First-Time Home Buyer Realtor in St. Thomas, Ontario
I'm Andy Nagpal, a real estate broker with eXp Realty, and I help first-time buyers in St. Thomas and Elgin County buy their first home. Start with your budget, closing costs and the trade-offs between older homes and newer communities. The City's down payment program is currently closed to applications; its expression-of-interest form is for future funding, not an approval. You can work with me whether or not you qualify for assistance.
Choose your first St. Thomas home with the full picture
An older home near the core and a newer home on the edge of St. Thomas can suit very different budgets and routines. I help you weigh maintenance, layout and your actual drive to work alongside the purchase price.
Compare older and newer homes. For an older property, budget for the inspection findings and near-term repairs. For a newer home, review what is included and any costs still to come.
Test the daily routine. Compare your preferred streets with the routes to work, shopping and the places you use most. Include trips to London if they are part of your week.
Make a purchase plan. We review comparable sales, your deposit and closing budget, and the conditions to discuss with your lender, inspector and lawyer.
You can work with me whether or not you qualify for municipal down payment assistance.
The St. Thomas-Elgin Affordable Homeownership Program is run by the City of St. Thomas, with federal and provincial funding through the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program. It first launched in 2007 and was suspended in 2020, when local prices outran its limits. The City revived it in spring 2026 with the limits below. Local coverage of the City's April 2026 report said 46 households had bought a home through it, and that the relaunch aimed to approve about 10 applications, so funding is tight.
What you get
5% of the purchase price, up to $25,000, paid on closing day
How it's paid
An interest-free loan, forgiven after 20 years if you still own and live in the home
Household income
Under $113,900 before deductions for one person; under $135,000 for two or more
Household assets
Under $50,000
Home value
$500,000 or less
Where
The City of St. Thomas or Elgin County (vacant lots don't qualify)
Home types
New (with a new home warranty) or resale: detached, semi-detached, freehold or condo townhouse, stacked or row house, or condo apartment
Status
Checked 24 October 2026: the City's page said the application period for this year's program had closed. Its expression-of-interest form is for future funding only: it isn't an application and doesn't guarantee funding
Source: the City of St. Thomas program page and its 2026 fact sheet (links under Sources below). The City decides who qualifies; I'm not part of the program.
Who qualifies
The City lists these conditions, and you need to meet all of them:
You're 18 or older and a legal resident of Canada.
You're a first-time buyer: you don't own a home or any residential property, in whole or in part, including a cottage or recreational property, and you don't live with a spouse or partner who does.
You rent your home in St. Thomas or Elgin County now, and the City verifies it.
You qualify for a mortgage.
You'll live in the home as your main residence for the full 20 years and won't rent it out.
You don't owe arrears to a social housing provider.
Your household income and assets are under the limits in the table above.
Two details catch people out. First, you have to be renting locally when you apply, so if you're moving here for a job at PowerCo or Amazon, the program only becomes an option once you've rented in St. Thomas or Elgin County. Second, the asset limit counts everything your household owns. If you've been saving in an FHSA or RRSP, ask the City how those balances are treated before you count on both.
How the 20-year forgivable loan works
The money isn't a grant. It's a loan from the City, registered on your home's title by your lawyer at your cost, and it's forgiven once you've owned and lived in the home for 20 years. You repay it early if any of these happen within the 20 years:
You sell the home, or rent or lease it out.
It stops being your main and only residence.
Ownership transfers to someone else.
You go bankrupt or become insolvent and can't pay your mortgage.
The owner dies.
In any of those cases you pay back the loan plus 5% of the increase in the home's value. On a $500,000 purchase with a $25,000 loan, selling in year 8 for $560,000 would mean repaying the $25,000 plus 5% of the $60,000 gain, $28,000 in total. You can also choose to repay early, and the City applies the same share of the gain. Stay 20 years and you repay nothing.
From expression of interest to keys
Send an expression of interest. The 2026 intake has closed, but the City's page has a form for future funding. It's not an application and doesn't guarantee you anything. Funding is limited and first come, first served, so being early matters.
Get pre-approved. The program requires you to qualify for a mortgage, and your lender needs to know about the City's loan, because it's registered on title. Ask how they'll treat it alongside your own down payment.
Apply when funding opens. Only applicants who receive a Conditional Letter of Commitment from the City can use the program.
Buy within 90 days. Once approved, you have 90 days to buy a home and hand in the completed Affordable Homeownership Package. A home inspection is required, and you pay for it.
Close. Your lawyer registers the loan on title, and the assistance is paid on closing day. Your deposit and inspection are due weeks earlier, so they have to come from your own savings.
Plan for the 90-day window. If you wait for approval to start looking, you lose weeks of it. I'd rather we shortlist homes under $500,000 in the pockets you like before the letter arrives, so you can write an offer as soon as you're approved.
Your cash: what's due, and when
LSTAR's MLS® Home Price Index benchmark for St. Thomas was $496,800 in September 2026, and the average sale price was $544,865. A benchmark describes a typical home. It isn't a price you'll find on a listing, and many St. Thomas homes are listed above the program's $500,000 cap. If you're counting on the program, check each home's price against the cap. The example below uses the benchmark only as a sample price.
On a $496,800 example purchase, and when each is due
Amount
Deposit Usually within 24 hours of the seller accepting. It counts toward your down payment at closing, but it comes out of your savings first.
Negotiated in your offer
Home inspection (the City's program requires one) Before you offer, or before your inspection condition expires
Get a quote
Minimum down payment (5% of the first $500,000) The balance after your deposit goes to your lawyer before closing
$24,840
City program assistance, if you're approved (5%) Paid at closing, so it can't cover your deposit or inspection
$24,840
Ontario land transfer tax At closing
$6,411
First-time buyer refund Usually claimed by your lawyer at closing
Up to $4,000, leaving $2,411
Mortgage insurance premium (4.00% with 5% down) Usually added to your mortgage
$18,878
Ontario sales tax on that premium (8%) At closing, in cash; it can't be added to the mortgage
$1,510
Legal fees, title insurance and adjustments At closing
Get a quote from your lawyer
Municipal land transfer tax
None in St. Thomas
At this price the program's 5% equals the minimum down payment. Whether your lender counts the City's loan toward that minimum, and how it treats it for mortgage insurance, is the lender's decision, so settle it at pre-approval. Either way, the City's money only arrives on closing day. You'll need your deposit and inspection money weeks earlier, plus cash for the closing costs above.
Source: London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), September 2026 release; CMHC mortgage loan insurance premiums; Ontario Ministry of Finance land transfer tax rates.
Stacking it with the other first-time buyer programs
The City's program is local. These three apply across Ontario and Canada and are open now. Each one has its own definition of a first-time buyer, so qualifying for one doesn't mean you qualify for the others:
Ontario land transfer tax refund. Up to $4,000, usually claimed by your lawyer at closing. You can't have owned a home, or an interest in one, anywhere in the world, and your spouse can't have owned one while you were together. You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (newcomers have up to 18 months after closing to become one and apply) and move in within nine months. St. Thomas adds no municipal land transfer tax on top.
First Home Savings Account (FHSA). Contribute up to $8,000 a year, to $40,000 in total, and withdraw it tax-free for a qualifying first home. When you open it, you can't have lived in a home that you or your spouse or partner owned in the current year or the previous four calendar years.
RRSP Home Buyers' Plan. Withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP toward a first home, then repay it over 15 years. It uses a similar four-year test, and you need a written agreement to buy or build before you withdraw.
The City's program adds its own tests: you can't own any residential property now, you have to be renting in St. Thomas or Elgin County, and your household income and assets have to be under its limits. So someone who sold a home six years ago can't get the land transfer tax refund, but may still pass the four-year test for an FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan. Check each program separately. The full comparison of Ontario programs is in my guide to down payment assistance programs.
Where first-time budgets work in St. Thomas
Downtown and Old South. Older homes near the restored downtown core. Character and walkability, with wiring, plumbing and foundations worth a thorough inspection.
Lynhurst. An established resale area just outside the city limits, in the Municipality of Central Elgin, which sets its own property tax rate. It's still in Elgin County, so it's inside the City program's area.
Harvest Run and Miller's Pond. Newer subdivisions with newer resale homes and, depending on the phase, new builder releases, close to schools and parks.
Southwest St. Thomas. Established streets and larger lots. If you'll drive to London or the 401 every day, time your own route from the streets you like.
How many homes are for sale in each pocket changes week to week, and prices differ enough between them that a city-wide average will send you in with the wrong number. I'll pull current listings for the two or three that fit your pre-approval, and flag which ones sit under the program's cap. See St. Thomas homes for sale by budget →
New build or resale for a first home?
The City's program accepts both, as long as a new home comes with a new home warranty.
New build. A builder's agreement is not a standard resale contract. Deposits are spread over months, closing dates can move, and closing adjustments such as Tarion enrolment and utility connection fees can add thousands. Some agreements also let the builder pass through increases in development charges.
Resale. You negotiate the closing date, and you can ask for financing and inspection conditions. A condition only protects you if the seller accepts it, and whether you can walk away depends on its exact wording and deadline, so we'll write them with your lender and lawyer in mind. Because the City's program requires an inspection, plan for one either as a condition or before you offer. Budget for updates on older homes.
Ready before your approval letter. I'll shortlist homes under the program's $500,000 cap in the pockets that fit, so the 90-day window works for you, not against you.
Lender and lawyer in the loop from day one. Both have to handle the City's loan, so they hear about it at the start, not the week before closing.
I cover St. Thomas and London personally. So you get an honest comparison of both cities against your budget, not a pitch for one.
Buyer Protection Guarantee. Not satisfied with your home within 18 months? I'll sell it for free.*
VIP Buyer Home Warranty. A one-year systems and appliance breakdown warranty with coverage up to $15,000, on me.
*Terms apply — not intended to solicit buyers already under contract with another brokerage. Ask me for full written program details. The City's Affordable Homeownership Program is run by the City of St. Thomas, which decides eligibility; I'm not affiliated with it.
Common questions
It's the St. Thomas-Elgin Affordable Homeownership Program, a down payment assistance program run by the City of St. Thomas with federal and provincial funding. It lends eligible first-time buyers 5% of the purchase price, up to $25,000, as an interest-free loan that's forgiven after 20 years in the home.
If you're approved, up to 5% of the purchase price, to a maximum of $25,000, paid on closing day. The home's market value can be no more than $500,000, so on a $450,000 home the assistance would be $22,500. Because it arrives at closing, it can't pay your deposit.
First-time buyers aged 18 or older who are legal residents of Canada, rent their home in St. Thomas or Elgin County now, and qualify for a mortgage. Household income before deductions has to be under $113,900 for one person or $135,000 for two or more, household assets under $50,000, and you have to live in the home as your main residence.
No. When I checked on 24 October 2026, the City's page said the application period for this year's program had closed. It lists an expression-of-interest form for future funding, but sending one isn't an application and doesn't guarantee funding: only applicants who receive a Conditional Letter of Commitment from the City can use the program. Funding is limited and first come, first served when it opens, so check the City's page before you plan around it.
Not if you still own and live in the home after 20 years. If you sell it, rent it out, stop living there or transfer ownership before then, you repay the loan plus 5% of the increase in the home's value.
Not straight away. Applicants have to be renting in St. Thomas or Elgin County already, and the City verifies it. If you're relocating for PowerCo, Amazon or another employer, renting locally first is the step that opens it up; the other criteria still apply.
For many buyers, yes — especially if you'd rather have more space than a shorter commute. The same budget generally goes further than in London, and the city's employment base is growing. It's a weaker fit if you need to be in downtown London every day or want the widest possible choice of listings. I cover both cities and will give you a straight comparison against your pre-approval.
Your down payment plus closing costs. On a $450,000 home the minimum down payment is $22,500 (5%), and closing costs typically add 1.5% to 4% of the price for land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance and an inspection. Ontario land transfer tax on $450,000 is about $5,475, and an eligible first-time buyer's refund of up to $4,000 brings that down to about $1,475. St. Thomas has no municipal land transfer tax on top. Your deposit is due within about 24 hours of an accepted offer, weeks before closing, so it has to come from your own savings even if you're approved for the City's program.
Nobody can promise that, and be wary of anyone who does. The PowerCo battery plant and the Amazon facility in Talbotville have brought real employment and buyer attention to the area. For a first purchase, what matters more is buying a home you can comfortably hold for years, in a pocket with steady resale demand, rather than trying to time a headline.
Often it costs you little or nothing, but it isn't automatic. Before we start, we sign a buyer representation agreement that sets the fee my brokerage is owed and says what happens if a seller covers some, all or none of it. Many sellers offer to pay toward the buyer's brokerage fee, but if a seller offers less than the agreed fee, the agreement says whether you pay the difference. I'll check what each seller is offering before you write an offer, so it's part of your budget, not a surprise.
