Same instrument
You get two of the three things owning gives you
Owning a home gives you three things: a place that is genuinely yours, equity as you pay the mortgage down, and whatever the market adds to its value over time. Renting gives you none of the three.
Our 0% down program gives you two of them. We provide up to 5% of the down payment at closing and you go on title the day you close. It is your home — paint it, renovate it, live in it as the owner, because you are the owner. Your mortgage payments build your equity the same as they would for anyone else. What you trade away is the market upside. That is the part we take, and it is what pays for the risk of putting the down payment up.
Rent-to-own gives you none of the three while you pay. All five Edmonton listings that mentioned it used the same wording — option to purchase — which means the right to buy later, not ownership now. Until you exercise it the home is not yours, you are not building equity in it, and the upside is not yours either. Plenty of people never reach the exercise date.
It works on any home you can get a mortgage on, not just entry-level places. And qualifying does not commit you to anything. Plenty of people qualify, start looking with a clear budget, and find their down payment somewhere else before closing — a gift, a bonus, a sale that finally goes through. If that happens, you buy the home and never draw on the program. It is there so you can start now instead of waiting to see.
The program requires standard mortgage approval, and terms vary by file; a small number of new-home builders will not work with a realtor, though most in Edmonton currently do.
