Hamilton Purchase Approved with 100% Foreign Income and Dubai Sale Proceeds Down Payment

1. Executive Summary

Hamilton clients were purchasing their primary residence in Canada. The husband worked as a commercial pilot for a major international airline and lived in Dubai, while the wife lived in Canada and was not working. The two major underwriting issues were that 100% of the income was foreign income and 100% of the down payment was coming from the sale of a property in Dubai. The clients wanted 80% LTV. Most A lenders were only comfortable up to approximately 65% LTV for this type of file. We approached almost every A lender in the broker network to request an exception for 80% LTV. The next practical option was a B lender. The B lender considered the foreign income through the husband’s job letter, pay stubs, and three months of bank statements showing salary deposits. For down payment, we submitted the Dubai sale deed, copy of bank draft, and bank statement showing deposit of the sale proceeds.

2. Borrower Profile

The borrowers were purchasing a primary residence in Hamilton, Ontario. The husband worked as a commercial pilot for a major international airline and lived in Dubai. The wife lived in Canada and was not working. The qualifying income came from the husband’s foreign employment. Borrower identities, employer name, income amount, credit score, property details, and lender name are not disclosed.

3. Property Profile

The subject property was a primary residence purchase in Hamilton, Ontario. The clients requested 80% loan-to-value financing. The down payment came entirely from the sale of a property in Dubai. Exact address, purchase price, mortgage amount, down payment amount, rate, term, amortization, and lender name are not disclosed.

4. The Challenge

The file had strong income and legitimate down payment funds, but both were outside Canada. That created underwriting complexity. A lenders were cautious because the borrower’s qualifying income was 100% foreign-sourced and the full down payment came from the sale of property abroad. The clients wanted 80% LTV, but most A lenders were only comfortable at a lower maximum LTV. The file needed a lender willing to understand foreign income, foreign source of funds, and the documentation trail for sale proceeds.

5. Why Conventional Solutions Failed

A standard A-lender approval was difficult because the file combined 100% foreign income, 100% foreign down payment, and an 80% LTV request. Many A lenders are more conservative when income is earned outside Canada, even where the borrower’s occupation and earnings are strong. In this case, most A lenders were comfortable only at a lower LTV, commonly around 65%, and would not grant the requested 80% LTV exception. That made a B-lender solution necessary.

6. HopeWell’s Analysis

Our analysis focused on lender appetite and documentation. The income itself was strong, but the question was whether a Canadian lender would rely on it at the requested LTV. We approached A lenders for an exception, but the policy fit was not there. We then packaged the file for a B lender that could consider the foreign income using employment documentation and salary deposits. On the down payment side, the key was to create a clean source-of-funds trail from the Dubai property sale to the borrower’s available funds.

7. Financing Structure

The file was structured as a B-lender purchase mortgage at the requested 80% LTV. The lender reviewed the husband’s foreign job letter, pay stubs, and three months of bank statements showing salary deposits. The down payment was documented with the Dubai property sale deed, copy of bank draft, and bank statement showing the sale proceeds deposit. Public details do not disclose the lender name, mortgage amount, rate, fees, purchase price, income amount, down payment amount, or exact source-of-funds timeline.

8. Why the Solution Worked

The solution worked because the file was matched with a lender that could understand both sides of the story: income and down payment. The foreign income was not treated as unsupported because it was backed by job letter, pay stubs, and salary deposits. The foreign down payment was not treated as unexplained because it was supported by sale documents and banking evidence. The underwriting principle is that foreign-income files require a complete documentation trail, especially when the requested LTV is higher than what many A lenders will allow.

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