Are You Actually Ready to Buy?
Five questions, an honest score, and specific next steps. It will tell you not yet if the answer is not yet — that outcome is more useful than a brochure.
Five things decide it, and only one is the down payment. Do you have at least 5% plus closing costs; is your consumer debt low enough that it is not eating your qualifying ratios; do you expect to stay put three to five years or more, because under three the transaction costs usually outweigh the equity; is your credit in reasonable shape or do you need a few deliberate months first; and is your income documented in a way lenders recognise — time in role, or the right paperwork if you are self-employed. Weak on one is normal and fixable. Weak on three means renting for another year is genuinely the better financial decision, not a failure.
The five questions
Whatever it said
If it said ready: get a real pre-approval before you shop, and see what your income qualifies for. If it said close or not yet: the gaps are almost always down payment or debt, and the 2026 program stack — FHSA, the $60,000 HBP, 30-year insured amortization, new-build GST relief — is how most Calgary buyers close them faster than saving alone.
Your gaps, with a timeline to close them
Tell me what the quiz surfaced and I’ll send back a plan: which programs apply to you, in what order, and a realistic month to aim for. If the honest answer is keep renting for a year, I’ll say that too — I would rather have your business next year than sell you a mistake this year.
Last updated 2026-08-26 · Written by Mohammad Emon, REALTOR® (SRES®) & Licensed Property Manager, KO Realty · RECA licence LIC-00666633