OUR FAQ
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Ourboro is a Canadian-owned and operated real estate investment company. We help individuals and families fulfill their dream of homeownership by eliminating the down payment gap.
We believe that homeownership not only benefits individuals and families, it also benefits our communities. Our mission is to unlock homeownership; creating an opportunity for buyers to feel personally and financially resilient.
We invest in your home by contributing up to $250,000 towards the down payment. By contributing to the down payment, we each own an equity share, or percentage, in the home. When it comes time to sell, we divide the proceeds of the sale according to our equity percentage. We both gain when the home appreciates in value and share the risk if it depreciates.
Since Ourboro’s contribution is invested directly in the home, it’s not a loan. There is no interest and no additional debt. You don’t pay us back, the home does when you decide to sell.
Ourboro is currently focused on working with homebuyers looking to purchase in the Greater Toronto Area. If you are interested in purchasing your home in a different area, be sure to sign up for our newsletter so we can keep in touch and let you know when we’re coming to your dream neighbourhood.
Ourboro limits our combined down payment with co-buyers to 20%. You can choose to invest anywhere between 5% to 15% of the home’s purchase price and Ourboro will invest the remaining, up to a maximum of $250,000, to reach a 20% down payment.
Ourboro’s goal is to help homebuyers gain access to homeownership and break into the real estate market. A 20% down payment helps buyers by lowering their total mortgage and allows for a shorter amortization period. It also means buyers won’t need mortgage insurance and are able to purchase a home for over $999,999.
By limiting our combined down payment to 20%, Ourboro is able to invest in more homes and help a greater number of homebuyers.
Ourboro is designed to help individuals and families that have the income to support a mortgage, but don’t have the savings available to make a full down payment on the home they want. With home prices increasing at a faster rate than their savings, many are left wondering if, or how, they will ever own a home.
To co-buy a home with us you must:
Also, because the term of our investment is 10 years, you are ideally looking to own the home for a maximum of 10 years.
Sound like you? Submit an application today to speak with a member of our team and learn how co-ownership can help you get into the home you want, sooner.
Ourboro does not provide loans to homebuyers. Instead, we invest and co-own the property with you. As a co-buying partner, when Ourboro buys a home with you:
Ourboro makes money in two key ways.
Our main source of revenue is through appreciation in the value of homes we co-buy. We work with homebuyers to co-buy homes that are likely to appreciate in value. When the home is sold, Ourboro receives our share of the equity in the home. We both benefit when the value of your home grows over time and, if your home decreases in value, we share in any losses together too.
Ourboro’s second source of revenue is through the management fees paid by our investors. Our investors are individuals that are eager to invest in real estate in the Greater Toronto Area, but don’t want to act as property managers or landlords. By investing in Ourboro’s fund, our investors are able to diversify their risk and realize the benefits of investing in GTHA real estate.
Please visit Our Model for more details.
Ourboro co-buys condominiums, townhouses, semi-detached, and single-family detached homes.
At this time, we are unable to co-invest in pre-construction properties, homes that are part of a co-operative, or fixer-upper properties where critical infrastructure like walls, flooring, roofing, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing are not in place and/or are not in good working order.
At this time Ourboro can only enter a co-ownership agreement with one other party, limited to a buyer and their partner/spouse. We can not co-own amongst friends, or with any other party who is not a partner/spouse of the buyer.
Since you get to fully enjoy living in the home it is your responsibility to keep it properly maintained. Ourboro is not benefiting from living in the home, and does not charge you any rent to enjoy the property, so we see this as a fair trade. But, as co-owners, we recognize that we both want to maintain the home’s value and protect our investments. That’s why we offer a complimentary home maintenance service to help stay ahead of problems in the home and make sure that everything is operating as it should.
When it comes to renovations, you’re free to make minor changes to the home entirely at your discretion. For major updates we do require that you let us know in advance, especially as you may qualify for a Renovation Credit. This means, if the renovation increases the home’s value, when the home is sold you get back some, or all, of the renovation costs.
Our Co-Ownership Agreement protects both parties and ensures Ourboro can’t sell the home or take back our ownership share unless there is a material default of the agreement by the occupying owner, so there is no risk to your home in the event that Ourboro goes out of business. In fact, the investment fund that co-owns the home alongside you is separate from the company Ourboro Inc. So, if Ourboro closes down, the legal entity that co-owns your home with you will continue to exist.
Our respective ownership shares in the home are based on our original down payment contrinutions. When you purchase a home with Ourboro, you can choose to contribute anywhere from 5%-15% of the home value as equity, and Ourboro will top up the remainder to bring the total down payment to 20%. The percentage of the down payment that we each contribute translates into the percentage of equity we have in the future appreciation of the home.
For example, let’s say we co-buy a $1,000,000 home. You contribute 8% of the purchase price, ($80,000) and Ourboro contributes 12% ($120,000) so together we have a 20% down payment of $200,000. Since Ourboro contributed 60% of the total down payment (60% x $200,000 = $120,000) and you contributed 40% (40% x $200,000 = $80,000), the equity in the home would be split 60-40 for Ourboro and you, respectively.
To learn how this equity split is used when the home is sold, check out our FAQ “What happens with the proceeds when I sell my home?”.
Our team has partnered and built processes with select, well-known lenders that understand our model. Ourboro has a direct relationship with one of Canada’s top A Lenders, CIBC. Alternatively, buyers may work through a mortgage broker who can help them access mortgages from Ourboro’s alternative lending partner, Equitable Bank.
Yes. Our team has partnered and built processes with select, well-known lenders that understand our model. You will be connected with them, through a third-party licensed mortgage broker, as part of our application and onboarding process. Rest assured all of our lenders will be able to offer you a competitive mortgage and great service. We will continue to add more lending partners to our product as we expand.
If you’re a mortgage agent or broker interested in referring your clients to Ourboro, visit our Referral Partners page to learn about co-brokering and how we can work together to help your buyers. Please note, Ourboro does not collect, or pay, any referral fees to those who bring buyers to our program.
All third parties must agree to abide by Ourboro policies and guidelines and complete any onboarding requested by Ourboro. This ensures a smooth buying experience for our co-owners.
No, that’s one of the great benefits of co-ownership! Co-buying with Ourboro means you’re guaranteed to reach a 20% down payment, so you won’t need mortgage insurance. This lowers your mortgage payments, saving you money each month.
You can choose to invest anywhere between 5% to 15% of the home’s purchase price and Ourboro will invest the remaining, up to a maximum of $250,000, to reach a 20% down payment.
No, we do not run any credit checks. When applying, we ask for your approximate credit score, along with your monthly debt payments and household income, to get a general idea of your debt carrying capacity. Once we refer you to our lending partners, they will do a full credit check as part of their usual mortgage pre-approval process.
Since we are co-buying a property, it’s important that we are co-represented by the best real estate agents to help us in buying, and eventually selling, the home.
Ourboro has preferred real estate brokerages to whom we currently refer homebuyers, who do not have a signed Buyer Representation Agreement (BRA) with an existing agent. If you do already have a signed BRA please specify this on your application.
If you’re a real estate agent interested in referring your clients to Ourboro, visit our Referral Partners page to learn how we can help. Please note, Ourboro does not collect, or pay, any referral fees to agents who bring buyers to our program.
All third-party agents must agree to abide by Ourboro policies and guidelines and complete any onboarding requested by Ourboro. This ensures a smooth buying experience for our co-owners.
As the co-owner living in the property, it is your responsibility to cover all closing costs when you purchase and sell the home. The exception to this is Ourboro’s share of the land transfer tax at the time of purchase. Since land transfer taxes typically make up the largest share of closing costs, this allows our co-buyers, to put more of their hard-earned savings toward their home, rather than toward transaction costs, making the economics of co-buying with Ourboro even more of a no-brainer, starting on day one.
When the property is purchased both you and Ourboro will pay land transfer tax proportionate to your equity interest. For example, if we have a 50-50 equity split in the home, we would each pay 50% of the land transfer tax.
Please note, if you qualify for the first-time homebuyer land transfer tax rebate, the rebate can only be claimed on the amount of tax you pay, not on the property’s total tax.
You can apply to co-buy with Ourboro at any time. If it seems like we’re a fit, you’ll be invited to a discovery call with one of our team members. This gives you the opportunity to ask any questions about Ourboro and lets us learn more about you and your home buying journey.
After your discovery call, we will connect you to one of our lending partners to receive a mortgage pre-approval. Your mortgage pre-approval is what allows our team to determine how much we can contribute towards your home.
After being referred to a lending partner, signing a successful offer on a home can take anywhere from 2- 4 months. This largely depends on how quickly you receive your mortgage pre-approval and how long you spend searching for your home!
The homes we co-invest in must be buyer’s primary residence. Co-owners are free to rent out a portion of the home (and keep 100% of the rental income) but it must be the home they live in.
There is a very specific sequence in how the funds from the sale of your home will be distributed. The proceeds will first be used to pay back anything owed to lenders, followed by any closing costs to third parties.
Next, the total amount of the principal payments you have made towards your mortgage will be returned to you. Please note, since the closing costs at the time of sale are your responsibility, there will be an adjustment made to this amount to ensure the closing costs are covered by your portion of the home sale proceeds.
Lastly, all remaining proceeds, the appreciation in the home, will be divided based on our respective equity percentages.
To learn more about how home sale proceeds are distributed, please submit an application to speak directly with a member of our team.
We will co-own the home together for 10 years or until you decide to sell the home, whichever comes first. Having a 10-year term allows both of us to maximize our returns, helping you build a larger nest egg for a subsequent down payment.
If our 10-year term is coming to an end and you would like to keep living in your home, Ourboro has several options available, including the opportunity to buy out our share.
If the home has decreased in value, and you still wish to sell, Ourboro will be there as a partner. The steps to distribute the sale proceeds remain the same as selling a home that has appreciated in value.
First, anything owed to lenders will be paid back, followed by any closing costs to third parties. If there are remaining sale proceeds they will then be used to return as much of your mortgage principal payments as possible to you*. Finally, if there are any remaining sale proceeds, you and Ourboro will share them according to our equity split in the home.
We know that investing in real estate comes with risk, so if the home depreciates in value we’ll accept the loss on our investment and you won’t owe us anything.
*Please note, since the closing costs at the time of sale are your responsibility, there will be an adjustment made to ensure the closing costs are covered by your portion of the home sale proceeds.
Ourboro can not force you to sell your home unless you are in gross violation of the terms and conditions outlined in our Co-Ownership Agreement. Circumstances that are considered gross violations are clearly outlined in our Co-Ownership Agreement and will be reviewed with you well before we co-buy a home.
Ourboro’s goal is always to help our co-owners enjoy their home for as long as they wish to remain living there. In cases of financial stress we are committed to working with our co-owners to find solutions that benefit and protect all parties. It is never in Ourboro’s interest to force a homebuyer out of their home however, we are required to have guidelines in place to protect our investment. Similarly, we have guidelines in place to protect your interest.
Co-owners are able to make an offer to buy out Ourboro’s share of the home throughout our 10-year agreement. Depending on the fair market value of the home at the time of the offer, Ourboro has set guidelines on when we may accept, deny, or negotiate the offer. These guidelines will be shared with you well before we co-buy a home.
If you co-buy a home with us, knowing you’ll want to buy out our share in the future, we strongly encourage you do the necessary research to ensure you will be able to finacially afford to do so, especially at an appreicated home value. It’s important to note, co-owning with Ourboro works best for buyers looking for their starter home, not their forever home.
Yes, our co-owners are free to sell the home whenever they like within our 10-year term. There is no minimum time period you must own the home before selling.
© 2022 Ourboro Inc.
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