Mortgage Helper | Start here
Mortgage Helper: What It Is & How It Works
A local term for something specific: a self-contained rental unit inside the home you occupy, whose rent offsets your mortgage payment.
The short answer
A mortgage helper is a separate rental unit inside your own home, usually with its own entrance, kitchen, and bathroom. The rent offsets your payment and can help you qualify for a larger mortgage. It also makes you a landlord, with the obligations that carries under BC tenancy law.
Homes that state a suite
274 active listings
- Median list price
- $1,477,500
- Median price per sq ft
- $583
- Median size
- 2,445 sq ft
- Median strata fee
- $292
- Median annual property tax
- $4,985
typical range $1,108,630 to $2,289,700
typical range $412 to $1,054
typical range 1,769 sq ft to 3,542 sq ft
typical range $74 to $400
13 of 274 listings state one
typical range $2,708 to $9,750
107 of 274 listings state one
Measured across 274 active listings on .
Where these homes are
Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link.
257 of 274 homes plotted. 17 listings have no coordinates in the feed and cannot be placed. Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link. Zoom with the plus and minus buttons or by pinching.
Homes behind these numbers
$599,000B 2020 VIEWMOUNT COURT
FVREB Out of Town · 3 bed · 1,648 sq ft
$819,9002 8745 ASHWELL ROAD
Lower Landing · 4 bed · 2,417 sq ft
$859,900
Freehold
8576 DUNBAR WAY
Mission · 4 bed · 2,233 sq ft
$859,900
Freehold
8548 DUNBAR WAY
Mission · 4 bed · 2,233 sq ft
$879,9004 8745 ASHWELL ROAD
Lower Landing · 5 bed · 2,413 sq ft
$899,000
Freehold
1 46018 BONNY AVENUE
Chilliwack Proper East · 5 bed · 2,201 sq ft
$899,0006 6165 144 AVENUE
Sullivan Station · 4 bed · 2,005 sq ft
$899,0005 6165 144 AVENUE
Sullivan Station · 4 bed · 2,005 sq ft
$899,0008 14391 61A AVENUE
Sullivan Station · 4 bed · 2,128 sq ft
$899,000
Freehold
32529 HIGGINBOTTOM COURT
Mission · 6 bed · 3,149 sq ft
$899,000
Freehold
32531 HIGGINBOTTOM COURT
Mission · 6 bed · 3,145 sq ft
$919,9001 8745 ASHWELL ROAD
Lower Landing · 5 bed · 2,480 sq ft
262 more active listings are not shown here. Search every active listing . Prices are the list price. Most new homes have GST added on top.
What counts as one
The essential feature is that it is self-contained: its own entrance, kitchen, and bathroom, so someone can live there without passing through your space.
In ground-oriented housing that usually means a lower-level suite with a separate entrance, or a lock-off, which is a portion of the home that can be closed off and rented while sharing the building envelope.
What it does to your budget
Two separate things, and they are often confused. The rent reduces what you pay each month. Separately, a lender may count some of that rent toward what you can borrow, which changes the size of home you can buy at all.
The second is the more powerful and the less predictable. How much a lender counts varies by lender and by whether the suite is legal, so it is a conversation with a broker about a specific property rather than a general rule.
What it makes you
A landlord. Tenancies in BC are governed by the Residential Tenancy Act, which sets the rules on notice, rent increases, deposits, and ending a tenancy. Those apply whether or not you thought of yourself as running a rental business.
That is not a warning against it. It is the part of the decision that gets skipped when the arithmetic looks good, and it is the part that occupies your time later.
Is this right for you
Works well if
- ✓ The rent genuinely changes which homes you can consider
- ✓ You are comfortable having a tenant in the building you live in
- ✓ You have read what the Residential Tenancy Act requires of you
Does not work if
- ✕ You need the rent to make the payment work but have not confirmed a lender counts it
- ✕ You want the space yourself within a couple of years
- ✕ Sharing a building with a tenant would not suit your household
Check before you offer
- → Whether the suite is legal or unauthorized, from the municipality
- → What a lender will actually count, on this specific property
- → Whether a tenancy is already in place and on what terms
- → Whether strata bylaws restrict rentals
Read next
Common questions
Does a mortgage helper help me qualify for a bigger mortgage?
Often, and how much varies by lender and by whether the suite is legal. It is not a straightforward addition to your income. Confirm it with a broker on the specific property before you build it into your budget.
Do I have to rent it out?
No. A home with a suite can be used entirely by your household, and many are. The suite is an option rather than an obligation, though if you used projected rent to qualify, your budget may assume it.
Can I rent it to family?
Yes, and it is common in multigenerational households. Be clear about whether it is a tenancy or a family arrangement, because that affects both the tax treatment and what the Residential Tenancy Act says about it.
Where these figures come from
- VanPlex active listings, MLS® data
Active townhouses, half duplexes, and row houses built in the last two years across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
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- BC Residential Tenancy Branch
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Find homes with a suite
Every figure in this hub comes from listings you can open. Search the full set and combine a suite with price, bedrooms, parking, and distance to a station.