You Asked, We Answered.

nesto is Canada’s first digital mortgage lending platform, with a dedicated team of qualified mortgage experts supported by advanced technologies. We are a proud Canadian company with mortgage experts from across the country with our head office located in the Golden Mile Square in Montréal. 

nesto is on a mission to offer a positive, empowering and transparent property financing experience, simplified from start to finish.

Powered by the most advanced technology, we screen the whole market in seconds to find you the lowest rates while our commission-free mortgage experts provide unbiased support and advice.

While nesto is Canada’s first digital mortgage finance company, it is, above all else, built by people in this beautiful country we call home! We’re proud to have a growing team of bright individuals who keep the engine running and our rates low!

Did you know that mortgage rates are sold at a premium? Simply put, all brokers and bank mortgage specialists have wiggle room regarding the mortgage rates they offer you.

For the same mortgage product from any institution, there are usually 3 tiers for rates:

• A floor rate: the absolute minimum rate the bank can offer a given client.
• A middle rate: the rate you will likely be offered first – not great, but not too bad either. Brokers and mortgage specialists usually offer this first, and hope you’ll accept it without much thought. 
• A high rate: this is posted on most big banks’ websites. They may offer you this rate if they see you as a risky borrower, but their posted rate will always be used to calculate your penalty if you break your mortgage.

In order to offer you the floor rate, a broker or mortgage specialist would have to give away a portion or all of their commission. Few are willing to go there… Hence why you normally have to go bank-to-bank, broker-to-broker to finally get close to the floor rate.

At nesto, we believe in offering you the best rate from the start. Homeownership is one of the costliest endeavours of your life, why should you pay an additional premium?

Yes, nesto makes less than the average broker or mortgage specialist, but we also get the peace of mind of knowing that we helped you save thousands of dollars on your mortgage.

nesto saves you time and money by

• Offering the lowest applicable rate for your situation from the onset of your application process. 
• We provide a 100% digital mortgage application process.
• All our mortgage experts are accredited mortgage professionals in multiple provinces.
• We offer a 1% cashback option on all our mortgage solutions.
• We offer our low-rate guarantee with a $500 cash payout if you find a lower rate elsewhere.
• We offer a 150-day rate hold option on most mortgage solutions.

Other lenders may

• Require you to negotiate or take on additional products to get the lowest rate.
• Require a visit to their branch or location.
• Are not required to have accredited mortgage professionals.
• Not offer cashback options throughout the year.
• Not offer a low rate guaranteed.
• Only offer a maximum of 120-day rate hold option.

There are differences between nesto’s mortgage experts and traditional brokers.

• nesto is a direct lender with multiple solutions

There are differences between nesto’s mortgage experts and a traditional bank’s advisor.

• A bank’s advisor requires you to negotiate rates and take on additional products to qualify for better rates. nesto provides the most suitable rate for your mortgage situation without negotiating. We only sell mortgages.
• Banking advisors are generalists. While nesto’s mortgage experts concurrently hold mortgage industry designations from multiple provinces.
• Banking advisors receive a salary plus a bonus based on the rate or type of solution their clients choose. They are additionally measured on cross-selling targets to solidify the relationship making it more difficult for clients to shop around and diversify their financial relationships. While nesto’s mortgage experts are salaried and may receive a quarterly performance bonus. This performance bonus is not tied to rates or mortgage solutions chosen by our clients.

There are differences between nesto’s mortgage experts and a bank’s mortgage specialist.

• A bank’s mortgage specialist requires you to negotiate rates and take on additional products to qualify for better rates. Mortgage specialists can receive an extra commission for cross-selling products – that you may or may not need. While nesto provides you with the most suitable rate for your mortgage situation without negotiating. We only sell hopes and dreams in the form of homeownership.
• Mortgage specialists at banks do not have additional mortgage industry education requirements or regulations. While nesto’s mortgage experts concurrently hold mortgage industry designations from multiple provinces.
• Mortgage specialists at banks receive a commission based on the rate or type of solution their clients choose. While nesto’s mortgage experts are salaried and may receive a performance bonus. This performance bonus is not tied to rates or solution types chosen by our clients.

Indeed, we are. For each province in which we operate, nesto is licensed by the provincial regulatory body and our mortgage advisors are all licensed professionals.

As nesto is not a deposit-taking institution (not a bank), we use a variety of funding sources to fund our nesto mortgages. These sources include Institutional investor capital, Investment funds, Government-backed funding programs (e.g., Canadian Mortgage Bonds), etc.

Neither nesto nor any other lender will cover payment penalties for breaking an existing mortgage contract; however, depending on the details of your current mortgage, it may still be that the savings made by switching to a lower rate are advantageous over these fees. Through a cost analysis, your nesto advisor can help evaluate whether those penalties are worth the returns.

Beware of any professional or lender who asserts that they could cover your penalties as likely it will be in exchange for a higher rate or cashback you receive on the new mortgage.

nesto has strict lending guidelines that require a minimum credit score and no recent missed payments.

At this time, nesto cannot assist in situations with a previous consumer proposal or bankruptcy.

Can nesto finance residential properties?

nesto can finance residential properties with up to 4 doors where at least 1 unit is owner-occupied.

Can nesto finance rental properties?

nesto currently does not offer to finance rental or investment properties. However, nesto can finance owner-occupied rental (OO+R) residential properties with up to 4 doors where at least one unit is occupied by the owner(s) as their (primary or secondary) residence.

Can nesto finance alternative cases such as mobile homes, auto-construction or self-build projects and/or land purchases?

Currently, nesto does not offer financing options for these types of situations.

Please note: an Auto-Construction/Self-Build is essentially owning the land and building a home by yourself or hiring a contractor to build it for you. Not to be confused with a purchase of a new “key-in-hand” house, where standard financing applies.

If you experience issues while filling out the online mortgage application, please contact support at support@nesto.ca or call 1-833-452-3541.

Great news, if you’re looking for a pre-qualification or mortgage approval, our online mortgage platform will allow you to complete the entire process virtually, meaning you can get prequalified or approved quickly without sitting on hold on the phone. Here’s the link to submit your request!

Of course, if you’ve found the perfect property and are shopping for a rate, the next step once you’ve completed your online application would be to speak with one of our mortgage experts to lock in the best rates.

The online form allows us to collect all the relevant information for your situation. This way, we can confirm the exact rates available to you. Our application is designed to save you time and quote the rate for your situation.

When the application is submitted for a new mortgage, refinance, or renewal, a soft pull (credit check) may be completed, and it does not impact your credit score. A hard pull (FICO score credit check) is only done for all transactions requiring mortgage approval once you speak with an advisor and decide to proceed with nesto.

When you complete an online mortgage application to be approved, as stated in the application, we will need to do a hard pull credit check to qualify you for a mortgage.

Note: All mortgage lenders must perform a hard credit check as part of the due diligence requirements to validate a borrower’s creditworthiness and capacity.

In most cases, if the new lender pays for the notary fees/closing costs for a transfer, nesto will follow the same process for you.

Transfer, discharge, and other costs can be added to the mortgage balance up to a maximum of $3,000 upon approval. The primary exception to this is if your existing mortgage is a collateral charge. 

Note: An example of a collateral charge mortgage can hold multiple mortgage products. Typically it will hold a term loan mortgage and a home equity line of credit (HELOC) portion within the same registered mortgage charge.

Locking in the rate simply means reserving a rate. Reserving a rate is how long a lender can guarantee a loan’s interest rate. Typically, banks and lenders can hold up to 120 days on most mortgage offerings; however, nesto can lock in a rate for up to 150 days on select offers. 

If you are outside the 120-day window, use our mortgage affordability calculator to better understand your borrowing capacity and potential budget.

nesto may be able to help with a mortgage, depending if you are eligible under a specialized New to Canada Program to purchase a property with as little as a 5% down payment. 

You must prove that you have temporary or permanent residency in Canada with permanent income and employment. International students may apply on joint applications with a permanent or temporary resident.

Started an application but are not ready to apply just yet? Rest assured, you can cancel your application by emailing us at support@nesto.ca, or contacting our support team at 1-833-442-6907.

Last minute change of plans? No worries, there are two options to reschedule or cancel your advisor call.

1. Within the calendar invite sent via email, you should see an option to reschedule or cancel your call with an advisor.
2. Contact support at least 24 hours before your call at 1-833-442-6907 or via email at support@nesto.ca. Our support team will be happy to assist you with your request.

ou can unsubscribe at any time! You can do this by editing your communication preferences directly in the profile section of your application to exclude email and/or sms communications.  Alternatively, you can simply select the unsubscribe link at the very bottom of any email from nesto at any time.

For SMS communications, you may send the word STOP by text to no longer receive SMS communications from nesto. However, if you change your mind and wish to resume the communications, text the word START. Otherwise, contact the support team at 1-833-442-6907 to change your preferences.

To reset your forgotten password, visit the login page at nesto.ca and select forgot your password.

You will receive instructions to create a new password which will be sent to you via email (it may take several minutes to receive). *Please verify in your spam inbox if you can’t find it in your emails.

The new password must contain 12-32 characters with one Uppercase, one lowercase, and one number. *Special characters are not necessary.

Due to security and confidentiality reasons, nesto can only modify your email when we receive a verbal or written request.  Once the request is received, it can take up to 24hrs to reset your email. Once reset, you will receive an email requesting you to change your password for your security.  

*Please verify in your spam inbox if you can’t find it in your emails.

The privacy policy describes how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise process your personal information, how we protect it, and your controls over it.

For more information, check out our privacy policy page: https://www.nesto.ca/privacy-policy/

Please contact the support team by sending an email to support@nesto.ca or by calling at 1-833-452-3541. 

Our customer support team will forward your request to our IT department; note that this can take up to 2 weeks from receiving your request to be processed.

A mortgage is a legal contract you sign when you buy, renew/transfer or refinance a property. The term mortgage also refers to the home loan secured against the property. A mortgage is typically a large loan paid off over several years.

For more information, please visit our article about the mortgage approval process.

A renewal normally occurs once your mortgage term ends and you have not fully paid off the mortgage loan. Sometimes a borrower would renew early in favour of lower rates. Renewing with your current lender means accepting new terms on the same borrowed money. Renewing with a new lender means paying off the existing balance with a new mortgage and no increase in the amount borrowed or the remaining amortization. 

A refinance typically occurs when you extend your mortgage balance. You could use this extended balance to complete a debt consolidation or take out equity. The additional balance could be added to your mortgage as a HELOC, another mortgage or buy a larger mortgage. A refinance could also occur if you extend your mortgage’s remaining amortization (life) or add/remove someone from your property’s title. Refinance rates are often slightly higher than renewal rates.

The minimum down payment when buying a home in Canada is 5% of the purchase price, however, if you can make a larger down payment than the minimum requirement, your mortgage payments will be lower, and it will take you less time to pay off your mortgage. 

For further information on down payment requirements, please check out nesto’s article on down payments.

You can start shopping for a mortgage renewal as early as 120 days before your maturity date. That way, nesto can lock in the rate that best suits your needs. Your current lender may be able to offer a renewal prior to the 120-day window, but those offers are rarely attractive, given no other lenders can compete for your mortgage. It is recommended to wait to be in the 120-day window. nesto can hold your rate for up to 150 days on many of our offerings.

nesto is always looking for bright new minds to join the team! If you are interested in being a part of a growing and thriving company culture, please consult our careers page and apply using our online form to connect with our talent recruitment team and for more information on current opportunities.

For more information about nesto’s career opportunities for mortgage brokers, please visit our mortgage advisor’s careers page. Once you apply online, our recruitment team will get in touch should they consider your candidacy.