Yarmouth first-time buyer: 5% DPAP loan and 1% deed tax

Illustrative example

The situation

Location

Yarmouth, Yarmouth County

Borrower

A single first-time buyer in her early thirties, renting in town

Income

$76,000, one salaried job at the college

Credit

Around 690, above the 650 DPAP minimum; no other debt

Purchase price

$285,000

Down payment

$14,250

Mortgage

$281,580

Payment at 4.45%

$1,551 a month

The challenge

A first-time buyer renting in Yarmouth, earning $76,000, with about $8,000 saved: enough for the deed transfer tax and legal fees, not the down payment as well. The house, a $285,000 two-storey near the hospital, sat under the $300,000 cap for Yarmouth County. Two provincial programs were on the table, each through a different kind of lender.

What the lender looked at

• DPAP eligibility: household income under $145,000, credit 650+, a first home, and a price under $300,000 in Yarmouth County; the province takes about 3 weeks to process, so the financing condition was written to fit.
• The $119 monthly repayment counts as a debt in total debt service; here it moved the ratio from 36% to 38%.
• Insured at 95% loan-to-value with a 4% premium; a borrowed down payment can be classed as non-traditional at 4.5%, $1,354 more, which the lender confirms with the insurer.
• Qualified at 6.45%: $1,878 a month against an actual $1,551.
• The alternative: the First-time Homebuyers Program at 2% down, $5,700 here, through a participating credit union, no insurance premium, rate capped at prime + 2%, income under $200,000 and credit 630+.

What was done

Both were priced. DPAP with an insured mortgage from any lender: $14,250 lent by the province, a 4% premium financed, and the $119 repayment carried for 10 years. The credit-union program: $5,700 of her own cash, no premium, a rate under the prime + 2% cap. Her savings covered the $2,850 tax and legal fees either way, so the deciding figure was the rate quoted on the day.

The outcome

Illustrative outcome: DPAP won on the rate available that week. A $281,580 insured mortgage over 25 years at 4.45% (chartered-bank prime rate, Bank of Canada, 2026-09-16) is about $1,551 a month, plus $119 to the province, qualified at $1,878 and 38% total debt service. Cash on closing: $2,850 of deed transfer tax and legal fees; the down payment itself was the province’s loan.