transaction.

Questbank's Specialty Programs

High Equity Program. Owner-occupied homes and second homes to 65% of value, requiring a 600 score with no derogatory items in the past two years, with ratios to 60/60 and no rate premium. Getting 60/60 without paying for it is unusual on an alternative shelf.

High Net Worth Program. Owner-occupied homes and second homes to 75% of value, requiring a 680 score and clean recent credit. Verified liquid assets are divided over five years and added to income, with ratios then held to 50/50. Assets must be held in Canada with 90 days of history, and registered savings count after a discount for tax. A rate premium applies.

Bank statement program. Twelve months of business deposits establish income, read as real cash flow rather than tax-return profit. Different calculations for sole proprietors and incorporated borrowers, with a two-year average used or the recent year where the trend is falling.

Second mortgage program. Owner-occupied and investment property, to 80% combined, one-year term, amortization to 35 years, ratios to 50/50, available in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. The credit requirement scales with the combined ratio — the higher the combined lending, the stronger the score needed. A line-of-credit version exists at a higher rate with a fee.

Home equity line of credit. First position on owner-occupied property to 65% of value with interest-only payments, or second position behind a Questbank first. Combined lending across a line and a second mortgage is capped at 75%.

Flex Down. Borrowed down payment funds up to 5% of the property value, with the repayment counted in the ratios.

Rental program. Up to five rental properties and six properties in total, to 75% of value, amortization to 30 years, with fully gifted down payments permitted. A rate premium applies to every investment property, and the borrower must already own their own home.

A notable rental rule change. A property tenanted at closing was previously treated as a rental with the lower ratio and the rate premium. Now, where notice to vacate has been given within 60 days of closing, the file can be underwritten as owner-occupied — no premium and no rental restriction. On a home a borrower intends to move into, that is a meaningful saving.

Automated valuation. An in-house service that waives the appraisal for qualifying owner-occupied files at or below 80% of value with a reasonable credit score.

Minimum Credit Scores & Treatment of Liabilities

Scores. Below 65% of value there is no minimum credit score at all. At or above 65%, the floor is 500 on uninsured purchases and refinances. Conventional first and second mortgages both start at 500.

The specialty programs ask for more: 600 on the High Equity Program and 680 on the High Net Worth Program, each requiring no derogatory items in the past two years. Second mortgages tier by combined loan-to-value, from the high 500s at the bottom of the range to above 700 at the top.

The primary borrower is the one with the highest credit score, not the highest income — a definition worth knowing, because it can change how a couple's file is priced.

Credit history. Consumer proposals, tax arrears and bankruptcies are all considered. A bankruptcy less than twelve months old may be accepted, and a second bankruptcy is considered with a rate premium. That is among the most accommodating positions in this directory. Bureaus must be under 30 days old, and active derogatory items above a threshold draw a rate premium.

Liabilities. Secured lines are serviced on a benchmark calculation over 25 years, or on a confirmed interest-only payment where that is documented. Unsecured revolving credit counts at 3% of the balance, and borrowed down payment repayments are serviced according to their type. Guarantor debt can be excluded where someone else demonstrably pays it.

A borrower who rents rather than owning carries a $1,500 shelter cost, which is at the high end and matters on an investment property purchase.

Heating is a flat monthly figure by property type, or a per-square-foot calculation.

Property taxes are collected by the lender.

Only Equifax is used.

Fees are extensive and itemized across the life of the mortgage — servicing, administration, renewal, discharge and enforcement — and are worth reading in the commitment rather than discovering later.

Terms & Amortization Options

Terms. One-, two- and three-year fixed closed, plus a five-year fixed closed. Second mortgages run one year. There is no variable or adjustable-rate mortgage of any kind.

Amortization. Up to 35 years, with anything beyond 30 years carrying a rate premium — so the longer schedule has a stated price rather than being free. Rentals cap at 30 years. Second mortgages reach 35.

Payments. Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly. The line-of-credit products are interest-only.

Prepayment. Privileges are available and can be exercised at payout where they have not been used during the year — which reduces the balance the penalty is calculated on.

Penalties apply on early payout.

Rate holds. 90 days on a purchase, 60 on a refinance. One rate drop is permitted, requested in writing and not inside the final ten days before closing.

Assumptions are considered individually.

Registration is a standard charge, available in both first and second position — which keeps a first mortgage straightforward to move at maturity even though there is no transfer program to bring one in.

No switch or transfer program, so an incoming borrower is refinancing rather than transferring.

Special Notes

• No minimum credit score below 65% of value. Above that, the floor is 500. Score sets pricing more than approval.
• A bankruptcy under twelve months old may be accepted, and a second bankruptcy is considered with a rate premium. Very little else in this directory opens that early.
• 60/60 ratios with no rate premium on the High Equity Program, at 65% of value.
• Six months of income can be annualized. For a borrower who recently started non-guaranteed work, that is a far shorter track record than the standard two years.
• Tip income counts after six months of deposits, capped at the borrower's salary.
• Boarder income and gig income both count — rideshare, delivery and short-term rental — which few lenders accept together.
• Notice to vacate within 60 days makes a tenanted purchase owner-occupied, avoiding the rental rate premium and the lower ratio.
• Child benefits count to age eighteen.
• Amortization beyond 30 years carries a rate premium — the 35-year schedule is available and priced.
• No variable or adjustable rates at all, and no bridge financing.
• Second position is behind Questbank's own charge only.
• No closing cost requirement.
• Fees are numerous and itemized across servicing, renewal, discharge and enforcement.
• Only Equifax is used.
• Property standards. No privately leased land, government-sponsored housing, reserve land, timeshares, fractional interests or life leases, rental pools, condominium hotels, short-term rental properties or rooming houses, mobile, floating or heritage homes, non-compliant structures, hazardous materials or former grow operations. Well and septic are accepted. Minimum sizes are 600 square feet for a house and 400 for a condominium — among the lowest condominium floors published.

Service Area

Lending runs by approved municipality rather than by province, across four regions:

• British Columbia, on a tiered sliding scale by property value, with a rate premium in the lower tiers.
• Alberta, through approved municipalities including Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.
• Ontario, through an extensive list of approved cities and towns. Agricultural zoning is acceptable in Ontario where the use is residential — a meaningful allowance, since agricultural zoning is a common decline elsewhere.
• Atlantic Canada, through approved areas in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and the territories do not appear in the published lending map.

Second mortgages are narrower still — Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario only.

Rural properties are valued on the house plus five acres, with parcels up to fifty acres considered, though the lending value does not extend beyond the five.

The market tier drives the sliding scale and the rate, with the strongest tiers lending against a much larger first tranche of value and the weaker tiers carrying a premium — so the same property can price differently purely on where it sits.

Loan-to-Value Treatment

Loan-to-value governs the credit requirement rather than the reverse. Below 65% there is no minimum score at all; above it the floor is 500; and on second mortgages the required score climbs in steps as combined lending rises toward 80%. A borrower with weak credit is not declined — they are moved down the ratio ladder.

The sliding scale is tiered by market, lending against a large first tranche of value in the strongest tiers and a smaller one elsewhere, with the balance at a reduced ratio and a rate premium in the lower tiers.

Rental income treatment is generous: 90% added to income on a subject rental or an owner-occupied property with a suite, and 90% offset on other rentals, with a surplus added to income and a deficit carried as a liability.

Property type moves the number. High-rise condominiums sit five points below townhouses and low-rise buildings, on owner-occupied and rental files alike.

Gifted down payment is fully permitted on rentals, which is unusual — most lenders require the investor's own resources.