A resale mortgage is mostly about you. A new development mortgage is about you and the building, and the building side is where the timeline actually goes wrong.
What the lender checks on the project.
Presale percentage. Lenders want a meaningful share of the building sold or in contract before they will write loans in it. Early in a sellout, the pool of willing lenders is smaller.
Sponsor concentration. If the sponsor still owns a large share of units, some lenders treat the building as a higher risk and price or decline accordingly.
Owner occupancy and investor share. A building with a heavy investor share can fall outside standard guidelines.
Budget and reserves. A thin reserve line in the offering plan budget can flag the project.
What this means for your timing. Rate locks are the practical problem. A new development closing depends on the sponsor obtaining a temporary certificate of occupancy and declaring a closing date, and those dates move. A standard lock may expire before your building is ready, and extending costs money. Ask specifically about extended lock options for new construction before you choose a lender, not after.
What to line up early. A lender who has already approved loans in that specific building, ideally recently. That single fact removes most of the project level review and is the fastest path to a clean approval. Your attorney and the sponsor's sales team will both know who has lent there.
One more item. Mortgage recording tax is charged on the loan amount. If you are close to a decision on loan size, that tax is part of the comparison between financing more and financing less.
None of this is a reason to avoid new construction. It is a reason to start the financing conversation before you sign a contract rather than after your deposit is committed.
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