The Stepping Stone Program by Rent Live Own
Stepping Stone is the modern step up from rent-to-own. If you're almost mortgage-ready, you can move into your home today, build your credit and savings with real coaching, and buy it within 2 to 5 years.
Tell us a little about your situation. It takes about a minute, there's no cost, and no obligation.
Prefer to talk it through? A real person will walk you through it.
Get into your home today instead of waiting years for the bank to say yes.
A personalized credit and savings plan, with real support to keep you on track.
Your buyout price is set up front, so you know exactly what you're working toward.
A realistic 2 to 5 year plan that ends with you owning the home, not starting over.
Where You Fit
Stepping Stone works for families chasing their first home, and for the brokers and realtors who want to help them get there.
You've got stable income and you're close, but the bank said "not yet." See how Stepping Stone can get you into your home now while you build toward your own mortgage.
For Families →Turn your declines into future clients. Refer the ones you can't place today, keep the relationship, and get the mortgage back when they're ready. Referral-based and compliance-first.
For Brokers →Don't lose the buyer who can't get financing. Write the deal now when your buyer picks their home, keep the client, and earn again on the buyout when they're mortgage-ready.
For Realtors →Simple · Transparent · Supported
Three steps from "the bank said not yet" to owning your home, with coaching and a clear timeline the whole way.
Reach out directly, or through your mortgage professional. We review your situation and map a realistic path to mortgage approval, usually within 2 to 5 years.
You pick a home with a licensed realtor, within your approved parameters. Rent Live Own purchases it, and you move in with as little as 4% down.
You follow a personalized credit and savings plan with coaching along the way. When you're mortgage-ready, you buy the home at your pre-set price.
The Difference
Rent-to-own earned a mixed reputation for a reason. Stepping Stone is the model rebuilt the right way, around your success, not your dependence.
| Typical rent-to-own | The Stepping Stone program | |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency | Terms and fees often unclear or buried | Full disclosure up front, with your own independent legal advice encouraged |
| Credit support | You're on your own to get mortgage-ready | A personalized credit and savings plan with ongoing coaching |
| Purchase price | Sometimes set unrealistically high | Set up front and locked, so you know your target |
| If you need more time | Often penalized or lose your deposit | Reasonable extensions reviewed case by case for clients in good standing |
| Your mortgage pro | Frequently cut out of the picture | Stays your trusted advisor and closes your mortgage at the end |
| The goal | Keep you renting as long as possible | Get you to your own mortgage and full ownership |
Same idea you've heard of, done with transparency, coaching, and a real finish line.
Who It's For
Stepping Stone is built for people who are close to mortgage-ready and committed to getting there. If this sounds like you, let's talk.
Building a Canadian credit history, or working toward permanent residency, and not quite ready for a traditional mortgage yet.
A few financial setbacks on your record, but stable income now and a clear plan to get mortgage-ready.
Verifiable income that doesn't fit the bank's box yet. We work with your real numbers and a realistic timeline.
You can handle the monthly cost of owning, you just need more time to save the full down payment.
In the final stretch of a consumer proposal or recovering from bankruptcy, and ready to move forward.
Stable, motivated, and done paying someone else's mortgage. You want to put that money toward your own home.
Questions?
It's a referral-based path to homeownership for people who aren't quite mortgage-ready. Rent Live Own buys the home you choose, you move in now with as little as 4% down, and you work toward buying it yourself within about 2 to 5 years, with credit and savings coaching along the way.
Stepping Stone is rent-to-own rebuilt the right way: transparent terms, a locked-in purchase price, real credit coaching, reasonable extensions if you need more time, and a plan that keeps your mortgage professional involved and ends in you owning the home.
No. You can start with as little as about 4% of the purchase price, and keep saving toward the rest during your term.
Rent Live Own purchases and holds the home during your term. You buy it from us at your pre-set price once your own mortgage is approved.
Neither. It's a referral-based homeownership service. It is not a mortgage, not a loan, and not an investment or security.
No Pressure · No Obligation
Find out if Stepping Stone is the right path to owning your home. It's free, there's no obligation, and a real person will walk you through it.
Prefer to talk? Call or text 705-482-1759
Tell us a little about your situation. It takes about a minute, there's no cost, and no obligation.
Prefer to talk it through? A real person will walk you through it.
