Buying your first home in Canada as a newcomer.

Start six to twelve months out, not at the listing.

Most newcomers find a listing they love, then discover the bank won’t approve them, the down payment is short, or their car loan just killed their preapproval. The order matters. Twelve months out, you start building Canadian credit. Six months out, you talk to a mortgage broker. Three months out, you start looking. Anything sooner and you’re shopping for a home you can’t actually buy.

What you actually need.

• Canadian credit history. Pay every bill on time: phone, utility, rent. Open a credit card and use it monthly. The bank won’t preapprove you without a file it can read.
• Stable employment. Job instability kills approvals. If layoffs are circling, pause.
• 5% of the purchase price for the down payment. The bank’s floor for a first home you’ll live in. On a $300,000 home, that’s $15,000.
• Closing money on top of the down payment. Roughly another 1% of purchase price for the New Brunswick land transfer tax, plus your lawyer’s fees. On a $300,000 home, budget at least $3,000 for the tax and a few thousand more for the lawyer.
• A First Home Savings Account, if you qualify. Up to $8,000 per year, tax-free, applied straight to the down payment. If you’re newly arrived from a country where this didn’t exist, the FHSA is the closest thing Canada has to a gift for first-time buyers.

The three conversations, in order.

1. Mortgage broker, first. Before a realtor. Brokers are free, and they tell you the only number that matters: what you actually qualify for. Even if you don’t have the down payment yet, book the call. They’ll tell you what to fix.
2. Realtor, second. Once the broker gives you your number, find a realtor who works with newcomers. They’ll save you from the listings that look right on paper but don’t fit the life you’re going to live.
3. Home inspector, third. When your offer is accepted, get the inspection. Always. Skipping it on an older home is how first-time owners end up $50,000 deep in surprise plumbing and electrical work in the first year.

What kills a preapproval.

• A new car loan. A big car payment is the single fastest way to tank what the bank will approve you for. If a home is the goal, drive cheap.
• Maxed credit cards. Carrying balances close to your limit hurts you even when you make every minimum payment.
• Late payments on anything. Phone, utility, rent. The bank sees everything.
• Switching jobs in the wrong month. Mortgage approvals lean heavily on employment history. Don’t change roles during the preapproval window if you can help it.

Location is the one thing you can’t renovate.

You can fix plumbing. You can knock down walls. You cannot pick the house up and move it. Before you fall in love with a listing, walk the neighbourhood with the life you’ll actually live in mind: schools your kids will go to, a hospital you can reach quickly, transit if you don’t own a car, groceries within a real driving distance.

In greater Moncton, homes near transit, schools, and hospitals hold and grow their value faster than properties further out. Irishtown is rising. Dieppe is established. Areas more than 25 minutes from the city centre tend to lag on appreciation, and the daily traveling time adds up faster than people expect.

When to pause.

If your job is uncertain, your savings are thin, or you’re carrying debt that the broker says is killing your number, pause. A home is a major financial responsibility on top of the price: repairs, taxes, maintenance, surprises. Carrying it through a layoff is how people lose the home and the savings at once. The right time to buy is the right time for you: stable job, saved down payment, preapproval in hand.

What to do this week.

Start (or restart) building Canadian credit. Pay every bill on time. If you don’t have a credit card yet, get one and actually use it. Then book a call with a mortgage broker. They’re free and they’ll tell you exactly what to fix so that, six to twelve months from now, your preapproval lands where you need it to.