A new company is offering homebuyers 100-per-cent guaranteed financing before they write their purchase offer. Fundible says it’s a first-of-its-kind concept in Canada.
“The problem Fundible solves is it gives homebuyers an option to safely write a purchase offer without a financing condition,” says company co-founder Jason Henneberry. “The borrower and property are fully underwritten before they write an offer, with a 100-per-cent guarantee that financing won’t fall through.”
He says it helps homebuyers purchase their next property with confidence.
“Homebuyers are writing purchase offers and sometimes the market requires them to have less conditions in order to have their offer stand out or be more competitive. There’s a trend in Canadian real estate and the mortgage market where we’re seeing a lot more purchases come in without conditions for financing,” says Henneberry.
“That’s risky on a number of levels. It’s risky for the homebuyer because they don’t know with certainty that their financing is going to come through. It’s also risky for the advisors, the Realtor and the mortgage broker, who are advising the client on the file because there’s additional liability there.”
Fundible is based in British Columbia. Its funding partner, Calvert Home Mortgage Investment Corporation, is based in Alberta.
“Until now, there hasn’t been a mortgage product that will 100 per cent approve the borrower and the property until after the borrower has accepted the offer – essentially after the homebuyer puts the property under contract,” says Henneberry. “Fundible is the first product that does it before the property is under contract. So before the client even writes an offer we will approve the homebuyer and we’ll approve the property so that they can actually write a financing-free purchase offer knowing that their mortgage, their financing, is 100 per cent guaranteed. There’s no risk that the financing doesn’t come through.”
The company says that being certified by Fundible gives buyers the flexibility to secure the winning bid first and proceed with finding the best mortgage for their needs with the lender of their choice later.
For a one-time fee of $259, clients receive three property valuations. This means that if one offer isn’t accepted, they are able to move quickly onto the next without additional burden. Once an offer is accepted, there is no obligation to use Fundible’s financing. But in the event that traditional lending falls through, a mortgage through exclusive partner Calvert Homes MIC is guaranteed.
Henneberry says Fundible has been launched in Alberta and Ontario and it will launch in British Columbia in early to mid 2022 with plans eventually for other provinces.
“We really want to make sure that we learn from this initial phase and that we’re able to support our mortgage and Realtor partners and the homebuyers as well,” he says. “So 2022 is all about launching those three provinces and then based on consumer demand we’ll be looking at other provinces.”
The company says it uses industry leading technology to access borrower information with light documentation. Valuations can be completed in hours.
More information on Fundible can be found here.
Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.
