The same ski condo can be three different mortgages depending on how you will use it. Occupy it yourself as a second home with year-round road access and it can be insured with 5% down as a Type A property. Buy a seasonal cabin with limited access and it is Type B, typically 10% down at fewer lenders. Rent it to a long-term tenant and it is a rental at 20%. Put it in a rental pool or a hotel-managed program and a good share of lenders will call it commercial, ask for 25% to 35%, or decline. Big White, Sun Peaks and Silver Star are all exempt from BC’s principal-residence rule for short-term rentals, which is why the nightly-rental plan is still legal on the hill and still very hard to finance. Here is how the four cases underwrite.
Second home: the easy case, if the building cooperates
A condo or chalet you will use yourself, with year-round access, a permanent foundation, a full kitchen and bathroom and a heating system, is a Type A second home to the insurers. It can be financed with 5% down like any owner-occupied property, at the same insured rate, subject to the $1.5 million cap. The catch is the building: strata bylaws that restrict owner use, a mandatory rental pool, or a hotel front desk on the title can push the unit out of Type A and out of insured lending entirely, regardless of what you intend to do with it. Get the strata documents before the offer, not after, and check the access road in winter.
Seasonal cabin: Type B and a shorter lender list
A cabin without year-round access, without a permanent heat source or on a lease or licence rather than freehold land is Type B. The insurers still cover it, usually at 10% down, but many lenders do not offer the program at all, and the ones that do price it a little higher. Water, septic and road maintenance become underwriting questions. This is also where the Kelowna recreational property guide overlaps, because a lakefront cabin and a hillside cabin face the same checklist.
Rental: 20% down and the lease decides the income
Rent the unit to a long-term tenant, or to seasonal staff on a lease, and it is a conventional rental purchase: 20% down, no insurance, qualified at the stress-test rate of 6.24% with the rent counted under the lender’s add-back or offset rulebook. Resort rents are seasonal and lenders know it, so expect a market rent letter rather than your own projection, and expect the rental income calculator math to decide the lender.
Rental pool and nightly: legal on the hill, expensive to finance
Because the resorts are exempt from the provincial principal-residence requirement, nightly rentals at Big White, Sun Peaks and Silver Star remain legal where the strata and the resort allow them. Financing is the problem. Rental-pool agreements and hotel-managed programs make the income the building’s, not yours, and most A lenders treat those units as commercial: larger down payments, higher rates, shorter amortizations, and in many cases a flat no. A few lenders and the credit unions will do them at 25% to 35% down with the pool statements as income, and they are the lenders to call first. Buying on the assumption of a 5% insured mortgage and finding out about the rental pool in the strata documents is the most common way a resort deal dies.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a Big White condo with 5% down?
Yes, if you will use it yourself, it has year-round access and the strata does not force it into a rental pool or hotel program. That is a Type A second home and can be insured like any owner-occupied purchase. A pooled or hotel-managed unit usually cannot.
Is Sun Peaks exempt from BC’s short-term rental rules?
Yes. Sun Peaks, Big White, Silver Star and the other mountain resort areas on the provincial schedule are exempt from the principal-residence requirement. Municipal, resort and strata rules still govern whether a specific unit can be rented nightly.
What is the difference between Type A and Type B recreational property?
Type A has year-round access, a permanent foundation, heat, a kitchen and a bathroom, and can be financed with 5% down as a second home. Type B lacks one or more of those, such as seasonal access or no permanent heat, and is usually 10% down with fewer lenders willing to do it.
Will a lender count rental-pool income?
Most A lenders will not, and many treat rental-pool or hotel-managed units as commercial property. Some lenders and credit unions will use the pool’s statements as income at 25% to 35% down. Confirm the lender before the offer.
Keep reading: the investor series
- BC short-term rental rules and financing: what changed in 2024 and what lenders do with Airbnb income
- Down payment for a rental property in BC: 20% for a pure rental, 5% if you live in one unit
- Rental income mortgage calculator: see which lender rulebook approves your purchase
- Financing a secondary suite in BC: refinance, HELOC or the federal suite loan, with the math
Run the deal past us before you offer
On the hill, the strata documents decide the mortgage before the lender does. Send the listing, the rent you expect and your income picture, and I will show you which lenders qualify it and at what rate, in writing, before you write an offer. Call 250-859-2100 or book a free 30-minute review. No credit pull until you say go, and on standard residential mortgages the lender pays the fee.