You found a house you love. You booked the meeting. Now you’re sitting across from a mortgage broker with one question rattling around your head.
What rate can you get me?
That’s the question a lot of buyers lead with. It feels like the whole game. And it’s the smallest lever in the room.
At Jennings and Associates, we’ve walked thousands of first-time buyers through this exact moment. The buyers who come out ahead ask about the parts of the loan nobody puts on the billboard.
Here’s what to actually ask, and why each question protects you.
Start With Who Your Broker Actually Works For
Before you talk numbers, understand the seat the person across from you sits in.
A bank rep can only offer you that bank’s products. That’s the whole menu. If a different lender has a better fit for your situation, the bank rep isn’t sending you there.
A broker works differently. We shop your file across more than twenty lenders, from big banks to credit unions to specialized lenders, and bring back the one that fits your life.
Only about 21% of homeowners used a broker on their last mortgage, so a lot of buyers still haven’t tried this.
The question to ask: “How many lenders do you have access to, and who pays you?”
A straight answer tells you whether you’re getting a full menu or a single shelf.
Ask How You Pay It Down Faster
Rate gets all the attention. Prepayment terms almost never come up.
Two mortgages can carry the same rate and behave completely differently over ten years. The difference is in the fine print.
- How much extra can you put down each year without a penalty?
- Can you increase your regular payment when your income grows?
- Can you make a lump-sum payment after a bonus or a tax refund?
These are the terms that quietly shave years off your loan. A small difference here outweighs a small rate difference over a full mortgage, honestly by a lot.
The question to ask: “What are my options to pay this off faster without getting charged for it?”
Ask What It Costs to Break or Change the Loan
Life moves. New job in another province. You outgrow the house. Rates drop and you want to refinance.
Every mortgage has rules for leaving it early, and the cost can run into thousands of dollars. Two lenders calculate that penalty in very different ways, and you only find out which one you picked when you need to move.
This is the fine print people skip in the excitement of getting approved. It becomes the most expensive line in the whole agreement when things change.
The question to ask: “If I need to break this mortgage in three years, how do you calculate what I owe?”
A loan that looks cheapest today can turn into the priciest one the moment your plans change. Ask about the exit before you sign the entrance.
Ask About the Invisible Math a Lender Runs on You
This next part catches a lot of buyers off guard.
A lender doesn’t just look at your income. They weigh it against every debt you already carry.
The car payment. The student loan. The credit card balance you meant to clear last month. All of it gets folded into a calculation that decides how much house you qualify for.
We’ve sat with buyers who arrived already in love with a home, then their buying power shrank once everyday credit got counted against them.
The difference between what they assumed they could afford and what the lender approved caught them completely off guard.
You can see that math coming if you ask for it early.
The question to ask: “Based on my full picture, how do my current debts change what I can borrow?”
Getting this answer before you shop saves you from falling for a house that was never in reach.
Ask About Your Down Payment Options
The 20 percent number scares a lot of buyers off before they even start. It probably scared you a little too.
You don’t need 20 percent to buy your first home. Programs exist for buyers putting down as little as 5 percent. What matters is matching the down payment to your plan, not chasing a figure someone mentioned at dinner once.
In Ontario, first-time buyers were the top purchasers of non-condo properties in early 2025, making up a third of those sales. Buyers are getting in. The down payment question is where the planning usually starts.
The question to ask: “What down payment options fit my savings and my timeline?”
Ask What a Pre-Approval Really Locks In
A pre-approval does two things. It shows sellers you’re serious, and it holds a rate while you shop.
Most pre-approvals hold for 60 to 90 days. Knowing your window keeps you from rushing a decision or letting a good rate slip away while you look.
The question to ask: “How long does my pre-approval hold, and what happens if I go over that window?”
This one keeps you moving on your own timeline instead of someone else’s.
Come Prepared
You don’t need a perfect file to start this conversation. Bring your basics so the meeting moves fast.
- Proof of income for the last stretch of work
- Recent bank statements
- A rough list of your monthly debts
- An idea of the savings you have set aside
With those in hand, a broker can give you real numbers. And you can spend the meeting actually looking at the loan structure instead of scrambling for paperwork.
The Real Goal of the Meeting
The lowest rate makes for a good headline. The terms underneath it decide what the next twenty-five years actually feel like.
A prepared buyer walks in knowing to ask how the loan lets you get ahead, what it costs when life changes, and whether the person advising you answers to you or to one institution.
Ask those questions and the rate becomes the last thing you sort out, not the first.
You’re making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life, and it’s probably the one nobody taught you in school. That’s exactly why we sit down with first-time buyers, walk through every question above, and give you plain answers with no pressure.
If you want to talk it through, book a free strategy call with Jennings and Associates. We will look at your full picture and help you build a plan that fits your life.