Source
r/PersonalFinanceCanada•
FrontendMaster

Getting large unsecured Personal Line of Credit(100k-200k)

Credit

Hi there, fellow Canadians!

I am looking for some guidance and advice on obtaining an unsecured personal line of credit in the range of 100k to 200k. I understand that this amount may be higher than usual, and I believe that it would be more effective to get in touch with the right person within the bank, rather than going through the typical customer support channels.

My intention is to have a one-on-one conversation with someone who has the authority and expertise to assess my financial situation and determine my eligibility, while also being able to provide advice on how to enhance my chances of getting approved for such a credit line.

Does anyone here have experience, tips, or insider knowledge on the most efficient way to connect with the appropriate person at a bank?

More context:

  • I am with TD and they seem to have limit of $50k(checked online).
  • My credit score in 729.

Posted May 16, 2023, 12:00 AM UTC

563
cowofwar•

No one is going to give you unsecured line of credit to gamble on margin.

Red flags everywhere.

44
FrontendMasterOP•

Sometimes all we need is hard hitting truth :-)

3†
Abject_Group9840•

You have cash... why don't you just use that? I don't get it.

7
FrontendMasterOP•

I am starting to use it but I need more.

-2
Delicious_Repair1592•

Please tell me this isn’t related to some beautiful woman teaching you to invest in crypto….

12
Abject_Group9840•

For what exactly.

3
Abject_Group9840•

You need more than $400,000?

3
Abject_Group9840•

Tell us why OP

1
NeutralLock•

I work for a bank (in wealth management though, so slightly different department) but I can offer a bit of guidance.

In general unsecured lines of credit are rare - typically in the $20k range for those with good incomes in stable jobs, and typically a little higher for certain professions like Physicians and Dentists.. but not much higher.

You can certainly book an appointment to get an idea of your chances, but you won't be able to meet with someone with any degree of authority. The reason for that is the bank doesn't want your chances of being approved dependent on who you met that day (and neither do you), instead, virtually everything is systematized with very little "give".

So meeting 'the right person' won't make a difference and isn't an avenue worth pursuing.

May I ask what the Line of Credit is for? For an investment? Debt consolidation? Home purchase?

27
HardensBeardOntario•

Plenty of docs have unsecured locs in the $250k limit range. Student locs convert to professional unsecured locs and don’t convert to repayment.

4†
NeutralLock•

That’s true, but you cannot get the $250k as an already practicing Doctor. This is particularly relevant to immigrant Physicians looking to get established.

0
HardensBeardOntario•

I imagine if they had their student line closed they could access a similar amount of capital. Doctors are of course the outlier though.

1
gas-man-sleepy-dude•

Not unsecured in my experience which is why I never closed my student line of credit. ALL subsequent credit discussions are tied to assets either realestate or margin loans. This is with multiple 6 figure income.

2
Top-Wolf9846•

This. Unless requested

0
FrontendMasterOP•

Do you know what kind of compensation is needed to get that figure? I was under the impression that income might help.

-1
HardensBeardOntario•

The doctors I work with make 300k-500k

3
Acrobatic_Jaguar_623•

So that would explain why every time I talk to customer service they try to sell me new products then check my accounts and go nevermind. I have an unsecured LOC for 35k at prime plus 2 percent. I also have a zero fee checking account with minimum 1500 balance. I've had them both for almost 20 years now.

Do they not offer anything comparable currently? I'm with a big 5.

2
FrontendMasterOP•

Thanks for the detailed response. Highly appreciated!

meeting 'the right person' won't make a difference

I wanted to increase daily limit of my interac transfer, which was turning out to be difficult earlier but last Saturday I talked to someone who solved it literally in 2 mins. Hence I applied the same thought process here.

May I ask what the Line of Credit is for? For an investment? Debt consolidation? Home purchase?

For investment. I don't need it immediately but I see myself using it in 3-4 months.

-22
fredean01•

Unless you're a doctor or have millions of dollars with the bank, you're out of luck my friend

16
FrontendMasterOP•

No to both unfortunately :/

I can understand the millions of dollars part, but why doctors specifically?

5
fredean01•

Because they are very high earners with basically guaranteed income.

12
FrontendMasterOP•

I see. Thanks for elaborating. How much is considered high?

2
Yobologna•

They have access to established programs that provide lines of credit of $350,000+ at most major banks because of their excellent job security and high earning potential.

7
FrontendMasterOP•

That makes sense. Is there a writeup somewhere that says at this $x income range you might be eligible for $y LOC?

-7
Ok-Cauliflower2802•

What’s your net worth?

13
FrontendMasterOP•

I don't have any assets other than cash and mutual funds. Counting that I can say it's around ~400k.

-7†
FrontendMasterOP•

Why the downvotes? Did I say anything offensive? I am genuinely curious.

-4†
rarsamx•

Yes, you gave all the reasons why you wouldn't get the unsecured loan, you could hardly get a secured loan of 100K with those numbers and even worst, to use it for investments.

OP, that's not a sound plan.

14
FrontendMasterOP•

Thanks for explaining man. I was genuinely curious. All these downvotes without any explanation made no sense to me.

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Regina_Runner•

No, you are not going to get that much unsecured credit.

13
SomeguynamedHeratio•

🤡🤡🤡

Banks are organized in such a way to avoid this very thing.

But god speed to you, OP. God speed.

9
NoInspection6248•

You should get a margin account with your broker to do this, albeit it's not an unsecured loan.

Still, you will get lower interest rates and it's better to do it that way.

That being said, if you're not aware of margin loans at this point, I don't think you have the investing experience to use one.

7
KukalakaOnTheBay•

These only exist usually for professional (or professional student) LOCs. Mine is 335k. I do not use it for investment apart from for financing a rental property.

6
FrontendMasterOP•

Ahh I see. So income is not a factor at all?

0
viccityguy2k•

Law and medical students often get 100k or more unsecured PSLOC (professional student LOC). But the bank is relying on them to pay it back with their future high earnings.

9
KukalakaOnTheBay•

More like projected income. I think starting med students these days get $350k usually. But that’s because government student loans/grants are rarely enough to cover $20,000 plus annual tuition and living expenses.

1
wrendamine•

If you are just looking for margin loans, IBKR auto-approves you for margin based on the assets you have with them. For example right now with my assets in my unreg IBKR account mostly in CBIL (very safe) they have auto-approved me to borrow up to 45% of the value of the assets I have with them. The actual amount they let you borrow is a function of their assessment of the risk of your current investments. The annual interest rate is around 6.5% last time I checked. Dump a few hundred k in with them and you should be good to borrow what you need.

Edit: though sorry this is a secured loan. IBKR will liquidate your assets if necessary

5
dimonoid123•

Wait a second, I thought that it is dependent on stock mostly, at least in Canada.

I get 30% margin requirements for most not very risky stocks and not leveraged ETFs (so 70% max loan to value).

In US they have Reg T which forces 50% max loan to value (or 75% during the day)

45% might be if you declared yourself as resident of some other country, idk.

1
wrendamine•

Yeah, it's based on your current assets with them (whatever stocks, bonds, etc) and whatever regulations apply.

1
theartfulcodger•

If you have inadequate collateral, no bank is going to loan you that much, unsecured- no matter who you talk to.

4
Exciting_Transition6•

I have the following Scotia unsecured $75k TD unsecured $30k CIBC unsecured $50k BMO unsecured $30k Simplii Financial unsecured $35k MotusBank unsecured $35k

Total: $255,000

Scotia SECURED on rental: $500,000 Scotia SECURED on primary: $100,000

I have a 800 credit score and make about $350k per year

It took me 5 years to accumulate these lines with strategic planning

No one will give you what you are looking for unless you have a professional line or a secured HELOC.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

3
FrontendMasterOP•

I love your approach of carefully planning ahead. Great job. I hope you get what you want in life.

1
Exciting_Transition6•

All good

Apply for a Scotia unsecured line

And then

Get Scotia VISA’s and merge their limits to the ULOC

THIS WORKS!

2
FrontendMasterOP•

Apply for a Scotia unsecured line

Thanks for first actionable insight on this thread. I'll start here and come back to your reply for future actions. Thanks once again man!

1
PTSDLife2•

At a certain point several years back I was moved to what’s called private banking. This is the sort of thing they deal with, but honestly it’s not all that accessible unless you own a large company or otherwise have a lot of wealth already.

Over the years I’ve learned that banks are not at all helpful when you actually need them, and overly helpful when you do not.

2
FrontendMasterOP•

banks are not at all helpful when you actually need them, and overly helpful when you do not

Beautifully said! This is precisely why I want to start now and not when I need them 6 months down the line.

otherwise have a lot of wealth already.

I am guessing it's at least a few millions?

-3
PTSDLife2•

I don’t know what the criteria is. I own a medium sized company. I could have used alot more help in the beginning years. But no bank helped then. I tried all of them. I have a deep seated hatred for bankers generally as I believe they take money that they aren’t entitled to - kind of like realtors, but they unfortunately are necessary to get certain things done - kind of like realtors.

3
FrontendMasterOP•

I have a deep seated hatred for bankers generally

I am with you on that. The system is not designed to help us. It's designed to suck money out of us, and help us only when it's aligned with their profit in some way.

-3
yoteshot•

While I agree with the premise, banks are not a charity. Why do you expect them to just give you money without any guarantee of getting it back?

2
OneTugThug•

I had to get special approve to increase from $50 to $60k.

1
FrontendMasterOP•

That's rough man. I don't suppose you could have gotten it from another bank?

0
OneTugThug•

I'm sure I could have, but I had a good rate on my LOC and just wanted the room incase I needed it (was doing a flip).

I suspect the banks look at how much open credit you have too.

3
goatmasterjr•

Cant you use you mutual fund to secure that LOC?

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
CannadaFarmGuy•

Another one of these? Shits getting tight everywhere

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
[deleted]•

You will never get a 200k unsecured loan lol. I made 500k after taxes one year. Tried uppin my credit card limit and they turned me down. Took me years to bring my cc up to 50k

1
BeltConnect•

Your bank must not like you. 500k and they won't lend you 50k. Have you tried telling politely that you will bank somewhere else. 100k minimum unless you have declared bankruptcy in the last 7 years or judgements against your business or child support ?

1
FrontendMasterOP•

Thanks for the encouragement!

1
Royce6969•

Lot of 🤡 responses here but what some of the members said regarding planning it out over a period of time is the right thing. I have $110k in unsecured LOC on a $90k p.a. sole income split across 3 different banks. Took approx 3 years to reach this.. I also know of people with $150k unsecured LOC but they have > $1M equity in their properties. Getting one bank to give you the amount your looking for is futile unless otherwise you are a HNI.

1
FrontendMasterOP•

Good point! I was rushing a bit for no reason at all.

I talked to a few banks and they all agreed to good amount but what I didn't realize is that rates can be extremely predatory. I was quoted from 10 to 13%. They said the rates are only good if banks come to you with offer, and never when you go to them. So I am going to wait it out.

Do you know of other ways of borrowing capital? Other than Personal LOC.

1