Are you a first time home buyer and looking to use your RRSP’s as a down payment? Here’s a few things you need to know:

1. To use this program you must have not owned a home in the last 4 years but did you know that if your spouse owned a home previously and you didn’t live in the house then you may still qualify.

2. RRSP contributions need to be in the RRSP account for at least 90 days before they can be used. If you are a monthly contributor to the account then only the amounts there for more than 90 days can be used for down payment.

3. You can borrow money to put into an RRSP and have it be there 90 days to use for down payment. Using this method of acquiring the RRSP means that you must be sure of two things, one being that the lender is ok with you taking it out in 90 days. Secondly that it isn’t put into an account that will not have fees to take the money out, money market funds or simple 90 day term certificates shouldn’t cost you any penalty.

4. You can withdraw up to 25000 dollars from your RRSP to put down on a home. Locked in LIRA’s are not eligible for this program so make sure before you start down this path that you know what type of account you have your money located in at the bank.

5. You have to pay the amount you borrowed back to the RRSP account over the next 15 years. If you took 15000 dollars out you would need to repay $1,000 a year to the account. Failing to pay this money back may result in CRA taxing it as income.

6. You can contribute to your 2016 RRSP up until March 1st and receive a tax deduction for the contribution, this also applies if you borrowed the money to contribute. Theoretically you can also take the tax refund and apply it back to the loan or use it for your new home.

Contact your local Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional so we help you take advantage of this opportunity to enter the home owners market…We’ve got a mortgage for that!

Courtesy of Len Lane, AMP DLC Brokers for Life