Variable Income

“Their income is all over the map, but there’s definitely income…”

Here’s a funny thing about lending based on Line 15000 of your Notice of Assessment: It’s a neat little box to underwrite against. Works great if you’re a salaried employee. Not so great if you’re running a fishing charter in Campbell River where thres fishing season, and the rest of the year.

We get it. Income isn’t always tidy. Sometimes it’s seasonal. Sometimes it’s sitting in a corporation. Sometimes it’s a mix of three different sources that would make an accountant cry. The banks need their boxes checked. We just need to see the money exists.

The problem with traditional income verification

Banks love consistency. Show them two years of steady T4 income with a good GDS/TDS and they’ll practically throw money at you. But show them a perfectly healthy business that makes 80% of its revenue between May and September? Suddenly you’re “high risk.”

It’s not that seasonal businesses are risky. Ski hills have operated on this model forever. So have golf courses, marinas, and half the tourism industry in BC. The risk isn’t in the seasonality – it’s in pretending these businesses books should look like a downtown law firm.

How variable income lending actually works

Forget trying to squeeze your client’s income into formulas designed for office workers. We look at the complete picture:

1. The actual cash flow – Bank statements tell the real story, not tax returns
2. The business model – A tree planter making bank four months a year isn’t unstable, they’re seasonal
3. The backup plan – Multiple income sources, corporate retentions, investment income – it all counts

We’re not trying to revolutionize lending here. We’re just willing to look at income the way it actually exists in places like Vernon or Revelstoke.

Who uses variable income mortgages?

The fishing guide whose accountant is really good at finding truck-related tax deductions. Shows $35K on paper but somehow bought a $70K boat last year. Cash business. Seasonal work. The math works if you look at it right.

The consultant who keeps everything in their corporation. Personal income? Minimal. Corporate bank account? Healthy. The money’s there, just wearing a different hat.

The couple with mixed income – she’s got a government job, he runs a landscaping business. Combined, they’re solid. Separately, the numbers look weird after income splitting. Banks want them both to nearly qualify individually. We look at reality.

The artist/contractor/seasonal worker combo who makes money five different ways and none of them fit in Box A. Their income looks like abstract art to a bank’s algorithm. To us, it just looks like rural BC.

Why traditional lenders aren’t able to offer this

It’s not that banks don’t want to help. They literally can’t. B20 guidelines don’t bend, even when common sense says they should. It’s like trying to play jazz with sheet music – no room for improvisation.

Provincial regulation gives us room to think. When your client has 50% down but their income comes in waves, we can actually have a conversation about it. Novel concept, right?

The Tekfund difference

We’ve been lending in small-town BC for over 20 years. We know what real income looks like in places where the biggest employer might be the mill, the mine, or the summer tourist season.

Your client in Tumbler Ridge doesn’t need to pretend their income looks like a Vancouver tech worker’s. They need a lender who understands that some years the fishing’s good, some years it’s great, and the mortgage still needs to get paid either way.

Quick example

Self-employed contractor in Golden. Last three years: $85K, $45K, $120K. Average works out fine, but try explaining that pattern to a bank.

• Property value: $400K
• Requested mortgage: $240K (60% LTV)
• Shown income sources: Multiple contracts, some corporate retained earnings
• Our take: Money’s there, pattern makes sense for the industry

Banks would need two years of steady income to even look at this. We need 48 hours to say yes.

A quick note on rates

Our rates are higher than the banks. Of course they are – we’re doing the math they won’t do. The risk is higher. But here’s what matters: paying 3-5% more beats not getting the mortgage at all. Beats losing the property. Beats trying to make your income look like something it’s not.

This isn’t about finding cheap money. It’s about finding money that understands how people actually earn a living in British Columbia.

The bottom line

If your client’s income story needs more than three lines to explain, the banks are already reaching for the decline stamp. We’re just getting interested.

Variable income lending isn’t complicated. It’s just lending for people whose paychecks don’t always come from payroll departments. In a province built on resources, tourism, and small business, that’s a lot more of us than you think.